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100 Bullets: The Hard Way

100 Bullets: The Hard Way 

By Brian Azzarello & Eduardo Risso (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-041-7

After a frankly spectacular beginning, this brilliantly stylish crime/conspiracy thriller could only decline in quality, and such was indeed the case. When as sleek and glossy a story-hook as “what if you were given an untraceable gun, one hundred bullets and a damned good reason”, is in the creative hands of talents like Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso you know the resultant drama is going to start big, but after 50+ issues can they maintain the adrenaline and the pace?

Until recently, the answer seemed to be “No”. However, with the eighth volume The Hard Way (collecting issues #50-58 of the monthly comic) there is a welcome return to form and the muddled shufflings of the previous volume now appear as nothing more than scene settings for another major charge.

The centre piece for the latest book is the true history of the United States of America and the origins of the Trust – an illicit organisation that actually controls the country. We get further insight into the workings of Agent Graves and the lethal team of gangsters called The Minutemen, through the usual quota of blood, sex, guns, intrigue and the harshest of harsh language.

As members of the Trust plan to rewrite their 400 year old accord, the scattered members of Grave’s old team circle in the wings. Wylie Times takes a bloody sabbatical in New Orleans, and becomes involved in a couple of nasty domestic vendettas, which in turn leads to the removal of a major player in the drama.

This return to form provides gripping thrills and promises an incredible future climax to what may be the best crime-comic ever published.

© 2005 Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso & DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Oh My Goddess! Volume 2

Oh My Goddess! Volume 2 

By Kosuke Fujishima (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-84576-486-9

Having almost adapted to being inextricably linked to a beautiful goddess, you’d think life would settle down for socially inadequate student Keiichi Morisato, but sadly things just keep getting more and more complicated.

The college society he pledged to – the Nekomi Institute of Technology Motor Club – are a bunch of maniacs, always spending his money and getting him into trouble, his little sister is always nosing around, the campus queen, Sayoko, inexplicably has the hots for him, and to top it all, Belldandy’s sister – an even more powerful goddess – has decided to make him her pet project.

When you’re a lazy slacker who just wants a hassle free life, you should be careful what you wish for. This second collection of Kosuke Fujishima’s classic comedy of errors is a gentle hoot that can’t fail to bring a smile to the jaded comic palate.

© 2007 Kosuke Fujishima. All Rights Reserved.

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Oh My Goddess! Volume 1

Oh My Goddess! Volume 1 

By Kosuke Fujishima (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-84576-485-4

Oh My Goddess is a particularly fine example of a peculiarly Japanese genre of storytelling combining fantasy with loss of conformity and embarrassment. In this case nerdy science student Keiichi Morisato dials a wrong number one night and connects to the Goddess Technical Help Line. When the beautiful and powerful Belldandy materialises in his room, offering him one wish, he mockingly asks that she never leave him, effectively trapping her on Earth and unable to move too far from his physical proximity.

In a structured society like Japan there’s plenty of scope for comedy when a powerful female seemingly dotes on an average male, and much frivolity occurs as her inability to part from him increasingly disrupts his life. And of course there’s the whole supernatural powers running amok problem to consider as well. Think of it as a modern take on Bewitched or I Dream of Genie, especially as there’s a romance developing between them that both are incapable of admitting to.

Throw in the usual cast of friends, rivals, insane teachers and interfering entities and there’s plenty of light-hearted fun to be found in this bright and breezy manga classic.

© 2007 Kosuke Fujishima. All Rights Reserved.

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Origin: The True Story of Wolverine

Origin: The True Story of Wolverine

By Various (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN 978-1-904159-07-0

Although long touted as a story that couldn’t be told, the history of such a popular character was never, ever going to remain a mystery. Wolverine captivated audiences from his earliest appearances in the X-Men comics, and apparently did it all over again in the movie versions. Thus, in a climate of declining comic book sales, finally giving him an origin was truly inevitable. Sadly, just as certain was the conviction that the event couldn’t help but be something of a disappointment.

Since I loathe story spoilers above all things, I’m going to be as vague as I can, so suffice to say that at the turn of the 19th century, 12 year old Rose is hired as the companion of sickly James Howlett, on the palatial estate of his wealthy grandfather. Among the servants she befriends an all but feral child called Logan, the abused son of a groundskeeper/general dogsbody. She settles into the daily routine quickly, but the estate is not a tranquil place.

Tragedy occurs one night as a murder-suicide destroys the stability of the gothic estate forever and Rose and the Wolverine-to-be must flee for their lives. On the run for years the pair eventually settle in a quarrying camp where the harsh conditions and physical toil rapidly mature our mutant hero. But even here the repercussions of the Howlett Estate tragedy inevitably find them leading to a final, appalling confrontation.

This is a very disappointing book. It was never going to live up to thirty years of anticipation, and the creators should applauded for ignoring the convoluted X-Men mythology to concentrate on a more primal tale in the fashion of Jack London or Joseph Conrad, but it’s a gamble that hasn’t really paid off. There’s a distinct lack of tension and no sense of revelation at all. Every character is one-dimensional, provided for a single purpose and predictably dealt with when its job is done. From the first page we know how it’s going to end and none of the characters has enough spark for a reader to emote with.

Understandably, such a “big story” needs a lot of creators so the credits are a bit convoluted. Bill Jemas, Joe Quesada and Paul Jenkins came up with the plot, which Jenkins scripted. The artwork was drawn by Andy Kubert, but any grit and edginess that this talented gentleman may have created was regrettably lost by the cloyingly heavy digital painting of Richard Isanove, whose very pretty colours have seemingly candy-coated the traumatic life-story of this most savage of heroes.

Publishing is a business, and the market always dictates what and where the stories are, but this was not what should have happened to make Wolverine. Still it is only a comic, so when someone decides to reveal the Real, True, True Real story of… we’ll all get another go at learning his secrets. Or not.

© 2001, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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The March to Death

The March to Death 

By John Olday (Freedom Press)
ISBN 0-900384-80-8

We tend to remember World War Two as a battle of opposites, of united fronts and ubiquitous evil, of Us and Them. It’s valuable to be reminded that even under the most calamitous conditions and clearest of threats, dissent is part of the human psyche and our most valuable birthright.

The March to Death is an unashamed political tract, a collection of anti-war cartoons and tellingly appropriate quotations first published in 1943 by Freedom Press, the Anarchist publishing organisation (from whom you can still obtain a copy should you wish – please contact the CCG for address details or do that Google thing).

Comics and cartoons are an astonishingly powerful tool for education as well as entertainment and the images rendered by German emigré John Olday (neé Arthur William Oldag) are blistering attacks on the World Order of all nations that had led humanity so inexorably to a second global conflagration in less than a generation. He drew most of the images whilst serving in the British Royal Pioneer Corps before deserting in 1943 for which he was imprisoned until 1946. The accompanying text was selected by his colleague and artistic collaborator Marie Louise Berneri, a French Anarchist thinker who moved to Britain in 1937.

The 1995 edition has a wonderfully informative foreword by Donald Rooum which paints the time and the tone for the young and less politically informed. This is a work that all serious advocates of the graphic image as more than a vehicle for bubble gum should know of and champion.

© 1943, 1995 Freedom Press.

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Hellblazer: Black Flowers

Hellblazer: Black Flowers

By Mike Carey & various (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-186-3

This Constantine collection (reprinting issues #181-186) sees Carey setting his own skewed stamp on the iconic street wizard with a collection of tales that gently move the series towards a spectacular climax to celebrate the comic’s then impending bi-centenary. Carey’s greatest strength is his meticulous forward planning and many seeds are planted here to compliment those already scattered in the previous volume Red Sepulchre.

First up is The Game of Cat and Mouse, illustrated by Jock, which sees Constantine running for so much more than his life from Spectral ‘messengers’ through the secret parts of London. Lee Bermejo provides chilling art for the eponymous Black Flowers as the wizard gathers allies and information whilst purging a sleepy hamlet of some unwelcome dead visitors who’ve broken out of the local insane asylum. Fan favourite Marcelo Frusin provides pictures for the final tale Third Worlds as Constantine and his companion go travelling, encountering some old acquaintances – most notably the Swamp Thing – whilst preparing themselves for the latest Armageddon Hammer to fall.

Hellblazer is consistently terrifying and hilarious by turn, and John Constantine is probably the best anti-hero ever written. Carey and friends are consistently creating a grim, chilling, engrossing and uproarious horror romp. The least you can do is consistently own these collections. A vote with your wallet just means they’ll keep on doing it, right?

© 2003 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre

Hellblazer: Red Sepulchre

By Mike Carey, Marcelo Frusin, Steve Dillon & Jimmy Palmiotti
ISBN 1-84576-068-9

The first post-movie Hellblazer collection should take the bad taste out of fans’ mouths as Mike (Lucifer) Carey takes over the writing and immediately re-establishes the essential post-punk Englishness and milieu of the character.

Arriving illegally back in Liverpool after his American adventures, the coolest sod in comics visits his sister to discover a necromantic blight affecting the block of flats she lives in. After tackling that particular evil (High on Life from Hellblazer # 175-176, illustrated by veteran Vertigoer Steve Dillon), he returns to London to track down his missing niece Gemma, who has become an unwitting pawn in a vicious bidding war for The Red Sepulchre, a mystical artefact of legendary and unquantifiable power (issues # 177-180).

This is a welcome return to vintage form for John Constantine. Rife with double-cross and manipulation, the magician inveigles and connives his way through all sorts of Hells, with his customary Game-Face grin and plot-within-plot strategy, seemingly taking hit after hit but always most assuredly in absolute control of the field.

Marcelo Frusin’s sparse storytelling and his fearfully disciplined drawing whips the reader from page to page like fat kids down a water-slide for a completely unvarnished thrill-ride, and Carey’s essential grasp of Constantine makes for some of the best urban horror since Garth Ennis’s run on the title. Long-time fans should also appreciate the wonderfully subtle foreshadowings hidden herein when later issues are collected. Here is quality stuff that starts strong and gets better, and new readers can safely jump on for a truly spooky time.

© 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Gotham Central: Half a Life

Gotham Central: Half a Life 

By Greg Rucka & Michael Lark (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-091-3

The second collection of this procedural cop thriller set in the urban hell of Gotham City is another superb study in genre-crossing. The action centres around the framing and persecution of long-time supporting character Renee Montoya, a detective in good standing who suddenly finds herself utterly alone, in the un-friendliest job in the world, in the nastiest town on Earth. As part of the Major Crimes Unit she’s seen how bad Batman’s enemies can get, but this time she’s the target, not the hunter, and not just her life is at stake.

This engrossing drama never steps outside of human bounds irrespective of the nature of crime in Gotham, and the original comic presentation (from issues #6-10) won Eisner, Harvey, Eagle and Prism awards for Best Story. Also included in this volume are two earlier tales from Montoya’s past (Batman Chronicles #16 – Two Down, by Rucka and Jason Pearson & Cam Smith, and Detective Comics #747 – Happy Birthday Two You, by Rucka, William Rosado and Steve Mitchell) that, although stand alone tales at time of publication, lead directly into the tragic events collected here.

It’s always difficult to recommend stuff to comics virgins. This is something even your girlfriend won’t laugh at. Go on, see for yourself.

© 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty

Gotham Central: In the Line of Duty 

By Ed Brubaker, Greg Rucka and Michael Lark (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84023-828-3

One of the great joys of the legendary comics characters is the potential for innovation and reinterpretation. There always seems to be another facet or corner to develop. Such a case is Gotham Central, wherein modern television sensibilities combine with the long suffering boys in blue of the world’s most famous four colour city. Owing as much to shows such as Hill Street Blues, Homicide: Life on the Streets and Law & Order as it does to the continuity of Batman, the series combines gritty authentic police action with a soft-underbelly look at what real peacekeepers have to put up with in a world psychotic clowns, flying aliens and scumbag hairballs who just don’t stay dead.

This volume kicks off with Ed Brubaker’s introduction of the cast, and first tale wherein superfreak Mr Freeze intersects a kidnap investigation by detectives Driver and Fields leading to the latter’s hideous demise. The ensuing noir classic theme of the hunt for a cop-killer is edgy and fast paced while still delivering pithy characterisations. Greg Rucka handles the second story arc as the now fit for duty Driver and his new partner use solid police work to solve the kidnap case, all the while under the gun as Batman villain The Firebug dances on the horizon threatening to destroy the city.

The appropriate quota of human drama, tension, stress and machismo play well under Michael Lark’s deft illustrations, adding a grimy patina of pseudo-reality to good old fashioned cops ‘n’ robbers stories, playing out in what can only be described as the urban city of the damned.

© 2004 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

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Ex Machina: Tag

Ex Machina: Tag

By Brian K. Vaughn, Tony Harris & Tom Feister (WildStorm)
ISBN 1-84576-123-5

The second collection of memoirs starring New York City’s coolest – and most super-powered – Mayor, picks up where the first left off as the chief official continues his quest to really make a difference by tackling every issue at once, head-on, and generally by ignoring any suggestion of traditional politics.

The premise that a do-gooder would go public, eschew using his powers – in this case the ability to communicate with and command all electronics – quit flying around via his trusty jetpack, and even establish a frank and open dialogue with that arch bogie-man, the US government, is a refreshing dose of Realheroik, and the sustained mystery of the precise origin of his powers adds body to an engaging and well realised piece of fiction.

The plot this time concerns the discovery of a serial killer/monster that is lurking in the New York Subway system that seems somehow connected to The Mayor’s exotic past, but the most satisfying moments are when Mitchell Hundred applies his obdurately direct manner to the thorny issues of fund raising, gay marriage and media relations. If only more party hacks read this, maybe we’d all benefit in our daily lives.

Ex Machina is a fine example of that rarest of Hen’s Teeth, an adult comic for people who have actually grown up. You should get politicking and go spread the word.

™ & © 2005 Brian K Vaughan & Tony Harris. All Rights Reserved.