Category: Graphic Novels

By Chuck Dixon, Kevin West & Bob Almond (WildStorm)
ISBN13: 978-1-0-84576-634-4

Here’s a rare treat for readers other than dyed-in-the-wool teen-slasher fanatics as the two tales in this compilation (collecting issues #1-3 and #5-7 of the comic-book) offer at least the possibility that the victims can escape an inevitable fate in a far above average example of how to write a licensed horror property.

First is ‘Freddy’s War’, the tale of army brat Jade Arnstrum who moves into the accursed suburban backwater of Springwood with her brother Brad and retired Marine dad. Even before she’s unpacked she’s having weird dreams. A little girl nobody sees gives her vague warnings and there’s a sense of menace…

When her brother burns to death she finally finds a kid willing to tell her the story of Freddy Krueger, but unlike the beaten sheep of the town she decides to include her dad in the secret and together they take the fight into the dreamworld. This time Freddy’s got a battle on his hands. Drawn in a powerfully underplayed manner by Kevin West and inked by Bob Almond, Chuck Dixon’s taut script even provides an unexpected conclusion for we jaded know-it-alls.

‘The Demon of Sleep’ by the same creative team is another welcome variation on the theme. Every school has its outsiders and the smart nerdy outcasts of Springwood know that as well as the Jocks and the Popular cliques making their lives hell, eventually so will the spectral monster that kills in dreams. Unlike normal kids though, these bright sparks know how to cooperate, and they have a plan…

This dark, sardonic tale has plenty of shocks and twists in a nasty little adventure that mirrors supernatural trauma with the true horror of High School life and once again the story provides enough surprises to provide some genuine moments of tension.

In a genre that swims in predictability these gory yarns prove that a little thought can still work miracles. This book is a rare treat for all horror fans.

© & ™ MMVII New Line Productions, Inc. A Nightmare on Elm Street is ™ New Line Productions, Inc, (so7). © 2006, 2007 New Line Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning & Wes Craig (WildStorm)
ISBN13: 978-1-0-84576-638-2

I’ve already mentioned that I have aesthetic reasons for disliking a lot of generic “Teen-Slasher” fiction, so I’ll only briefly recapitulate here. If an evil is unstoppable, and the humans/victims have no chance of escape or survival then all narrative tension is lost and all you have is a body-count and an exercise in grotesque imagination, not a story. That said I have to admit that this sequel to the remake of the legendary cannibal gore-fest wherein a slaughterhouse worker uses his chainsaw to gut hapless kids is… unfortunately just another one of those.

A follow-up FBI team arrives in the town of Fuller, Texas in 1974 to gather evidence on the greatest mass-murderer in American history – and who is still at large – just ahead of a mobile TV news crew, only to discover that not only have the killings not stopped, but the killer had a large family with the same tastes. Moreover the entire town was complicit in the deaths. This daft plot rapidly degenerates into the ever-escalating bloodbath the target audience is waiting for and it all ends as you’d expect – with nothing resolved and another sequel on the cards.

Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and artist Wes Craig work at the best of their capabilities and I’m sure dedicated fans will be happy enough but I fear there’s nothing here for the casual or more discerning reader.

© MMVII New Line Productions, Inc. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) © 1974 Vortex, Inc. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) © MMIII New Line Productions, Inc. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning © MMVI New Line Productions, Inc. Leatherface and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are ™ Kuhn/Henkel. All Rights Reserved. © 2006, 2007 New Line Productions, Inc.

UK EDITION

By Brian Michael Bendis & various (Panini Publishing UK)
ISBN13: 978-1-905239-68-9

Although wearing the trappings of the new, darker, more in-your-face Marvel Universe, this tale is at heart an old fashioned “Who Can Save the World?” tale featuring the latest – possibly most sales-savvy – team of superheroes to carry the fabled Avengers ID card.

Reprinted from Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1 and issues #14-20 of the monthly New Avengers comic book, illustrated by Frank Cho, Steve McNiven, Mike Deodato Jr., Rick Mays, Jason Martin, Dexter Vines and Joe Pimentel this story by Brian Michael Bendis clarifies – or perhaps further muddies the true allegiances of double-agent Jessica Drew who, as the Avenger Spider-Woman is also an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the terrorist organisation Hydra.

As if that’s not grief enough Captain America and Iron Man go public with possibly the least popular roster in history comprising the mutant Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage and the mysterious all-powerful basket-case known as the Sentry. At least Carol Danvers (Ms. Marvel, Binary, Warbird and probably a bunch more code-names by the time you read this) is on hand to pitch in when necessary…

Couple all that with a positively hostile US Government and a new S.H.I.E.L.D. boss who’s ruthless when defied, then the unstoppable threat from space that is cutting a swath of death and destruction across the planet seems almost the least of the team’s worries.

Sharp, entertaining, competent if a little complex for the newcomer or returning fan, this disaster-movie style follow-up to the House of M crossover event is an unassuming and amiable read for fans of the “fights ‘n’ tights” scene.

© 2006, 2007 Marvel Characters Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By various (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-56097-872-5

The latest volume of the alternative cartooning and graphic arts series is truly autumnal in tone despite the addition of many more brightly coloured pages. The experimental nature of the features is often challenging but the rewards are great for the devotee prepared to work with the material rather than slavishly absorb. It also helps to let go of style preconceptions.

This volume features a fantastic variety of work by Ray Fenwick, Tim Hensley, Al Columbia, Eleanor Davis, Gabrielle Bell, Andrice Arp, Joe Kimball, Tom Kaczynski, Kurt Wolfgang, Brian Evenson, Zak Sally, Paul Hornschemeier and Sophie Crumb. There’s also a frankly astounding art feature on the multi-media illustrator Mike Scheer, but the real gem is the first instalment of a wordless and surreal epic ‘The Lute String’ by Jim Woodring.

Mome is as much magazine as book and each one is a graphic event. The earnest and dedicated creators make intense and often hard to read comics which are then reproduced to the highest print standards. It is well on the way to achieving its goal of becoming the twenty-first century successor to Art Spiegelman’s seminal Raw. This one, as always, is challenging, diverting, pretentious, absorbing, compelling, annoying and wonderful.

If you love our art form and think without moving your lips you need to see this series.

Mome © 2007 Fantagraphics Books. Individual stories are © the respective creator. All Rights Reserved.

By William Messner-Loebs & Phil Winslade with Patricia Mulvihill (DC Comics)
ISBN: 1-56389-301-0

This slim oversized all-original tale was produced under DC’s Elseworlds imprint wherein characters are freed from their regular continuity’s shackles for adventures that test the limits of credibility and imagination.

Amazonia posits a world where a tragic fire destroys the entire British Royal Family in the 1890s and a very distant cousin becomes ruler of Victoria’s Empire. Under this aggressively male sovereign the Empire goes from strength to strength and the rights of women wither and die. Once more and forever they are playthings and possessions, to the point of having to wear chains in public.

Enter Steven Trevor, late of His Majesty’s Air-Marines, and trying to make a living as a music-hall impresario. His actress-wife is a foreign beauty, dark, tall, statuesque, able to jump huge distances and strong enough to wrestle lions. When she saves the royal heir from an assassin it begins an inexorable and bloody series of events that will liberate half the Empire and end half a century of cruelty, abuse and atrocity.

This is a powerful and challenging fable of sexual equality, blending the Wonder Woman mythology with Steam-punk fantasy and the legend of Jack the Ripper with cracking effect. William Messner-Loebs writes with convincing authenticity and Phil Winslade’s Victoriana-style artwork, beautifully reminiscent of both penny-dreadful engravings and the lovely sweeping line of Charles Dana Gibson is utterly captivating.

Often the Elseworlds variations come off as ill-conceived or poorly executed, but when it all comes together as it does in Wonder Woman: Amazonia the result is pure gold.

© 1997 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

By various (DC Comics)
ISBN13: 978-1-84576-585-9

Most comics these days – at least from the larger publishers – have artwork of good to great quality. It’s no surprise, as there are a lot of artists, new and experienced, chasing relatively few jobs. Unfortunately it’s not so easy to drive up the quality of writing, and often people who can draw are just assumed to have the equivalent skills necessary to tell a tale well.

A sobering case-in-point is this collection of tales combining the biggest-guns of the oldest surviving comic book empire and one of the newest successes, which originally saw print as The Darkness/Batman, JLA/Witchblade, The Darkness/Superman #1-2 and JLA/Cyberforce between released in 1999 and 2005 and in which plot and character were continually sacrificed to the sales potential of empty fights and posturing.

The Darkness is Jackie Estacado, a Mafia hit man who has complete control of a supernatural force that manifests as demons who carry out his every wish and command. He’s in Gotham City to expand the Organisation’s power-base. And of course, Batman is not going to let him. Irrespective of Estacado’s self-doubts and avowed desire to change, there is no way on Earth an obsessive like Batman would allow him to leave without being sure that he would never kill again. But he does…

This is the responsibility of a huge cast of contributors including scripters Scott Lobdell and Jeph Loeb and artists Marc Silvestri, Dave Finch, Clarence Lansang, Joe Weems V, Danny Miki, Victor Llamas, Batt and Livesay but despite looking glitzy this is rushed and vacuous fare.

Written by Len Kaminski and illustrated by Mark Pajarillo and Walden Wong, JLA/Witchblade is a tale of Sara Pezzini, a New York cop bonded against her will to a supernatural, semi-sentient ultimate weapon. The Witchblade is as much her prisoner as her tool but when it escapes her control and possesses Wonder Woman, not even the Justice League can stop it from destroying the Universe.

Still looking for new territory Jackie Estacado hits Metropolis (are they really telling us that Superman’s home-town is more tempting than any other US city? Seriously?) where he starts killing mobsters, causing a gang-war. The second-rate threats of Metallo and Lois and Jimmy as hostages (because that’s never happened before) are enough to convince the Man of Steel to join forces with The Darkness and once again the mass-murderer gets off with a warning to leave town. The Darkness/Superman is written by Ron Marz with art by Tyler Kirkham and Matt “Batt” Banning, who should know better: I certainly do.

JLA/Cyberforce by Joe Kelly, Doug Mahnke and Norm Rapmund is by far the best of these unlikely team-ups. Here a team of cybernetically augmented individuals, once corporate mercenaries, wander the world looking for their lost leader, now possessed by an awesome alien force and a foe of all life. Their search leads them to a lost tomb deep below Budapest where the dead walk again, a threat certain to catch the attention of the Justice League.

This is a tale with some thought behind it for the fans of both series, a credible use of the characters and even some welcome and plausible character interaction. It’s nice to know that some one still recognises the value of a Story as well as a Property.

There will always be inter-company team-up comics as long as there’s more than one publisher. Let us hope future commercial exploitations realise the difference between comic strip art and comic strip-mining. One for collection completists only I fear.

© 1999, 2000, 2005, 2007 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.