Maggie the Mechanic
by Jaime Hernandez


The earlier stories in this collection don't feel very focused, but they are still fun, and by the end of this book the world and characters are in sharp relief. Even secondary characters get fleshed out with backgrounds, complex motivations, etc.

Maggie and Hopey are two young women living in Southern California. In many ways their world reflects the real world of the early/mid eighties, when these stories were created. Mexican-American and punk/hardcore elements are most evident. There are also many invented and fantastic elements, too. There are countries like Zymbodia, there are dinosaurs, rocketships, etc. These elements never take the focus off the characters.

Maggie is a mechanic. Having grown bored with fixing cars and such, she's landed a job fixing rockets and robots. She's the assistant to famed "prosolar mechanic" Rand Race, for whom she quickly falls. (These stories originally appeared in the periodical "Love & Rockets", which Jaime shared with his brothers, and here we've got both love and rockets.) This job takes her to exotic foreign lands and introduces her to many strange and entertaining individuals.

Hopey plays bass in a punk band. Physically she's the "pixie" type, tiny and pretty, but she's the biggest hellraiser of her circle, and the most emotionally jaded/guarded. She'll tell off people several times her size or throw a bottle at a cop, but she keeps most non-violent feelings close to her chest.

Other characters include Hopey's bandmates, their older and disturbed friend Izzy, Daffy the flighty Japanese girl, Izzy's brother and Maggie's crush Speedy, bombshell Penny Century, horned billionaire H.R. Costigan, and many many more. In fact, one of the back pages has a cast of characters with 63 portraits.

The stories range from short, comedic slice-of-life vignettes to adventure yarns to intimate character portraits. Jaime Hernandez does all of these well, and you reading them you understand why this series has remained popular and influential for decades.

Jaime's art style is clean and smooth, though he sometimes uses a lot of fine lines and crosshatching, esp. to convey grittiness. I can see the influence of Ditko and Mobius, which are both good things IMO. He draws a wide variety of people. Most of his women are attractive, but they're different. He also draws places and things very well. You have no problem recognizing Maggie & Hopey's neighborhood as a sunny, urban, aging locale. The level of detail is just right.

Serenity: Those Left Behind
By Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews, Will Conrad, Laura Martin


This story takes place between the TV series and the movie. It feels much like an episode of the show, maybe a two-parter. The dialog and story beats fit. Will Conrad and Laura Martin make the characters look like the actors.

The art is strong. It conveys the same world, the same "look" as the show. Martin's colors are an equal part of the equation with Conrad's pencils/inks. The lighting effects add to the dramatic quality, and some of the space scenes would be hard to follow without the colors to distinguish and shape the objects on the page.

I liked the story, but it wasn't quite like the show. Some film properties translate well to books. (I've enjoyed several Star Wars novels.) I'm not sure that Firefly is one of them. I didn't like the movie b/c i felt it departed too much from the show, thematically and stylistically. This comic matches the show better, but the intangibles added by the cast are missing. A new Firefly comics series has begun recently. I'll try it and see if this trend continues.

The detail and "realism" of the art detracts from the storytelling, IMO. The characters look mostly like the people from the show, the sets look like the sets, etc., but there isn't much sense of movement. I don't know why not b/c i'm not sure what makes static images in panels convey motion in the first place. It happens in lots of comics, but it doesn't happen here, or it doesn't happen often enough that it stood out to me. Or maybe it's just that no drawing of Inara can ever be as gorgeous as the "real" Inara

Short Reviews for the Week of April 25th, 2008 A.D.

Number of the Beast #2 - It starts with two superheroes having sex in a cheap motel room. Turns out Honeybee has a real stinger, and it freaks Aeronaut out. How very naughty. I am shocked and/or impressed at this comic's flaunting of convention. It would have been funnier if it had turned him on. Basically, the heroes get more of a clue re: they're living in a VR program. Great art and character designs from Chris Sprouse. A "dramatis personae" page or "handbook"-type backup would be appreciated.







Fables #72 - Cinderella can kick all kinds of ass. I love how Willingham makes his characters very capable, without turning them into Mary Sues. Now that they've told us the war has started, the next issue better be about the war, or this book will officially be an annoying tease.











Birds of Prey #117 - I'm just a mark for these characters. I can't explain why. Even for Misfit. All Zinda has to do is show up and i'm like "Zinda is awesome." The bad guys in this issue look goofy (pinstripes? spiky mohawk? lizardman with suspenders?) but they still come off as legit. That's no mean feat. What happened with Superman? This was a fun comic.









The Spirit #16 - It's definitely a different comic now. I'm not sure if i dig it. It's still done-in-ones, which is good, but they're kinda generic. They could happen to just about any superhero; they don't feel particularly Spirit-y. The art is great.












Dynamo 5 #12 - This one picks up directly from #11 and it's all action, baby. It's a freightload of fistacuffs. There's a villain with a skull head here. That is always cool. On the last page we have an unexpected and nicely bizarre twist. I really like this comic.












Shadowpact #24 - Generally i think the "legacy" thing is played out, but sometimes it works, like this issue and JSA. But i could be prejudiced b/c these other Shadowpacts look really cool. There's a 19th century pugilist, complete with twirly mustache, and some dudes who look like they 'ported over from Marvel 2099. Phil Winslade is awesome. The Sun King is a great idea for a villain. He's come off consistently creepy throughout the series. He could work in a D&D campaign. Blue Devil's "brother" looks totally sickass without his scarf-deal. Another good issue.

Week of April 9th Short Reviews

Wonder Woman #19

Pretty durn good. I'm not familiar with this Bernard Chang, but he's really good. I like how he gets more crosshatchy on the Green Lantern in this issue; tells me this guy is more ragged than your average big-eyed blue alien. Not sure about Wonder Woman's decision at the end re: the Khund princess; a lot of potential bad there. And if i read this right, it's now kinda WW's job to pacify the Khunds?







Green Lantern Corps #23

I said this one was on the bubble for me, and this issue keeps it on my list at least another month. Mongul's monologues are boring, but his machinations are interesting. The assembling of the "team" took a bit too long. Did the Guy Gardner gag need a whole page? I love Stel. There is something about a partially disassembled, sentient, 1950s-looking robot that appeals directly to the little fanboy in me. Nice MST3K reference, too. I like all the characters on this mission. These are the folks i want to see in this book, and the types of adventures. (Kyle Raynor i could take or leave.) Gleason's art is great as always. I like his alien people & tech designs.

Justice Society of America #14

This was superhero slugfest goodness. It was deftly done. It's a simple, classic way to structure a superbrawl: hey reader, here's all these characters you like, here's a bit of interaction to remind you why you like them so much. wait, what's that? oh shit, some big dude's beating them up! they have to rally against this big guy, and several of the good guys get their individual bad-ass moments. Good stuff. My only real criticism is that they spent four pages explaining that Gog ain't the same guy blowing hearts out of folks in Countdown & Pissing on Jack Kirby's Legacy, i mean, Death of the New Gods. saying "that's the only way to kill a god" was a neat and effective way of explaining the coincidence.


This was a DC-heavy week for me; three DCs, one DC imprint, and an Image.

Week of April 9th Short Reviews

Number of the Beast #1
Usually i'm not one for comics by WildStorm, or comics with Biblical allusions in their titles (especially allusions from Revelations), but all the previews of Chris Sprouse's character designs on newsarama hooked me. Sprouse is awesome.

The story begins at some sort of high-tech gov'mint facility, where a couple of schlubs are wheeling in a vat filled with red stuff. On their sleeves is modified American flag, with a "666" design where the stars ought to be. So right off the bat we know this series will feature Irony and at least oblique Political Commentary. (Personally, i think the altered flag should be an image of a donkey and an elephant, surrounded by bags of money and making out while pissing on the Constitution.)

It turns out this red stuff is actually the remains of a superhero, and the poor bastard is still alive. He's somehow connected to a sort of alternate reality, wherein sits a city, wherein dwell several superheroes.

Presumably all the characters in this artificial world are in virtual representations of people held in the high-tech gov'mint facility from page one. Everyone seems to believe that they are living in the real world, although some cracks are starting to show. The bad guys recur a bit too often, the normal citizens don't elicit real empathy, etc. Still, the only guy who seems truly to suspect that something is fundamentally wrong is a feller called Eidolon (that's Greek for ghost or phantom, with more specific meaning in Theosophy).

This world is called "The City" (if there's another name for it, i missed it). Yup, just like the Tick's hangout. And like the Tick's City, it also has a diner where superheroes hang out. It's a mythical 1950s/early 1960s type of setting. You know, the 1950s that's the subject of parodies and paeans in art, but never existed in reality. It's actually treated kind of neutrally here, it's just a sort of generically idyllic Americana place to keep these heroes virtually busy.

We don't know why these people are being put through this exercise. But since the guys who run the place use "666" as part of their logo, we know it's nefarious.

Our heroes here are the Paladins, a large team of (mostly) veteran superfolk. They all have a retro look and feel (which of course will be contrasted with the modern world before series end). We've got Engine Joe, who's either a cyborg or a guy in armor (he sleeps in his armor); the Trush and Falconette, classic winged adventurers; rocket guy Aeronaut, metal-skinned Black Anvil, etc. They fight such threats as the Saucerlings From Saturn's Moons (who are awesome, btw).

In one sense this is similar to Project Superpowers, where we have a lot of characters who fit various superhero types, and the thrust of the series is what's happening in and to their world more than the heroes themselves. It's the kind of thing you do if you want to write another Kingdom Come or Marvels, but you can't get access to the big marquee characters.

I'm not marked out for this, but it was fun, and i dig these characters. The designs of course are great, as is the art in general. The story is well structured (no mean feat in the 22-page format) and proceeds quickly while still giving us constructive character moments. According to the blurb on the last page, the next issue is only two weeks away, which is a big plus. I'm definitely intrigued enough to pick up the next issue. I wonder if there is a future for any of these characters beyond this series?

I don't normally do negative reviews, but i had high hopes for this one. My problems with this one are philosophical, really. The skill and craft of the people involved are not in question. They're good.

Aqua Leung
volume one
by Mark Smith and Paul Maybury
published by Image Comics


For this one i've got mixed feelings. It's an imaginative world. I read it straight through without setting it down once, so it drew me in. There are definitely some cool moments. I like the one arrow in the middle of a white page to signify the start of one huge battle. The art--brushwork and colors--are quite good.

What i didn't like was the sense of destiny. I really don't like destiny. It's very unheroic. Aqua, the titular character here, doesn't make any decisions. He's essentially kidnapped and taken to Atlantis, then trained against his will to fulfill a prophecy he knows nothing about. At some point he gives in and goes along with it. He never chooses anything for himself. What's his motivation? Why should i root for this guy?

The narrative is told to us by the Millennium Turtle. But first he needs to introduce himself, and tell us that he knows everything that ever has happened and everything that ever will happen, and nothing can change what will happen. So the dramatic tension is cut out from under us before the story even gets started. Everything is going to work out the way it's supposed to, b/c it has to happen that way. Again, that is entirely unheroic. What's heroic about being a cog in some cosmic machine? If that's how this universe works, then tell me about who/whatever wrote Fate, because they're the only real person in the story.

Apparently Aqua is going to get a series of mentors to help him prepare for each of his successive conquests. So he won't even be learning his own lessons, he'll have them handed to him. Now he's even less heroic.

And we aren't even told why it's a good thing that Aqua will conquer and "unite" all the kingdoms of the sea (that's the prophecy). Are they all ruled by bad guys, but he's gonna be a good guy? We might assume this, but he's told that his growing power will corrupt him (and since we know we're in a deterministic universe here, there's no reason not to believe it). So he'll be a corrupt ruler of all he surveys. Why should i root for that?

One last peeve. Aqua, though scion of Atlantis, is sent, Moses-style, to live in another land (ours), and raised by a kindly couple named Leung. They get killed early on and forgotten about. Later, Aqua kneels at the tomb of his Atlantean father, and says how much he misses him and wishes he had been able to know him. You see, that's his "real" dad, not the guy who raised him. That's malarkey. The one who raises you is your real parent. The other one is just a genetic contributor. Oh wait, this is all about destiny, so i guess that includes genetic destiny. So love and caring aren't important, it's all in the legacy. Gotcha. (We don't see his genetic mom's tomb, so i guess the moms don't matter when you're a predestined conqueror.)

Another Great Comic by Sfar

Klezmer
by Joann Sfar
published by :01 First Second

These characters--all itinerant musicians--live in a world that is openly hostile to them, yet also offers opportunities and a vagabond type of freedom. It's set in Eastern Europe in the nineteenth (?) century. Our lead characters are four Jews and one Gypsy. Both of those peoples were numerous and well established in the region, but definitely oppressed minorities.

There's something about the tragic religiosity of some Jewish traditions that really appeals to me. It doesn't avoid or whitewash the ugliness of life, nor does it wallow in it and thereby miss the beauty. It is deeply confident because it allows for so much doubt. There's something comforting about the idea that, when your faith is tested, you can say "this makes no sense, and pisses me off, but i still believe." It's more honest than pretending that we always understand everything and don't worry that things won't work out.

Sfar says in the essay at the end of the book that he purposefully made all of the characters un-religious. One of the two main protagonists, Yaacov, claims he's actually rejected God, though i wonder how sincere he is in that. Sfar does this to explore what it is to be Jewish apart from the religious practices. (Read the essay to get his take on this.) But i think it can apply in part to any faith: what is the essence of living life in light of deeply held beliefs? How much is dogma and how much is experience? Anyway, it seems like there's something "deep" here, or maybe i'm just taken in by the mystery of it. I am a sucker for paradoxes.

Sfar's drawing style is looser here than in anything else i've read by him. There are some elements that would be indecipherable without context. Those are rare, though. The watercolors add loads of mood, and give great impressions of light. It's not my favorite of his styles, but i enjoyed it.

Have i mentioned that Joann Sfar is the best comics discovery i've made in years? It's like when i found Paul Pope's THB at that store in Springdale: a whole new world of something different and inventive that clicks with me. That's the fangasm for me.

I guess i'll read The Rabbi's Cat next, and after that more Dungeon, which Sfar does with Lewis Trondheim.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye
by Alan Dean Foster

I wonder why i didn't read this as a kid? I remember seeing this and the Han Solo books, but didn't read them.

The copy i have says "copyright 1978 by The Star Wars Corporation." That puts it right after "Star Wars". So it's a more raw interpretation, without the further refinements of the later movies and novels.

Luke is a lot smarter here than he is in the movies. At times i wondered if this story wasn't intended for Han Solo at some point in its development. He not only seems more streetwise than his character on screen, but more than any farmboy ought to be. There's a scene in which Luke and Leia are trying to pass for manual laborers, and Luke knows exactly what parts of the Princess' demeanor to criticize. Sure growing up on a farm would give him appropriate mannerisms for such a task (speaking broadly), but it wouldn't make him conscious of those mannerisms, or teach him how to teach those mannerisms to someone else. (This is not a criticism of the book, just an observation.)

This resonates with the pulp sci-fi (space opera, planetary romance, etc.) that inspired the movies. That is very much a strength, IMO. That's where Star Wars gets the bulk of its appeal. That's where the fun and excitement come from. We could use more of that, done with honesty and joy.

On my goodreads pages, i put the Star Wars novels on my "fantasy" shelf b/c i think they're closer to heroic fantasy than science fiction, b/c there's loads of heroic fantasy stuff going on, and practically no science. Maybe instead i should make a shelf for things that use the trappings of sci-fi to tell fantastic stories? The Barsoom books would go there, too (big influence on SW)

The Things That Are Not There
a novel by C. J. Henderson

I bought this from the author at Stellarcon, in High Point. It combines hardboiled fiction with a horror mythology much like the Cthulhu mythos.

What i liked: The lead character, Theodore London, his sidekick Paul, and his weapons supplier, Pa'cha. I might like reading another story with those guys. Also, Lai Wan was cool. I think she was in a comic from Moonstone?

What i didn't like: I wanted a lot more atmosphere and sense of place. I wasn't sure at first if this story was taking ...more I bought this from the author at Stellarcon, in High Point. It combines hardboiled fiction with a horror mythology much like the Cthulhu mythos.

What i liked: The lead character, Theodore London, his sidekick Paul, and his weapons supplier, Pa'cha. I might like reading another story with those guys. Also, Lai Wan was cool. I think she was in a comic from Moonstone?

What i didn't like: I wanted a lot more atmosphere and sense of place. I wasn't sure at first if this story was taking place in the past or the present. Since both hardboiled and Lovecraftian stories often take place in the 20s/30s, that was the setting i assumed. It becomes clear, however, that the setting is actually the present day. (The weapons and the whole foods restaurant clinched it.) The lovecraftian elements made me expect more mood.

Give this one a try if you're a fan of fantastic horror or modern private detective tales.

Quick Reviews

Justice Society of America #13
I've got mixed feeling on the series right now. I don't like that it's focused on the KC Superman instead of the JSA, and this issue we have elements that tie into some of DC's meta-arcs, which takes even more time away from the titular characters. So i'm not happy with that. At least the current story is starting to move now. It's not bad, it's just not focused on the characters for which i buy the book. I'm just holding out until this story is over. If the next arc isn't about the JSA, i'll drop it.

Blue Beetle #24
AWESOME. This book is so very good. I can't say much about it without spoiling things, but there are more yahoo moments in this issue than in months and months worth of other comics.

Green Lantern Corps #21
This comic feels very different since SCW. Before that, it felt like it had its own identity: it's own stories, characters, subplots, etc. A lot of that climaxed in SCW (and it was cool to watch things like Ranx work into that story). It now feels like GLC is an annex to [i]Green Lantern[/i]. The only thread left over is the gradual change of the Guardians, and the larger prophecy, which i reckon will culminate in the Black Lantern story. I'm not sure if i like this book anymore.

Project Superpowers #1
I'm intrigued by this series. It's more the exploration of these characters than the story at this point. What i really want out of it is a cool new set of superheroes (new to me anyway), more than another [i]Kingdom Come[/i]/[i]Marvels[/i] -style Epic of Grand Import. There's something very appealing about these Golden Age characters, though whether it's something inherent, or something i'm projecting onto them (thinking maybe they could be as iconic/cool as their more successful GA peers) i'm not sure. The Green Lama has developed further powers over the decades. I like his setting; it's very pulpish in the [i]Lost Horizons[/i] tradition. I guess this Dynamic Man guy was a Superman/Capt. Marvel type of guy in the original comics?

Fables #70
Niko Henrichon provides fantastic fill-in art. There's a lot of great dialog here, as well as smart, fun character moments as the fables at the Farm have to make a decision about their futures. Little Boy Blue and Rose Red have some strong moments, too but i can't talk about them without spoiling them.

Atomic Robo #5
This is the best new series of the past year. It is so much fun, so well done, with sharp writing and very cool, stylized art that perfectly fits the tone. I've loved every issue of this series. This issue features some dungeon delving, and as RPGers know, that always ends in a big fight. In this case, it's a fight with evil combat cyborgs. Highly recommended.

Shadowpact #22
Phil Winslade's art is amazing. It works very well in the fantasy milieu of this issue. Nightmaster's story takes an unexpected turn at the end, but with the knowledge that the series is ending soon, it feels like a proper way of winding things down. I'll miss this book, since it's been fun and featured some characters i really liked.

Perhapanauts Annual #1
There are a handful of "paranormal" comics out there right now that combine various creatures from cryptozoology and weird folklore. This is the one that clicks for me. It feels like a lot of planning and "preproduction" went into it. The characters have multiple dimensions, the setting is fairly deep, and you can hear the gears of a larger story grinding away in the background without distracting from the here and now. This time our team of investigators--MG, a man who can move between worlds; Choopie the chupacabra; Arisa the telepath, Molly the girl ghost, and Big the Buddhist bigfoot--take on the legendary Jersey Devil.

Miranda Mercury #295
This comic manages to be both rollicking and thoughtful, which is a neat trick in and of itself. This does everything a first issue should do (the numbering is kind of a gag). It introduces the lead, her immediate supporting cast/sidekick, the world in which she operates, and the tone of the series. It's also a fun read. Miranda is "the greatest adventurer in this or any other galaxy", who has made a career out of doing the impossible. This time out she's trying to solve the puzzle that will free the legendary hero Rebel Ronin. The story starts in media res on two levels: first, by pretending that this is the 295th issue of an ongoing series, and secondly by starting this issue's story in the middle of a huge fight between Miranda and a gang of thugs. The narrative begins on the cover, in fact. Peaks of the next covers imply that this will continue throughout the series. Recommended.

What the Hell Con 2008

Friday night and all day Saturday i spent at What The Hell Con '08, hosted by Guilford College's Yachting Club. As those names would suggest, it's a rather wacky con, which is all good.

I spent part of my time there volunteering at my LCS's table in the dealers' room. There was a dad and a couple of small kids who were fun to talk to. The kids were so psyched to recognize characters they'd seen on TV. It's always great to see kids get excited about something that you liked as a kid. I also got to play a game of HeroClix with a guy who's a real enthusiast for the game. That was fun. It had been a long time since i'd played HC.

On Friday night they showed "Night of the Living Dead" on a big screen in the auditorium. A friend and i remarked on how much that movie nailed the zombie genre. They got everything right, and it established so much of what had been developed in later zombie stories. It's not like the movie just set a mood or a few conventions that were later improved. It's more like all the zombie stuff that has come out since that movie has been variations and extensions on the themes it set forth.

Later that night i watched more movies (it had been a long work week) in the Bad Movie Room. "The Patriot" fit that bill too well.

Saturday i worked at the LCS's table and played that game of HeroClix. I also spent some more time in Artists' Alley. More artists had set up, and more friends were there. This is where i spent my con money. (It's ramen noodles for supper this week!) I got a deck of cards from The Devil's Panties artist Jennie Breeden. (Hopefully she'll be at StellarCon too so i can buy one of her comic collections, too.) We plan to use that in our Savage Worlds game. I also got a print from Kel McDonald, the force behind Sorcery 101. I got some other things, which i'll try to review in a reasonable amount of time.

We played a game of Monsters Menance America that afternoon. That's a fun game. The folks at the table next to us were playing Red Neck Life, and that sounded like a hoot. I really want to play that game! Saturday was fun because a lot of friends showed up and i got to talk to them and hang out. We had lunch at Jam's Deli across the street.

That night was the Geek Auction. It wasn't as wild as previous years, but was still rather outre. This is where geek guys auction off their first dance at the shindig that closes out Saturday night. The money goes to charity. The guys try to be funny or sexy, and the girls in the audience really egg them on. The biggest bids went to a guy who was dressed as a gothy/s&m-ish girl and two guys who did a yaoi Harry Potter/Malfoy act.

Unfortunately i had to work some on Sunday so i didn't go back that day. Maybe next year. It was a fun con.

The next con around here is StellarCon in March. It's less wacky, but there's a bigger crowd, more gaming, and some literary guests. That one should be fun, too.

Two Reviews
I'm kinda grumpy this morning.


Green Lantern Corps #20

Last issue was slow, but that was okay, because it was about how the Corps were recovering from the Sinestro War, and the character vignettes were effective. This issue is also slow, but it doesn't work. Guy and Kyle decide that they're moving to Oa for the foreseeable future. That's pretty much the whole issue. They talk about moving, they move, they make Salaak laugh. Oh, and at the end Mongul talks smack to his dead sister's grody corpse. This was a boring issue.

The Spirit #12

It's a good, complete story, with beautiful art as usual. The subject is kinda depressing, though. It's all about Sand Saref, Denny Colt's real true love, who, after childhood trauma, turned evil and so they can never be together. This is a bum deal for Ellen, Denny's fiance, b/c it puts her in an eternal second place in Denny's heart. Then there are all those femme fatales that the Spirit dallies with...Ellen, your devotion is misplaced. Still, it's a better fate than Batman's love interests. Bruce Wayne can't wink at a girl without her being murdered by one of Gotham's many psychos.

My Latest Trip to The Comic Shop

I hadn't been to the LCS for a while, so on Friday i picked up three weeks' worth of comics, including a few i hadn't planned on, so it was a lot.

Jonah Hex #27
I got this one because of the gorgeous art by Jordi Bernet and Rob Schwager, which was previewed online. I love the mix of line weights: fine for details, thicker shading and hatching, and chunky inks for deep shadows. It was big in the old Western comics, which of course had far simpler coloring techniques. It works very well with today's colors, too. The scene where this issue's "star man" (no relation to the guy with the cosmic rod) shows off his collection of badges demonstrates how well the techniques can compliment each other. It really looks like those badges are blindingly reflecting the sunlight.

The story was engaging, too. A young man is inspired to take vengeance on corrupt lawmen. I've been in a particularly anti-authoritarian mood lately, probably b/c of all the political news, and a stupid and inaccurate "what's your politics survey" i took that pegged me as slightly authoritarian. (No way!) Hex is kind of along for the ride in this story, but it works. If this issue is the norm for this series, i need to start picking it up.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer #10
The "season" arc is picking up a lot of steam now. We find out a bit of what Buffy and Willow were separately up to between the TV finale and this comic season, and it's scandalous, for different reasons.
The Buffyverse shows its lovecraftian side again as Buffy and Willow seek information from an elder horror demon thing. In the same sequence, another Buffian trope (one i like) returns, as the bad guy forces the good guys to face some uncomfortable truths. (The best instance of this from the TV show was when Spike told Buffy and Angel, in no uncertain terms, that they would never be friends.)

I'm running out of time for this, so i'll do this quickly now and go more in depth later.

Blue Beetle #22 - More cool stuff with the Peacemaker and Jaime's dad (separately); there's some stuff about an underground society that could be completely ridiculous (in a bad way, not the good way) if not for John Rogers' deft writing. Albuquerque's art has such personality; it gives the characters personality, too.

Metal Men #5 - This issue was easier to follow than previous issues. If i had it to do over again, i'd read this one in a collected version. I'm still digging on all the great design work, though.

Dynamo 5 #10 - Lots of good character stuff in this issue, and a little more about the cabal of villains who are plotting to take down D5. Great superteam stuff here.

Birds of Prey #112 - I dropped this series when Gail Simone left, but picked this one up b/c it focuses on Zinda, aka Lady Blackhawk, who is supercool. In this story she moxies and drinks her way across the US while being chased by a pair of super-assassins. Caps off to Tony Bedard (who's one of those writers i like, but isn't on projects that interest me at the moment) for finding just the right tone and characterization.

The End League #1 - Remender's columns on newsarama (i think that's where it is) intrigued me enough to try this one out. The character concepts he posted were especially cool. I'm not sold on this one. The ideas are interesting, but the story didn't really grab me. This one probably needs a real review.

Shadowpact #20 - This one also needs a full review...Blue Devil runs into an old ally while continuing to fight the legions of the homo magi. Ragman, Nightshade, and Nightmaster (they always just call him "Jim", so i always forget his not so good superhero name) trek across the shade dimension, and find out it's also a place with which Jim is familiar. (Yeah, that last sentence was bad...i'm trying to hint without spoiling.)

Jack of Fables #18 - Jack and company finally arrive in Americana, the land of American fables, and it's awesome. I didn't expect some of the stuff that's there, b/c it's more recent than what i tend to think of as fable material, but it's very cool.

It's been longer than i planned since my last post. I'll blame it on the holidays. I'm planning a long weekend coming up, so hopefully i'll get some sort of reviews up here soon. Until then, here's a few things i've read, watched, or listened to lately.

Vampire Loves by Joann Sfar - This is about the romantic misadventures of a rather nice vampire. He bites with one fang so as not to leave too ugly a mark (and doesn't kill). His ex-girlfriend (a mandrake) blames him for finding out that she was cheating on him. His friend (a tree man) falls for his ex-girlfriend. A crazy vampire girl gloms onto him, but he develops a crush on a mortal girl. Sfar's art really drew me in. It looks like it's all done in pen (before colors), which was how Charles Schultz did it. All the characters are likable, even the ones who do stuff you don't approve of. The colors, while all rather dark (it is about a vampire, after all) are rich. They match and enhance the line art. I'd like to read more of this, and more of Sfar's work in general. You can read an excerpt at the publisher's site.

Escapo, by Paul Pope - This was reviewed on newsarama recently, and that reminded me that i'd had this on my shelf for a long time but hadn't read it. So i read it (but not the review, yet). I love Paul Pope's work. Ever since i found THB at that cool little shop in Springdale (they had CDs, too, and that's where i bought A Love Supreme...which i think i'll listen to now) i've sought it out. This story is set on the same future Mars as the THB comic, although the characters are all different. It's subtitled "a reverse tragedy", and it's refreshing how that aspect plays out in the end. It's in that large "album" format, which compliments Pope's open, expressive style.

An interesting technical thing i noticed, because i read Escapo and Vampire Loves on the same day, is difference in their use of panels. Vampire Loves is 99% six-panel grids throughout. That made it less attractive when i flipped through it in the shop, but when reading it, it worked to convey the downbeat humor and the mundane-yet-strange aspects of the story. Escapo, on the other hand, rarely has more than two panels per page, and the pages are a lot bigger, too. Despite most of Escapo's panels being the same size, you still get the feeling of time passing at different rates. You "get" it automatically (or subconsciously, i suppose), but i had to stop and think about how it worked. I think it happens because of the amount of detail and "movement" in a panel. A panel showing a solitary object, with no indication of movement indicates a slow, contemplative moment. Another panel the same size with lots of characters, and movement, equals a faster scene.

The Call of Cthulhu film also got me thinking of technical storytelling stuff. It's an adaptation of the short story by H.P. Lovecraft. It's done in the style of a 1920s silent movie. Why? Well, a metafictional reason is that Lovecraft wrote in the 1920s. A practical reason is that limiting the production to those tropes removes some of the problems in adapting the story to the screen. Were a modern, big budget film to be made of this story, there'd be questions of how realistic the CGI monster was, or did the actors overplay their growing madness, etc. Placing it in this context, however, you accept that the monster is stop-animated, that the sets of the mysterious island are abstract, and that the actors' madness can be portrayed in a purposefully "stagey" manner.

Not only does it dodge some of those "how *right* is it" problems, i think it also opens the door for some just plain cool creative decisions. When we see the cyclopean ruins of Ryleh, it looks as if the actors are walking through some enormous, three-dimensional cubist panting. It's all strange angles and odd blocky shapes. It throws you off kilter, which is just the effect you want for this story. There's a neat bit of trick photography at one point, too. Some of the props, especially the statues, are very cool looking, and again, because the whole silent film approach is more abstract in itself, it seems the designer(s) had more freedom to be creative with them. Kudos for making the ones that were supposed to be from different eras and cultures actually look different, too. Ah, and the stop-motion animated Cthulhu is really creepy. I suspect that a full-blown CGI version wouldn't be as bizarre or frightening.

Here's the trailer on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHuY2wXTd0o

I finished Gregory Benford's The Sunborn, which was a big concept rollercoaster. It is in the sci-fi school of Idea over Characters, but the ideas were exciting and big, so i was happy. It's not that the characters are poorly drawn, but the story could have happened to other people, and would have played out pretty much the same. It's all about finding life on other planets in our solar system, and how they get stranger and wilder and bigger as you go further out. I dug it.

We went to see American Aquarium at the Garage again, and they put on a great show. They were lit like mad, but still highly entertaining. I hope the fiddle player is with them next time, though. It really adds to some of the songs. After they played i bought the CD, which is the first one i've bought in a long time, and have been listening to it in the car for several days. The crowd was larger than last time, but cool. That's definitely my favorite music venue around here. They book good bands, the atmosphere is great, and it's just loud enough.

New comics have been slow lately, and i spent a bit too much when the local shop had a good sale before Christmas. So i haven't been to pick up new books, and probably won't for another week yet.

The Engineer #1

By Brian Churilla (writer & penciller) and Jeremy Shepherd (writer & colorist), and Sean Glumace (letters)
Published by Archaia Studio Press

Hannibal Tabu, who writes “The Buy Pile” for comicbookresources.com, gave this comic a “WTF award”. I agree with him, except that i liked it, and he didn't (apparently). There is a lot of crazy stuff going on here.

There is a definite “cosmic” element. The hero, as i mentioned in an earlier post, travels between dimensions/worlds searching for parts of a mystical device. Is it mystical? It looks mechanical. It bestows godlike powers upon whoever wields it. You decide.

Actually, now's a decent time to wander into a discussion of what makes a comic cosmic. Does this subgenre even exist outside of comics? IDK. You know when you watch a documentary about the universe, about how stars are born and die, or the age of the cosmos, or how the best scientific minds can't find a huge chunk of the matter in the universe, or anything about quantum mechanics or string theory, and it starts tripping breakers in your brain that are usually tripped by mythology or ghost stories? That's the area that “cosmic” adventure comics inhabit, with superheroes and spacegods thrown in, natch.

Pages one and two set up the “big concept” backstory for the series. Page three drops us into the middle of the Engineer's latest mission. He's running from a huge, stoney spider-ish monster that wants to crush him. He's also running from the antler-crowned humanoids who worship the big stone spidery thing.


The three sisters appear. These are the mysterious beings who set the Engineer on his quest. They look...kinda like dolphins in long, ghosty cloaks? As all strange mystical beings should, they speak cryptically and never give the kind of help you ask for. They do (kinda) tell him that the piece of the konstrukt he's looking for in this world is inside the giant monster that's trying to crush him.

Once that is resolved*, the sisters do something very extreme to, in their minds, deal with the monster. The Engineer is very upset about this. This is not simply a good-guy-quests-against-evil kind of story. The hero's benefactors, while they are trying to save the universe from a force that would destroy it, are alien and uncaring when it comes to individual people or worlds within said universe. So the Engineer has to struggle with not just his enemies, but his allies as well.


The bizarre concepts don't stop. In that way, this comic is akin to Atomic Robo, but the tone is different. The Engineer is decidedly more melancholy, but that imaginative spark, the reckless creativity, is there. I've criticized a lot of comics for being too self-conscious: whether that meant being “cool” or “adult” or “edgy”. These comics blissfully avoid that. That makes me happy.**

I love that music is what powers the transport from world to world. The music/math or music/science connection is one of those phenomena that, while completely logical, always strike me as not quite right. Yes, i understand how math and music relate, but the experience of each is so disparate. (Especially considering that i love music, but am barely on speaking terms with math.)

The art has touches of Kirby and touches of Mignola, as you'd expect given the tone and cosmic-ness.

It's good. Look for it. Bug your comic shop if the didn't order it, because i think they can still get it. I've added it to my subscription list.



*I'm trying to find a synopsis/spoiler balance here; forgive me if it's awkward.

**This is an attitude i bring to all media, i think. Nothing kills a story, a song, or a film quicker than if i think the creators are trying only to look cool, or, even worse, trying to avoid looking uncool.

Comics Which I Got on December 12th, 2007 AD

The Engineer #1
Wow...very cool, and very bizarre! There are tons of big ideas mashed into this comic. This is one of the things i love about comics: creators can let their imaginations go wild, and the medium allows it to work. The Engineer has been tasked with recovering the pieces of the Konstrukt, which have been scattered across myriad dimensions. This is the only hope of defeating a malevolent being that is destined to destroy all worlds. That sounds kind of heavy, right? Well parts of the story are heavy, but also wildly inventive, and filled with great action/adventure elements. The imagination and excitement make it fun. I dig the character designs. The "three muses" characters do not look like what i expected. They are strange in a cool way. obviously i liked this one. Recommended!

Green Lantern Corps #19
Clearly the epilogue to "Sinestro Corps War", this issue is filled with strong character moments, as various Lanterns assess where they are after the huge war, and where they're going next. My favorite was the scene of Isamot Kol exulting in the simple joy of being alive. Writer Peter Tomasi knows his craft: he gives us satisfying vignettes of individual characters in single pages. I really thought there were more pages per sequence until i looked at it a second time, paying more attention to structure. I love these characters. No, i haven't read all the other parts of "The Sinestro Corps War". I'm a weird crank. :)

Fables #68
This story really feels epic and fable-ish. It's amazing how Willingham manages to make me believe that a character like Flycatcher can rise to these heights from the lows we'd seen him in for 60-plus issues. Part of it is that Fly hasn't become some kind of badass, he's simply found his particular strength, and gained belief in himself. His accomplishments are very positive, too. He builds a new place for people to flourish. That is awesome. We know there's tragedy coming, but i suspect that there will be long-term, positive gains, rather than that cheap "oh ain't it sad" type of "tragedy".

This was an awesome week for comics!

Dynamo 5 #9

Jay Faerber (writer), Mahmud Asrar (pencils & inks), Ron Riley (colors), Charles Pritchett (letters)
Published by Image Comics

What's It About? There was this alpha-type hero called Captain Dynamo. He had pretty much Martian Manhunter's power set: telepathy, flight, super strength and endurance, eye beams, and shape-changing. Captain Dynamo was married to Maddie Warner, an agent of government force that dealt with superhumans. Captain Dynamo slept around. A lot. After he died, Maddie found five of his offspring, exposed them to the same radiation that gave Captain Dynamo his powers, and voile: each sibling manifested one of the five powers. Thus was the superteam Dynamo 5 born.

Scatterbrain, the high-school football player, inherited the power of telepathy.
Slingshot, the high achiever, can fly.
Scrap, the dour gothy one, got super strength and toughness.
Visionary, the smart, shy guy gained the eye-beam powers.
Myriad, the playa, can mimic anyone.

In this issue, Scatterbrain is in a coma, due to straining his telepathic powers to the max in a recent battle. In order to maintain his cover, Myriad pretends to be him at home. Scrap and Slingshot investigate a pair of supervillains who have skulked into town.

Scatterbrain believes he's awoken from his coma, but it turns out that he's actually in something akin to astral from: he can perceive the waking world, but can't interact with it. He “travels” to his high school, where he discovers that Myriad's, ah, girl-crazy tendencies are going to make his life more complicated if he ever wakes up.

Then, one of the two new villains (the one with mental powers, called Brains) appears and attacks him! The telepathic smackdown is on!

Meanwhile, Scrap and Slingshot find the other villain, Brawn, who's laying low at a motel. When he apparently kidnaps a pizza delivery girl, they decide to ignore Maggie's orders and engage in battle.

Two concurrent battles ensue, one on a mental plane between Scatterbrain and Brains, another in the motel parking lot between Scrap, Slingshot and Brawn. Scatterbrain learns that his mental powers are much stronger than anyone expected. He defeats Brains, and when he does, they both wake up. Brains had been in the motel room, also comatose. She realizes that 1) the Dynamo 5 kids are tougher than expected, and that 2) their cover is blown, and more authorities are on the way. So Brains and Brawn skedaddle.

Back at D5 HQ, everyone is happy that Scatterbrain has recovered. The mood quickly changes when Myriad walks in and Scatterbrain clocks him for complicating his life back home! The issue ends with a meeting of Brains & Brawn and a couple of other previously vanquished villain: a villainous team in the making.

I hope i haven't done this issue an injustice. I'm tired tonight, but i wanted to get out another post before i turn in. I left out a whole subplot about Visionary's mom finding out that he's a superhero. I think she's gonna sue Maggie.

Here's what i like about Dynamo 5. The characters are likable and are being gradually fleshed out, while their roles in the team remain very clear. The art is strong. Each character is distinctive, and the costume designs are classic superhero stuff. The interpersonal dynamics are fun. The continuing revelation of the ramifications of Captain Dynamo's indiscretions is cool. There are plenty of questions about Maggie's history and motivations, too. I don't know how else to say it except that it's a fun, interesting superhero book with all the elements that make superheroes fun, without a lot of the complications we find in comics from the Big Two.

Good night. :) Comment!

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #9

"No Future For You" part four
By Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Georges Jeanty (pencils), Andy Owens (inks), Dave Stewart (colors), Richard Starkings (letters), and Joss Whedon (executive producer). Published by Dark Horse Comics.

Here concludes the arc concerned primarily with our favorite troubled slayer, Faith.

Her cover blown in the previous issue, Faith now confronts Genevieve, the rogue slayer whom Giles tasked her to kill.

Before we get to the action, however, we have a flashback, narrated by Faith, that helps to set up this issue's theme of mentorship and growth. The gist of this flashback is the conflicted feelings Faith has for her former mentor/father figure, the Mayor.* She felt loved by the Mayor, despite his evil nature.

This past relationship mirrors the current relationship between Genevieve and her mentor, Roden, a warlock who's a sort of anti-watcher. Roden has filled Genevieve's head with the notion that the slayer powers are her exclusive birthright, and that it is her destiny to slay all the pretenders.

Faith and Genevieve have this much in common, that mentors who supposedly care for them have led them down very bad paths.

While the slayers battle, Giles, with the help of a diminutive fellow named Trafalgar, tries to break the mystical barrier that Roden has erected around Genevieve's estate. They can't do it.

The fight continues. Faith wins, albeit more decisively than she intended. At this point Roden appears, and he's not upset at the loss of his charge. Instead, he asks Faith to take her place and help him get rid of Buffy.

Now, here Faith has brief reaction that implies she'd like to get rid of Buffy. Roden plays on this in his evil-villain-tempts-with-promises-of-power speech. Admittedly i haven't given the final television season of BtVS as much attention as the rest**, but i seem to remember that Faith and Buffy at least made peace with one another. It's been implied earlier in this arc that Faith would still like to kill Buffy, but that doesn't scan. It's a retrofit in her characterization. That said, it isn't dwelt upon, and the character moves past it, so it's not something that really mars the story.

Herein we get a tantalizing bit about the overarching threat for this season. Roden presents Faith with a big black book emblazoned with the "twilight" symbol that's been strewn about since issue one. He calls it "the guidebook" and claims it will show them how to get rid of Buffy. More, he says that, in exchange for helping his superiors achieve this goal, he will be granted "clemency from the coming purge."

Faith cracks the book across Roden's face. Roden starts in with the violent hoodoo. Just when it looks like he's got Faith on the ropes, Giles enters and stabs Roden. He's not down, however. Faith hurls the twilight guidebook to Giles. Somehow, Giles flips immediately to a page with a useful spell. He didn't have to check the index or anything! I won't tell you what happens, except to say that the Ripper aspect of Giles comes to the fore, and Roden is done for.

I need to backtrack a bit here. How did Giles get through the mystical barrier? Willow did it. Also, Buffy is really pissy about the fact that Giles is working with "her" without even telling her. Again, when did Faith and Buffy start hating each other again? Of course Buffy's reaction is over the top. When she storms off, Xander says that maybe she just needs some alone time, to which Buffy responds "what other kind is there?" Yes, Buffy, nobody loves you. Your friends risk their lives for you over and over, they always forgive you when you do something really stupid, and hundreds of slayers idolize you. You're SO ALONE. Why don't you go cry about it to one of the TWO vampires who worship you. And, apparently in all the years she's spent with Giles she hasn't learned to trust him. Even though this part bothers me, it's still very true to the show. This is just one of those moments when i really don't like Buffy.

Epilogue one: Faith and Giles decide to continue to work together. At first it sounds like Faith wants to focus on helping new Slayers who are headed down the wrong path. But then it sounds like she and Giles will also be doing more "black ops" that are too dirty for Buffy and the other Scoobies. It would seem that either goal could be very time-consuming, but hey, this is a world with talking slugs, so it would be silly of me to get nitpicky about time management. The important thing is that these two characters go together very well. More importantly, Faith now has a good mentor at last.

Epilogue two: Tease the season-plot! A woman in military garb exits a helicopter and requests an audience with someone who's floating. She displays the "twilight" symbol on her palm. Here we see the Big Bad directly for the first time. His name is Twilight. His face is covered with a mask, and he has that symbol on his chest. Here's the cool stuff that has got me speculating, trying to figure out where this season is going***. Twilight says that he's trying to end the "age of magic." He doesn't regret losing Genevieve and Roden, because that's two magical elements removed from the world. Since he floats, or flys, it would seem that he uses magic, but it could be advanced technology. Or...maybe he's a supervillain? It would make metafictional sense that the first comic book -based season of Buffy would have a bone fide supervillain as the big bad. He does have a mask and a symbol on his chest. Hrmm. Also, in the Fray comic from a few years back, the future was shown to have been free of most if not all magical elements. Could Twilight be successful in his quest? We should learn more about all this quite soon, since Faith and Giles now have a copy of the "guidebook".

Verdict: Thumbs up!


*Best villain in the history of BtVS, bar none.

**I watched S7 once only, S6 twice (plus a couple more times for the musical episodes), S1-5 i've watched many, many times.

***Which really takes me back to the heyday of the tv show. It's awesome! B5 was that way, too. I just realized that the HBO shows i like are also like that, but since i watch them on DVD, the answers come quicker.

Random Comics Thought

I wonder if it would be possible to put together a typical shipping list for a week's comics in say, 1945, '55, 65, etc? I'm thinking that those records are long gone, since in the past there were multiple streams of distribution, and far less practice of market research. It would be interesting to see what variety of comics were being produced in various decades. Although with the Golden Age it might be hard to tell from just titles, since there were so many generic titles like Whiz, New, More Fun, etc.

Quick Reviews for Comics Released December 5th


Buffy the Vampire Slayer #9
"No Future for You" Part 4. This concludes the Faith-centric arc. It lays the groundwork for future roles for both Faith and Giles. There is a Final Confrontation with Genevieve and her anti-Watcher. The characterization of Faith feels like they ignored some of her development in the latter seasons, but they also move her forward, so it's a net gain. There's a bit of Ripper in Giles in this ish, and we see that he can find just the right page in a book faster than the Flash. The best villain in the show's history makes an appearance, and get a look at this season's Big Bad. Overall, quite cool, and a satisfying conclusion to this arc.

Resurrection #1
The premise: A roughly contemporary Earth was at war with advanced aliens for years until shortly before page one. This story is about the world after the invaders are driven away. I like where it's going. I like the lead character of Sara. It's cool that it's set in my neck of the woods. Some of the language is distracting. Some of the art choices are off-putting, in particular several scenes where eyes are shaded completely black. The storytelling aspect of the art is good, though. A good start.

Justice Society of America #11
The art is really strong. Lots of informative detail, good "acting". I didn't like the designs on the Japanese characters, though. What's the real point of this "Kingdom Come" Superman, though? It's probably just setup for Final Crisis, and that irks me. I want to read a story about the JSA, not an advertisement for some series coming out next year. There's also a moment where Starman breaks the fourth wall, and a comment from Citizen Steel that comes off very meta. That stuff bugs me too. It works in comedy, but... I'm cranky b/c there wasn't much JSA in this JSA comic. It does introduce a new Judomaster, who will apparently be part of a group of new JSA members next issue.

Dynamo 5 #9
Cool. We've got developments in Scatterbrain's and Visionary's personal lives, and Scatterbrain learns some neat new tricks with his powers. There are references to Faeber's other Image series, "Nobel Causes", in a way that builds the world but doesn't confuse or complicate the continuity. We a pair of fairly nifty villains, and end on a nice teaser. I look forward to this one. Like Blue Beetle and The Spirit, it's the kind of superhero book that i enjoy.

The Sword #3
Events take some big steps forward, forcing the story into its next phase. End of Act 1, in other words. I'm still intrigued by what's going on, but some choices don't work for me, and the visuals don't convey the tone that the words imply.

Atomic Robo #3
Very entertaining. The ending is abrupt, but the ride is a doosey. The action is brisk, the dialog is enjoyably snarky, and the wildly imaginative ideas are incessant. I really like this. We'll definitely need more after this initial six-issue run concludes. Recommended!

Fuller reviews forthcoming...