Posts

Posted on

Pride of Baghdad

Pride of Baghdad

By Brian K Vaughan & Niko Henrichon (Vertigo)
ISBN 1-84576-242-8

It would be far beyond crass to suggest that anything good at all has come out of the monstrous debacle of the Iraq invasion, but Pride of Baghdad at least offers a unique perspective on a small moment of that bloody mistake.

Vaughan and Henrichon, using the narrative tools of Walt Disney and George Orwell, tell the anthropomorphised tale of a family of Lions who are unwillingly freed from their zoo during the taking of Baghdad, and run loose in the deadly streets until their tragic end.

This is not a spoiler. It is a warning. This is a beautiful, powerful, tale with characters who you will love. And they die because of political fecklessness, commercial venality and human frailty. The magical artwork makes the inevitable tragedy a confusing and wondrous experience and Vaughan’s script could make a stone, and perhaps a Republican, cry.

Derived from a news item that told of the lions roaming the war torn Baghdad streets, here we are made to see the invasion in terms other than those of commercial news-gatherers and government spin-doctors, and hopefully can use those different opinions to inform our own. This is a lovely, haunting, sad book, which shows why words and pictures have such power that they can terrify bigots and tyrants of all types. Read this book. Maybe not to your kids, not yet, but read it.

© 2006 Brian K Vaughan & Niko Henrichon. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Orbiter

Orbiter 

By Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran with Dave Stewart (DC/ Vertigo)
ISBN: 1-4012-0056-7

This offering from the industry’s Enfant Terrible is a heartfelt but insubstantial slice of post-Twilight Zone hokum, set on a dystopian Earth in the years following the mysterious disappearance of the space shuttle Venture. It vanished from Earth orbit a decade previously, taking with it a crew of seven and ultimately, the world’s taste for space flight. When Venture crashes into the shanty-town that used to be the Kennedy space centre it carries only the original – catatonic – pilot, dust that could must have come from Mars and alien technology that has transformed a glorified glider into a true inter-stellar voyager. The last dregs of NASA must then reform to solve the mystery and return to mankind the defrayed, delayed destiny of The Stars.

For avowed space aficionados Ellis and Doran this is probably an earnest labour of love, but the truth of the matter is that there’s nothing particularly original or worthwhile that hasn’t been done to death elsewhere, although the artist’s departure from her usual glossy, highly stylised and glossy pencils for a more gritty and European manner of drawing is an welcome and effective surprise.

All in all, though, despite being something of a departure for the writer and perhaps a disappointment for those dedicated comics fans expecting another Strange Kiss or Transmetropolitan, there’s still something of interest to be gained for the casual reader.

© 2003 Warren Ellis & Colleen Doran. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Old Jewish Comedians

Old Jewish Comedians 

By Drew Friedman (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN 10: 1-56097-741-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-56097-741-4

Technically, this isn’t a graphic novel or trade collection, it’s a picture book. But when it’s a series of drawings depicting a procession of Jewish American Comedians in their wrinkly twilight years by the absolute master of pencil rendering and ironic nostalgia I’m prepared to bend whatever rules I need to in order to make more people aware.

Friedman can just plain draw. His caricatures are powerful, resonant and joyful. He at once captures what these wizened laugh-smiths were about, and gives them a beer-goggles beauty that our generation of comedy fans just doesn’t see in recordings of the performers. A book for true art collectors, whatever their particular fascination.

© 2006 Drew Friedman. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Megatokyo Volume 4

Megatokyo Volume 4 

By Fred Gallagher, with Sarah Gallagher & Dominic Nguyen (CMX/WildStorm)
ISBN 1-84576-476-5

Now, you and me, we’re normal. Sure we like comics, and sci-fi shows and big-explosion movies, toy guns and ninjas and beer, but that’s still regular stuff. Yet don’t we know a couple of guys that take it just a little too seriously? Maybe they’re a tad too… keen?

Piro and Largo are those guys. Piro is a big, Big, BIG fan of all things Japanese and collectable (there’s a word for it and that’s “Otaku” – which probably translates as “obsessive geek”). Largo is a hardcore Gamer – he even thinks and speaks in a game language, “L33T”. One night they get unbelievably drunk in America and sober up in Tokyo – with no money to get home.

And that’s really all the backstory you need to start reading this epic online comic strip (apparently the world’s most popular non-Japanese manga). The two hapless odd-boys must find jobs and earn enough money to get home, but Japan is seductive. Piro finds himself drawn into a web of bemused attraction with three very different girls and Largo becomes the charismatic leader of a group of ‘heroes’ dedicated to destroying a deadly ‘zombie horde’ plaguing the city. It’s all their dreams come true.

This is incredibly dense storytelling when gathered into book form. You need a lot of irons in the fire when you’re publishing daily, and the plots, sub-plots and asides are utterly packed with drama, comedy from satire to slapstick, and a delightful absurdist fantasy that can always be relied on to keep the audience guessing. With a dedicated pick’n’mix attitude to everything that intrigues them, the Gallaghers have re-fried all their favourite elements of popular culture into a seamless surreal blend of goofy unrequitable love, male haplessness, giant monsters, warrior cults, guardian angels, funny animals, fairies, imaginary science and soap opera. This is a fun, fun read. Here’s hoping the (book) publisher re-releases the previous volumes – mean time you could always check out www.megatokyo.com.

© 2007 FredArt Studios, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Hellblazer: All His Engines

Hellblazer: All His Engines

By Mike Carey & Leonardo Manco (Vertigo/DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84023-966-2

To coincide with the release of the Constantine movie, Vertigo pushed the boat out with an all-original hardcover featuring the current creative team and a wicked little tale of the ultimate chancer at his dodgy best.

It’s bad enough when the world is gripped by a mysterious sleeping plague. It gets worse when Contantine’s oldest – for which read longest surviving – friend Chas begs him to save his grand-daughter from said affliction. It becomes intolerable when a demon intent on housing Hell’s overspill population on earth tries to blackmail the scruffy sorcerer into doing his dirty work for him, but when a disenfranchised Death God sticks his oar in, the old Hellblazer has no choice but to get up, get out and get it sorted.

All of which, of course, he does with his usual grisly and spectacular panache. This is the character at his absolute best, in a tour de force from writer and artist at the very top of their game, making this one of those rare occasions when the ride is actually worth the price of admission. Take it from me, forget the movie and buy this instead. You’ll be so glad you did.

© 2005 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Birds of Prey: Between Dark and Dawn

Birds of Prey: Between Dark and Dawn 

By Gail Simone & various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-240-1

Dyed-in-the-wool super-hero fans and neophytes alike would be well advised to follow this series, featuring a more-or-less rotating team of DC’s female crime-busters, led and co-ordinated by the mysterious ‘Oracle’ (wheelchair-bound Barbara Gordon, daughter of Batman’s buddy Commissioner Gordon and an ex-super-hero herself) as they target the less flashy and more insidious threats to the DC universe.

This volume (collecting issues #69-75 of the monthly comic series) features a turning point in the fortunes of this idiosyncratic team, as, following the infiltration and eventual destruction of a religious cult that seems to be inducing teenagers to worship costumed heroes and commit suicide, they have to save their own leader from an insidious and overwhelming form of technological possession. Also included are a edgily hilarious change of pace as the girls invade a secret meeting where all the super-criminals’ hench-persons get together to form a union, plus an epilogue to the Batman publishing event War-Games where, following the loss of their secret headquarters in Gotham City, the Birds transfer their base of operations to a airliner and take their mission ‘on the road’, looking for evil pro-actively.

Gail Simone has cornered the market on smart, savvy and capable women who can square off with the best that the testosterone-charged heroes and villains of comics can produce, and yet still keep all the protagonists recognisably female – in word and action instead of merely in shape – although if you do like to look at pretty girls drawn well, a selection of more than capable artists have that well in hand. Indisputably, this is one of the top super-hero series being published today.

© 2004, 2006 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved

Posted on

Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student

Birds of Prey: Sensei & Student

By Gail Simone & various (DC Comics)
ISBN 1-84576-027-1

The Birds of Prey concept has always been hugely enjoyable. Whether it’s the kick-ass hotties or the strong ties to the Batman universe, or perhaps simply the higher than average standard of the writing, these tales never fail to entertain. After being crippled by the Joker, the wheelchair-bound Batgirl recreated herself to fight evil as a knowledge resource for super-heroes before eventually forming her own strike force comprised of a fluctuating roster of women crime-fighters. An apparent similarity to Charlie’s Angels doesn’t seem to hurt either.

This volume (reprinting issues 62-68 of the regular monthly comic book) focuses on the early days of Black Canary, who is summoned to Hong Kong and the bedside of her dying kung fu teacher. There she meets fellow student and rival Shiva, universally acclaimed as the deadliest woman alive. Never friends, they find themselves thrown together to foil a murder-revenge scheme. As if all the martial arts brouhaha were not enough, the rest of her fellow crime fighters are embroiled in thwarting a contiguous plot to steal the near omniscient database of team leader Oracle (nee Batgirl).

This is a good old-fashioned rollercoaster that’s not afraid to be fun as well as a clear rival to the best of blockbuster action movies, and well worth your attention.

© 2004 DC Comics. All rights reserved.

Posted on

Amazing Spider-Man: Skin Deep

Amazing Spider-Man: Skin Deep 

By J. Michael Straczynski & Mike Deodato Jr. (Marvel/Panini UK)
ISBN 978-1-905239-56-6

Peter Parker is Spider-Man, and family has always been important to him. Perhaps that’s because when he was a nerdy science geek at high school, he didn’t have many friends. Perhaps that’s why when one of those rare school-chums turns up begging a favour, Peter doesn’t think as long or hard as he should before acquiescing.

Uber-geek Charlie Weiderman had a worse educational experience than Parker, and the casual brutalities he experienced made him a man with no compunctions in using any method to achieve his ends. When his experiments turn him into a monster capable of almost any feat of murder, nothing will deter him from his goals. Not friends, not Parker’s family, not even Spider-Man himself!

Although sporting impressive creator credits this is a slow little tale, with lots of character-play and insights into Peter Parker’s past, but a decided lack of old fashioned Spider-action and indeed the costumed persona himself. I’m a great proponent of people over punches but even I felt the urge to shout “Get on with it!” every few pages. Also, casual readers should note that this was originally printed as Amazing Spider-Man issues #515-518, and the tactics of periodical publishing don’t always transfer conveniently to a trade paperback. It all starts with a hanging plot thread and closes on a partial cliff-hanger, so you might feel a little bit gruntled by show’s end.

© 2005, 2007 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

Star Wars Clone Wars Vol 9: Endgame

Star Wars Clone Wars Vol 9: Endgame 

By Various (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN 1-84576-338-6

As the 30th anniversary of the monumental film franchise rolls on, this particular segment concludes with the final volume reprinting material from Star Wars: Republic issues #79-80, 81-83 and the one-shot Star Wars: Purge.

The long running plot involving Jedi Quinlan Vos, who might have been seduced by the Dark Side or might possibly be an agent of good submerged deep, deep undercover is resolved in spectacular manner in the first story Hidden Enemy. Written by John Ostrander and illustrated by Jan Duursema and Dan Parsons, all the questions of his allegiances are answered against a backdrop of the Emperors masterstroke against all the Jedi coming into effect.

Into the Unknown by Welles Hartley and Douglas Wheatley feature an overview two days after the Jedi were slaughtered and depicts the decisions of a pitifully few survivors on how next to proceed.

Set one month after the slaughter of the Jedi, Purge by Ostrander and Wheatley finds yet more survivors encountering the Emperor’s new weapon as Darth Vader goes on his first mission since donning his emblematic black mask and helmet.

These are all strong stories both for fans of this brand and also comic narrative in general. Edgy, fast-paced, action-packed and very well illustrated, they serve to show what can be produced when top talent gets to play with mass market properties that have a willing, eager and receptive audience.

© 2006 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™. All Rights Reserved.

Posted on

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.