Now Read This!

February 5, 2008February 5, 2008

Star Trek: The Modala Imperative

By Michael Jan Friedman, Peter David & Pablo Marcos (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-85286-457-5

This is an interesting concept that doesn’t quite resolve into a winning piece of fiction, but should still please fans of the TV show and avid graphic novel readers. Originally released as two separate miniseries (Star Trek: The Modala Imperative #1-4 and Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Modala Imperative #1-4) it is less a team-up of the two Enterprise crews but rather more an shared mission separated by a century of change.

The story begins with Captain Kirk’s return to the planet Modala ten years after his first visit, when he was a lowly Lieutenant serving under the legendary Christopher Pike. As part of the survey team he recommended the world for membership in the Federation and has been sent back to assess their development and determine if the Modalans are ready to join the Interstellar Community. He decides on a small covert landing party consisting of himself and new Ensign Pavel Chekov. This will be the lad’s first Away Mission.

On beaming down they find a world run by a totalitarian government with weapons and technology far beyond their current level of development. Without further ado they become embroiled in a revolutionary movement, with Kirk once again stretching the definitions and spirit of the Prime Directive of absolute non-interference in non-Federation Cultures. After much ducking and weaving the crew escape, leaving the planet in isolation for another century, a dictatorship that must solve its own problems before it can join the greater universe.

One Hundred years later Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s Enterprise returns to Modala to assess the situation. A free world celebrating its Centennial of Liberation, it eagerly awaits an invitation to join the Federation of Planets, and looks forward to seeing again the survivors of that momentous second visitation. Dr McCoy and Mr. Spock are welcome guests at the festivities but when the mysterious arms-dealers also return demanding payment for the weapons they provided to the previous government, the planet-wide party swiftly descends into bloody chaos.

This is a very readable, if light, yarn that has lots to recommend it, although art-lovers might bristle at a somewhat lacklustre effort from artist Pablo Marcos. To leaven that, however, they can luxuriate in the absolute joy of Adam Hughes’ original comic book covers, which are worth the price of admission all by themselves.

February 4, 2008February 4, 2008

Teen Titans: Life and Death

By Johns, Willingham, Daniel & McDaniel (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-297-5

As DC’s Infinite Crisis loomed, it impacted on all the titles then being published by the company. As well as being a little hard and unforgiving for new readers it also played hob with narrative structure when simply trying to tell a story in a collected edition, but if you’re willing to read ’em then I’m game to try and explain the mess.

Collecting Teen Titans #29-33, Teen Titans Annual #1, Robin #146-147 and more-or-less pertinent extracts from Infinite Crisis #5-6, this fraught and angst-ridden story begins with the return of previously dead members of the team who reveal that the doors between Life and Death are breaking down. When deceased villain Brother Blood turns up leading an army of corpses including a team of dead Titans, it takes a desperate trip to the Great Beyond to set things right.

But this is mere prelude to the catastrophic battle between the recuperating modern Superboy (see Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders, ISBN: 1-84576-247-9) and the deranged Superboy Prime, one of the survivors of the 1985 Crisis on Infinite Earths and a key instigator of the even greater Infinite Crisis. In a cataclysmic battle that involves an army of super-folk the young hero is grievously injured, and Robin leads a team to Luthor’s Lair in search of a cure for his injuries (this sequence, scripted by Bill Willingham, is a beacon of quality in an otherwise pedestrian and workmanlike affair).

Superboy recovers just in time to team up with Batman’s original sidekick Nightwing for one last Grand Hurrah before meeting a final fate which sadly is all too predictable.

Despite the best efforts of a huge number of quality creators such as writers Geoff Johns, Bill Williams, Marv Wolfman and the aforementioned Willingham, eight pencillers, sixteen inkers and five colourists, not to mention four letterers, this histrionic tale doesn’t fare well read alone, yet is actually all but lost in the greater cacophony of the main event. If you want to read this you will definitely need a large pile of other Crisis tie-in volumes for anything even approaching the full story.

February 4, 2008February 4, 2008

The Daily Adventures of Spider-Man, Vol 1

By Stan Lee & John Romita (Marvel/ Panini Publishing UK)
ISBN13: 978-1-905239-32-0

ByÂ 1977 Stan Lee had all but surrendered his role as editor and guiding light of Marvel Comics for that of a roving PR machine to hype-up the company he had turned into a powerhouse. In that year two events occurredÂ that catapulted Marvel’s trademark character into the popular culture mainstream. One was the long anticipated release of the Amazing Spider-Man live action TV show – a mixed blessing and pyrrhic victory at best – whilst the other, and one much more in keeping with his humble origins was the launch of a syndicated newspaper strip.

Both brought the character to a wider audience but the later offered at least a promise of editorial control – a vital factor in keeping the Wallcrawler’s identity and integrity intact. But even this medium dictated some tailoring of the â€œMerry Marvel Madnessâ€ before the hero was a suitable fit with the grown-up world of the Funny Pages.

Which is a longwinded way of saying that completists and long-time fans will be happy with this collection of strips, as will any admirer of the black-and-white artwork of the senior John Romita (latterly inked by the great Frank Giacoia); but the stories, tame, bowdlerised and rather mediocre, struggle without the support network of a Marvel Universe, and are necessarily dumbed-down for readers not familiar with the wider cast or long history.

If the reader is steeped in the common folklore of Spider-Man, the adventures introducing Dr. Doom and Dr. Octopus are merely heavy-handed, but for newcomers they are presented as if all participants are already familiar, with no development or real explanation. A new villain The Rattler comes next, followed by the more appropriate (for strips at least) gangster The Kingpin before the strip finally gets around to a retelling of the origin, but now based on that aforementioned TV show rather than the classic Lee/Ditko masterpiece. It is safe to say that in those early years the TV series informed the strip much (too much) more than the comic-books.

A revised Kraven the Hunter came next, which presented an opportunity to remove Mary Jane Watson from the strip in favour of a string of temporary girl-friends, more in line with the TV version, and this also signalled a reining-in of super-menaces in favour of a less fantastic string of opponents such as a middle-Eastern terrorist. The launch of a Spider-Man movie took Peter Parker to Hollywood and a new version of deranged special-effects genius Mysterio, before Dr. Doom returned, attempting to derange our hero with robot pigeons and duplicates of Peter Parker’s associates.

This is followed by an exceptional run as three street thugs terrorise Aunt May for her social security money, and Spider-Man has to foil a crazed fashion-model who has discovered his identity and is blackmailing him. These human-scale threats are a perfect use of the hero in this more realistic milieu â€“ and they are the best stories in this collection (reprinting the first two years of the feature; from January 3rd 1977 to January 28th 1979), which regrettably ends with a (feel free to shudder) protection racket story set in the Disco owned by Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn.

The wonderful art sadly can’t counteract the goofy stories that predominate in this collection, nor has time been gentle with the dialogue, which is so antiquated that it might be dug up on Time Team, but there is nonetheless a certain guilty pleasure to be derived from this volume if you don’t take your comics too seriouslyâ€¦.

February 3, 2008February 3, 2008

Meet John Dark

By Darryl Cunningham & Simon Gane (Slab-O-Concrete)
ISBN: 1-899866-16-7

Here’s another cool cure for the seemingly endless homogeneity of mainstream comic books from the sorely missed Slab-O-Concrete outfit. John Dark is a secret agent who quits his job seconds before being fired. He becomes an enforcer for a gang boss because criminals are less corrupt and evil than any spy or politician and proceeds to cause as much mayhem and carnage as any post-modern thriller fan could ever want.

Brilliantly mordant black humour, solid dialogue and just enough deep-seated respect and admiration for its antecedents to cheer up the jaded fan, this slim book, which also contains â€œUnderworldâ€ a bleak, black tale a gangster’s final vengeance, was released just ahead of the wave of Cool, Retro British gangster movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and to my mind is infinitely superior to them simply because of the stylish and eccentric artwork of Simon Gane.

You should hunt it down and make it your own!

February 3, 2008

Captain America: War & Remembrance

By Roger Stern, John Byrne & Joe Rubenstein (Marvel)
ISBN: 0-87135-657-0

Captain America was the first patriotic superhero to hit big with the public and over the years a vast number of talented artists and writers have crafted his adventures. It is therefore quite odd to realise how few of them are truly memorable. I’ll leave you to compile your own top ten, but I’ll wager that this all too brief run by Roger Stern, John Byrne and Joe Rubenstein will provide at least one of them.

This volume collects issues #247-255 of the Star-Spangled Avenger’s own comic and seamlessly blends epic adventure with spectacular superhero art for a fan’s delight that is also readily accessible to the newcomer or casual reader.

â€œBy the Dawn’s Early Lightâ€ gives an insight into Cap’s World War II career, uncovers a mystery involving leftover Nazi mastermind Baron Strucker and even sets up a new threat from a deadly robotic villain Machinesmith, leading directly into the two-part â€œDragon Manâ€ and â€œDeath, Where is Thy Sting?â€, which combines all-out action with a genuine moral dilemma that perfectly illuminates the character of this American Dream. Cap is always at his best when overcoming overwhelming opposition.

These stories were first released in an election year and the truly uplifting â€œCap For President!â€ is still a wonderful antidote for sleaze and politicking whilst confirming the honesty and idealism of the decent person within us all. It’s back to basics after that as Cap teams up with long-time foe Batroc the Leaper to save New York City from flaming Armageddon in the two-part â€œThe Mercenary and the Madmanâ€ and â€œCold Fireâ€, a classic thriller that returned Mr. Hyde to the first rank of Marvel villains.

A short infomercial follows which reveals â€œThe Life and Times of Captain Americaâ€ in a funny, classy way before the drama resumes with â€œShould Old Acquaintance Be Forgotâ€ wherein the hero is called to England and the deathbed of WWII comrade Lord Falsworth who battled Nazis as the legendary Union Jack. He finds a brooding menace, family turmoil and a returned supernatural horror in the concluding â€œBlood on the Moorsâ€, which even now is still one of the best handled Heroic Death stories in comics history.

The story portion of the book concludes with a brilliant retelling of Captain America’s origin, which is where the creative team, for unspecified reasons, called it a day, but this book also reproduces six pages from an unfinished tenth tale, a tantalising glimpse of missed magic.

This is a sheer escapist thrill-ride, endlessly gratifying and tremendously satisfying. After Jack Kirby, these are probably the purest evocation of this American Icon that you could ever read.

February 2, 2008February 2, 2008

Trinity Blood, Volume 1

By Sunao Yoshida & Kiyo Kyujyo, character designs by Thores Shibamoto (TokyoPop)
ISBN: 1-59816-674-3

I don’t usually go into much backstory for manga tales, but this phenomenon needs a little extra exposition, so brace yourselves. Trinity Blood is a multimedia experience and if you want to enjoy this rather tasty Sci-Fi vampire saga via this book you’ll want some blanks filled in.

Originally a series of wasei-eigo ranobe (light novels, aimed at the young adult market â€“ prose illustrated with manga -style illustrations) Toriniti Buraddo was originally written by Sunao Yoshida, and were adapted into anime shows and the comic-strips collected here. Although all formats vary to some degree in detail, the basic storylines are similar.

More than nine centuries prior to the events occurring Earth attempted to colonise Mars, and discovered there nanotechnologies that were used to alter the biology of the explorers. The Bacillus nano-machines turned humans in Methuselahs: Shape-changing, super-strong, super-fast immortals that drink human blood and have no tolerance for ultra-violet light. The Crusnik nano-machines were only successfully injected into four subjects, Seth, Cain, Abel and Lilith, transforming them into superior creatures that drank the blood of Methuselahs.

When the colonists returned to Earth an apocalyptic war between vampires and humans all but destroyed civilisation. After ‘The Armageddon’, as society recovered and settled into a slow, Cold War, Methusalahs became a widespread political power controlled from their capital Byzantium, countered by the resurgent Catholic Church, still centred at the Vatican, although the mysterious Albion nation remains an unknown, but oppressive third force. It is now nine hundred years later, and civilisation has gradually returned, although much of Earth’s technology and science has been lostâ€¦ or suppressed.

In this dark world of intrigue and double-dealing Abel Nightroad, an enigmatic yet affable priest arrives at the city of Istavan where he meets the nun Sister Esther. Oddly out of place at the dark, brooding, beleaguered Church of St Mathias, under the twin moons that seem to bless the predations of vampire Lord Gyula’s monstrous horde, she is fascinated by the itinerant priest but blissfully unaware of his terrible secret. Nor has she any inkling of the part she will play in the eternal struggle with the vampires and how she will aid The Church’s supreme anti-Methuselah weapon when he tries to thwart a plot to destroy the Holy City with a pre-Armageddon super-weaponâ€¦

Complex and moody, this High-Gothic thriller is fast-paced and movingly grandiose, and doesn’t fall into the old narrative trap of ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’. Vampires and High Church each have their own intrinsic charismas and light, deft characterisation keeps the pot boiling when the plot wanders towards over-pomposity. This is a sharp, compulsive fantasy/Sci-Fi/political thriller that appeals to more than just Goths and Geeks, so be prepared to sign up for a long haul and lots of books (two six-novel sequences) and DVDs (24 episodes of the show to watch!) as well as these graphic novels.

This book is printed in the ‘read-from-back-to-front’ manga format.

February 1, 2008February 1, 2008

Remembrance of Things Past, Part 3: Love in Swann

By Marcel Proust, adapted by StÃ©phane Heuet (NBM)
ISBN: 978-1-56163-513-9

I love comics, both in form and function, and wouldn’t ever be without them. I also read the odd book or two.

Valentin Louis Georges EugÃ¨ne Marcel Proust, although perhaps an acquired taste, wrote what is considered by many to be one of the better ones (actually a bunch of them classed as one) and even though there are no robots or alien invasions and precious few fist-fights, the incredibly brave and ambitious StÃ©phane Heuet has undertaken to adapt Ã la recherchÃ© du temps perdu, and is going about it in a most satisfying manner.

This graphic narrative is using “Remembrance of Things Past” for its title – which is what it was called when originally translated by C. F. Scott-Moncrieff, who turned the six volumes (3200 pages) of French into English between 1922 and 1931, although, when Penguin’s 1995 edition was released, the complete reworking by scholars from three countries settled upon “In Search of Lost Time” as a more fitting title.

What’s it about? In broad short form it considers the huge social changes that occurred in France and the world, especially the diminution of aristocracy and the advancement of the Middle Classes from the TroisiÃ¨me RÃ©publique (French Third Republic -1870 until the Nazis installed the Vichy Government in 1940) to the fin de siÃ¨cle or turn of the 20th century. It’s about memory and nostalgia and how the senses can become doorways into our pasts. It’s about a guy recalling the village where he grew up. It is a vast achievement with over 2000 characters and is an acknowledged masterpiece of the written word. You should try it some time.

We are talking about Heuet’s adaptation now though, and in this volume vain, self-absorbed gentleman-about-town Swann falls in with an aggressively social-climbing crowd only to find his savoir-faire and savoir-vivre lost when he accidentally falls in love with his perception of the lovely Odette. That’s all you get. The artist has produced a sweet and subtle, marvellously European confection that is both beguiling and oddly fulfilling. The stylish, muted palette and heavy dependence on talking head-shots will deter many potential readers, so I’m going to do nothing to mar the soft pleasures of this wonderful book from any who are willing to let this dreamy tale unravel for them…

Classics Illustrated used to adapt books into comic form and they became a short-cut for school cheats who couldn’t be bothered to read great literature or were to busy to study for exams. This superb tome – and all its companion volumes – is far more than a prÃ©cis in pictures; this worshipful adaptation is a companion to, not a substitute for; and thus is another brilliant example of the range of our art-form, and well worthy of your serious attention.

February 1, 2008February 1, 2008

Teen Titans/Outsiders: The Insiders

By Geoff Johns, Winick & various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-247-9

In the build-up to DC’s Infinite Crisis crossover event lots of long-running story-threads were all pulled together ready for the big bang. This volume collects a shared storyline that ran in Teen Titans #24-26 and Outsiders #24-25 and 28 with art by Matthew Clark & Art Thibert, Carlos D’anda and Tony Daniel & Marlo Alquiza.

Superboy was always believed to be a clone of Superman, but the discovery that part of his DNA was Lex Luthor’s deeply unsettled the young hero. However, just as he is about to share the revelation with his young team-mates, Luthor activates a deeply seated program that overrides Superboy’s consciousness and makes him evil.

Indigo was a robotic being from the future who travelled back to our time and inadvertently caused the death of Omen and Donna Troy (see The Death and Return of Donna Troy, ISBN13: 978-1-84576-248-3). She subsequently joined the Outsiders but here is revealed as Brainiac 8, a deadly cybernetic killer determined to wipe out the heroes and re-configure her own time-continuum.

Fast-paced and well illustrated this lightweight but engaging tight-and-fights thriller goes through all the expected motions with great style and enthusiasm but it’s rather charmless for all that and the casual reader will definitely wonder what all the fuss was about.

January 31, 2008January 31, 2008

You Are Maggie Thatcher: A Dole-Playing Game

By Pat Mills & Hunt Emerson (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-85286-011-1

The most successful comic strips depend more on the right villain than any hero or combination of protagonists, so this quirky little oddment was better placed than most for success. Created by British legends Pat Mills and Hunt Emerson this strident, polemical satire puts the boot in on the appalling tactics and philosophies of the third term Thatcher government with savagely hilarious art and stunningly biting writing.

The concept is simple now but groundbreaking in 1987. The reader is to be Prime Minister Maggie who, by reading sections of the book and selecting a choice of action at the end of each chapter is directed to another page to experience the ramifications of that decision. The objective is to win another election, and the method is to make only vote-winning decisions – thus the multiple-choice page-endings. The intention is not to win the game, obviously.

This powerful piece of graphic propaganda may have dated on some levels but the home-truths are still as pertinent. Even as Maggie and her demented pack of lap-dogs wriggled and squirmed on Mills and Emerson’s pen-points, their legacy of personal gain was supplanting both personal and communal responsibility to become the new norm. Today’s Britain is their fault and this book still reminds us of a struggle too few joined and a fight we should have won, but didn’t.

It’s still really, really funny thoughâ€¦

January 31, 2008January 31, 2008

One Year Affair

By Byron Preiss & Ralph Reese (Workman Publishing Co.)
ISBN: 0-911104-86-0

Before beginning his own attempts to invent the Graphic Novel, Byron Preiss worked on a number of projects including a comic strip for the American humour magazine National Lampoon. With celebrated cartoonist and illustrator Ralph Reese he produced a wry, charming and oddly engaging examination of the contemporary dating scene, circa 1973.

Steve is just some guy and his casual meeting with the so-with-it, so-sexy Jill over a dropped feminine hygiene product leads to a funny, quirky and thoroughly readable modern romance of the type we’d call a RomCom nowadays. From one-night stands to open relationships, through engagements to the ending (and I’m not telling you just in case you find a copy) this little treat shows with warmth and superb artwork (like Mort Drucker meeting Jack Davis with Wally Wood and Dick Giordano doing the catering) how human mating rituals have never really changed since men eschewed Big Wooden Clubs and tried to grow â€œA Good Sense of Humourâ€ instead.

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: