Weekly Round-Up #19

Archive, Capsules, Reviews

Best Comic of the Week:

The Unwritten #12

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Kurt Huggins, and Zelda Devon

This is easily the best issue of The Unwritten so far.  I have been enjoying the series quite a bit, especially the Rudyard Kipling issue, but this one blows them all out of the water.

This stand-alone is set in the Willowbank Wood, a fictional, magical place populated by happy talking animals.  It’s meant to be a mash-up of the fictional worlds of Beatrix Potter, AA Milne, and others of the type.  Mister Bun, our rabbity hero, was not an original inhabitant of the wood, nor was he a creation of Eliza Mae Hertford, the author of the books set in the wood.  Instead, he was a man named Pauly Bruckner, who had somehow crossed Wilson Taylor, and banishment to this fictional world was his punishment.

The book consists of Mr. Bun’s schemes to escape back to the real world.  Finally, he decides that the best way to do it would be to confront Miss Liza, the child-version Hertford had written herself as.  Much of what makes this comic so great is watching the foul-mouthed Mr. Bun interact with the truly fictional characters.  There are some very funny scenes.

The biggest strength of this issue is its art.  Gross, with the finishing and colouring of Huggins and Devon, has created a very beautiful comic.  The pages look like they were done in watercolour, and the animals have very expressive and human faces.  This book looks like the old ‘Green Forest’ cartoons, if they’d been well done.

Other Notable Books:

Chew #10

Written by John Layman
Art by Rob Guillory

This issue wraps up the International Flavor arc, as Chu’s rescue mission becomes increasingly complicated by the appearance of other players with vested interests in the Galsaberry issue on the island of Yama-Palu.

Layman has layered this story quite nicely, as he has stuffed each issue with twists and reversals.  This issue features pro-chicken guerrillas, angry frog farmers, a vampire (maybe), alien fruit, sibling rivalry, and a budding romance.  Of course, the most surprising twist is that Chu’s boss is nice to him.

Earlier, I worried that this book was a one-hit wonder kind of comic, but with each issue, Layman is drawing me further and further into his story.  If you haven’t tried this title yet, I suggest you give it a try.

Daytripper #5

by Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá

I really love this series.  This issue features Brás at the age of eleven, when his time was split between his home in Sao Paulo and week-ends and holidays spent at his mother’s parents’ ranch in the countryside.

As with previous issues, there is a high degree of magical realism in the way the story is told.  The comic opens with Brás telling the story of his birth as he has been told it, how his mother sang his way out of the womb, and how his arrival in the world heralded the resumption of electricity in a city that had been blacked out.  It is how he came to have the nickname ‘Little Miracle’, and how he came to have a special source of confidence and ‘specialness’.

Brás time on the ranch is spent playing with cousins and just hanging out with a large extended family.  Moon and Bá are able to evoke many memories and emotions of childhood, while adding another layer to Brás’s life.  What struck me in particular was the discovery that Brás and his father had a much easier relationship with each other when he was young; I wonder if we are going to see the point where that turned in a future issue.

As always, the art in this book is stunning.  Bá and Moon have surpassed all their other work with this series.

DMZ #52

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Riccardo Burchielli

So how do you react when you feel you’re responsible for a nuclear explosion on American soil?  Matty is looking for ways to redeem himself, and is making some very strange conclusions about the best way to do that.  He wants to return the dogtags of the dead soldiers he found in a crashed helicopter last issue (wonderfully illustrated on the cover by John Paul Leon), even though he knows it means crossing a very hostile city and speaking with American Army soldiers who are probably going to be less than happy to see him.

When Wood has Matty out in the city, it reminded me of stories I’d read about life in Sarajevo during the war there.  Matty is terrified of crossing Broadway, which has become a ‘river of blood’ separating the east from the west side of the city.  There is a real sense of menace in these scenes, where every person is a potential threat.

This series is consistently entertaining and impressive.

Fables #94

Written by Bill Willingham
Art by Mark Buckingham and Steve Leialoha

After two issues of interlude in Haven (and some noticeable schedule issues), we’re back on the Farm, picking up right where we last saw our assembled heroes, as the Blue Fairy suddenly shows up and goes after Geppetto, although Pinocchio has more than a few issues to resolve with his ‘mother’ and intervenes.

What follows is more of the same from the more recent pre-Haven issues.  The collected Fables are making preparations to deal with Mister Dark, Geppetto is working to take over, Frau Totenkinder is collecting intelligence on Mister Dark, as is Ozma’s cat.  There is plenty of realpolitick taking place on the farm these days, and it’s interesting to sit back and watch.

This issue features a cover by Joao Ruas, and it’s the first one since James Jean left that has really popped off the stand, or has done something new with regards to logo layout and general design.

Forgetless #4

Written by Nick Spencer
Art by Jorge Coelho and Marley Zarcone

I’ve been enjoying Forgetless from the start.  Spencer has put together a very interesting cast of characters, and the way in which each issue’s lead story has focused on a different protagonist has kept my interest much more than a more linear tale of this nature would.

In this issue, we learn a lot more about the guy in the panda suit that was shot in the first issue.  It turns out that he is a famous late night television host who has a sex addiction, and who has taken to finding assignations on Craig’s List.  The panda suit is to protect his identity during these encounters.  I will admit to wondering how sex could be pleasurable in a full-body furry suit, as it doesn’t seem like there are zippers in the lower front region….

The back-up story continues to feature Darla and her New Jersey friends, who finally make it to Forgetless, the club night that has provided the setting or raison d’etre of the series, only to find that their fake IDs are not as effective as they had hoped.

I’m very much looking forward to the conclusion of this series next month.

Kill Shakespeare #1

Written by Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col
Art by Andy Belanger

I’m pleased to see that IDW has given this new twelve-issue series such a push.  It’s rare to see a lot of attention going to new talents, especially when their project is as original as this one here.

Kill Shakespeare is a unique concept, even if it owes a certain something to Fables and/or The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.  Basically, Hamlet is upset about his father’s death, and is feeling quite guilty about his part in Polonius’s death (which would make sense, seeing as he is the person who killed him).  This comic begins when Hamlet is sent to England, along with his friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, all part of the new king, Claudius’s plot to do away with him.

Hamlet has been suffering some bad dreams lately (understandable, right), and after pirates somewhat conveniently attack his vessel, Hamlet ends up in the castle of Richard III, who needs his help.  He wants Hamlet to kill an evil wizard named Will Shakespeare, and thus the plot of the series is established.

This issue is really just about setting up the following eleven, but it is interesting in the way in which the authors are playing with Shakespeare’s classic characters (the Three Witches also appear).  Belanger’s art works well here – it’s a little cartoonish in approach, and reminds me a bit of Phillip Bond or Glyn Dillon.  I think I’ll definitely pick up the next issue.

The Light #1

Written by Nathan Edmondson
Art by Brett Weldele

I pre-ordered this comic based on the strength of Edmonson’s recent Image series Olympus, which was an enjoyable look at updating some Greek myths.  I’ve also read a lot of Weldele’s work, some of which I enjoyed a great deal (Couscous Express, The Surrogates) and some of which has left me kind of cold (Julius, Shot Callerz).

Anyway, I was quite impressed with this first issue.  Coyle is an alcoholic, wife-beating welder who loses his job at the beginning of the book.  He makes his way home to be avoided by his teenage daughter and lectured by his mother, who he is living with.  Things look rather bleak for this jerk, and he doesn’t feel like the type of hero comics are usually centred on.  Then he hears his neighbour screaming for help, and admonishing him to not ‘look at the light’.  Suddenly, this guy glances at a street light, and is quickly burned up in a strange white fire.

Coyle still has his welding goggles around his neck, and is therefore safe.  He goes home to rescue his family, and the book suddenly becomes an interesting variation on the typical zombie/apocalypse type of story.  What makes this interesting is that it is impossible to avoid light in our modern society, especially at night.  When Coyle tries to steal a car, he realizes that the dome light in the roof makes it a hazard.

This issue is illustrated by the good Weldele.  His stuff has its customary Ben Templesmith feel to it, and it is much clearer and easier to follow than it often can be.  I find whenever his work is coloured, it is much easier to read, and more enjoyable.  This is a fine looking book.

Edmondson’s essay on interconnectivity at the back gives the reader some hints as to his theme, and I’m very curious to see where he takes this story next.

Prime Baby

by Gene Luen Yang

This is definitely not the usual type of book that I like to buy, as it is written for a younger audience.  However, I really enjoyed Yang’s other work, such as American Born Chinese and The Eternal Smile, and figured that since this is a relatively inexpensive book, it was worth taking a chance on.

The comic strips collected here (this book reminds me a lot of those old Garfield collections I used to read as a kid in it’s formatting) at the pace of four or five panels a page were originally published in the New York Times Magazine, and tell the story of young Thaddeus, a third grader with dreams of world domination.  When Thaddeus’s little sister Maddie is born, he suffers some serious sibling rivalry issues, and becomes convinced that she is an alien baby.

As it turns out, he’s not far off the mark, as small slug-like aliens start coming out of her mouth.  Thaddeus prepares to go to war, figuring this is the opportunity for global takeover he’s been looking for, but sadly, the aliens are emissaries of smiles and happy feelings.  Hilarity ensues.

Yang has a very charming style.  It is hard to resist the charms of his characters and his simple drawings.  This book is not anywhere near as good as American Born Chinese was, but it is a fun little read.

Wolfskin: Hundredth Dream #1

Written by Warren Ellis and Mike Wolfer
Art by Gianluca Pagliarani

I enjoyed the original Wolfskin series and the Annual issue well-enough, so I figured it was time to journey back to Ellis’s take on sword and sorcery barbarian stories.

This new series, like the Annual issue, is based on a story by Ellis, but really written by Mike Wolfer, who, aside from an over-wordy introduction, does a fine job of maintaining the integrity of the original appearances of this character.

This new series is more concerned than previous ones with the growing popularity and commonality of science in the world.  People who made their livelihoods through magic, like the fire mage who drives the plot here, are finding themselves increasingly obsolete.  When a letter comes from his homeland telling of regular monster attacks, the mage puts together a group of ‘questers’ to go free his people.  Included in this group is the Wolfskin character (I don’t remember if he has a name or not).

The art this time around is being handled by Pagliarani, who did such a wonderful job on Ellis’s Ignition City.  His art looks nice here, but he doesn’t have the same freedom to design the books visual aesthetic, like he did in his earlier series.

Quick Takes:

Adventure Comics #10 – I have nothing to say about this, except that Paul Levitz can’t come quickly enough.

Brightest Day #0 – Why is this a zero issue instead of a number one?  So, it looks like Boston Brand is going to be Jacob to the other returnees’ Candidates, but there’s not much more than that being revealed yet.  Pasarin does a good job on the art, but the story is a little plodding.  We’ll see what it’s like when the series really gets started….  I also want to mention that I hate Hawk.  It just needs to be said.

Daredevil #506 – This arc has Daredevil in Japan trying to consolidate his control of The Hand, while the other daimyo move against him.  It’s pretty standard stuff, but it’s well written and has decent art.  There’s just not much to say about it.  Except for the cover, which is stunning…

Flash #1 – I’m on the fence for this one.  I’ve never been a Barry Allen fan (Wally is my Flash), and I didn’t really see the need for him to return to the DCU.  In this first issue, Johns has him returning quickly to what I believe was the status quo in the 70’s:  Barry works in the crime lab and uses his Flash powers to solve mysteries; Barry trades quips and bon mots with Iris in the Central City equivalent of Clark and Lois; there’s stuff going on with the Rogues.  Really?  Again?  I usually really like Manapaul’s art, but it seems more cartoony here than usual.  My feeling has always been that the Flash comics work best when they embrace the family or fraternal bonds among the speedsters, and that’s completely lacking in this book.  I’ll give it a few more issues…

New Mutants #12 – I get it that this book basically just exists to pad out the X-line and to be subsumed into crossover after crossover, but you would think they would at least put one of the title characters on the cover.  This is standard crossover stuff; nothing too significant happens, except that they bring back Cameron Hodge’s ridiculous Mojo cyborg scorpion look, which I hated back in the day.

Powers # 4 – Is it just me, or is there something really weird about the new Powers?  When I read the book, I enjoy it well enough; Bendis’s dialogue is as Bendis-y as ever, and Oeming’s work looks fantastic.  Then I finish the book, and I can’t really think of much that has happened in it.  The plot is just meandering all over the place, and it’s hard to feel like there’s anything like a plan for this.  The cover this month, however, is one of the best ones Oeming’s ever done – it’s like he’s channeling Dave Johnson or something.

Savage Sword of Ajax #1 – Yet another black and white anthology featuring a character that, while perhaps liked, has never had much in the way of a comics oeuvre, at least before Bendis and company brought him out of obscurity.  These three stories (and one prose story) are exactly what you would expect: lots of killing.  The writing is nothing to write home about, but the art, by CP Smith, Jefte Palo, and Ted McKeever, is excellent.

Secret Six #20 – This month is more mean-spirited than most, without much of the usual humor to temper things, but I did love the confrontation between Bane and Scandal, and Simone’s continued exploration of Thomas Blake’s psyche.

Siege: Captain America #1 – Making these Siege one-offs $3 instead of $4 was a good idea, as it caused me to buy two that I might not have otherwise picked up.  This issue is a decent piece of work, showing the two Captain Americas in a short moment between scenes, following the collapse of Asgard.  They set about trying to rescue people, including a local family, and Christos Gage uses the scenario he set up (which features Razorfist, so it has to be cool) to explore the differences between the two men and their approach to being a hero.  Dallocchio’s artwork is very good; I would like to see more from him.

Siege: Loki #1 – Gillen and McKelvie should get a regular book.  I was unimpressed with McKelvie’s first two issues of Thor, but this is fantastic stuff, as we get to look back on Loki’s machinations and scheming, and find out what the real reason for his manipulating Osborn into attacking Asgard really was.  Great stuff here!

Siege: Young Avengers #1 – Something really needs to be done with these characters, but I don’t really think this is it.  McKeever is supposed to be a master at writing teen characters, but this is only a little better than his run on Teen Titans.  Some of his portrayals of these characters are completely off – Wiccan is not usually so whinging, Patriot so indecisive, and Speed so concerned.

Comics I Would Have Bought if They Weren’t $4:

Farscape Scorpius #0

Punisher Max #6

Shield #8

Ultimate Comics Enemy #3

Bargain Comics:

Punisher Max #4-5 – Aaron’s Punisher is way too decompressed to be $4 an issue.  This is some pretty bloody stuff, and it seems like he’s working to create the Marvel status quo in the Max line, what with Fisk becoming the Kingpin and Bullseye showing up, complete with his stupid forehead carving.  Do we need two of that?

The Secret History Book 1: Genesis

Written by Jean-Pierre Pécau
Art by Igor Kordey

This was a project that interested me right from the first time I’d heard of it, but for whatever reason, I never picked up the first issue, and then didn’t want to read the rest of the series out of order.  Now that the series has been published in omnibus format, it seems that a few people are unloading the original issues on Ebay.

The premise behind The Secret History is that four siblings hold four runestones of immeasurable power.  They were given them by a dying tribal elder (this all happened five millennia ago), and this guy warned them that one person can never use the stones at the same time (regardless of the fact that he was wearing them all).  When they ignore his advice, they set off a minor cataclysm, and set humanity back some.

After that, the story jumps to Egypt in 1350 BCE, as Moses is having his conflict with the Egyptian Pharaoh.  Through reading this story, we learn that the two brothers from before are working behind the scenes, supporting the two sides, and manipulating events as the one attempts to gain power from the other.  It is through the power of the runes that the Old Testament miracles, such as the parting of the Red Sea, really occur.

I’m always a bit of a sucker for these types of alternate history books, where we learn the true cause of events.  I also like the idea that the series is set around the premise of revealing how the rivalry and distrust of these four siblings has shaped human history and politics.  It’s a golden concept, and it plays out well here.  This volume reminded me very much of the earlier Archaia graphic novel The Lone and Level Sands, which also retells the Moses myth, although from a very different vantage point.

Pécau’s writing works well, and I like Igor Kordey’s art here.  I know he is an artist that gained a certain level of notoriety for his often-rushed work on Grant Morrison’s New X-Men, but his stuff looks really good here.  I found in the preview that he was channeling some Barry Windsor-Smith kind of aesthetic, but the Egyptian scenes were much more in his own style.  Looking forward to Volume 2….

The Secret History Book 2: Castle of the Djinns

Written by Jean-Pierre Pécau
Art by Igor Kordey

This issue was a little disappointing compared with the first volume.  I found that it was a little harder to get a sense of who the characters were, and in some scenes, I really didn’t know who I was looking at.  That’s not just a fault of the artist, it has a lot to do with the lack of exposition as the story unfolded.

Now, I’m freely admitting that some of that confusion may be blamed on my ignorance of the time period depicted; the extent of my knowledge of the crusades comes from reading Tariq Ali’s “The Book of Saladin.”  I don’t know who Renaud of Châtillon is, nor do I know very much about the Knights Templar and the Grail quests of that time.  This book was originally published in France, where I would assume some of this is taught as part of the basic school curriculum.

The other issue I had with this book is the amount of time that has elapsed between volumes, and the incredulity of the concept that Djo’s runestone would have remained hidden for such a long stretch.

Once I look past that, the story is still intriguing.  I see that the next issue stays in the same time frame and geographic location, so perhaps more will become clear.

The Shield #4 – It’s no surprise that this title has been canceled.  Trautmann was doing a great job on the main story, and the art in the first three issues was spectacular.  With this issue, Cliff Richards took over, downgrading the art to decent, but the story has Brazilian Nazi robots, so it’s not like things are bad.  The Inferno back-up is not very interesting though, and that’s what’s ruined things.  Had this been $3 an issue, it would have been on my pull-list.

The Week in Graphic Novels:

McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #13

Edited by Chris Ware

This is the comics issue of McSweeney’s, which received a fair amount of attention when it was published in 2004 for showcasing a lot of up-and-coming talent in the arts comics field.  It contains a wide range of short comics and excerpts from longer pieces, as well as a few essays or memoirs about comic books, their history, or their influences on other artists or writers.

The biggest problem with reading this book for the first time six years after it was published is that I’ve read a lot of the material in here in its complete, finalized form.  This is not really a problem, as I am very happy to return to some of the works here, but it did limit the novelty of reading such a well-produced and designed hardcover with some of my favorite ‘independent’ artists contained in it.

Ware and company have assembled a very interesting collection, with contributions from people like Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings), Joe Sacco (The Fixer),Charles Burns (Black Hole), Art Spiegelman (In the Shadow of No Towers), Chris Ware, and Los Bros. Hernandez.  There were also plenty of lesser-known cartoonists included, some of whose work I found irritating, while others were quite enjoyable.

Strangely, there was a very visible Canadian delegation to this collection, with and excerpt from Joe Matt’s Spent, David Collier’s strips about moving to Hamilton, and a long excerpt from Chester Brown‘s classic Louis Riel, detailing the death of Orangeman and agitator Thomas Scott, a pivotal moment in Riel’s story, and a great example of the genius of that book.

Some of the pieces that were new and interesting to me were Ben Katchor’s Hotel and Farm strips, one-pagers that dealt with those two topics; David Heatley’s Portrait of my Father; and Kim Deitch’s Ready to Die, about a man on Death Row.  I also really enjoyed Chip Kidd’s memoir on friendships and Batman merchandise.

Of course, as with any anthology like this, there were plenty of things that I either had no interest in, or just flat-out hated (I’m looking at you Kaz), but overall, this was a very worthy purchase.

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics

This slim book contains thirteen black and white short stories of remarkably consistent quality.

The ‘noir revival’ of recent years in comics has been a very welcome thing.  Books like Criminal have reinvigorated interest in the genre, and many top talents are beginning to write and draw stories that can be considered ‘noir’.  This book is not simply an attempt to cash in on the whole thing (like Marvel has with their Noir line), but is instead a sampling of creators already working in the genre, or are otherwise up and comers or big names in the crime comics category.

This book does feature some established properties, such as a Criminal short by Brubaker and Phillips that is completely stand-alone in terms of characters and plotting.  There is a Mister X story by Dean Motter, a Kane story by Paul Grist, and a Stray Bullets story by David Lapham (featuring Virgina Applejack, no less!).

The rest of the book features work by personal favorites such as Jeff Lemire, who returns to a farm setting for a dark-hearted little tale; MK Perker (from Air); and Brian Azzarello, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá retell a familiar story about a heist and a necklace from the thief’s perspective.

Also included in the book is a story by Rick Geary (of course – it wouldn’t be a Dark Horse compilation if he wasn’t in it) and Eduardo Barreto, Stefano Gaudiano, Kano, Gary Phillips, and others.  This book makes me pine for the days of Dark Horse Presents (the non-Myspace version), where I could revel in a collection of short stories that were almost always at this level of quality.

This book is only $13 – that’s one dollar per story.  I highly recommend picking it up, and hope to see more produced in this fashion.

The Hellboy Project: Hellboy Vol. 2: Wake the Devil

by Mike Mignola

I’m continuing to work my way through Hellboy in the order of original publication, which means I’ve read about half of the third volume before I got to this book, which collects the second Hellboy mini-series.  I’m quite glad I read it that way, as there are a few things that wouldn’t have been as clear had I read the different volumes in order.

This second story seems a bit messy to me.  Hellboy and a BPRD team travel to Romania to deal with the expected return of Vladmir Giurescu, a vampire previously believed to have been destroyed by the Nazi scientists and occultists who made up Project Ragna Rok.  The teams split up, and Hellboy, working alone, discovers Giurescu, and Rasputin.

It is clear throughout this series that Mignola is working on building something much larger than a simple ‘Hellboy hunts and destroys a monster’ structure, and so we get the various agendas of Giurescu, Rasputin, Nazi beauty Ilsa Hauptmann, Greek goddess Hecate, Russian fairy tale Baba Yaga, and a few other baddies. Hellboy puts it best at the end when he says, “I was right in the middle of this thing, and I think I just saw the tip of the iceberg.”

What I found most strange is the way in which Mignola introduces and develops characters, such as some of the BPRD guys, and then dispatches them rather callously.  Also, this volume has the first appearance of the Homonculus named Roger, who later appears in BPRD, but his story is cut off quite abruptly and then not returned to.  I recognize that this is the first long story Mignola wrote on his own, so I’m willing to overlook a few inconsistencies.  As usual, his art here is awesome.

Albums of the Fortnight (since I forgot to do this last week):

Madlib Medicine Show No. 3 – Beat Konducta in Africa

Mulatu Astatke – Mulatu Steps Ahead

Get in touch and share your thoughts on what I've written: jfulton@insidepulse.com