Originally designed as a live action segment, it was reworked as a short animated story with artwork by Evan Dorkin and Sarah Dyer.

A sample story has the young hero called to help a group of people on the street when a monster approaches them. Super Martian Robot Girl figures out that the monster is only trying to ask them a question (about whether they like his haircut), and saves the day by letting them know that you shouldn't judge people solely on their appearance!

It's a fun, cool-looking introduction to comics for kids, and we're lucky that creators as cool as Dorkin and Dyer are behind it. Here is a neat interview with the creators at Nerds With Kids.

8 Comments

• At May 16, 2008, R wrote:

  Yo Gabba Gabba is horribly redubbed and mutilated here in the UK, I dunno if we even get this segment! ...

• At May 16, 2008, BrianC wrote:

  My daughter loves Yo Gabba Gabba and when the Super Martian Robot Girl song comes on, she dances. She dances ...

• At May 16, 2008, Dan Bailey wrote:

  From appearances, if this were an actual comic, I owuld buy it. Alas, except for my bootleg DVD-Rs of the ...

• At October 10, 2008, Amy wrote:

  I am currently in the process of creating my own Super Martian Robot Girl costume for Halloween :) She is ...

• At October 24, 2008, Rachel wrote:

  I'm working on a Super Martian Robot Girl costume, too. If we show up at the same party we can ...

• At June 11, 2009, Georgia Mann wrote:

  Hello everyone (:

  look, you might not believe me but i am the english super martain robot girl.. i did the ...

• At June 11, 2009, Georgia Mann wrote:

  oh i know ! look for my name in the credits x (:

• At August 24, 2009, YEAH!!!! wrote:

  omg my god theme song rocks!!!

Honestly, I did have some trepidation when I picked these up. This series was recommended in the comments to Burgas' Fun Comics post, and it sounded interesting enough to overcome my anti-Manga bias. Which is pretty strong. (Except for Astro Boy.) Maybe it's that I'm too attached too rhythms and storytelling structures of America comics, maybe its' the fact that Japanese culture scares the crap outta me* - Either way, my distaste is probaly based more in personal prejudices than the quality of the work. But it's still going to influence my reading, even if it's not based in logic.

But, geez. Y'all were smack dab on the money this time.** This series is (A) friggin' spectacular, and (B) more addictive than sugar coated crack. Which is a PROBLEM, honestly. Some of us have work and jobs and need to sleep and don't have time to be up 'till five in the morning. Thanks A LOT, commentators! Remind me to borrow a tuba and hang out under your window sometime when YOU need to sleep!

Anyway, for the uninitiated:
Synopsis time: The brainchild of Tsugumi Ohba (W) and Takeshi Obata (A), Death Note is a twelve volume manga series that was originally serialized weekly in the Shonen Jump Anthology. It starts with a fairly far out premise - Japanese High School Kid (Light Tagimi)_ finds a Macguffin... er... magic notebook that allows him to kill people by writing their names inside. Sensibly, he decides to kill all the evil people, take down the government and set up a Light-ocracy. The authorities glom onto the fact that SOMEONE has magic killy powers with a quickness, but they don't figure out who's doin' it. And, oh yeah, Light's father is on the task force to catch - well, his own kid, but he doesn't know this. In charge of the task force is a dude just named "L," who (at first) refuses to show his face and only communicates via computers or proxies. There's a lot of plot in the first six volumes that I read, but the major conflict is Light vs. L.

And after this basic set-up... Geez, everything just gets more complicated and more complicated. Obata gives us two or three major plot twists a volume competeey rejiggering and reinterpreting the status quo every hundred pages or so. The coolest thing about Death Note is that I have NO IDEA what's going to happen next at any given time, but all the developments stem logically from the already-established rules of the story.

This does means my discussion here is going to be a little sparse. Firstly : I jes' don't know enough about Manga to do the critic thing and provide useful comparative context, and lastly: I really don't want to spoil anything.

Which is tough.

'Cause basically anything I tell you is going to ruin some kind of surprise somewhere. And in a plot-based work like this, spoilers can imapct your enjoyment of the book. So just TRUST kindly'ol uncle MarkAndrew on this one. Or see if you can libraryize the first volume, 'cause it's damn near impossible not to get swept up. It's like these books were designed for compulsive readability - Hell, they probably were. The story what every stupid little Hollywood thriller wants to be when it grows up, and Obata's artwork is pure storytelling with minimal flash, designed to make the story as immersive*** as possible.

Which means I'm up to five in the morning last night, starting volume six.

Um... recommended. Obviously.

But, I did have one complaint. ONLY one complaint, but it did serve to draw me out of the story in a big way.

While the two main characters are fully rounded and well constructed the female leaad - probably the third most important character in the series - is infantily simplistic in terms of characterization. She's a model, she's in love with one of the male leads and... that's it, really. She's (at least as of the end of volume six) essentially cipher who exists to react to the principle characters. Well, that's not true - she's also nails-on-the-chalkboard perky. And by "perky," I mean "unbelievably annoying."

The character feels not just not-true-to-real-human-experience, but almost exploitative. She's this hot little model who's totally in love with a male character, up to the point she's willing to die for him. I'm not sure if this is a common stereotype in Manga, but it feels like the readers are supposed to accept this, well stereotype, as part of a world full of well defined characters - basically, having such an empty character deflates the reality, and hence the intensity, of the story. (It's POSSIBLE, I suppose, that it's a parody of a common stereotype and is meant to be awful, but that would be surprising - The rest of the book plays it's premise pretty straight.)

Honestly, I can't see such a terrible designed character existing in American mainstream comics, where we can generally expect our female characters to have more than two character traits. And not to be completely dominated by the men. And, oh yeah, not act like retarded fucking cheerleader smile robot all the goddamn time. OK, Yeah, different cultures and gender roles and blah, blah, blah, but I gotta say that the lack of this kind of shitty characterization is a solid point in favor of American comics.

But that's really my only problem. If most manga is like this, it's no wonder the kids aren't buying Spider-man or Outsiders. This is simply a much better piece of art overall.

OK, I'm done reviewing. But, just for fun, I'm going to make some predictions.

FOR THE LOVE OF JESUS DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING THAT HAPPENS AFTER VOLUME SIX.

But let's see how close I can get. *POSSIBLE SPOILERS HERE* and I can't figure out how to do that tag thing. So if you haven't read this, stop.... now.

.

.

.

.

.

OK. Everybody past this point has read the book, right?

(A) That girl Shinigami hasn't done much for the plot so far, and I'd bet my left nut that there are no red herrings in this series. She's going to be REAL important, real soon. She'll die, and she'll (either directly or in) take someone with her, either the male Shingami or one of the main characters.

(B) Light's dad is going to die. But probably not 'cause of Light. I know, it feels like it's been leading up to Light having to kill his old man, but Death Note is all about keeping the audience guessing, not inevitable tragedy. But the book isn't going to turn down the intensity either, which means that poor pop's toast.

(C) OK... The relationship between "L" and Light is going to change. Neither of 'em will die at least 'till volume 11, but I have a feeling L is going to end up subordinate to Light.

(D) OH GEEZ! L is going to end up with the notebook, isn't he! That I'd almost bet on. Maybe Light's sister, too. Again, no red herrings and she hasn't had much to do with the plot.

(E) We haven't seen much of L's parentage. Which is weird because the whole story is playing compare and contrast with L and Light, and Light's family are well-defined and important. There's a big reveal there - Maybe he's someone's long lost brother or son or somethin'?

(F) The Cop who left to be a cop. (It makes sense if you read it. ) Filthy, filthy traitor.

Don't Tell Me If I'm Right!

(But maybe you can give teeny little hints.)

* Not individual Japanese people. Just the culture, and that's mostly 'cause my main political bias is anti-authoritarian.

** Although I'm not seeing the Grant Morrison comparisons, T. Like, at all.

*** Huh. Windows Spell-check doesn't recognize "immersive." I always feel proud when I know a word that spell-check doesn't. But "immersive" is common enough that's kind of a hollow victory. C'mon Spell Check! Shape up!

48 Comments

• At October 23, 2007, Jason wrote:

  I've read the first six volumes, and I watched the first episode of the anime on Adult Swim. It really ...

• At October 23, 2007, Chris wrote:

  I've had the last two volumes sitting on my stack for a while now, I just haven't gotten around to ...

• At October 23, 2007, Both Rancher wrote:

  Good manga is seriously underestimated.

• At October 23, 2007, Dave wrote:

  Without getting into spoilers, this series goes WAY downhill and never really recovers around Volume 8 Which is really ...

• At October 23, 2007, Andrew Collins wrote:

  Death Note is pretty awesome. And I can recommend plenty of more good manga that will appeal to someone with ...

• At October 23, 2007, Barlow wrote:

  I couldn't disagree more with Dave (post #4) -- the series does shift some major gears in volume eight, but ...

• At October 23, 2007, Sarah wrote:

  I would just like to agree with Barlow. Volume 8 is a slight misstep, but afterwards Death Note returns to ...

• At October 23, 2007, Agustin Mojica wrote:

  Barlow -- I'll back you up on that. I won't give away what happens, but let's say, the reason ...

• At October 23, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  AHHHHHH!

  I don't want spoilers but I HATE not knowing how this ends!

• At October 23, 2007, Agustin Mojica wrote:

  One more thing -- Misa's characterization is the worst of it, but there is definitely some Frank Miller-ish treatment of ...

• At October 23, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Huh. Frank Miller's stuff doesn't bother me as much as Misha here. Not that there isn't some funky ...

• At October 23, 2007, Dave wrote:

  Honestly, I've heard good things about the ending of the series, and from the snippets I've read about it, it ...

• At October 23, 2007, T. wrote:

  I am one of the people who recommended this series in Burgas' fun comics thread, and I really admire your ...

• At October 23, 2007, Jason wrote:

  Dave...with the manga, you only see the first two people Light killed. With the anime, you have a rich chorus ...

• At October 23, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Metacommentary is out of control.

  Please. It shows up in, what, 2% of current American superhero comics?

  Unless you got a list ...

• At October 23, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Please. It shows up in, what, 2% of current American superhero comics?

  Unless you got a list of titles that disagrees… ...

• At October 23, 2007, Barlow wrote:

  I don't see *all* of the female characters in Death Note as simple or two dimensional. Part of disconnect, ...

• At October 23, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  I'm pretty confident that is not what T was talking about when he said "metacommentary".

• At October 23, 2007, Dave wrote:

  Jason, I should clarify that when I say Light goes "batshit crazy" in the anime, I'm not referring to the ...

• At October 23, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  I only read the first line of Dave's post. It looked like spoilers, and I am paranoid. Can ...

• At October 23, 2007, Alex Scott wrote:

  Heh, told you so.

  I see what you mean about Misa. I have a feeling she's only there ...

• At October 23, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Oh. Never mind. Sorry Dave. (That's kind of how I pictured him in my head, too. ...

• At October 23, 2007, Luis Dantas wrote:

  My reading is that Misa is there in order to be despised, or perhaps grudgingly tolerated. At the very ...

• At October 23, 2007, Dave wrote:

  "(That’s kind of how I pictured him in my head, too. He alternates between being totally calm and being JUST ...

• At October 23, 2007, Alex Scott wrote:

  I was also wondering if she wasn’t this recognizable school girl stereotype (IS she a recognizable stereotype) who’s there to ...

• At October 24, 2007, Simon wrote:

  "Honestly, I can’t see such a terrible designed character existing in American mainstream comics, where we can generally expect our ...

• At October 24, 2007, Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Oct. 24, 2007: The short tail wrote:

  [...] [Review] Mark Andrew on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s supernatural thriller Death Note. [...]

• At October 24, 2007, Both Rancher wrote:

  Honestly, Misa is an interesting character. I forgot where volume 6 is with everything, but I thought the same at ...

• At October 24, 2007, Matthew J. Brady wrote:

  It's cool to see people get excited about this series, since I agree that it's totally addictive. MarkAndrew, your ...

• At October 24, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Alright, good points. I take back "realistic" from comment 11 but I'm standing behind "slightly exploitative" "poorly defined" "empty ...

• At October 24, 2007, Lynxara wrote:

  Interesting thing about all of the complaints about the "bad" female character writing in Death Note: the writer, Tsugumi Oba, ...

• At October 24, 2007, Veidt wrote:

  Misa's purpose as a main character, while not important, shifts and she does not remain the main female lead. ...

• At October 24, 2007, Sarah wrote:

  An interesting thing to add about Misa being intentionally annoying: let us not forget that in Japan, female idols are ...

• At October 24, 2007, Sarah wrote:

  Or, you know, what Alex Scott said but shorter. :D

• At October 24, 2007, Luis Dantas wrote:

  Death Note does have interesting, strong female characters. My favorite is the young lady from volume #2, but she ...

• At October 24, 2007, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Interesting thing about all of the complaints about the “bad” female character writing in Death Note: the writer, Tsugumi Oba, ...

• At October 25, 2007, Luis Dantas wrote:

  AFAIK the true identity of the author of Death Note is indeed a secret. Wikipedia at least claims so:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugumi_Ohba

• At October 25, 2007, T. wrote:

  I guess it depends on what your definition of metacommentary is. I admit that my definition of it may ...

• At October 25, 2007, T. wrote:

  Oh, I forgot to include the quote I was responding to in my last response. Obviously, it was the ...

• At October 25, 2007, Lynxara wrote:

  The only difference between Ohba/Oba spelling-wise is that some transliteration systems like to use "oh" to indicate a long 'O', ...

• At November 1, 2007, Superphase wrote:

  If you love L like I do, learn to love Near.

  It's the only way.

• At November 5, 2007, Comics Should Be Good! » Finished Death Note: Reporting Back. wrote:

  [...] And I liked it a heck of a lot. It was a [...]

• At December 13, 2007, I have none wrote:

  The verry truth is I quote "If most manga is like this, it’s no wonder the kids aren’t buying Spider-man ...

• At December 27, 2007, yona wrote:

  i love to read comics. and one of them is death note. i like 20th century boy too. it's mysterious.. ...

• At December 27, 2007, Mark wrote:

  -The ending of the series not how I wanted it and it was hard to understand with everything reveiled at ...

• At January 3, 2008, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Mark- I did a follow-up which you can probably find if you search for Death Note. Some discussion ...

• At January 4, 2008, VENOMSGOD101 wrote:

  well as a massive comic book and manga/anime fan i can say death note is one of the best manga ...

• At June 24, 2008, Viagra online stores. wrote:

  Viagra online stores....

  Viagra online stores....

I figure this out 'cause I'm reading Jason's "I Killed Adolf Hitler," and I'm doing this thing that I do whenever I read new stuff from Jason which is just freaking out because he's so good at what he does.

What he does is create these sad, sweet, funny little stories about extremely human.. um.. funny animals falling in love, growing closer, drifting apart, aging, dying, and occasionally fighting Giant Elvis. It's not that Jason's oeuvre doesn't contain some subdued belly laughs - most noticeably in Meow Baby!* - but most of his stuff ends with "sad" coming out three or four lengths ahead of "funny." Mostly it's....wistful, kinda, in a way that makes you think back to the first time someone broke your heart.

So What Jason Does is demonstrate a huge breadth of understanding of the multiple dimensions of the human experience.

But what he doesn't do is... well, he doesn't really draw all that great. Or put much thought into page design. Or his character's appearance. Or put a lot of stuff into any one single panel. And, yeah, his backgrounds are pretty sparse.

So, wait, how does he demonstrate "a huge breadth of understanding and blah, blah, blah" again?

Hmmm.

Here's some back-ground while I think this out.

Jason (Nee: John Arne Sæterøy according to Wikipedia) is a Norwegian cartoonist who casts a gaggle of similar looking not-all-that-funny "funny" animals as actors in different stories, often (but not always) silent, often (but not always) in black and white. He's got seven or eight books out now in English - although translation doesn't matter so much with the silent ones - and Fantagraphics is planning a collection of his earlier stuff due next year. And in case I wasn't totally clear before, I think he's really, really, good.

All of this brings me to a weird reviewer's dichotomy, A: Jason sucks

(Or as Fantagraphics puts it on their site "...combines a poker-faced minimalist anthropomorphic style with more than a passing nod to the "clear-line" ethos of Hergé.")

Yeah.

Uh-huh.

Right.

BUT

Jason is very good. Or to fancy-language it up, the process of repeatedly creating resonant emotional textures requires some mad craft skillz. SOMEHOW, right?

BUT!

His stuff looks like this!

(OK, I like the blankly nonchalant Hitler looks in that first panel, and those beads of sweat over der Fuhrer's eyes in the second are pretty cool. Still, this sequence is a long way from jaw-dropping.)

So that was my mindset as I'm flipping through I Killed Adolf Hitler. IKAH is kind of a "typical" Jason project, in that it's two different stories crammed into one book: On the surface it's about a professional hit-man, who's getting a bit bored with his line of work, until he's hired to head back in time to kill.... Well, y'all SAW the title, right? This endeavor... doesn't go so well. Adolf ends up in movin' to the 21st century, shaving off his 'stache, and living incognito. And our (unnamed) protagonist and his long-suffering ex-girlfriend have to track him down.

It's also a sad little story about how love changes. And dies. And gets reborn. Sorta.
And all of this story-winding-around-story stuff works. Maybe not as well as the best of Jason's output, like the spectacular You Can't Get There From Here, (Reviewed by Jog in the link) but it tells two full and complete stories without allowing either of them to take over the narrative at any one time.

So I'm starting to figure out the strengths of Jason's deadpan style now. Three things.

First, he writes to his strength. IJKAH has far more quiet character moments and wry visual gags than Star Wars/Moebius science fiction-y spectacle. Even the (many, random) acts of violence are muted by Jason's deadpan style. Second, the simple art and uncomplicated design are very easy to read and very easy to follow. Therefore, it's easy for the reader to absorb the narrative, without stopping to go "Holy Crap! Look at that!" or "Wait... Where am I supposed to look again?" And, lastly, Jason draws the right things.

See how clear that is? No words at all, but the storytelling - the WHAT is going on and the MOOD it invokes - are both communicated perfectly.

And, y'know, there aren't a hell of a lot of living cartoonists who pull off that last sequence. Without words or cartooning tricks like dripping sweat-drops Jason shows a quiet, tentative change in the way the two (ex-ish) lovers' relate. There's real, genuine skill at cartooning there. Which I guess is what "Drawing the right stuff" means, maybe?

2) OMFGAIIIEEEE ZOMBIES!

* Here's the back cover blurb from Meow Baby. Contains: One mummy, One God, one angel, one devil, one plastic surgeon, one Dracula, one Van Helsing, two ambulatory skeletons, one ice cream girl, two policemen, one space alien, one rocket ship, one Egyptian explorer, one werewolf, one family of cavemen, one Frankenstein monster, one pizza delivery guy, one Godzilla, one family of zombies, one Terminator, one set of potential in-laws, one mob of angry villagers, one naked girl in a shower, one Rubik's Cube, one hitch-hiker, one ophthalmologist, one Darth Vader, one Frenchman, one time clock, one pterodactyl, one Jules, one Vincent, one teacher, and one Elvis.

I'm not sure that the book quite lived up to the promise contained on the back cover. But, lordy, whatever could?

5 Comments

• At October 15, 2007, felgekarp wrote:

  I've got The Living and The Dead, The Left Bank Gang and Why Are You Doing This?, all very ...

• At October 15, 2007, Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Oct. 15, 2007: Uncomfortable titillation wrote:

  [...] [Review] Mark Andrew on the works of Norwegian cartoonist Jason. [...]

• At October 15, 2007, Agustin Mojica wrote:

  That sequence with the ex-lovers -- beautiful. I need more of Jason's work in my collection.

• At October 15, 2007, Matthew J. Brady wrote:

  Wow, I really disagree about Jason's art being not very good. Sure, it's simple, but it tells the story ...

• At August 27, 2008, Chickenstrip 113: A History of Procrastination « Comicstrip, Linux, Ruby and Chicken’s Life. wrote:

  [...] gaya gambar, sedang nyari komik-komiknya Jason nih. Terutama yang I Killed Adolf Hitler. Ada yang punya? ...

My problems with the story (written by Andrew Cosby and Johanna Stokes) mainly revolve around the seemingly cookie cutter cast of the comic (other than Mr. Stuffins, of course). There is something to be said for how the young boy at the heart of the story, Zachary Taylor (also, what the heck? They couldn't come up with a different name than a former US President? How odd) shows a little personality in the beginning of the comic where he gets his dad to buy him a teddy bear while his father wants him to get a more "manly" toy. Otherwise, the divorce angle in the comic (Zach's mother and father are separated, and his older sister is a bit...ahem...loose) just plain ol' isn't that interesting.

Luckily, Mr. Stuffins is a strong enough concept that Cosby and Stokes manage to milk a great deal of laughs out of the set-up.

OH! I almost forgot! I was also REALLY impressed with the beginning of the comic, which shows a scientist trying to hide the disc (which he does, in a teddy bear that the boy ends up buying). It was a strong opening to the book, giving a nice edge of suspense, while also showing some nice character moments (the scene where the scientist leaves a message for his wife was quite well done).

Lee Carter does a pretty good job on the artwork, but he has this one really weird art tic - he draws lines on people's faces, which I presume are intended to be seen as shadows or just realistic looking angles - but they come off as, well, lines on the peoples' faces - almost like scars! It is quite weird.

Otherwise, Carter does a very solid job on the book, although at times, Pablo Quiligotti's colors are a bit too dark, and give the book a bit of a muddy looking feel. Perhaps that is not Quiligotti's fault, it might very well just be a problem with how the book was printed, but either way, it's a bit muddy-looking at times (a good example is the last page of the comic).

In any event, while I am sure most of you out there can imagine what kind of hilarity ensues when a young boy's teddy bear "comes to life" and acts like Brock Samson from Venture Brothers, Cosby and Stokes do a fine job of handling the rather familiar hilarity.

This is well-written comic with solid artwork.

Recommended.

4 Comments

• At April 11, 2007, BizarroBeachHead wrote:

  I remember hearing the Wordballoon podcast with Andrew Cosby where he mentioned this and my initial thought was, "Hmm, Small ...

• At April 11, 2007, John Seavey wrote:

  Wait...David Cross was in 'Small Soldiers'?

  Howcome nobody told me?!?

• At April 11, 2007, GarBut wrote:

  Agreed w/your point about cliche in the book, but it's well handled for the most part. Consider your example of ...

• At April 11, 2007, Apodaca wrote:

  Wait…David Cross was in ‘Small Soldiers’?

  Howcome nobody told me?!?

  It's not his best work, so to speak.

For ages, I mourned of ever seeing more. The art was crisp, the gags funny, and hell, I have a real weakness for monkeys and I'll be damned if Unit 2 isn't the cutest li'l dickens!

So anyway, the upshot is that Dark Horse has finally released a digest-sized collection of 'The Mighty Skullboy Army' and I am a happy, happy feller.

The essential set-up is that Skullboy (Real Name: Skullboy) is an evil preteen criminal mastermind and head of an (equally evil) corporate empire who, due to his young age, still has to attend elementary school.

This is a considerable inconvenience to him, and so, to aid him in his evil enterprises, he has recruited THE MIGHTY SKULLBOY ARMY, which is intended to consist of Unit 1, a formidable robot armed with an array of lethal and nonlethal weapons technology and Unit 2, a monkey genetically engineered to be a superintelligent killing machine.

Unit 1, while actually armed with a bunch of high tech weaponry, looks like a wind-up toy robot, and is far, far more focussed on his own self-interests.

Unit 2, is also (sporadically) superintelligent, but is still a silly monkey, and would much rather use his great mind to discover new and better ways to piss about. He is almost entirely UNinterested in pretty much all of Skullboy's schemes.

Initially, it's similar to Jhonen Vasquez' 'Invader Zim', with a vainglorious but incompetent would-be conqueror and his equally incompetent, but less committed assistant(s), but it really lacks the mean-spiritedness and satire of Vasquez' work, instead using energy and whimsy. This is just silly fun cartooning, suitable for all-ages with some great timing, smashing gags, and an extremely clean black and white linework which I just love to bits.

Normally, I like to do detailed academic reviews or foulmouthed rants, but seriously, this book is too simple at its heart for the first, and too damn good-spirited for the second. Simply put, this is a fun book. It makes me happy.

Recommended.

5 Comments

• At February 23, 2007, jason wrote:

  A second to your recommendation, this book is hilarious. To paraphrase Chris Sims, it's essentially Dr. Doom in elementary ...

• At February 23, 2007, John Platt wrote:

  I have (I think) all of the original mini-comics. Hilarious stuff. Great fun, and well worth the book treatment.

• At February 24, 2007, adam gallardo wrote:

  I was smart enough to include Jacob's Skull Boy Army in an anthology I edited for Dark Horse a few ...

• At February 26, 2007, Pól Rua wrote:

  Actually, Adam, that was the first place I saw Skullboy and his gang, and so I have to thank you ...

• At October 8, 2007, CandyShopGirl wrote:

  Hail!

  What do you think about Apple Iogo? >:)

As usual, I will refrain from judging the stories themselves, as that falls upon the long deceased Mr. Sabatini, not the good folks at Graphic Classics (who were so kind as to send me a copy of this volume), who WILL be judged on how well they adapt the stories (although this volume has a rare exception to this rule!).

The volume opens (after a stunning painted cover by John F. Naprstek) with a nice illustration by Hunt Emerson of a pirate song by Sabatini.

The first adaptation was a fine choice by editor Tom Pomplun, as it is the origin story of Sabatini's most popular character, Captain Blood. The story was adapted by Rod Lott, with art by Carlo Vergara. The story is good, although it takes a whopping FORTY pages to adapt (which is an eternity for a Graphic Classics story), so perhaps there could have been some corners cut. The art by Vergara is good by itself, but in a sequential sense, I believe it loses some flair. There are moments where he stands out, but for the most part, I think his work needs some more polish. I noticed in the credits that this is his first published work in the US, and I wish him the best. He certainly has some talent - it just needs to be honed a bit.

The second story is a depatured for Graphic Classics, but one that I think is quite helpful for a work like this. Writer Mort Castle writes "Desperately Seeking Sabatini," a biography of Sabatini, which is most useful for a writer who many readers are unfamiliar with, and I am sure more than a couple of readers would ask "Why am I reading a comic devoted to this guy?" Kevin Atkinson provides very nice artwork to go with Castle's accomplished narrative of Sabatini's life.

Pomplun himself adapts the next story, with unique art by Stanley Shaw. It is a mystery that Pomplun manages to translate to the comic form with ease. Sabatini is clearly vibing on Poe here, and Shaw's artwork manages to evoke a little bit of Poe, as well. I really enjoyed it.

The highlight story for me, though, was the next story, also adapted by Tom Pomplun, with artwork by Roger Langridge (my fav'rit). I am so pleased that Graphic Classics continues to use Langridge, as he is both an excellent artist, and an excellent SEQUENTIAL artist. He manages to tell the story of a spirtualist (and perhaps swindler) so well, that it is just a joy to read.

Perhaps because of the high standards set by Langridge's work, the next story, drawn by longtime inker Gerry Alanguilan (and also adapted by Pomplun) tends to glow a little less bright. The story is similar in plot to the Langridge story, except not as charming, or as well told, I believe. Alanguilan's art is at times utterly gorgeous, but also a bit stiff.

Milton Knight brings his own sense of flair to his story, a tale of a Jester making the ultimate sacrifice for love. Knight's stories are like little universes to themselves, and are a lot of fun to see his crazy style of art take hold, and still effectively tell a story.

Antonella Caputo adapts the next story, with art by Jackie Smith. The adaptation by Caputo is good, as is the case usually for Caputo's work in Graphic Classics, by Jackie Smith's art left me a bit disappointed. There was some good work involved, but at times, it almost seemed like Smith took the easy route, layout-wise, not committing to drawing the best panels and more making it look like characters thrown together - almost like a collage of individual drawings, rather than a natural feel.

Finally, Pomplun adapts one last story, with art by Rich Tommaso, challenges Langridge for best illustrated story. The story itself is fairly blah (about thirty pages for a story that seemed to deserve only fifteen), and I would have like Pomplun to choose a better one, but Tommaso's art makes the story worth the time. I remember thinking, "Well, at least I get to see more Tommaso art!" His individual work is cartoonish and sparse, while still evoking feeling and emotions quite well, and his storytelling was top notch. A real treat for the eyes.

All in all, this is yet another winner for Graphic Classics, although perhaps less impressive than some of their previous efforts. Still, the volume is worth it for Langridge and Tommaso alone!

You can buy the comic at Graphic Classics website here.

1 Comments

• At November 1, 2007, retro wrote:

  I do love the classics.

Lewis and artist Marvin Perry Mann originally self-published this graphic novel, but now Archaia Studio Press has a more recent edition out (which they so graciously sent to me for review), in color rather than the original black and white (colors handled by Jennifer Rodgers).

In "With God On Our Side," Bob Dylan wrote, "In a many dark hour/I've been thinkin' about this/That Jesus Christ/Was betrayed by a kiss/But I can't think for you/You'll have to decide/Whether Judas Iscariot/Had God on his side." That, essentially, is the main dramatic tension in the story of Pharaoh Ramses II. Part of God's plan was for Jesus to be sacrificed, so therefore, for the plan to succeed, Judas had to play his part. So, therefore, wasn't he, in fact, doing God's will? That, however, conflicts with the idea of free will. It is this tension that is present throughout The Lone and the Level Sands. How much control does Ramses have over his own destiny?

To Lewis' great credit, he never flinches from the fact that he does not give us real answers, and rather, the fact that, for the story to truly work, he CAN not give us definitive answers.

While this tension is the meat of the story, the potatoes of the comic are Lewis' depictions of the society at the time, and it is here that he would be lost if not for the strong work by Mann. Mann's design work is irreproachable, as he manages to depict life in such a manner that we, in 2006, can easily comprehend living in such a society. It is not so foreign to us, while at the same time, Mann makes sure that the depictions of Moses, Aaron, Ramses, etc. do not lean towards deification. There is no movie star good looks in this comic, far from it. Meanwhile, for a comic that was originally produced in black and white, Jennifer Rodgers does a tremendous job making the colors seem both natural and necessary to the story.

Beyond the design work, Lewis' imagining of how the citizens of Egypt (the type of reactions lacking in Exodus, for the most part) are quite telling. It is interesting to compare the reactions of the "common folk," who basically view themselves as caught up in events that they cannot control/comprehend with the attitudes of citizens today when faced with such thoughts as terrorism. One cannot let such thoughts dictate one's lives, and that is the case for the citizens of Egypt. They adapt to each plague with an attitude of "Okay, what do we have to do now?" while their leader, Ramses, knows that his actions have a much more direct effect upon what is going on...or does he? Back to the tension between his power as a ruler to control his country and his lack of power in the workings of a God.

All in all, The Lone and the Level Sands is a very intelligent, and interesting, re-imagining of events that most of us have heard many times before, yet Lewis manages to still make the story interesting and new at the same time. Couple that with fine art from Mann and Rodgers, and you have yourself a fine comic package.

Awhile back, I remarked (I do not recall where) that I sometimes give books more of a critical leeway if they are in a genre that does not get as much attention from comics. For instance, I was not a big fan of Love As A Foreign Language, but I admired what J. Torres was trying to do with the comic, so I probably gave it more leeway than I normally would for the same type of story in a different genre. Well, Action Philosophers works in the genre that I personally think comics is severely lacking in, and that is (non auto) biography.

Each issue of Action Philosophers gives the biography of three famous philosophers (the Action Philosophers, as it were). The biographies are done in differing page amounts, some as small as 6 pages, some as long as 14.

So, even if I was not a big fan of the comic, I would have to give them credit for doing something different, expanding comics into a new genre.

However, the comics, themselves, ARE good.

The format of the biographies is, while making the comics as accurate as possible, add comedic elements to the presentation. So presenting Plato as a "wrestling superstar." Or depicting some of the philosophical conflicts of someone like Saint Augustine as, well, ACTUAL supernatural conflicts. Most of this comes down to Dunleavy, and he is well up to the job. His art has a nice Mike Avon Oeming feel to it. Really nice stuff.

When I was a kid, the school library had these series of biographies of famous people, and the way they attempted to make the agreeable to kids was to open up the books with stories (almost certainly apocryphal) of the famous person as a child, then fast forward to their famous deeds. At the time, I probably enjoyed it (I ended up reading the entire series, so I now know more about John Muir, Cyrus McCormick and Gus Grissom than is probably advisable), but looking back, I think it is a bit of a dirty trick. To tell someone's history, but FAKE some of it?

That's fine for entertainment, but it not a great approach for a biograhpy.

Luckily, Van Lente does not do that, but rather, he gives us the truth, just presented in a fun manner.

At times, the writing is noticeably cramped, but that is to be expected, given the format.

I, personally, describe Van Lente's approach as sort of like those expandable washclothes. They come in these little vials, but then you add water, and WHAMMO, they are a big washcloth!!

Action Philosophers works like that. It is a short story, but by the end of it, without knowing it, WHAMMO, you've collected a giant washcloth's worth of information about the subject. And since the subjects are pretty interesting people (#1 is Plato, Bohidharma and Nietzsche; #2 is Thomas Jefferson, Ayn Rand and Saint Augustine; #3 is Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell), it is nice to know a little bit more about each one of them.

Finally, another thing that I admire about the work is the pretty much neutral point of view. Van Lente is only presenting their ideas, he is not really critiquing them (although he slips a few times). He lets US make of them what we will, and to help this, he recommends a text for each one at the end of the comic, which is a lot of fun. Sorta like how Alan Grant used to recommend texts about anarky...only a lot less pretentious...hehe.

Okay, so now that we know why Action Philosophers is a good comic, we can all sing a traditional Van Lente Day carol,

Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green;
Here we come a-wand'ring
So fair to be seen.

Love and joy come to you,
And to you your wassail too;
And God bless you and send you
a Happy Van Lente Day
And God send you a Happy Van Lente Day.

1 Comments

• At September 20, 2006, JEff wrote:

  That comic sux bigtime

The basic concept of The Silencers is one that is familar to a lot of us out there. A group of superpowered criminals working for the mob are double-crossed, sending them off on an attempt to gain revenge against the mob boss who betrayed them, and ruined the leader of the team's (The Cardinal) last chance to have a "normal" life.

So yeah, the concept, while good, is not exactly earthshaking stuff. Nor are the characters astonishingly original. Basically cliched supervillain stuff. No, the hook in The Silencers is how Van Lente writes these characters. The way he handles it all is what makes this such an enjoyable comic to read.

The Silencers exist in, basically, the "Comic Book Universe," so Spider-Man and Superman are IN the book, just in the shadows. And Van Lente makes sure we realize that these characters are NOT designed to combat, like, the Justice League. They are far too down and dirty for that.

The obligatory "betrayal" scenes were handled very well, I thought. Van Lente gives us only glimpses into these characters (except Cardinal, who we get a lot of depth behind), but by the end of the book, all of these glimpses work out to give us pretty well-developed folks.

Steve Ellis' art works quite well, and Yoo's colors are good.

Van Lente's story, though, really carries the day, as he infuses the book with enough charm to carry it past any problems anyone has with the plot. He does so by rooting the book in the "Superhero Universe," but quietly undermining the tenets of said universe. The Silencers may stop an alien invasion, but they don't give a rat's ass abou that - they just want revenge.

There is also a bonus story in the trade, which explores the powers of the Silencer called Hairtrigger. He can see all possible futures, and then plan ahead for a fight. It was a neat trick by Van Lente showing us HOW he uses his powers in a fight. There is also a really funny bit, as Hairtrigger can also see UNLIKELY futures, so seeing the unlikely future is amusing (the bad guys deciding not to shoot him, and instead invite him in for a beer...hehe).

The Silencers: Black Kiss is a charming, fun, action-packed work, and it is great to see how Fred Van Lente can show us two totally different sides of himself as a writer, from Action Philosophers to Silencers.

Good stuff.

Let us sing the closing carol of Fred Van Lente Day now:

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Chagrin Falls.
Come and behold Him, born the King of Tranquility;

Refrain

O come, let us call for Him,
O come, let us ask for Him,
O come, let us send for Him,
Fred Van Lente.

Dang.

It's good.

The setup is both simple and rich with potential: in a near-future city, someone is murdering people at random by electrocuting them. The complication is that the "people" he kills aren't people at all, but robot "surrogates" that people use to interact with the outside world. Almost nobody goes out in the flesh anymore, preferring to interact via their surrogate.

A keen-o concept by itself, yes. What makes the series good is how writer Robert Venditti and artist Brett Weldele extrapolate from the concept in intelligent ways. The main character, a policeman investigating the destruction of surrogates, hasn't seen his wife in the flesh in years, and she refuses to interact without her robot double. When the police meet a scientist's tall and beefy surrogate, the cops later joke about how small the real man must be to adopt such a persona.

The dialogue feels real as well. Nobody speaks in tough-guy cliches, nor is the story a Blade Runner ripoff.

God, it's so refreshing to read a cop hero who doesn't speak in faux-Chandler pseudo-poetry noir crap.

Vendetti put great care not only into the fictional world but the characters. What a beautiful thing.

Weldele's art is unusual, tending towards roughly-inked outlines and watercolor-wash colors that give pages expressive moods conventional art wouldn't.

Here's a page from issue #2.

The Surrogates is an interesting mystery, an intelligent sci-fi story, and a comic with an engagingly different art style. Man, you don't find that every day.

Very highly recommended.

2 Comments

• At April 18, 2008, Criminal Comics wrote:

  Robert Venditti will be at Criminal Records in Atlanta, GA on May 3rd, Free Comic Book Day, leading a discussion ...

• At March 27, 2009, velderia wrote:

  Watercolor-wash colors? More like abusing the palette knife tool in corel painter or photoshop. Seriously, I can definitely see the ...

I am not familiar with Scott Gray, the writer of the book, but Roger Langridge is a favorite of mine. His Fred the Clown is an awesomely humorous book, and Langridge's art is one of the best "humor" art in the business today. Together, they combine to create, in Fin Fang Four, a comic that is so funny that I have to say that I do not believe that a single page went by without a really funny joke.

The basic gist of the story is that four former monsters (all actual monsters from Marvel's monster books of the late 50s and early 60s) get shrunk down to human size and allowed to reform and work at normal jobs for the Fantastic Four (Reed is their benefactor). One of the monsters, Googam, still holds a grudge against the Fantastic Four, and through a series of screwups, he ends up unleashing a terrible monster. The four monsters then must ban together under the direction of Fin Fang Foom to correct Googam's mistake.

The other two monsters are Gorgilla, a dim-brained gorilla-like monster and Elektro, the robot who was high tech when he was created, but not so much now (He is proud of being able to hold 32K in his computer brain).

The jokes come fast and furious throughout the book. Joke after joke after joke, and they're actually GOOD ones.

Langridge's art is, as you expect, quite good.

Basically, this was a funny comic book that actually had a little HEART in it as well.

Highly recommended!

Oh, and you also get a story by Dick Ayers and Jack Kirby, reprinting Fin Fang Foom's first appearance. It is a bit culturally....insenstive, to say the least, but a good story, outside of that.

The book is written by Kirsten Baldock and illustrated by Fabio Moon, and I do not know who contributes more to the mood created in the comic, as they work together quite smoothly. The conceit of the comic is that an uneasy truce exists between all the cigarette girls in the city. There is no problem so long as everyone sticks to their district. Go beyond your district, and you become a walking target. Scarlett is a cigarette girl who does not like to see her sales restricted by some decision that she was not even a part of, so she decides to go wherever she pleases to sell...and bloody, bloody chaos ensues.

This is a book that is almost all style, but while that may be considered a drawback in SOME titles, in this one, it works, because style is almost a commodity in this world that Baldock and Moon have created for us, and if that is true, then Scarlett and her Cowgirl-outfitted friend Annie are by far the richest cigarette girls in town. In fact, in the blazing battles between cigarette girls (like the ones dressed like cheerleaders, or the Asian ones), it often seems that Scarlett survives ON her style...as the odds are certainly stacked against her.

Moon does a nice job with the countless action scenes, giving the violence a certain cartoon quality without going overboard. In addition, as the book is black and white, it is good to note that Moon makes strong use of shadows when appropriate, but does not use shadows when they are NOT appropriate. It sounds like a minor thing, but I do not think that it is.

Baldock writes the characters to all fit the archetypal cartoon-esque roles as well, and she gives Moon some very creative scenes to draw. Of particular impressiveness is the finale...the writer and artist work together to create a note-perfect mood that neither of which could achieve by their lonesome.

Smoke and Guns came out this Wednesday. It costs thirteen bucks.

Graphic Classics are essentially just like the classic "Classics Illustrated" of the past - comic book adaptations of stories by notable authors.

This collection features, well, adventure stories (I know, I know, that must come as quite a surprise), from the likes of Damon Runyon, Zane Grey and Alexandre Dumas.

On a critical level, it is not fair of me to judge the writing, as the writing is obviously good, as Pumplun's group obviously took great stories from famous writers, so the odds are quite high that the stories will be good.

No, to judge this book critically, it will have to rest on the adaptations of the stories and the artwork.

In both cases, the book passes with flying colors (although more so for the former).

The adaptations are sparkling, as you can barely tell in most of the instances that the books were not INTENDED to be read in comic book format.

As for the art, a wide variety of artists worked on the comic, so quality definitely varies, but for the most part, the artwork is quite impressive, which is especially nice to see as I was not familiar with most of the artists involved.

The cover of the collection is a striking, Ray Lago-esque painting by Chris Moore.

The first story, Sax Rohmer's chilling tale of mystery on an archaeological dig in Egypt, was probably my least favorite, art-wise. Rod Lott adapted the story well, storywise, but I do not know if J.B. Bonivert's style fully fit the story or, if the STYLE worked, then perhaps Bonivert just did not pull it off (and you can imagine what I was thinking the rest of the comic would look like, being disappointed in the art for the FIRST story).

However, Michael Manning came back with a strong art job on Alexandre Dumas' The Monster Ball.

Don Marquez followed with my second or third favorite art job, showing a major Frazetta influence (and, for the record, I just spent a good four to five minutes staring at the art, trying to figure out WHO his art reminded me of...hehe) on the Zane Grey tale, "Tigre," which is such an detailed tale, the comic book format really helps with the story.

My favorite art job is on the next story, a Damon Runyon adaptation by Noel Tuazon. This was also probably my favorite story in the whole book (O. Henry's entry is closest). Runyon sure knew how to write a popular story.

Kevin Atkinson gives a colorful (which is impressive, as the book is black and white) rendition of Rafael Sabatini's inimitable Captain Blood character. It was quite striking at how the style of art really painted a different picture. Atkinson's stlye gave the story a real bounding appeal...I think a darker artist would greatly affect the impact of the story.

Chris Pelletiere does a good job handling the noir feel of The Stolen Story, by Jonston McCulley, although I felt there were a few panels that seemed a bit unintentionally loose.

Pedro Lopez was right there with Don Marquez in his rendition of O. Henry's The Roads We Take, which is a really cool story (adapted quite well by Rod Lott), and shows why O. Henry was so darn popular (and why Eureka has devoted an entire collection to JUST O. Henry stories!).

The previous stories (other than the two adapted by Lott) were adapted by Pomplun, who does a strong job.

The only other non-Pomplun adapted stories are Milton Knight's suitably wacky adaptation (including the art as well) of Fitz-James O'Brien's The Man Without a Shadow and Antonella Caputo's strong adaptations of Edith Nesbit's The Mystery of the Semi-Detached (with solid art from Mark A. Nelson) and Arthur Conan Doyle's The Crime of the Brigadier (with art by Nick Miller that is quite reminscient of Sergio Aragones and Albert Uderzo).

There are also three illustrated poems, which range from simply drawings along with poems, such as Skot Olsen's drawing alongside Robert Louis Stevenson's poem The Wind Blew Shrill and Smart that opens the entire collection, and Mary Fleener's drawings for Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din, to the Mad Magazine-esque rendition of The Shooting of Dan McGrew, written by Rober W. Service, and detailed by Hunt Emerson.

Add four pages of biographical information for each author and artist, and you have yourself here a very smart, attractive, package, delivered with distinct care.

And having read the book, my question still stands.

First off, how cool is that cover?

Secondly, the introduction by Craig Shutt was quite good. I like it when comics have introductions by guys who know what they are talking about, and know how to express it well.

The opening tale is one by Otto Binder and CC Beck which just blows your mind. It tells the story of the world going to atomic war, with Captain Marvel trapped in the middle!

This story was so hot the paper sizzled!

I can only imagine what it must have been like to read a comic so bold in 1946!!

There is a good story featuring the reveal of what would happen if Bruce Wayne's parents WEREN'T killed when he was young (I did not like that his parents ended up dying when he was a young MAN ANYways. Seemed silly). The fact that he STILL ended up becoming Batman was a real hoot.

The story of Batman and Robin getting new identities after their IDs were revealed was pretty hokey.

I also was not a fan of the "a bit too much" story of Superman marrying Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Lori Lemaris....in succession!

I liked the story of Superman and Batman as brothers (especially the weird ending, with Batman ending up in the Legion of Superheroes!!!).

The Flash story where Barry Allen imagines if he didn't have a secret identity was good, especially the bit that I always loved about how Barry grew up reading Flash comics. Metafiction in the 60s! Awesome!

My three favorites, though, HAVE to be the epic "Death of Superman" story, where Luthor finally defeats Superman, but ultimately pays the price for his crime by the reveal of Supergirl (who, at the time, was not known to the rest of the world).

It held such an emotional punch.

I really loved the part where Luthor is confident that the Kandorians will make a deal with him, presuming everyone is motivated by looking out for themselves. CLASSIC scene.

The remaining two great ones are both marred slightly by sketchy behavior (which, as everyone knows, was sorta par for the course in the comics of the time).

The first, a really well-executed tale of Jimmy Olsen and Supergirl getting married, is slightly marred by the fact that Supergirl's plan to break the news to Jimmy that she is really Supergirl by trying to seduce him AS Supergirl, so when she reveals that SHE is Supergirl, he will take the shock well. In addition, as Shutt mentions, we have to buy into the conceit that Jimmy never realizes that Linda is wearing a brown wig the entire time that they are married.

Jimmy has some worrisome bragging problems in the story, but ultimately, he comes out pretty well, as he holds true to his marriage vows.

But most of all, I really enjoyed the chemistry between the two. By allowing themselves the freedom of the imaginary story, they really allowed a real, mature, realistic relationship to blossom.

Quite impressive.

The last, and possibly most famous, story of the bunch, is the Superman Red/Superman Blue story.

The problem that slightly marred THIS tale for me is the basic premise. The people of Kandor get together to bitch out Superman for not accomplishing enough.

Can you believe the NERVE?!?!

They give him six months to basically solve all of mankind's problems, or else they demand he switch places with the Kandorians, and let one of THEM try to do what he couldn't.

So JERKISH!

However, the rest of the tale is just blanket optimism. Superman ends up splitting into two to get better results, and MAN, from then on, every panel has something awesome in it.

More awesome things happen in a PAGE of this story than most comics have happen in multiple ISSUES!!

And then, just to throw a mindfreak at us, at the end, they ask the reader to answer, "Which Superman (Red or Blue) ended up with the better life?"

Finally, the last, coolest aspect of the collection is the multitudes of little covers from OTHER imaginary stories, ones that they DIDN'T end up using...and there are some real doozies.

DC's Greatest Imaginary Stories - I cannot imagine a better book for you to spend twenty bucks on (as I am sure you cannot imagine a dorkier ending to this entry).

1 Comments

• At September 25, 2008, danjack wrote:

  This is what i love about DC. Just the totally wackiness that can happen at any point in their long ...

This mini-comic details how Maddy becomes the manager (future mini-comics will detail her misadventures with the group).

It is quite good.

Steve Leiber, as you may or may not know, is a very good artist. Therefore, the art on this issue was very good.

Leiber's style is realistic, but he has an extra characteristic to his style that I absolutely love, and that is the way he is realistic without becoming shackled to the concept of comic book realism.

Trying to draw super realistically often makes the comic look like it is a pastiche of photographs, and that robs the comic of fluidity and verve.

Leiber avoids this by making sure that while his characters are realistic, they are still very much comic book characters.

Take the cover of this mini-comic, and its drawing of the book's protagonist, Maddy...

Realistic look with a realistic pose and expression, but it is evident that she is a drawing.

Leiber is a fine artist.

Of course, all that tells us, though, is that the book LOOKED nice.

What of the story?

Well, Sara Ryan comes through quite nicely I thought. It's a difficult challenge. 16 pages to tell a "complete" story while basically set up the entire series, and I think she pulled it off quite well.

Maddy works in publicity, and what do publicity people do most often?

They cover up other people's problems.

Well, what does Maddy do?

She covers up HER problems.

Her boyfriend is a deadbeat musician who she is letting suck her dry and she is falling apart at work, but she always manages to find a way to portray it as "not a problem."

There is a good scene where she tries to convince a tow truck not to tow her car (which is being towed because of her boyfriend's unpaid tickets)...the whole panel is filled with her quick-witted (but fruitless) attempts at convincing the driver to NOT tow her car. Nice stuff.

The best scene in the book, though, to me, was the awesome bit where Maddy spills her beans about her day to her boyfriend (who she meets on his way to his gig) and the whole complain-fest ends with basically HER apologizing to HIM.

The scene becomes so beautiful then when Maddy gets home to see that her boyfriend has dumped her....what a great choice by Ryan. I love when writers do things like that...interject scenes that only become truly interesting in retrospect, and when they do, they become REALLY interesting, like this scene of Maddy's boyfriend listening to her spill her guts while KNOWING that he just left her!

Excellent.

Anyhoo, I've spoiled enough of the book, so I will leave the ending for you folks, to see how Maddy gets from Point A to Point B. It is quite satisfying, I thought.

Flytrap was good - I look forward to the next installment.

The Street Angel trade paperback (released this Wednesday) collects the first five issues of Jim Rugg and Brian Muruca's Slave Labor Graphics series (Rugg drew the book, while both men wrote the book), along with a good deal of extras.

I will first give a quick breakdown of the first five issues, and then tell you about all the cool extras in the book.

Before that, a quick description of Jesse Sanchez (Street Angel). According to the creators, she's a "daughter of justice who fights evil, nepotism, ninjas, and hunger." Essentially, she is a homeless orphan living in the world's worst ghetto who uses her skateboarding skills and martial artistry to kick bad guy behind.

#1 is an action-packed romp as Jesse must save the Mayor's daughter from the evil Dr. Pangea and his band of ninjas. Even early on, all the trademark humor and inventive storytelling is on display (for example, at the bottom of one page, Jesse is surrounded by ninjas - at the top of the next page, all of the ninjas are unconscious and we are told that she beat them all up in the time it took for us to turn the page. THAT is the type of humor you'll find in Street Angel).

#2 is probably the broadest humor issue, where CosMick, the first Irish astronaut crashes into the ghetto at the same time that Cortez and a group of Spanish conquistodors are transported to the future via the Incan sun god, Inti. A LOT of hilarious exchanges, in particular the Spanish conquistodor who posits that maybe they AREN'T from the past, but from a distant future where the cycle of history has repeated itself...said theory is shot down quickly (and humorously).

#3 is a fight of Biblical proportions, as Jesse finds herself facing a Satanic demon that even she can't handle - so she needs an assist from G-O-D...and his son, JC.

#4 is an amazing issue, as it plays the "homeless orphan" routine COMPLETELY straight, which is a huge slap in the face after the previous farcical issues. Very strong, personal, poignant issue (imagine being seen dumpster rummaging by someone who knows you from school? HARSH!). I am talking "Skyscrapers of the Midwest" level awkwardness (and if you know Skyscrapers at all, you know that is some heavy-duty awkwardness).

#5 is back to fun stuff, as Jesse teams up with an old 70s blaxploitation superhero, Afrodisiac. The retro art by Rugg is well handled (this is also the character they do for Project Superior). In addition, a theme throughout the series is that Jesse is just a standard girl in many regards, except for her fighting and skateboarding skills. This issue, for instance, really highlights her naivatee in a funny, but endearing manner.

The extras are as follows:

-A funny introduction by Evan Dorkin.

-All the covers and back covers...including, as the introduction to each chapter, the drawing that was used in the inside front cover of each issue (a very amusing series where Jesse and a Squid grapple in different arenas each issue...chess, stockcar racing, wrestling...sadly, the Ninja tips that appeared on the BACK cover of each issue are not reprinted here).

-A quick two-page story where we see how, amongst fighting ninjas, it is the little things that matter.

-A parody of the old Hostess superhero ads. It manages to be funny AND stay true to the feel of the book.

-A new TWELVE page story where basically, Jesse re-enacts the plot of the Crossing, only in reverse. Remember how they brought the young Iron Man to the present to stop the present Iron Man from helping a super villain take over the world? Well, this is similar...just reversed. There is also a great line from Bald Eagle (the skateboard riding torso with only one arm who is Jesse's sidekick) where he wants her to try throwing him, even though the first time they tried it, he broke an arm.

-Jim Rugg's sketchbook

-And finally, more pin-ups than you can shake a stick at! Why you would WANT to shake a stick at a bunch of pin-ups is beyond me...but even if you WANTED to, you couldn't! Because there are too many!

Jeffrey Brown!

Dean Haspiel!

Jesse Farrell!

Jim Mahfood!

Brian Ralph!

Bryan Lee O'Malley!

Scott Morse!

And MANY more!

Okay...Richard Hahn, Mike Hawthorne, Paul Hornshemeier, Dave Kiersh, Pat Lewis, Jasen Lex, Andy Macdonald, Ted May, Scott Mills, Lark Pien, Ed Piskor, Zack Soto, Lauren Weinstein, and Dan Zettwoch...so fourteen more.

But that's still a lot of freaking pin-ups!!!

It is all wrapped up by this awesome looking wraparound cover...

And it all can be yours for fifteen bucks.

How cool is THAT?

2 Comments

• At September 27, 2007, Chris Coke wrote:

  If it makes fun of the Crossing, I'm there!

• At September 27, 2007, Ryan Kirk wrote:

  Street Angel: Awesome

Talk to any big name writer out there, and they'll gush over how great he is, not only as an artist, but as a storyteller.

And yet, he is still mainly known just as "The guy who drew Watchmen."

That is a shame, because he is conistently one of the best writers (forget his awesome art) in comics today.

The Originals is about two friends, Lel and Bok, who strive to become a member of the coolest gang out there, The Originals.

Gibbons set out to tell an autobiographical story of his youth, not necessarily his own specific experiences, but rather, the feeling of the time. However, since it is the FEEL that he most wants, not any specific occurances, he just transplanted the whole era into the future. Vespa scooters become Hover scooters, stuff like that.

One of the comments on the book, from Garth Ennis, I believe, makes reference to just how effortless Gibbons makes the comic-creating process look, and it is true.

The panels, the dialogue, it all flows together seamlessly.

As you may know, Gibbons' art is really good, and it is in full display in this comic...and Gibbons freely embraces the black and white medium...especially in the use of black panel separators.

There is no grand story being told here, really, just Lel's rise (and perhaps fall) with the Originals, so if you are looking for an epic, you will be dissapointed.

In addition, I will admit, it is a bit pricey for a comic that weighes in at less than half the size, page-wise, of Watchmen...so perhaps you would be better off waiting until it gets reprinted in a cheaper, paperback version.

But that would require waiting to read it.

I tried to wait (the book first came out in October of 2004), but I just could not...and I do not regret the decision at all.

1 Comments

• At June 4, 2007, Raghu wrote:

  Just read Originals actually, and agree that he makes it such a beautiful piece of work. He captures the feeling ...

Brian Wood's Pounded (with art by Steve Rolston) takes a different approach.

But in this case, I believe it pays off.

Heavy Parker, the star of Pounded, is one of the more....unique comic characters of recent history. He is the the local king of the Vancouver punk scene...even though he really has no discernable talent. Heavy is all show and bluster. Underneath it all, he is an untalented, spoiled rich kid.

And he's the STAR of the book.

And the kicker, by the end of the series, you are almost ROOTING for him.

Wood does an excellent job filling Heavy with in depth characterization. The rest of the characters get much less introspection, but I suppose that's just logical.

In any event, the three-part series follows a familar path.

In #1, Heavy is at the top, but he screws over his innocent young girlfriend.

In #2, his ex-girlfriend, Missy, back from college in New York, turns the tables on Heavy, and Heavy hits the bottom.

In #3, Heavy makes his comeback...but manages to do so without really learning a lesson.

It's such an absurd literary idea, but you will find yourself totally going along with it.

And the art by Rolston is top notch. He's an amazing talent. What is he up to nowadays?

Pounded is a good comic, and one of the rare non-Grant Morrison comic series that leaves you wanting more.

Pounded was released in a tradepaperback (under 10 bucks, I believe) by Oni Press in 2002. Steve Rolston's website has links if you want to purchase it.

I lurv these guys.

So much so that the classic trade that I am recommending today is Justice League: A New Beginning, by the same creative team.

This trade, collecting the first 7 issues of the Justice League comic book (before it was retitled Justice League International) is just an excellent blend of humor and action.

Yes, Captain Marvel is probably portrayed as being a bit too dumb.

Yes, Blue Beetle's maturity level is lowered a bit (and the guy had had a DC Comic for, like, a year at this point).

But everything else is note perfect.

The art, by newcomer Maguire, was excellent.

The plots from Giffen were inspired, and the dialogue from DeMatteis was miles and miles better than anything DeMatteis had ever done in the past.

Forgetting the fact that this particular approach to a major superhero team really had never been attempted before, these issues are just plain good reads.

Highly recommended.

Ultra is about three female friends, in their early-mid 20s who are, oddly enough, superheroes.

In this universe, the way superhero works is that each superhero signs with a "company," where they make money through the endorsement deals, etc. that the companies sign them to.

For some reason, there are separate companies for male and female heroes.

In any event, in the first issue, the three friends get their fortunes read, and the fortunes send them off on a quest for, well, basically love.

It's a really rough comparison (as I am not a fan of the show), but this BASICALLY is a "Sex In The City For Superheroes" comic book.

But it is so much better than that.

This is a book where the cliffhanger is, "Will she let him into her house...or not?"

#4 seemed to be headed in a bad direction, but #5 took it right back.

The dialogue is a highlight of the book. Think Bendis, but I think more realistic. It's not like a Mamet film. The people are talking naturally, but cleverly enough to be interesting.

(The main character, by the way, is called Ultra, hence the title of the book).

The comic also includes little magazine articles, interviews, etc. at the end of the book to give us a sense of what the pop culture treatment of superheroes are in this universe. It's really neat stuff.

And the art is dynamite. Sorta like Middleton, only a little looser.

But really, it's good stuff.

So, anyone read this book and hate it?

Anyone read it and love it?