Indies Previews for June Part 1 of 2

Lee:  We're just jumping right into it today because for once I ran out of words.

Alternative Comics
Alternative Comics #4 by (w/a) Craig Thompson
Alternative Comics' flagship anthology returns as a twice-yearly comic with more pages, showcasing the best indie, web and zine artists of today's underground. Contributors include: Alex Schubert, Grant Snider, Sam Alden, Mike Bertino, Theo Ellsworth and Craig Thompson. 48 pgs, B/W, $5.99
Lee: If you want to see the writers/artists that are really stretching the comic book medium then look no further because this is the book for you. I am sure this is all over the map in terms of stories, content, art styles, and just about everything else. But why else would you buy a book like this if not to experiment with new stuff.
Thomm: I like anthologies, obviously with my ongoing DHP following, but I’m not sure if stretching or unpolished is the right term for this. All the same, I’d at least give it a look.

Amigo Comics
Westwood Witches #2 by (w) El Torres (a/c) Abel Garcia
Amigo brings the witchcraft horror into the modern world with the words of El Torres and art by Abel García! Jack is still consumed with his brother's death and his writer block, not knowing that his attractive neighbors are planning to abduct him to the Witches' Sabbath as human sacrifice! 32 pgs, FC, $3.99
Lee: I can’t believe I missed this before! Torres is a great horror writer and I am surprised he isn’t getting more recognition. His work on The Veil and Suicide Forest were both spectacular. Heck I even liked Nancy in Hell even though it was kinda dumb. If you like horror stories you really can’t go wrong with this book.
Thomm: I’ll have to take your word for it. The promo makes it sound a bit unoriginal.

Ape Entertainment
Poison Elves Digest Vol. 01: The Mulehide Years SC by (w/a/C) Drew Hayes
From 1991 to 1995, Drew Hayes self-published an independent comic first called I, Lusiphur, then Poison Elves. The Mulehide Years contains all 20 issues of this seminal work, the origin story of an anti-hero named Lusiphur. In a surprisingly progressive medieval era where magic and violence rule the land, Lusiphur leaves the employ of an increasingly paranoid feudal lord to trek across Amrahly'nn in search of adventure - which he finds in abundance. This collection includes tons of extras including rare, out-of-print and never before published material! 480 pgs, B/W, $24.99
Lee: Poison Elves reminds me of a lesser Cerebus. Not in terms of quality because I’ve never read this series, but in terms of cult following. Hayes wrote this story for years, and the few people I know who’ve read it have loved it. At almost 500 pgs, this is very tempting.
Thomm: It’s an interesting concept, even if I don’t understand a progressive era ruled by violence. I’ll have to take a look at this in hand before deciding.

Art of Fiction

Five Color Comics #1 by (w) Erik Warfield (a) Troy Nixey (C) Bruce Timm

All new, original characters from The Art of Fiction featuring art by some of the greatest names in the comics and animation industries. 48 pages of action and adventure with pirates, zombies, jungle girls, and a giant ape! 48 pgs, FC, 8.5x11, $8.95

Lee: Although it would seem that I only picked this for the cover, not true! This is an oversized anthology title written/illustrated by animators. I have found that animators have some of the best, and most twisted, short stories in them. You can’t go wrong! And, because they are already animators the art is sure to be super.

Thomm: And here I thought you picked it for the giant ape. You know, for Jim’s benefit. The cover is very amusing, and I’m sure there will be lots of great art inside. Not so sure about the story quality.
Lee:  Actually, for the record, Thomm and I looked at different covers.  I picked the Timm Nazi version...

Boom! Studios

Six-Gun Gorilla #1 (of 6) by (w) Simon Spurrier (a) Jeff Stokely (C) Ramon K. Perez

Welcome to the Blister a bizarre otherworld colonized by humans sometime in the 22nd century, which quickly became a hotly contested source of fertile land and natural resources long ago exhausted on Earth. In this new frontier, a rogue gunslinger and his companion wander across a wilderness in the grips of a civil war, encountering lawlessness, natives, and perversions of civilization in a world at the crossroads between the past and the future. The fact that said gunslinger is a bio-surgically modified silverback gorilla toting a pair of enormous revolvers is neither here nor there. Written by Simon Spurrier, drawn by hot new talent Jeff Stokely (Fraggle Rock, The Reason For Dragons), Six-Gun Gorilla is a pulpy mash-up of Western weirdness and lofi science fiction unlike anything else on the stands! 32 pgs, FC, $3.99

Lee: Let’s be honest, this looks completely ridiculous. Which is why I am interested! Spurrier is an excellent writer and if he has a warped idea… it’s sure to be warped in the best of ways.

Thomm: Ok, now I know you’re making picks for Jim’s benefit. Maybe I should step aside for this month so you can enjoy the love from Jim. As for the book, it’s definitely got ridiculous written all over it, but in a good way. As a limited series it’s more worth a try, too, because I know it has an end point that won’t be stretched out for years.

Herobear and the Kid Special #1 by (w/a/c) Mike Kunkel
The Independent, All-Ages Smash-Hit Herobear And The Kid Returns! It's Picture Day at Tyler's school, and naturally he's forgotten! But before Tyler can pick his good side, he has to sneak out of class with his best friend Herobear to stop an attack on the Simpleton Bridge from the mysterious Von Klon and his SubofDoom! ...and he better not lose his hallpass in the process. Don't miss as creator Mike Kunkel relaunches his Eisner award winning creation at KaBOOM! with a brand new original adventure! 32 pgs, FC, $3.99
Lee: Kunkel’s original Herobear story has been a huge hit in our house for years. I didn’t expect to get any more HB stories so I can’t even begin to express how exciting this. If you have kids, or grandkids, and you are looking for a book to start them with… here ya go!
Thomm: Cute. My kids are a bit beyond this now, though.

Chronicle Books
In the Kitchen with Alain Passard: Inside the World of a Master Chef by (w/a/c) Christophe Blain
Available in English for the very first time, In the Kitchen with Alain Passard is the first graphic novel to enter the kitchen of a master chef. Over the course of three years, illustrator Christophe Blain trailed acclaimed chef Alain Passard through his kitchens and gardens. With simple yet sublime drawings and thousands of colorful panels, this book gives the reader an inside, uncensored look at the world of Passard, who shocked the food universe in 2001 by removing meat from the menu at his celebrated Paris restaurant, L'Arpege, and dedicating himself to serving vegetables from his own organic farms. 96 pgs, FC, 7x9, $16.95
Lee: There seems to be a rash of food books out right now. Didn’t I pick 2 or 3 food books last month? Oh well, this is completely different because it’s about a professional chef. And, even if you’re not into organic or the vegan scene, you have to admit this still sounds interesting.
Thomm: Yeah, the other food books were different. I don’t know how interesting it is to follow a French chef as he putters in a garden and makes food out of it. Might be, but it also sounds like watching an AARP convention.

Conundrum Press
Obituary Man GN by (w/a/c) Philippe Girard
Behold: Obituary Man! A nondescript man who gains indescribable energy from reciting the eulogy at the funerals of strangers. He has never felt so alive! Maurice Petit is an unremarkable type who chokes on the weight of his routine. In the obituary section of the newspaper he discovers the name of an old classmate. At the funeral something compels Maurice Petit to stand tall and speak. For a moment he is Obituary Man and has a voice for the dead. But will his newfound power rejuvenate him or get him mixed up with the wrong crowd? 84 pgs, B/W, 6.5x8.5, $15.00
Thomm: Now that’s different. It’s a little vague on what his power is, but I guess it doesn’t matter all that much. Reminds me a bit of Pushing Daisies, a great show that only lasted a couple of seasons.
Lee: I'm really not sure what to make of this either.  But it's got a unique enough concept that I have to see what's it's all about.  And, Connundrum is one of the great indie publishers of Canada so I have faith it will be good.

Drawn & Quarterly
User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting GN by (w/a/c) Guy Delisle
With A User's Guide to Neglectful Parenting, the dry humor that pervades Guy Delisle's landmark and praised graphic travelogues takes center stage. Quick, light vignettes play on the worries and cares any young parent might have, and offer wry solutions to the petty frustrations of being a dad who works from home. Readers familiar with Delisle's stranger-in-a-strange-land technique for storytelling will recognize the titular parent in this book; Delisle's travelogues were simultaneously portraits of complex places and times, and portraits of a stay-at-home dad's ever-changing relationship with his children while his wife is out working for Doctors Without Borders. The relationship between young child and all-too-irony-aware parent is beautifully done here, and Delisle's loose flowing style has been set free, creating a wonderful sense of motion throughout. A User's Guide is an intimate, offbeat look at the joys of parenting. 192 pgs, B/W, 5x7, $16.95
Lee: I can’t help but feel that I’ve picked this book before. Maybe not but even if I did, I still recommend it. There is too much good material about parenting for this not to be good. I am confident this is very, very humorous.Thomm: I think you have mentioned it previously. Doesn’t mean it’s not worth mentioning again. Wry humor is great humor.


The conclusion tomorrow

Legion of Super-Heroes: The Great Darkness Saga (Deluxe Edition)

I hadn't been to the Baltimore County Public Library to check out what books they had in some while, but my son enjoyed reading the Hunger Games series so I had taken him to find something new of interest and figured I may as well check out what comics offerings were available.  Having been a reader of the Teen Titans back in the early '80s I remembered lots of ads for and talk about how great the LOSH was then.

Covering issues 284-296 and Annual 1 this Deluxe packaging had a pretty steady creative cast.  Paul Levitz was the writer with Keith Giffen and Larry Mahlstedt combining for most of art work.  The first three issues were done by Pat Broderick and Bruce Patterson.  As it went on Giffen became the penciller and Mahlstedt the inker, though there was some transition with Giffen and Patterson doing the art.  It's a noticeably better artistic presentation when Giffen takes over as the sole penciller.  His is a cleaner, better proportioned style. 

I can't get into the story aspect without first noting that someone's head should have been examined when Cosmic Boy's costume that he wears in the first few issues was created.  It looks like he's just visiting from his primary job as a bondage slave at some outre disco.  How did anyone on the rest of the team take him at all seriously?  Having read Mike Grell's Warlord books around the same time, I can believe he's the one behind the design.  Not one of his better ideas.  At least Cosmic Boy's in something more sane by the time the Annual rolls around.

But on to the story.  Calling this a saga is really a packaging trick, which Levitz more or less admits in his introduction.  Books in that era weren't written with arcs clearly delineated as they are now.  Only issues 291-294 and Annual 1 can fairly be considered to be the Darkseid saga that's promised on the cover.  The issues from 284-290 provide some background material, and an exceedingly glacial revival of Darkseid from some centuries long slumber, but have nothing in them that really require them to be a part of this package.  The concluding issues of 295-296 are denouement, but at least they're enjoyable.

When it finally gets into the Darkseid story there's an initial diversion in the Annual that focuses on the revival of Computo, via a young girl who Brianac 5 is treating for some incurable malady.  The effort somehow returns a dormant Computo, with an end result of Computo losing but the little girl being stuck with Computo occupying her body.  It's mostly a device for creating a new Invisible Kid, who's her brother.  I wonder why another Invisible Kid didn't come about sooner after the death of the previous one, as all this one did to get the power was drink some potion. 

Anyway, Darkseid is operating through servants who are dark reflections of Superman, Orion, and others.  There's a total of 5 of them, I think.  He engages in some godly magic and transposes Apokolipse, which is a burnt out shell, with Daxam, resulting in his having an entire planet's worth of people who have powers equivalent to Superman under his control.  Of course, as things are looking darkest the LOSH manages to defeat him.

Not that the plot is overly important in this era.  It's the soap opera among the team members that's the big selling point.  New Teen Titans and X-Men were doing the same sort of thing at the time.  I'm probably coloring my memory of the New Teen Titans books with some nostalgia, as I haven't read those in a long time, but I have read Uncanny X-Men much more recently.  The X-Men was much better written under Claremont at that time than what Levitz has here. 

Some of it is just the stilted dialog.  Levitz has a double impediment of that being how comics at that time were written, but on top of that he's trying to write for a cast of characters a thousand years in the future, which means he's trying to come up with some futuristic, G rated language that isn't the expletives of today but aren't so alien as to be incomprehensible.  In that regard a near future like Azzarello's Spaceman is a bit easier to write, morphing current language bit into something new but understandable.  Of course, Azzarello's writing for adults and can use adult expletives that flow more naturally from his characters than just about anything that comes out of the LOSH cast.

What I don't get is why anyone liked this cast.  They weep incessantly.  When they're not weeping they're alternately self pitying or exploding in fits of misdirected anger.  Most of the male cast are horse's asses.  Only Blok comes across as someone I would think anyone would want to spend some time.  Maybe Colossal Boy.  Element Lad, Solar Boy, Braniac 5, Wildfire, Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Karate Kid, and Star Boy are all jerks.  Only Braniac 5 makes any sense in being presented that way, what with his vast intellectual superiority.  The others are just emotionally stunted, which is weird because they're all adults in their 20s.  Hell, most of them are paired off with female members of the team in some long term relationship, with Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl even being married.  I would have hoped that women a thousand years from 1982 would have better self esteem, especially when they're so obviously capable of so much with their various powers.  Don't even get me started on the weird concept of treason involved with the imprisonment of Chameleon Boy and his daddy issues. 

Lightning Lad has a hissy fit and decamps from his role as leader, putting Element Lad in as temporary leader.  He has his own series of whining decisions but still wants the job full time, only to lose the election to Dream Girl.  She doesn't seem to have much to offer beyond not being one of the dumb ass males in the group.  Fortunately she does her job as leader without the complaining that we had throughout the book to that point.  Really, the book would have been considerably better if it just started with the Annual and went through the Darkseid saga and the two additional issues tacked on at the end.  The characters were considerably more tolerable with Dream Girl in the lead and the art was a lot better with Giffen at the helm.

Batman #19 – A Review Part 4 of 4 – The Week of April 10 in Review

To round out the week I wanted to give my opinion on Batman #19 by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo. I love this book, yet it is not as good as I want it to be.

The Court of Owls stuff was decent, but the whole Thomas Wayne angle felt as though Scott was going for the big change, then backed off on it at the end. Personally I did not like Bruce having a new brother added to continuity, but what the heck, odder things have been done. Also this is the New 52 and continuity has been lost to the ether. The Court of Owls story inside of the Batman comic alone was well done. The problems I had outside of the brother for Bruce was the fact that Batman never knew about this organization and that he used an almost Iron Man type armor to have to win the day. It felt too “unBatman” like for me.

The next major arc was the Death of the Family. I thought the overall story again went too far. The Joker was doing so many things and set up such an elaborate plan that if felt like we lost that believability envelope that all comics are wrapped in. Perhaps upon a re-read with just the Batman book itself it will be better. A comic can have all sorts of madness, but there are still lines and I thought the book crossed the line. The actual consequence was also very, very tame and lame as hell. I mean everyone had a hissy fit and got mad at Bruce because he had a secret. WTF, Batman had secrets. That is not a shock. Batman not telling his associates everything is the way he operates. Again it felt like Scott was going for something bigger and then pulled back.

Scott is a fantastic writer and I keep wondering if he is over reaching with his stories or if DC editorial is impacting what he is trying to do with the book. Given how much DC editorial has interfered in all of the titles, it is a fair question and one that will never be answered. Of course my expectations for Scott are so damn high that I judge him harsher and hold him to a higher standard then I do many writers.

As for the art, Greg Capullo was a choice I was a little worried about because his Spawn was outrageous and felt like not the right fit for Batman. I was dead wrong, his Batman work is fantastic. Also he is producing almost every issue of the book. It has none of these five pages done by someone else or the rotating artists’ game. Capullo’s run has been nothing short of astounding so far and I look forward to more of it over the coming months. Heck this maybe the last book standing for me from DC.

Now getting back to Scott, his Detective Comics run was one of the best Batman stories done in a long time. Morrison’s and Snyder’s Batman have given us some of the best work done on the character in decades. I hope Snyder’s run improves and I hopeful he will hit it out of the park even my super high expectations.

As for this issue itself, I need to re-read it. I liked it, but once again I was slightly frustrated as it did not hold together for me on one reading. Bruce Wayne walks out of a bank and has a showdown with Commissioner Gordon. As he rides away his Batman costume is seen under his shirt. We flashback six days and over the course of an adventure we find out that this Bruce Wayne is Clayface. Clayface apparently can now get a DNA sample and actually become that person. Does that mean his has their memories and thoughts or what? Does he know Bruce’s secret identity? In many ways I guess I just need to read the second part before I judge it. The bottom line is the Snyder/Capullo Batman is one of DC’s top series, if not the best series they have going. I can’t wait for the Absolute collections down the road and we need one for the Black Mirror story.

Buy it. 

Polarity #1 – A Review – Part 3 of 4 – The Week of April 10 in Review

I know this is not officially this week, but the comic shop I deal with sent me a copy of this comic and told me I needed to read this book. Rusty was right.

                                        

Polarity #1 (of 4) is by Max Bemis and Jorge Coelho and is about a person’s descent into madness.  The writer is the front man for a band called Say Anything, which means nothing to me as I do not stay up to date with bands. I listen to alternative rock and pop stuff, if I like it I’ll do a Shazam capture and download it, but knowing what bands are what, not so much. Why we have had what seems to be a rash of band members wanting to write comics is beyond me. Of course the theory is that we all have at least one good story and this maybe this is the one for Bemis.

First off let’s talk about the art. The art is excellent. Where the heck these companies are finding all of these great artists is beyond me. My guess is that the page rates are getting suppressed to lower and lower numbers because the advent of the internet has people competing for doing the art from anywhere in the world. The style of the art is very nice. I’m currently following Todd The Ugliest Kid and the artwork is similar, while not quite as good. The story telling is great, the art is rich and full of details and every crazy element is pulled off.

Secret Service #6 (of 6) – A Review Part 2 of 4 The Week of April 10 in Review

Secret Service #6 (of 6) by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons is one of the most unoriginal pieces of work I have read in a very long time. Yet it accomplishes what I believe the book is meant to be and that is entertainment. It was entertaining as hell.

First off I believe this book is the end of the Icon Imprint. Meant as a vanity project for some of Marvel’s bigger writers it gave them a creator owned outlet and Marvel just served as publisher of the imprint. Outside of perhaps having the books as part of their catalog I don’t believe Marvel outlaid any money to the creators. I think it was Bendis, Brubaker and Millar as the only people to us Icon. After Brubaker and Phillips took Fatale to Image and it has sold way better then Criminal did under the Icon Imprint, I think the wheels feel off the cart for the Icon label. Now Millar’s next project is coming out under the Image banner and I believe that leaves Bendis with Powers and maybe Scarlet is still being published as Icon’s only books. Image has become the go to publisher and the names being published by Image are a who’s who in comics.

Sex #2 - A Review Part 1 of 4 The Week of April 10 in Review

This week I decided to do more in-depth reviews of a few titles instead of hitting a bunch of books with shorter blurbs or comments. I hate to ever lock myself into a format. Another reason is this was a huge week for me with about 35 titles coming in so there is no way I was going to have everything read in order to do my normal Monday and Tuesday post.

Of course before we jump into the fire we need to briefly speak of next week. The clean and simple list is here, from Cosmic Comics and the detailed listing is here at Midtown Comics. For me the top five books I’m looking forward to the most are Todd The Ugliest Kid, Chew, Wonder Woman, Miniature Jesus and Conan. Looks to be a rather light week and nowhere near as strong as last week but damn if Todd the Ugliest Kid is not the best mini-series so far this year.

Sex #2 by Joe Casey (writer), Piotr Kowalski (artist) and Brad Simpson (colorist) was a great issue. I like where this series is going and enjoy the tone of the book. The book is laced with titillation (a great word) and skates on being labeled pornographic by many people. In fact if I still had a comic book store I would be leery of how I had it for sale.  As a 50 plus year old heterosexual male nothing in this book is vulgar or degenerate. It is a more open and honest portrayal of sex for some pages then we are used to seeing. Also Joe sprinkles in plenty of sexual undertones in the dialogue. Whether that is 100% intentional or if it is my mindset when I’m reading the book it is an open question. The bottom line; this is a good story and Joe is just pushing the envelope with comics by putting sex front and center as opposed to violence. Why even graphic violence is considered okay, but we all (myself included at times) gasp at sex acts says a lot about American culture and the odd social taboos we have developed.

Preview of the Week of April 10 in Review

This week consists of four detailed reviews instead of the massively long short commentaries of everything I read. Consistency in a format is something I actually strive against.

                

Some snippets from each post:

Sex #2 - A Review Part 1 of 4 The Week of April 10 in Review

What I enjoy about so many comic book stories is how they all rely on various iconic super heroes to give us a short hand method of understanding them. In this book the main character Simon Cooke is playing a Batman role. We understand the character from the jump because we all have a working knowledge of Batman. We see Simon as a hero who retired and lost the battle for the soul of the city. He has come back to run his industrial empire. What caused him to retire and what has created all the uncertainty in him is being revealed in drips and drabs. Will he be pulled back into the life or will he be able to adjust to just being the CEO.