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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

Back and Forth: Red, Green & Blue

16 Saturday Feb 2013

Posted by in Back and Forth

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Scott Carney: While never done in a ceremonial manner–certainly never hand to heart–I think it’s safe to say, as evidenced by my weekly What’s Up? posts, that I have publicly pledged allegiance–in a case or two, unabashedly blind allegiance–to an exclusive club of comic creators.  Two fellas who fall into that illustrious legion of superscribes are Scott Snyder (Severed, American Vampire) and Jeff Lemire (Essex County, Sweet Tooth).

But I fear–as I do fondly while reading the best of Snyder–that I no longer hear the deliciously shuddersome voice that drew me to him in the first place.  Certainly not in Swamp Thing #17.

Swamp Thing #17

Swamp Thing #17

And, I no longer hear Lemire’s refreshingly veracious voice, either, if I’m being honest–as heartwrenchingly honest as he is when he’s at his best.  Certainly not in Animal Man #17.

Animal Man #17

Animal Man #17

It seems, here, in the two-book Rotworld finale, that each–a true master of his craft–has been thwarted by a wholly unexpected villain: the run-of-the-mill comic book hero.  (Don’t get me wrong: on both fronts, the build up to the finale was just fine.  If I’m being fair, however, Snyder’s work on Swamp Thing was more effective than Lemire’s on Animal Man–most assuredly because Snyder was living closer to home: the terrifying creatures littering the landscape of Rotworld are natural notes for him to play; and he played them well enough–again, until the end of this corrosive crossover.)  What irony, eh?  After laying a foundation–spanning several solid issues– upon which the defenders of fauna and flora fight alongside a surviving set of superbeings, what happens to Snyder’s signature horror?  It’s foiled by the hero.  What happens to Lemire’s signature honesty?  It, too, is foiled by the hero.  Foiled by the heroes’ hailstorm of shockingly silly lines–one more horrifically ridiculous than the next.  Foiled by the heroes’ lack of believable layers, leaving them flat and cold, leaving them decidedly devoid of emotion; leaving them an unbridgeable distance from the ones they supposedly love–and from us.

So, as each creative team shoves its protagonist closer to the end–in this case, toward a portal to the past, which will allow the pair “to stop Arcane” from establishing Rotworld in the first place, kind of like a couple of Terminators after Sarah Connor–the cracks widen, deepen; and the finale collapses under the weight of the concept, resulting not in the presumably successful symphony for which we paid admission, but, instead, in a cacophony of defeat.

Derek Mainhart: I have to agree. What was so interesting about these two titles was  each writer applying their own distinctive voice to the superhero trappings;  Snyder’s almost clinical way with horror and Lemire’s naturalistic rendition of family dynamic amidst trying times. That they were able to do this while simultaneously working different sides of the same story was even more impressive. Now though, both of those strengths have been subsumed by the perceived requirements of epic storytelling: wooden dialogue, numbingly explosive action, and awful sidekicks (in particular, the character of Shepherd suggests Lemire is a part of that small, but distinctive demographic: the Jar Jar Binks fan). Yes, Animal Man has fared worse. As you say, Rotworld is more in Snyder’s wheelhouse; in fact, as I’ve said, the previous issue of Swamp Thing was quite good. And so, despite the unholy mess that was these two issues, I still have (some) faith that Snyder might be able to tie this all up with some sort of fitting coda, in what will be, after all, his last issue. Now that our heroes our back in the present, I hope that Lemire, who is continuing on Animal Man, will return to his strengths as well, tripping the light fantastic between the everyday and the extraordinary. Because the overweening superhero stuff is simply not him.

To wit: Green Arrow #17. This was billed as “jumping on point” due to the new creative team of Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. And it delivers, in a ‘by the book’ (‘buy the book’?) sort of way: the hero’s status quo is violently dismantled by a new villain who seems to know everything about him. A new mystery is introduced regarding said hero’s past. Confidantes are killed, and cryptic utterances, uttered. All the notes are hit. And yet, to continue your musical metaphor, it doesn’t sing. It’s like a robot playing Beethoven; a rote exercise. Now I’m obviously not a regular reader of Green Arrow. Perhaps to fans of the emerald archer, this issue provided a new direction, a sense of excitement. But I picked it up because it was a Jeff Lemire book. Sadly there is nothing of his voice in this. Anyone could’ve written it.

SC: I hear you, sir! If anything, it’s a three chord ditty: it’s listenable, sure–likeable, even, for what it is; but in the end, what is it, really?  One thing’s for sure, it’s not what we love from Lemire.

DM: What we love, indeed. But what’s all this talk of “voice” and “music”?  In a superhero comic? We’re expecting too much you say? Shame on you, you should know better by now. Any genre can achieve stirring crescendo given the right creator.

I submit: Dial H #9. This issue, indeed the entire series, has served up an aria of imagination by writer China Mieville. His unending cavalcade of absurd, sublime heroes is itself worth the price of admission–not to mention this ridiculous cover by Brian Bolland:

Here, we are treated to the monstrous Minotaura, and her singular method of ensnaring her prey.  (Kudos also to artists Alberto Ponticelli and Dan Green who are quickly finding their feet on this title.)  And then there is The Glimpse, a hero whose inspired power is to stay forever at the periphery of your vision. You see a glove here, a boot there, but the hero himself is just beyond your reach, always teasing you with his promise, but ultimately leaving the panel empty. If there’s a better metaphor for the never-ending, epic-obsessed, hype machine that is the current state of the superhero industry, I’ve yet to find it.  Want to say it together?

SC: Sure! Yeah!  Let’s harmonize. Ready, on three.  One…Two…

SC & DM: Book of the week!

Turning pages,

Scott & Derek

The Top Ten Comics of 2012

29 Saturday Dec 2012

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Welcome to the 27th Annual Edition of the Top Ten Comics of the Year! What began as two educators blogging in obscurity about their love affair with comics, has grown to become the most highly-anticipated event of the year amongst trend-setters, industry-watchers and that most idolized of velvet rope celebrities, the comic book creator. Why it seems like just yesterday that a little book called Sandman made the list (No. 7, 1991) giving birth to a worldwide phenomenon (we just received our yearly gift of one dozen black roses and homemade crumpets from Neil in eternal gratitude).

A note to the naysayers who complain about end-of-year lists: comics and numbers go hand-in-hand like old movies and cigarettes. If you say the number 27, what serious comics fan wouldn’t think Detective? Or 252, Spidey’s black costume? Why do round-numbered “anniversary” issues always sell higher? From what dark recesses of the mind  doth spring the obsession for a new Number 1 (as this past year surely demonstrates)? Fighting it is like the Kingpin fighting his urge for a donut: counter-intuitive and pointless. So to the list-cynics I say: go make a Top Ten List of your Least Favorite Top Ten Lists and be done with it. You’ll feel better.

The rules: As always, 80% (or 8) of our choices are books that Scott and Derek both read. We each get one alternate to round out the list (see if you can guess which ones these are! Correct answers will get a prize!). For limited series, the lion’s share of the story had to have seen print this year to be eligible (for instance, although Severed finished in 2012, most of the story was published in 2011. Similarly, Garth Ennis’ latest run on Battlefields, which tend to run in nine-issue installments, is only two issues in – and is already a strong contender for next year’s list). There are also no graphic novels on the list. There is no shortage of exciting work being done in a longer format, but this list, like the website itself, is dedicated to those wonderful monthly, folded-and-stapled periodicals which compel us to make our weekly Wednesday trek to the local comic book store for fear of missing something. (Having said that, congrats to Chris Ware on the inclusion of Building Stories on the NY Times own list of Top Ten Books of the Year. Check it out. It is a piece of work.)

What unites most of the books on the list I think, is an expansive approach to storytelling; a willful cherry-picking of literary devices from various genres, gleefully mashing them up against each other and seeing what happens. The playfulness in the examples below is infectious but not inchoate; they are produced by masters of their craft. Each creator involved has hit some kind of stride in the past year. Each comic is a breath of fresh air in our four-colored medium. We are the lucky recipients.

We here at Images and Nerds, of course, welcome debate (as long as you realize the futility of it, as all results are final, having been engraved in a cave wall for posterity.)

Without further eloquence, here’s our Top Ten:

ST_Cv0_ds10. Animal Man/Swamp Thing (DC) – OK, so this is our sneaky way of cramming eleven titles into our top ten list, but these two books really need to be considered as one. The amount of planning and coordination done by respective writers Jeff Lemire and Scott Snyder could serve as a template for the proper way to do that most fraught of endeavors: the crossover. These two clearly share a vision and it’s been thrilling to watch two creators at the top of their game working in such organic concert. Though the story has bogged down somewhat now that we’re in the middle of the epic proper, it’s been one of the surprising delights of the past year to watch their little corner of the DCU grow into its most compelling destination. (DM)

9. Fury: Myfury max War Gone By (Marvel) – I hope you didn’t let your year go by without your grabbing Garth Ennis’s take on Marvel’s eternal warrior, Nick Fury, the only cyclops worth a good Goddamn in the Marvel Universe, anymore, be it NOW! or MAX or whatever.  Fury’s certainly the star here as he boozily–and honestly–reflects upon some of the secret missions he undertook after WW II to ostensibly make a difference in a dangerous world.  But this title is more so everything we love about Ennis: perfectly composed conversations amongst expertly crafted characters (like the deliciously deep Shirley Defabio and the larger-than-life–and classic Ennis creation–Sergent Chef Steinhoff), all before a backdrop of war, with stops in Indochina, Cuba, and Vietnam, where the book will continue–at a punishing pace–in 2013.  But if Fury’s too hero for you, check out Ennis’s latest Battlefields saga, Battlefields: The Green Fields Beyond; it’s through two–a Top Ten worthy two–of six.  Either way, you can’t go wrong; in this guy’s hands, war is heaven. (SC)

shade8. The Shade (DC) – Once upon a time their was a writer of enormous range and nuance; one who easily blended genres and had an uncanny ability to capture the untidy, individual voices of each of his many characters in service of stories both grand and intimate. His name was James Robinson and the exemplar of his craft was a series called Starman. Now in the years since the end of that remarkable book, there has been a writer named James Robinson working on various super-hero books, but the quality of them has been so wildly inconsistent and lacking in authorial voice that it can scarcely seem possible that it is the same writer. Interesting then, that it took a return to the Starman universe to bring about a return to form. In The Shade, Robinson returns to his most compelling creation; a character both physically and morally in the shadows, one whose dandyish affectations and droll, Oscar Wilde-inflected narration serve as perfect counterpoint to the pulpy theatrics of a host of skillfully handled genres and subgenres. Welcome back Mr. Robinson. Stay awhile, please do. (DM)

dd127. Daredevil (Marvel) – Even a blind person who hasn’t had his other senses enhanced by exposure to radioactive material could see that this title has been Marvel’s best for over a year now.  Aside from the seemingly endless Omega Drive arc, which was a series of wrong turns–including a pointless crossover with Spider-Man and The Punisher–with a few delectable diversions dribbled in, specifically issue #12, Daredevil has been the model book in terms of how to marry mirth and mystery.  Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez had Daredevil dance with Doom for a couple of sensational issues and then created something strange and beautiful with the Coyote storyline, one that had me, at times, wondering if it were headed anywhere–and, in the end, boy, was it!  Damn my dubiousness!  There are a few creators worth our blind trust and our limitless patience, and Waid is without a doubt one of them.  (Speaking of, have you noticed the tone Waid’s establishing over on Indestructible Hulk?)  Similarly, there are many heroes whom we hold dear, but none as dearly as The Man Without Fear. (SC)

FRSH_Cv06. Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. (DC)  – What could easily have been a Hellboy rip-off instead turns out to be an exuberant melange of Universal Monsters from the 1930s and James Bond tropes turned on their head. Jeff Lemire (see #10) got the ball rolling (along with Alberto Ponticelli, whose pitch-perfect art will be missed when he leaves shortly – see #1) with a commitment to unrelenting, over-the-top action. The extraordinary Matt Kindt (see #3) continued the run by focusing on Frankenstein’s tragic history, without sacrificing a whit absurdity or epic carnage. If anything the hint of pathos serves to ground the general giant-monster frenzy, making the book even stronger.  Another oddball (and alas, soon to be late and lamented) winner from DC. (DM)

Fatale-Cover-Image-Comics5. Fatale (Image) – Sure, Ed Brubaker seemed to give up on Captain America in an uninspired final run; and he ran a minimalist route as he turned Winter Soldier into a must-read–and, unexpectedly, a top Marvel book for 2012.  It’s clear, however, where he was focusing his energies: Fatale is Mr. Brubaker at his brutal best.  If you have enjoyed his iconic work with the spectacular Sean Phillips on such titles as Criminal and Incognito, then you’ve most assuredly found Fatale to die for.  A dangerous dame, herself in danger; a fistful of dupes, their freewill twisted as if by magic; some crooked cops and crazy cultists; buckets of blood and nightmarish monsters: all of it comes together to set a terrifying tone and to mold and unfold a complex and compelling mystery–one that insists upon your complete attention.  And how about Phillips’ covers?  Stunning.  Yes, indeed, this is a book that stands out from the rest–in more ways than one. (SC)

ZaucerofZilk_Image4. The Zaucer of Zilk (IDW)  – Brendan McCarthy and Al Ewing’s mini-masterpiece is also perhaps the hardest book on the list to define. Carrollian fantasy, 1960’s psychedelia, and high-flying adventure crash together in a two-issue candy-colored phantasmagoria of a tale. The all-too-brief narrative packs in a lot of story but never feels weighed down by its creators everything-and-the-kitchen-sink approach. Indeed the sheer scope of imagination on display – conceptually, thematically, incidentally even –  breathes such voluminous life into the thing that it threatens to take flight right out of your hands and soar into the ether. It would take most comics years to build a universe as enthralling as this. I, for one, am hoping for a return trip. (DM)

190133. Mind MGMT (Dark Horse) – This is one sexy book.  Matt Kindt–a creator on the cusp of greatness–is doing what he’s so very good at here: telling a taut tale at a brisk pace, one supported by humble yet gorgeous artwork, with colors you just want to drown in.  Go ahead: open any issue to any page; I guarantee you’ll gasp for air–and it’ll feel exhilarating.  I love the concept: Mind MGMT is like the Bush-era Office of Strategic Influence on steroids.  The execution is flawless: the story starts with a startling scene of murderous rage, which, teasingly lacks motive and context, and then segues into a cloudy memory of Amnesia Flight 815, which, in turn, sets the stage for Meru, who sees her next bestseller in the mid-air mystery.  But it’s all just foreplay, friends.  Once Meru meets Henry Lyme, the narrative explodes with the latter’s back story, which is awe-inspiring in its inventiveness and hellishly heart-wrenching, especially as we learn how the rogue operative had a hand–or, more accurately, a mind–in the opening sequence of ultraviolence.  Simply masterful.  The extras are fun, too, especially the bonus stories, which help to build this brilliantly intricate new mythology of men and women who are dangerously and desperately more than their fellow man.  Through seven issues of Mind MGMT and with his fantastic work on Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E., Kindt’s proving that he’s more, too–that he’s undoubtedly fit to comfortably sit in the pantheon of present day comic book gods. (SC)

saga-12. Saga (Image) – Combine Star Wars with Romeo and Juliet. Douglas Adams with Meet the Parents. Heavy Metal with The Wonder Years. Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples are pushing against all kinds of boundaries here in a comic that truly has the air of limitless possibility about it. They are also unafraid of testing the preconceptions of their own readership (not to mention their intestinal fortitude – I personally can’t wait for Fard the Ogre’s 2012 Pin-Up Calendar, in all its scrotal glory). But for all this, in the end their story is about one family’s struggle to survive. In this day and age, what could be more resonant? (DM)

DIALH_Cv41. Dial H (DC) – Who knew that it’d take a “Second Wave” to shore up our faith in The New 52?  Well, it did: and said wave, which rolled in during low tide–with even lower expectations–deposited this unexpected treasure from novelist China Mieville and artist extraordinaire Mateus Santolouco at our feet; but once in hand, it was clear: this weird and wonderful story of a regular schmoe who dials up heroes from different worlds is a tsunami of creative vision.  Sure, the first few issues are tough to follow, but it’s in a manner reminiscent of the best of Grant Morrison, where perplexity percolates into something akin to pleasure.  And there’s plenty of pleasure to be had here, especially in the surprises born of Nelson’s turning the dial: there’s the unforgettable first, Boy Chimney, conjured in a stunning sequence of soot and smoke by Santolouco; and there’s the brilliantly satirical Chief Mighty Arrow, depicted bravely by guest artist David Lapham in an issue that just missed being named our Best Single Issue of the Year.  No hero, however, was as inspirational as Rescue Jack: with the dial down, Nelson finds the hero within and saves the day–if only for a moment.  Looking forward, 2013 promises an exciting turn: former Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E. artist Alberto Ponticelli has been tapped to take on the challenge of bringing the magic of Mieville’s mind to the page.  We know he’s up for it.  Let’s hope that the readership is, too.  While Dial H has survived the Fourth Wave–sadly, the same can’t be said of Frankenstein–who knows which books the inevitable Fifth and Sixth Waves will wrest from our hands.  So, we say, with the volume dial cranked to 11: buy this book! (SC)

Derek’s Honorable Mentions:

5. Wonder Woman (DC) 4. Snarked! (kaboom!) 3. Stumptown: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case (Oni) 2. Popeye (IDW) 1. Tales Designed to Thrizzle (Fantagraphics)

Scott’s Honorable Mentions:

5. Winter Soldier (Marvel) 4. Wonder Woman (DC) 3. Harbinger (Valiant) 2. Archer & Armstrong (Valiant) 1. Rachel Rising (Abstract Studio)

Best Single Issue of the Year: Adventure Time #10 (kaboom!) – “Choose Your Own Adventure Time!” by Ryan North, Shelli Paroline and Braden Lamb. This 15 page story is: An entertaining juggling act of any number playful narratives. A nostalgic, tongue-in-cheek callback for Gen Xer’s and one of their quaint, decidedly analog forms of interactive experience. A meditation on the control we have over our lives (or lack thereof) invoking the Free-Will vs. Determinism debate. A formalistic tour de force where story and design combine seamlessly in an innovative fashion that seems to expand the very  possibilities of the comic book medium. A children’s book with fart jokes. You choose.

Publisher of the Year: This is easy. With four out of the top ten spots (including No.1) it’s gotta be DC right? Wrong. If the first full year of the New 52 relaunch was able to till some fertile ground where the above books were allowed to grow, we are grateful. But each of these books are outliers in the DCU (or in the case of Animal Man/Swamp Thing, at least started as such). Much of their appeal lies in how they’re straining against and redefining the very super-hero mold that they are a part of. Because that of course was the focus of the New 52: superheroes. Retrenching, dusting off the icons and giving them a makeover for the 21st century. In 2012 however, that seems a backward-looking editorial mandate. Artistically, comics as a medium have long since proved capable of encompassing any genre or subject under the sun (or behind it. or beyond it.)  But what our medium still suffers from (and this is why the general public remains unconvinced about the viability of comics as a legitimate entertainment source) is a lack of the sheer amount and variety of product that you see in other formats (TV, movies, books, etc). Like it or not, when most people think comic books, they still think superheroes. Well the company doing the most change that, to fill the void on a week-by-week basis is: Image Comics (knew I’d get there eventually, right?) Go ahead, check out their catalog on any given week: crime, sci-fi, espionage, historical fiction, horror, comedy (and yes, some capes too). And all creator-owned. Are they all hits? Of course not. But Image is doing more than any publisher to create a culture that cultivates young talent while also attracting established creators, united by this one overarching philosophy: create any damn comic you can think of. Smells like the future–or at least 2013.

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott

Halloween Edition!

29 Monday Oct 2012

Posted by in 5 Comics You Should Be Reading

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Welcome to the inaugural posting of 5 Comics You Should Be Reading! In this space we’ll be highlighting books that perhaps we didn’t have time for in our usual reviews (hey, we’re only human) or that we loved so much we’re mentioning them again dammit! This will also give us a chance to step back and consider overall series, as opposed to individual issues.

As it’s approaching All Hallows Eve, when the membrane separating the living and the dead is at its most tremulous, I thought it a good time to throw a quavering lantern light on the field of horror and the supernatural. A couple of personal, debatable rules when it comes to horror: No Superheroes. Just the presence of a costumed do-gooder robs a proper spine-tingler of one of its most potent premises; that things may not turn out alright. Superheroes are a safety net in the free fall of terror (Yes, even Batman). Second, no stories that use Halloween as a direct reference point. These stories are limited to an annual, holiday-themed reading. Horror books, on the other hand should  be enjoyed all year round. (Sorry, good as it is, you will not be finding The Long Halloween on this list).

A couple of shout-outs: Dark Horse is the leading publisher of horror comics by a wide margin. Though none of their books appear on this list, their catalog is replete with enough (burnt) offerings to satisfy the bloodlust of even the most ravenous bloodsucker. The Walking Dead is also not on the list, since, let’s face it, you’re probably already reading it.

5. Frankenstein Alive, Alive! (IDW) – The writer of 30 Days of Night (and the underappreciated Criminal Macabre) collaborating with the most legendary horror artist of our times, bar none. What more could you want? Steve Niles’ intriguing  story continues where Mary Shelley’s classic novel ends. But what makes this an event is Bernie Wrightson’s incomparable art. The only complaint here is that the first issue came out months ago. But you’ll likely be in a forgiving mood once you feast your eyes on the art. Here’s a peek:

With issue #2 finally due out in a couple of weeks, now’s a good time to check it out.

4. Dark Shadows (Dynamite) – Not the tongue-in-cheek Tim Burton parody. This iteration harkens back to the original cult classic, staying true to the melodramatic pitch and outsize personalities of its characters. But because this is a comic book and not a TV show, the camp of cheesy special effects and awkward editing is toned down in favor a style that has more in common with the lush, outre Hammer films of the 1950’s-70’s. The current creative team of Mike Raicht and Guiu Vilanova have things bubbling nicely. And you can’t miss it thanks to Francesco Francavilla’s Eisner Award-winning covers.  Purple dialogue, picturesque settings rocked by intermittent spasms of Grand Guignol violence; forget gothic, this series is positively baroque.

3. Courtney Crumrin (Oni) – Ted Naifeh’s coming of age tale of a young witch is what every ongoing supernatural series aspires to be: multilayered, textural, and driven by distinct, compelling characters caught in a fully realized world fraught with secrets, threats and humor, all of the macabre variety.

2. Fatale (Image) – Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips apply their considerable noir chops to the bottomless well of Lovecraftian horror with chilling results. A postmodern mash-up of classic genres with the potency of aged whiskey drunk from a medieval goblet.

1. Severed (Image) – The story follows Jack, a Depression-era urchin, as he travels across 1920’s America in search of his wayward musician father. His quest is derailed by an evil as ordinary and ingratiating as it is terrifying. In the Salesman, writers Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft have created a monster that instantly takes his place amongst the greatest bogeyman of our times. Just as the Salesman toys with Jack, Snyder and Scott take their time, letting the suspense of the story simmer, notching up the heat with exquisite, inexorable deliberation over seven issues, until it finally, unforgettably boils over. The art by Attila Futaki is a Norman Rockwell nightmare. Simply put, this is the best horror comic in recent memory;  a sophisticated, unsettling tale that will sit in your gut like a cold, dead lump, long after you’ve put it down.

Squirming pages,

Derek

Back and Forth: DC Won!

19 Friday Oct 2012

Posted by in Back and Forth, Microviews

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Derek Mainhart: Well here we are closing in on Halloween, but for comics, the summer-style blockbusters from the Big Two keep on comin’. I guess I should start with the one I actually read.

Batman #13 – The Joker? Issue 13? Perfect set up for some Halloween frights. If only it were just that; but this much-hyped return of Batman’s nemesis is also the next epic crossover. Having just come off the whole Court of the Owls storyline (which was largely excellent) I must admit to feeling a little epic-fatigue. I do wish this was contained solely within Scott Snyder’s Batman instead of spread out across the whole Bat-family (not that I intend to buy all the other issues). Having said that, Snyder gets things off to a solid start. We get all the classic Joker beats in one issue: Joker assaults a police station? Check. Joker stages an elaborate, announced plan to kill a public official? Check. Joker lures Batman into an over-the-top deathtrap? Check. Having cleansed his palette, we can assume Snyder will be off and running with some new wrinkles next issue right? He certainly hints at it. He seems to be setting up a bigger, badder Joker. Harley Quinn spells it out: “He’s not the same Bats. He’s not my Mr. J. anymore…” I suppose this is tied into the whole getting-his-face ripped-off thing from Detective #1. (This begs the question: whose idea was that? Tony Daniel’s? The editors’? Or was Snyder setting this current story up a year ago?) But really, how much more twisted can the Joker get? Is Snyder suggesting that this version is somehow more monstrous than the Joker of Alan Moore’s character-defining turn in The Killing Joke? Trying to make this character more extreme seems to be just a way to fulfill the parameters of an “epic event”. Why not just give us an awesome Joker story? But, like I said, there’s much to like. The story-telling by Greg Capullo and Jonathan Glapion is excellent. Most of all, Snyder really excels at developing an underlying sense of dread through the entire book (his mastery at this was established in Severed (published by Image) which was practically an exercise in keeping your skin crawling over seven issues. The best horror book of recent memory. Get the trade for Halloween.) Speaking of which, how about that back-up? I only wish we could have read that before the events in the lead story!

I’ll let you handle the honors on this week’s other blockbuster: Uncanny Avengers #1.

Uncanny Avengers #1

Scott Carney: Oh, joy.  Your generosity knows no limits!  Must be your mutant ability.  For the record: I’m looking at Batman #13 as I would the first ten or so pages of The Great Gatsby–which means, in my mind’s monotone: “Now that that’s done with, let’s get on with the good stuff.”  Like you said: the back-up was pretty sweet–like cyanide.  Damn thing should’ve been part of the story proper.

OK.  I’ve put the “honors” you so benevolently bequeathed to me off long enough.

Now, I know you didn’t read UA #1, which is why you’ve lobbed it over to my side of the net.  But I’ll tell you all you need to know by analyzing one page: page one.  Picture this:

First panel: an eye held open a la the brainwashing scene of Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange; glowing in the iris is Cyclops as the Phoenix.  Speech bubble: an unknown spouting anti-mutant babble.

Second panel: zooming out, we  see two eyes held open a la the aforementioned a la, a trickle of blood between them, and some more babble, rousing some rabble about “evolution” and “competition”–which, interestingly enough, put me in a certain mind.

Third panel: the voice gains a scalpel-wielding hand, which is slicing into the exposed brain of the now Phoenix-free eye guy.  As unnamed character–he of the hand–blathers about the world’s having “felt the mutant boot on its neck”; and I was like, “Mr. Remender, you’re talking about AvX, aren’t you?”

Fourth panel: the voice digs itself deeper into a villainous vat of nonsense as its two hands pull part of the poor fella’s–the eye guy’s–brain out of his head.  And I was like, “Mr. Remender, you’re crafting the perfect Marvel fan, aren’t you?”

Fifth panel: the voice–now clearly Remender, in my mind, anyway–hops into a heap of “hatred[, which] protects a [comic company, like Marvel] from complacency in the face of [its more successful] rivals[, clearly DC].”  As he does, he shoves some device into the empty space in the eye guy’s head.

And that device, my friend, is Marvel NOW!

What a way to begin this glorious new initiative: with Remender’s mocking Marvel readers by making them out to be an easily-led legion of lobotomized zombies–zombies willing to buy into the reactionary ReEVOLUTION, which, apparently, isn’t much of a revolution at all.  In fact, according to Axel Alonso, Marvel’s editor-in-chief: “The only change is some subtle tweaks to some costumes.”  Indeed!

Phew.  I’m exhausted after that.  I’ll leave the rest to you!

DM: Yeah, dude.  Take a deep breath–or a nap or something.

I’ll jump into another book tying in to a crossover event is Frankenstein: Agent of Shade #13. This book also pairs well with our October fright-fest, as our favorite, tragic zipper-neck gets knee-deep in the Rot from the current Animal Man/Swamp Thing epic. Tie-ins like this are usually superfluous and best-avoided. And truly, nothing integral to the Rotworld story seems to happen in this issue. But not picking it up would mean depriving yourself of the stirrings of undead/amphibian love! Frankie riding a talking horse through post-apocalyptic Metropolis! And Matt Kindt’s freewheeling revisiting of Mary Shelley’s Modern Prometheus with Daddy issues! In terms of the larger story, this issue is indeed tangential and probably unnecessary. It is also one more thing: wildly entertaining.

Archer and Armstrong #3 may not be part of any crossover event, but with its globetrotting antics and millennia-spanning conspiracies, it sure feels like a blockbuster (and a pretty one too, as drawn by Clayton Henry and Pere Perez). But no mindless action spectacle this. The swordplay and martial arts are merely dressing for the big ideas that Fred Van Lente is playing with here (no surprise from a scribe who co-created a comic called Action Philosophers). Van Lente is an interesting, idiosyncratic writer; conversant in popcorn archetypes, he exploits them to plumb deeper thematic territory. If he has a weakness, it’s that his character’s reactions sometimes seem unearned. Archer’s about-face rejection of his lifelong indoctrination doesn’t ring true. And Armstrong’s response to the killing of a character he calls “the best woman I’ve known for ten thousand years” is simply “Bastards.”  Still, this is fascinating stuff. The rollicking action and effortless odd-couple, cop-buddy banter make a breezy read out of what is, after all, a thoroughly-researched satire about nothing less than the nature of faith.

SC: You know, that’s exactly what I was gonna say!

Turning pages,

Derek & Scott