Solo 11 by Sergio Aragones

It is rare that I will revert to fanboy blathering rather than write an actual review, but here it is, the third review in to my new posting schedule and a blather-worthy book has arrived.

I've heard that this series has been cancelled, but thank goodness it wasn't before this issue arrived. I've been a fan of Sergio Aragonés for as long as I've been a fan of comics, being that the first "comic" I read regularly was Mad Magazine, and Aragonés is an artist that creates with all ages in mind.

It's nice to see Aragonés providing words and artwork (mostly) by himself, only aided and abetted on one story by longtime abettor Mark Evanier. Not that I don't enjoy Evanier's work, it's just that reading their comics, you can never know who contributed what. It's also nice to see him cover plenty of ground for the types of stories — westerns, memoirs, monsters, samurai, and more.

The critical reviewer might point out that a few of the gag strips feel recycled, making me think that I've seen them before, but the sycophant reviewer is quick to mention that even an old joke can be a good joke.

Just by the damn book already.

Casanova by Matt Fraction and Gabriel Bá

This is a new title that I thought was going to follow the same format as Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith's Fell -- 16 pages for $1.99. The first issue is only $1.99, but it features 28 pages of story. I don't know if this is a special introductory page count, or if every issue will be this many pages, but even with 12 fewer pages it would be well worth the two bucks.

Picking up the recompressed storytelling style that Ellis used to reinvigorate the monthly pamphlet, this issue is packed dense with story. If the authors did nothing more than bring up the panel-to-page ratio, any comics writer could bring the feel of weight back to an issue of any monthly. Fraction and Ellis, however, seem to be writing the scripts to help the artists comply with the format. Gabriel Bá on this title, for example, could easily draw many of the action packed panels at double or even triple the size they appear here, but Fraction has written each page as a single entity, paying close attention, as a comics writer should to the breaks in flow that panel transitions both force and allow. There are no splash pages here, and the half splashes are used appropriately and expand the action or the emotion in a scene.

Bá uses a single olive-green tone throughout the book, giving it a feel of color without creating the extra expense or time of full color work. He uses this to his distinct advantage with the art, using his skill at spotting blacks to build up the base with the line art and delineate an added layer with the color. I only first saw Bá's artwork just a few weeks ago when the collection of stories by him and his brother Fabio Moon, DE:Tales, was released by Dark Horse Comics. I didn't make the connection until I Googled his name doing research for this post. I knew the name and art were familiar, but couldn't picture where I'd seen it. Reading this, I was simply struck by the talent I was seeing. Storytelling, inking, character design, the aforementioned tone work and beautifully designed covers, attractive all.

Matt Fraction is an unknown to me. I'm familiar with the CBR column he collaborated on, but as far as comic scripts, he was from out of nowhere. Somehow I'd always been vaguely turned off by the name. It very well might be his given name, but it seemed to me like a cyberpunk affectation, and I've no interest in cyberpunk. This book however, not only held my interest, but left me wanting more. I got a little bit lost in the second or third plot twist, but the overall package was more than enough to sell me on the second installment. Superspy meets sci-fi meets noir meets action adventure. I'm sold.

All Star Superman 4 by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Jamie Grant

It's a funny thing. When you give credit to the creators of a mainstream comic, you have to decide how far down the credits box you want to go. Here I have included the colorist because he is also the "inker." Am I giving short shrift to the letterer. And how often does anyone credit the editor? Well, anyone since Stan Lee, since you know he always credited the editor. I give credit to those whose mark I feel when reading the comic. In this book, I can tell that Mr Quitely never inked the book, and that his pencils have been "inked" by Mr Grant with the help of his computer.

Grant Morrison is a smart writer. Certainly smart enough to play to the strengths of his co-creators, and I sense that Mr Quitely is getting the hang of it as well. He knows when his pencils have to be very detailed, and he knows when they can be finished in post=production. Mr Morrison's strengths are in the ideas, Mr Quitely's strength is in making the big ideas look big. His panels always have weight. The superheros are always super, and the cosmic ideas always seem to fill the cosmos.


You already know if you want to read this title, and if you want to, you probably already have. The best thing for me about this book is that it doesn't fall anywhere in the continuity that I'm familiar with. This is not pre-Crisis or post-Crisis or pre-Infinite or post-Identity. This is Superman. One we all recognize, which makes it all the more satisfying to realize that I don't have to think twice about a character doing something I think is uncharacteristic, as long as it fits the world that Mr Morrison is creating. And once I quit staring down the canon, I enjoyed the book a hell of a lot.

Why Reviews?

Why reviews? Well, I'm glad you asked.

First, I like 'em. I like reading them, I like writing them. I love to discuss the entertainment and the art that I consume. I endeavor to entertain and inform at the level of my favorite review writers -- RC Harvey, Lisa Schwarzbaum, Lester Bangs, The Crew at Vice, Chris Reed and Chris Nieratko from Big Brother, Nick Hornby, Dylan Horrocks, Eddie Campbell, Tom Spurgeon, and others. I spend plenty of time reading comics, so most of the reviews will be of comics, but I will occasionally include some albums, movies, tv shows, or anything else that strikes my fancy. I will also endeavor to write reviews of pamphlets in a timely fashion, but anything else could be from any era.

Second, I will write reviews because I like to think critically about the things I love. I like to read Ultimate Spider-Man, but it's quite a mediocre title overall. Just because I enjoy it doesn't mean it has any instrinsic value. I read the DaVinci Code, and that book is the worst written book I've read in 15 years, but I devoured it. It's a type of story I enjoy reading, but crap nonetheless.

Third, I enjoy promoting the comics I like. The reviews here will always be of books (or movies, or music) that I recommend. Sometimes those recommendations will come with reservations. I love reading Concrete and Groo, but Concrete is the one I suggested to my wife. Point being, if it's on here it's because I bought it, and if I bought it, I read it and enjoyed it, at least a little.

Finally, I will write reviews because it's like the man said "If you can't do, teach."

New Comics - June 14th

Small week this week. Just a few titles to comment on. One notable (as far as the sales charts go) drop from my list this week is the 52 series. The art is too poor, and the story goes in so many uninteresting directions at once that I just don't care. I'd much rather read this.

On with the show:

• American Virgin 4 (DC) - It might be my laziness as a reader coming through, but I don't think there's enough to the story here. It seems like this first arc is just built to set up the possibility of an ongoing series that's an updated version of the quest-for-the-mystery-villain idea. I'm much more interested in character studies ("so why the fuck do I read mainstream comics?" asks the peanut gallery) and this seemed like the perfect story set-up for that exact thing, but in place of characters we get Generation Y archetypes with the smallest of twists. The American virgin of title is just the opposite of what society presumes a 20-something to be, at least sexually, but he's just as daft as those same people would assume. He's one-dimensional, which means his proselytizing comes off as sanctimonious rather than sympathetic. An idea like this needs a sympathetic main character, and even with his girlfriend killed (in the first issue so I hope that doesn't spoil anything) I don't sympathize. On a positive note, the art is improving still. Becky Cloonan and Jim Rugg make a good team, and like I theorized, the pencilling is stronger still with this issue.
• Wolverine: Origins 3 (Marvel) - This title is a good example of how to deal with a one-dimensional character. Wolverine has been manipulated from one-dimensional state over the years to a point that his multiple dimensions, to a reader like me, don't mean shit. I don't care that he forgot his history and then remembered it. I don't care who the guys were that made him a crazed killing machine. I don't care about anything but a good potboiler of a story month to month, and Daniel Way is giving it to me. Everyone's a badass, and it's a big badass contest to figure out who the biggest badass of all is. Is it Wolverine himself? Is it Nuke? Is it President Bush? I don't care, I just like to read about how badass everyone is. This is the title that best brings out the teenager in me. Arrested development, indeed.
• Civil War 2 (Marvel) - Issue two provides an awesome cliffhanger, but if you want to get the gist of the series without spending four bucks, just read the last three pages in your comic shop. The rest of the issue is filler, as far as I'm concerned.
• Mad Magazine 467 (DC) - I read Mad religiously as a kid. I've read nearly every issue published between 1984 and 1998, and by the time I stopped reading it regularly, it was pretty terrible. In the last few years, the line-up of artists has improved dramatically, and the writing, while still fitting the Mad formula, has at least been much more topical. I flip through an issue here and there, and the arrival of advertising didn't seem to be the curse that people expected. Sure, they do a little shilling here and there for some bullshit video game or movie, but they have basically been advertising the movies with their parodies since the late 60's. This issue doesn't have Bill Wray (is he even a regular anymore) or Peter Bagge or Evan Dorkin, but it does have Marc Hempel, Peter Kuper, Hermann Mejia, and Drew Friedman, and the nostalgist in me loves to see Al Jaffee, Mort Drucker, and Sergio Aragones. I'm going to go squint at some margins now.
• Two Gun Kid 1 (Marvel) - Is it a coincidence that, with a total of five westerns this summer, Marvel is not putting out another Rawhide Kid book. I guess nobody ever goes back in the closet.

I told you it was a small week.

New Comics - Double Dose

So I never posted last week's reviews. Shame on me and no time for excuses. Here are two week's worth in one swell foop (and in somewhat chronological order):

• Chronicles of Wormwood preview (Avatar) – This sampler of pages from the forthcoming series bodes well for fans of Garth Ennis and his inflammatory Preacher-style work. I don’t know if inflammatory is the right word for my reaction to this vein of story – the son of Satan and the Son of God traipse around the modern world – because for me it doesn’t offend my sensibilities. The ideas do still offer some thrill for me, as I recognize the place of these “characters” in the context of myth and history. The Jacen Burrows art (right) is as appropriate as in the other titles by Mr Ennis and Warren Ellis that have appeared over the last several years from Avatar. His art is clean and clear, with a talent for delineating the fantasy and gore aspects of these titles. This is a title I look forward to, a genre piece from a man who can rise above the genre trappings.

• Superman/Batman 26 (DC) – I bought this issue, of a title I haven’t bought regularly in quite a while, based on the format of the story. A 22 page story plotted by series writer Jeph Loeb’s recently deceased son Sam. The format brings to mind a few popular titles from the late 1980’s, such as Heroes Against Hunger and such special issues as Batman 400, which were based on a plot that had a script written by many different writers and pages drawn by many different artists. I’m not sure why these are so nostalgic for me, as they always held more promise that payoff. The hope is that each artist would give a fantastic effort to best their peers leading to page after page of career highlights. What generally happens, however, is that the mish-mash of styles weakens the story flow, and you basically have a pin-up book full of panels rather than splash pages. ¶ The current taste of the comic market allows for a wide variety of styles and talents in any list of “hot” creators, a fact that ensures a showcase issue such as this is filled with varying levels of quality. From the very best in the superhero business -- John Cassady, Ed McGuinness, Jeff Matsuda or Tim Sale -- to the lowest (names withheld – snark on your own), to those whose best work is available elsewhere, such as Art Adams, Jim Lee or Carlos Pacheco. ¶ The fact that this issue is a benefit issue, some of the proceeds going to the Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund, mitigates any of my hesitation at recommending it, but the strongest point, creatively, is the short story by Sale and Jeph Loeb that closes the issue. It may be a bit sentimental, but not as much as most stories written by fathers about dead sons tend to be, and it wisely makes the sentiment the point of the story, rather than burying it too shallowly.
  

• Ultimate Spider-Man 95 (Marvel) – This issue provides a little wheat of character development before returning to the chaff of introducing some more Marvel stalwarts to the Ultimate Universe.

• Local 5 (Oni) – The first weak issue in this title. If the creators didn’t acknowledge how frequently they rush through an issue in the supplemental pages, I might give the issue more credit, but this is the first one that feels like writer Brian Wood didn’t have enough material for the script and spread out what he did have past its depth. Hopefully, this is just a small detour, because this is one of my current favorites.

• Black Gas 3 (Avatar) – Why the fuck would you end a mini-series with a cliffhanger?

• Apocalypse Nerd 3 (Dark Horse) – I’m enjoying this title, but the drastic lag time between issues tends to lead to a build up in expectation for the story. If the payoff isn’t that great, it will be made worse by the scheduling issues. I can only assume that the blame lies with Peter Bagge. When you’re the auteur, there’s no one to pass the buck to. I like to see the return of long form stories from Mr. Bagge, and find that the wholly fictional is a nice counterpart to his veiled autobiography found in Hate. There’s no shortage of the Bagge-ian characters and the story-driven hijinx that those characters drag themselves into are consistently entertaining.

• Daughters of the Dragon 5 (Marvel) – All my comments for previous issues apply, but I can’t help but feel they spread this series out for at least one issue longer than they should have. Diminishing returns and all that.

• Ultimate Extinction 5 (Marvel) – Another series that lasted a couple issues too long. Build, build, build to this climax and – boom – it’s over in five pages. Oh well, it was a fun ride, and I’m not yet tired of Brandon Peterson’s new art style.

• Daisy Kutter: The Last Train 1 (Viper Comics) – This mini-series from the editor of and contributor to the hugely popular anthology series Flight (Image Comics), Kazu Kibuishi, is beautifully illustrated (see below). The story, however, fell flat for me for one very specific reason, which I’ll explain in a few sentences. Let me start by saying that I believe strongly in the maxim: “write what you know”. Mr Kibuishi, in this first issue, either doesn’t know what he writes about, or is a very poor poker player. The first issue, and from what I can tell, the plot point that sets up the conflict in the whole series, is based on a shallow understanding of how poker is played. All the stranger that this evidence of lack of knowledge comes after the author/narrator spends much time explaining the game as though he were an expert. He grasps the basics, and most of the important information that one could gather from a first reading of a book on the subject, then misunderstands precisely how any good poker player would actually play given the situation he’s set up. I know all this seems quite nitpicky, but the “write what you know” rule would have worked better for me in this situation. If Mr Kibuishi had found something that he had a more thorough knowledge of to set up his plot point, their wouldn’t have been a situation like this to pull me out of the otherwise engaging world that he was creating. The artwork is still beautiful, and the story interesting enough to keep me wanting more, but he wasted several pages convincing me the exact opposite of what a narrator should, namely that he doesn’t understand what his characters are doing.

• Wonder Woman 1 (DC) -- I like Terry Dodson as an artist, and I want to like Allan Heinberg (his Touch being an reading pleasure – dig around for a review), but this title isn’t doing much for me.

• Batman: Secrets 4 (DC) – Sam Kieth’s art is better than ever in this issue. I’ve spilled enough ink (pixels?/bytes?/binaries?) about this title in previous installments, and all of my praise is continued with this issue. I can’t wait for the denouement.

• Detective Comics 820 (DC) – Bah! This better turn into something interesting next issue, because this is a dud of a chapter.

• 52 Weeks Four and Five (DC) – I don’t care anymore. The writing appears to be the difference of its parts rather than the sum. It feels like Grant Morrison minus Geoff Johns minus Greg Rucka minus Mark Waid, rather than the pluses one would hope for. I just don’t care.

…And finally, the book of the week(s):

• Uptight 1 (Fantagraphics) – There are numerous reasons for this title to have earned book of the week, and the amazingly reasonable two-fifty cover price is the least of them. The assured linework, the enticing layout, the attention to production (and on such a budget), the engaging stories, the breathtaking cover; Jordan Crane (below) continues to impress. I do wonder, though, if Mr Crane is as haunted as his characters. You can not spend a more worthwhile three bucks (including tax where applicable).

Coming Soon

06.26.06

A major format change for the 512 blog.

If you like comics, be here.