He Becomes Who Kills Him - A Horror Story by Matt Larsen and Zander Cannon

Short stories that hold substance are hard to pull off in the medium of comics. It takes many many pages to build an effective story when each page can be read in a matter of seconds. To get any nuance out of character or story is difficult to do in a story that can be read in a matter of minutes.

I bought this mini from Zander Cannon in San Diego. It is a twelve page story in a five inch by five inch black and white photocopied pamphlet, but its diminutive size belies the amount of story that the author's manage to tell. It helps that the pages are packed with nine panels each, allowing for a breadth that one might not expect.

Not that it's necessary for the impetus to be anything other than it is a story that the authors needed to tell, but I have no idea why this story was produced. I'm simply impressed that a story this strong could be thought of as only being worthy of a photocopied mini. It story held sway over me after initial reading in a way that I didn't expect. I am aware of mini-comics capable of depth, just that they are rarely a one-shot, and are usually built for length from the beginning.

The subtitle, "a horror story," indicates that a simple spine-tingle was the goal, but I found that the level of technique allowed for an appreciation through rereadings. The first thing I returned to was the seemingly unrelated prologue that comprised page one. A simple three panel shot of a man killed by a scorpion, I forgot the introduction after a page or two of unrelated story, but the end of the tale brings the metaphor into focus.

It seems as though it was drawn to size, based on the fact that the art is looser and has a bold black line that indicates a lack of size reduction. His art has always had a confident brush line, even in the early years of my awareness when his work was a little less polished, and he doesn't sacrifice that here in pages that look like they could be drawn with a brush pen. This art (or reproduction) style doesn't hamper the storytelling, and in fact helps bring the immediacy of the story to the reader. Cannon holds to his nine panel grid for the whole story, save opening and closing splash panels, even using reverse white on black text panels as transitional captions rather than using a small text panel in the corner as is custom. Cannon frequently uses this to add to the story flow, achieving a cadence that breaks up the nine-panel pages to provide a bit of variety. He also uses the claustrophobic panels to great story affect by allowing them to inform the suspense that the story provides. The panels that consist of even several words of dialogue basically become talking head panels, but this allows the open panels to feel even more open.

The story hits its mark if it's goal is as simple as the subtitle indicates, and it is so well done, that it achieves the rare level of being worthy of rereading, a goal that all authors aspire to, and so seldom achieve.

Monsters Issue One by Ken Dahl

I picked up this mini-comic by Ken Dahl at the Global Hobo booth. I have seen a mini or two from Dahl before, probably at APE, but I picked this up on the strength of the cover alone, with barely a glance inside, and it paid off.

This is an extremely well done comic, with wonderful art and layouts. Dahl manages to pull off a style that plays to the comedic and the dramatic moments in the story. He can comfortably exaggerate the cartooniness when needed and reign it in for a moment or two of highly effective emoting. The layouts are strong as well, with some pages with many packed panels of information and some with an airy feel to focus on character emotion and reaction. He uses tones to good effect in the issue and they never muddy the artwork, in spite of limited print quality. In addition, the cover is well designed focusing on a great illustration and confident color use.

The story is engaging as well. He kicks it off with some very funny pages, introducing characters and setting a light tone, but building some effective (if slightly heavy handed), foreshadowing. By the end of the issue you are acquainted with the characters, and you are engrossed in their story. I look forward to more issues, and more work from this very talented author.

Almost Fully Rested

Well, I'm back from SDCC and it was a good time. The part of the trip that was fun was just the right amount of fun (meaning I'm looking forward to next year), and the part of the trip that was work was fun as well (right up until 9:30 or so on Sunday, oh well). As always, it was nice to see old friends and meet new ones, and I was able to buy many, many comics, and a few pieces of art.

For the next several reviews I will focus on things I bought at San Diego, even though I realized that the stuff I bought mostly wasn't new at the show. The reasons are this: First, I realized that the big books that I first saw at the show (Kramer's Ergot and Comic Art, Mome and But I Like It, and Lost Girls) were already on order at my local comic book store, and second, nobody debuts minis at San Diego, not with MOCCA and APE arriving earlier in the year. So, the stuff I bought at the show is probably not necessarily all that new, but that's what I'm reviewing.

Pause (edited)

Well, I thought that I might continue these reviews straight through the weekend of the Biggest Comic Book Convention In The World (except France, Japan, and Nairobi, and well, it's not really just comics, but y'know), but who am I kidding. I leave tomorrow morning for five lovely days of nerd heaven, so I'm putting the reviews on pause. I know, I know, a real professional would have built up his backlog and had them ready to post from the hotel wi-fi connection, but nobody's paying me, I'm doing it for the love, and even love needs a break every once in a while.

If you're going, have fun.

If you're not, myself and 36,652 (unless that guy in Tallahassee really is dead, then it's 36,651) other bloggers and webheads will be posting opinions and news updates.

Be back here on July 24 for a review of something that came out at SDCC.

The Escapists by Brian K. Vaughan and Philip Bond with Eduardo Barreto

I have read several issues of Michael Chabon’s Escapist anthology that has been published somewhat regularly by Dark Horse Comics and found them to be, well, boring. They were frequently illustrated by spectacular artists and written by some of my favorite writers, but for some reason, they fell flat. There was little suspense, little drama, and little excitement. It could possibly be that I should have read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay first (it’s still sitting on my shelf unread, in fact, I can see it from where I sit) and that the series might hold more resonance for me, but it seems that the problem is distinct. Why should I believe a storyteller who tells me that a character is important. Isn’t it his job to show me why?

So why did I pick up the first issue of The Escapists, the new title spinning out of the anthology? Two reasons: Brian K. Vaughan and Philip Bond. I’m willing to give either of these guys a shot on just about any title.

The first issue is mostly set up, and it’s hard to tell if anything lasting can come of it. The art is top notch Bond, and the story is interesting enough, while fulfilling any number of trusty story points: a meet cute, a lion coming to the rescue of a lamb, and a story set up that could push in any number of directions. Is this going to be a title that is the story of a reluctant hero? The story of an unlikely romance? The story of the orphan whose art spoke to a generation? Or just a story about a character created for a Pulitzer Prize-winning book that they forced into a comic book series? Time will tell. If the story stays as interesting and attractive as the first issue, I’ll be reading.

Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies

Several months ago I commented briefly on this book before I had read it. Those comments still stand, and I think they bear repeating here:

"Artist/writer Brian Fies presents a perfect opportunity to talk about the misnomer webcomic. In my experience, the strips and stories that are given this designation are simply comic strips or stories in the comic format. They don't need the designation webcomic anymore than the rest of the comics need the designation paper comic. I'm sure there are creations out there that fit the bill of webcomic, but I'm not familiar with them. Achewood and Penny Arcade are comic strips. This comic is a comic."

And just for clarification, a graphic novel is also a comic, it is only slightly more useful in its use as a name for a comic of somewhat substantial length, or of a complete story.

Enough semantics, though, and onto the comic at hand.

I had heard of this story when it was appearing only on the web, but never went out of my way to read it. When the hardcover version came out, I saw it in a bookstore, and it looked attractive and interesting enough to order a copy from one of my local retailers.

It seems to me that this book would be easy to connect with for anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer, or even another debilitating disease. It is a natural part of the coping process to seek out others who have similar experiences. I know that for me I made a natural connection between the author's story and my own, having seen my relatively young grandmother go through many similar situations. For the purpose of this review, the point of all this is that it is nearly impossible not to be sentimental, and sentimentality can cripple a story intended for those who do not have that innate connection to the situations that the characters (people) go through.

The story does a solid job of allowing sentimentality - the author is writing about his mom's cancer, as you may have guessed - without allowing it to take over. There are moments in the book that play a bit "Lifetime Movie of the Week" such as when Mom receives a puppy. Her reaction, while it may very well be true and factual reporting, comes across like sap. Thankfully the biography/autobiography method allows these moments, that are few and far between, to read like sentiment, but honest sentiment rather than cloying.

The art is attractive and clean, and it forces you to remember that there are many artists working in fields other than comics who can produce comics better than some of those who illustrate the top titles. According to his website, we have not seen his comics before this. For someone who, in terms of the comics world, came out of nowhere, the illustration and storytelling is impressive. He was clearly a fan of comics, from reading his background, but to produce something whole cloth that reads so well is surely the sign of a major talent.

The story is primarily black and white, with color used sparingly and to great effect. Fies will spot color or full color panels to elaborate on the emotions or experiences. For example, one panel finds Mom in the center, in full color, surrouned by friends and family. The color illuminates the narrator's dialogue: "Admirers orbit in her glow." There are flashbacks tinted in yellow, and a fantasy sequence and a prologue in full color. I assume that these examples are probably not so rare in the world of "webcomics" because the printing budget doesn't change for a panel produced in color. Here, they are used in service of the story, probably in spite of the extra cost to the publisher.

All in all, a wondeful debut from an artist that I look forward to seeing more comics from in the future.

Suspended In Language by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis

This 2004 graphic novel is subtitled Niels Bohr's life, discoveries, and the century he shaped. That sums up the subject and goal of this biography of Niels Bohr (1885-1962), a legendary physicist who interacted with Einstein, Heisenberg, Churchill and F.D.R, among many other important 20th century figures. The novel is written by Jim Ottaviani who, according to his included bio, "stud[ied] to become a nuclear engineer. He doesn't do engineering anymore." The main story is illustrated by Leland Purvis, with supplemental material illustrated by Jay Hosler, Roger Langridge, Steve Leialoha, Linda Medley, and Jeff Parker.

One of the interesting things to think about when considering this book is to wonder who or what the target market is. Now, I don't think this need be a necessary consideration when creating a book, but surely it must come to mind at some point, perhaps when applying for the ISBN number. I assume that there are few comics readers like myself that think it is realistic that a graphic novel might provide some illumination for a subject that they know absolutely nothing about (nuclear physics). There might also be some possibilities with regards to supplying libraries and schools with (what some might think of as) a Cliff's Notes version of a scientist's biography. In any event, let's not allow that to keep us from viewing the book as objectively as possible.

It took me about three months, on and off, to read this, consuming it in chunks here and there, in the manner I might consume my nutrients, which is to say, rarely all in one meal. Allow the complement to stand that I read every page and panel, trying to achieve the illumination I was hoping for. I can't say that I could comfortably describe any of the scientific concepts contained herein, but I'm sure that the next time I run across them, I will feel more prepared, and that in the meantime, I have been quite entertained. The life of Niels Bohr, as portrayed by Ottaviani, certainly included some interesting bedfellows, and his place in history is assured, even in a field of study which I'm sure will change many of its theorems to adapt to new and unexpected discoveries. A biography, at its minimum should make you familiar with its subject, and I feel familiar now.

Leland Purvis has floated around the edge of wider comics awareness for a few years now, and this book cetainly shows his many strengths. Interesting and varied page layout, clear design, and a talent for controlling the flow of the page and the chapter. He illustrates this text-heavy comic with a fluidity of line that provides a great contrast to the sometimes dry delivery. He lettered the entire book as well, and this provides the glue to hold each page together. He manages to illustrate extremely complex concepts of science in a way that allows an entry to the material for the layperson such as myself. To me, this would be the great advantage of telling a story like this is comics form; the medium can elaborate on the message.

It seems to me that a book as dense as this is in comics form, would require even more pages were it in prose. The facial expressions and illustration of grandiose scientific ideas would require much picture painting in the prose fashion. All in all, a fascinating man, a fascinating scientific study guide, and a fantastic story, ripe with philosophy for the reader to ponder after consuming the hard facts relayed within.

Peacemaker by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson

Oh shit, is it the 10th already? Oops, here you go...

This is the recent six issue mini-series that just wrapped up, and as a comment on the state of the market today, consider this an advance review of the trade paperback. I commented briefly on this book before, but at the end of it, I thought it worthy of a slightly more thorough assessment.

Darick Robertson, best known for his run on Transmetropolitan, is here joined with Garth Ennis best known for his own famous Vertigo series, Preacher. While this series lacks the flash of the former, and the substance of the latter, it does bode well for their upcoming ongoing series from Wildstorm/DC, The Boys. These guys work well together, and Robertson mostly plays to Ennis's strengths by illustrating page after page of talking heads in a comfortable and illuminating way. I know I sound like a broken record, but he does make the mistake of falling off model for some of the characters. Considering this story stars a pre-eye patch Nick Fury, this can cause difficulty in reading a story about military boys, but at least I can tell the "Jerrys" from the "Yanks" thanks to their uniforms. Robertson seems to me to be a journeyman. You can take that in the pejorative sense, but I don't necessarily mean it to be. Most creative fields are filled with men and women who may be striving for the singular, yet end up with years and years of solid storytelling, consistency being their singular contribution.

Garth Ennis, on the other hand, set the bar very high very quickly with the singular. A seventy-five issue story that, along with the aforementioned Transmetropolitan, and the needs-no-introduction Sandman, defined the current Vertigo generation. He hasn't yet been able to live up to this standard, but at least it has enabled him to do what fits what I assume is his joy, telling stories about badass former soldiers (The Punisher) and soldier badasses (his War Story series and the present Fury title to name a few of many). I've mentioned before that I don't know my ass from a foxhole, but the stories have a sheen of authenticity that makes me assume that they are fully, thoughtfully and lovingly researched.

The present story allows Ennis to put Nick Fury in a pivotal time of World War II and shows the "secret history" of a pivotal event in Fury's life. The story feels takes its time in the telling over the six issues, but he packs in enough military minutiae to prevent it from feeling thin, and instead it feels detailed. The story hinges, in its second act, on a great hook, the kind you can only get from an imaginary world where you know that famous historical events can have different interpretations, even an event that you assume must have happened the way it did in "our world." In the interest of avoiding spoilers I will say no more, but the cliffhanger that ends chapter four provides just the minor thrill that you hope a potboiler can provide, without the idea feeling forced in for the sake of shock, and with the comfort of having it wrap up nicely enough in the end. Minor story, major character, major research. Ennis provides a nice change of pace from most Marvel comics in simply moving the plot from superheroes to war heroes.

I just hope he achieves the singular again with his next title.

The Drowners by Nabiel Kanan

This collection of the self-published mini-series recently came out from Image Comics, and I had somehow managed to not pick up the last issue of the series despite enjoying it in floppy form, so I scooped up this collection to see how the whole thing turned out.

I remember reading creator Nabiel Kanan's early series, Exit, when it was published by Caliber Press in the early 1990's and enjoyed it immensely, particularly as the work of a nascent comics storyteller. It stuck with me and I have followed his work eagerly ever since. He has an extremely distinctive style, standing out against a background of other artists who work in black and white (I've only seen him work in black and white, the exceptions being titles like this which have grey tones added at differing levels). His early work frequently suffered from characters whose looks overlapped, causing a bit of muddled reading due to character misidentification, and in this title he is only occasionally off-model (some of you may have noticed that this is a fixation of mine). His earlier work depended on well done textures in the inking to add depth and variety to his panels, and he uses the grey tones to his advantage to supplant the hatching that he previously used.

The story here is somewhat rote plot-wise. This is not to say that it is unwelcome, just a little shelf worn. The skill, as they say, "is in the telling." He uses a sturdy cast on the solid basis of the plot, and the characters move through the story, rather than the story moving past the characters, which sometimes happen to the plot-driven ideas. There is one time, in my reading, that I felt that a character acted in a manner uncharacteristic, and it leads to a few scenes of forced resolution, but on the whole the characters are used to the author's advantage. The distasteful characters are distinctively unlikable, the sympathetic characters remain complex, and most characters follow an arc that feels right.

I recommend this book, and hope that this is the beginning of a good relationship with Image that is enabled by his Caliber-mates Joe Pruett and Gary Reed. I would like to see his work available in more comic shops as one of the creators in the realm of Frank Miller or Jason, those who tell genre stories without relying on that genre.

The New 512 (edited)

The new format begins June 26. Review every two. I will post a newly written review, mostly of comics, every two days. That's the plan. I will still occasionally post links and other nonsense, but my main focus will be on maintaining a steady stream of reviews.

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

Read this.

X-Men Fairy Tales 2 by C.B. Cebulski and Kyle Baker

This is the second issue of a mini-series, but, near as I can tell, is a stand-alone story, with no reference to previous or forthcoming issues. This story is given a credit on the title page of being "inspired by the African fairy tale, The Friendship of the Tortoise and the Eagle."

Kyle Baker illustrates this issue in his current color style, which appears to be illustrated wholly on a computer. The line art appears to be drawn with a tablet and the colors rendered in the same manner. The main detraction of this recent development of his full color illustrations (from about the time of the Vertigo title I Die At Midnight), is that he uses a color pallette that is much more distracting than engaging. Garish pastels against muddy earth tones with yellow or purple highlights are too often the norm. The characters themselves in this story, though, are skillfully drawn and strike a smooth balance between anthropomorphism and realistic rendering. The faces of the main characters, the eagle and the tortoise, are expressive and emotive, without crossing the line into drawing human faces on animals. The small caveat in the art which allows the two main characters to act as stand-ins for two of Marvel's oldest characters, Magneto and Professor X, is a hint of purple outline on the eagle's face and a purple x on the back of the tortoise. This minimal hint at the identity of the characters in this parable is just the right touch. It allows the book to fit in the X-Men line, but isn't so heavy handed as to overwhelm the simple story.

The story itself may or may not be a close interpretation of the aforementioned fairy tale, I had never heard the story before. It felt like any number of fables from Kipling to Scheherazade, but that has always been the idea — a fable should consists of archetypes. This story does and ably adds a layer by allowing two oft-used animals stand in for two archetypal Marvel characters, the man whose mind is more powerful than his body, and the man whose quest for power deisables him from giving or allowing acceptance. I thought it appropriate to keep the direct references minimal, and to allow the story to speak not only for the Marvel characters, but using the idea of parable, to allow the characters to speak for all of us, which to me had always been the strength of Marvel's characters anyway.

110 Per¢ by Tony Consiglio

Well, in honor of Independence Day, I thought I should come up with some theme for today's review. The best I could come up with, however, was a book published by an independent publisher. That'll have to do.The new book by Tony Consiglio, 110 Per¢, is named for a fictional boy band that is the obsession of the story's main characters. Consiglio has been around the mini- and art-comix scene for at least a decade now, mostly associated with his title Double Cross. That mini started out as most do, with short stories focused mostly on comedy. Over the years the stories grew to have more depth, and pathos was added in just the right amount.

The tone of this book achieves that balance of comedy and drama to push the characters through their respective arcs. He uses three main characters and one major supporting character to delineate the different commentaries to the story's situations, and handles them all skillfully. The story is only 130 pages, but Consiglio gives it a feeling of weight by building the characters from the ground up, taking the space that each one needs to be rounded out. I don't know anyone who behaves like these characters, but they were all totally believable and that, for me, is one of the great strengths of the author's writing. Each character was given a situation that I could empathize with, even if I could never see myself in their situation, and each of their stories plays through in a realistic way.

The art is strong as well. Consiglio works in a style that is not seen much these days in long form comics, a kind of updated bigfoot style that is open and subdued. His characters are cartoony without being cartoonish, and unique while fitting in perfectly with the world they inhabit. He also manages to come up with distinctive designs for every supporting character. Too many comics artists suffer from a weakness in this area, often making it easy for the reader to confuse two characters with similar or identical appearances, and he never falls into that trap. The art has a comfortable feel, and remains consistent in the design of the "sets" that the characters inhabit. His layouts and page design remain interesting and service the story, while the inking, while occasionally weakened by a lack of line weight variance, brings the whole thing together with attractive blacks and textures.

I am glad to see a long form story from Tony Consiglio, and hope that the marketplace demands more. I think that he might yet grow into the type of artistic powerhouse that is Peter Bagge or Alex Robinson, whom I view as telling the type of story that Consiglio tells. His art is not as unique or distinctive as Bagge's and his stories have yet to show the ambition that Robinson's have, but time will tell.

Brave New World by Various

Not Brave.

Not New.

Well, I guess it qualifies as a World. Just a boring one.

Am I the only one that is wholly disappointed by what DC is offering with this group of titles. I don't even care about the one title that held the most interest for me, The All New Atom, after reading this preview.

There was one title that I will now check out because of the creative team, OMAC. The art in this preview is quite nice, but the story didn't particularly hook me enough to plan on it being a new regular title for me.

Overall, for a preview book that I assume is intended to build interest in new titles, this book had the exact opposite effect on me.