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Wed Aug 13, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Review: 'After 9/11' by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón
A graphic depiction of the war on terror
A few years back, Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón came up with the novel idea of retelling the 9/11 Commission Report
Now they're back with something of a sequel, After 9/11: America's War on Terror
I really only have one criticism. The book is labeled "graphic journalism," which is a bit of a misnomer. The creators did no original reporting, as far as I can tell, instead researching media reports for their information.
It's really an illustrated work of history, an encompassing paper-bound documentary of the past seven years in American foreign policy. Which is to say it's a pretty depressing read.
The creators organize their collection of news reports and government documents in chronological form, as the U.S. launches its invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the latter through no small part of deception.
Continue reading Review: 'After 9/11' by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón ›
Tue Aug 12, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Review: 'Astro City: Dark Age' by Kurt Busiek
Wherein Kurt Busiek just flat shows off
Kurt Busiek's brain is about average-sized, I assume. And yet it contains this entire city, detailed down to every last resident's personality and scrap of trash in the street.
His mastery of Astro City is on full display in the latest collection of the WildStorm series, The Dark Age
We've seen plenty of examples of superhero stories told in a down-to-earth way, or viewed from the average man's perspective, maybe most notably in Busiek's acclaimed Marvels with Alex Ross (who provides the killer cover at right). Neither of those elements is what sets Astro City apart, though they fuel its success.
Rather, its the depth to which Busiek explores the brothers' lives (and those of everyone else). Charles and Royal Williams go through childhood tragedy and end up on opposite ends of the law.
Each is plagued in his own way by the super-powered element, with the bombastic battles tearing Astro City apart.
Continue reading Review: 'Astro City: Dark Age' by Kurt Busiek ›
Tue Aug 12, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler
Review: 'Scout, Vol. 2' by Timothy Truman
Fighting demons in the eco-wrecked near future
Scout, Volume Two
By Timothy Truman
Dynamite Entertainment, July 2008, $19.95
This, as you might have guessed from the title of the book, is the second collection of Tim Truman’s Scout series, originally published over twenty-four issues starting in 1987 from Eclipse Comics. (You young ‘uns won’t know from Eclipse, but they were one of the major “indy” comics companies, back before anybody used that term.) The first Scout collection came out last year, and I reviewed it then.
To recap: Scout is set in a world of the worst fears of mid-‘80s liberals: global warming ran riot, turning most of the US into a desert; the US government collapsed into corporate fascism; the US economy basically dried up and blew away; and everything generally went to hell. It also went to hell really, really quickly, since Scout starts in 1999, only twelve years after it was originally published. By the beginning of this volume – the eighth issue and the start of a new plotline – it’s possibly a year later than that, but everything is still horrible, and getting even worse. (It’s one of those post-apocalypse settings in which regular people, like you and me, seem to have all died off quietly, without even leaving rotting corpses or giant piles of bones behind, so that the tough survivalist types can battle it out over the scarce resources left.)
But Scout’s world is different from our own in other ways: it’s not really a science-fictional world, despite being set in the near future. Various kinds of magic and mysticism really do work, and our hero, former Army Ranger Emanuel Santana, is explicitly on a mission to destroy a series of legendary monsters that are behind the USA’s troubles. (The first storyline was called “The Four Monsters;” in that, he tracked down and killed four monsters from Apache mythology, all masquerading as powerful humans. At the beginning of this volume, his spirit guide – a talking prairie dog called Gahn – leads Santana to the next monster, which is a part of him.)
Continue reading Review: 'Scout, Vol. 2' by Timothy Truman ›
Mon Aug 11, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler
Review: 'The Fart Party' by Julia Wertz
From a webcomic about one girl's life
The Fart Party
By Julia Wertz
Atomic Book Company, May 2008, $13.95
Julia Wertz’s comics would be terribly juvenile if they weren’t wonderfully juvenile – little snippets of life from a young woman in San Francisco, obsessed with beer, cheese, bicycles and comics. (Not to mention the occasional outburst of cartoony violence.)
Wertz has been posting her autobiographical comics at www.fartparty.org for nearly three years now, with occasional published-on-actual-paper minicomics as well, but this is the first collection that sits comfortably on a shelf. It seems to collect roughly the first year of the online strips, when Wertz was living in San Francisco with her boyfriend, Oliver, though the book itself doesn’t say that, or have dates on any of the strips. (Wertz’s life has changed a bit since the time of these strips; she’s currently ensconced in Darkest Brooklyn.) The strips here do form something of an arc, and have a natural ending, which is rare for any collection of regularly published comics, from the web or anywhere else.
Wertz’s style is simple and cartoony, but springs out full-formed from the beginning of the book with all its rubber-armed, pointy-eyed, casually-violent energy. Wertz does include a couple of strips she created earlier, in a more conventionally “realistic” style. But she buries those strips in the middle of the book, and they’re definitely less distinctive than her current style. I’m sure the fine-art brigade will hate her work – as will the good-taste brigade, which is similar but not identical to the first brigade – but she’s a real cartoonist, and that’s something to be celebrated. There’s still room for improvement in her style; her faces are only intermittently expressive at this point, and the figures’ body language tends to huge, stagy gestures even when those aren’t appropriate.
Sun Aug 10, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Review: Creepy Archives Volume 1
... but mostly Archie Goodwin and airports
Pretty soon, this is going to turn into a review of Dark Horse’s Creepy Archives Volume 1. Hang in there; I’ll get to it, I promise.
I miss Archie Goodwin, particularly this time of year. He died 10 years ago from cancer at the ridiculously young age of 60. He was one of the best writers this medium has ever seen. In a field that sports the talents of Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Jules Feiffer, and Dennis O’Neil, Archie was of that highest caliber. If Archie ghosted bible tracks for Jack Chick, I would have read them. He was that good.
As a human being, he was even better. A life-long EC Comics fan (you could see it in his work, as well as in those with whom he chose to associate), for a couple years Archie and I had adjoining offices at DC Comics. We used to go out to lunch and talk about, oh, Tales From The Crypt and Ronald Reagan. Did I mention Archie was very politically aware? Read his Blazing Combat stories. Anyway, sometimes our conversations scared the Manhattan businessmen who sat near us.
Archie enjoyed that. I enjoyed those conversations immensely; I wish I could relive them.
So why do miss Archie “particularly this time of year”? This is convention season. No matter where we were, we would run into each other a couple times each year at various airport gates. He could be leaving from New York and I from Chicago and we’d run into each other on connecting flights in Denver. We could both be at a show in, oh, his native Kansas City and we could be flying to two different places, but we’d still share the first leg of our respective flights. At first it was uncanny; quickly, it became another fact of life.
I haven’t met all 6,500,000,000 people on this planet, but based upon my unscientific sampling I can state with complete confidence that there are few people with greater wit, charm, and intelligence. So there.
This brings us to Dark Horse’s Creepy Archives Volume 1. Archie started writing for Jim Warren’s Creepy with the first issue; by issue two he was story editor and issue four he was the sole credited editor. He wrote most of the stories and, therefore, did a lot to define the 1960s horror story while working with a lot of EC greats like Reed Crandall, Jack Davis, Al Williamson, Alex Toth, George Evans, Joe Orlando, Wally Wood and Frank Frazetta. As time progressed, he added younger talent like Gray Morrow, Neal Adams, and Steve Ditko.
Fri Aug 8, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler
Manga Friday: Here We Go Again
Returning to the scene of previous reviews
This time around I have a volume two, a volume three, and a volume four – all in series that I’ve read at least some of the earlier books. Let’s see if I can still remember what went before – since manga often don’t have “who the heck are these people and what are they doing” pages – and whether they’re getting more or less interesting.
Kaze No Hana, Vol. 2
By Ushio Mizta and Akiyoshi Ohta
Yen Press, August 2008, $10.99
This is the series about an amnesiac teenage girl, Momoka, who is part of a family that wields magical swords to drive monsters away and protect their city. I reviewed the first volume in April, and had to admit then that there were too many characters with too few faces for me to keep them all straight.
Well, this time, we get even more characters, including another sword-wielding family that likes the monsters and wants to see them take over the earth or rampage through Tokyo or do whatever it is these particular monsters would do. Their leader is the cute girl Kurohime – and the only thing more dangerous than an old man in a Hong Kong movie is a cute girl in manga – and they have “sacred swords,” which are utterly different from the heroes’ “spiritual swords” in ways that perhaps don’t entirely translate well.
Mon Aug 4, 2008 — by Rick Marshall
Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #13 - "Journey's End"
Companions unite and divide in the season finale...
The hit BBC series Doctor Who
Every week, I'll do my best to go through the most recent episode with a fine-tooth comb (or whatever the "sonic screwdriver" equivalent might be) and call out the highlights, low points, continuity checks and storyline hints I can find to keep in mind for future episodes. I'll post the review each Monday, so you have ample time to check out the episode once it airs each Friday at 9 PM EST on Sci-Fi Channel before I spoil anything.
Missed a week? Check out the "Doctor Who in Review" archive or check out any of the past editions of this column via the links at the end of this article.
Keep in mind, I'm going to assume readers have already watched the episode when I put fingers to keyboard and come up with the roundup of important plot points. In other words, SPOILER ALERT!
Let's begin now, shall we?
Season Four, Episode #13: "Journey's End"
Continue reading Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #13 - "Journey's End" ›
Mon Aug 4, 2008 — by Alan Kistler
New Gods Breakdown: An Illustrated Guide to Jack Kirby's Creations
Confused about these Kirby creations? All you need to know is right here!
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Back in June, comic book historian Alan Kistler provided ComicMix readers with a Countdown Breakdown, an illustrated guide to the 52-part event that preceded the Final Crisis storyline currently unfolding in the DC Universe. This feature was so popular that we convinced him to flex his creative muscles once again, and provide an analysis of one of the key groups of characters receiving the spotlight in Final Crisis: the Jack Kirby-created New Gods. Where do they fit in and what should you know 
about them in order to understand Final Crisis? Read on and find out! -RM]
Well, readers, some of you have no doubt been checking out DC’s crossover Final Crisis. Personally, I’ve been enjoying the heck out of it. But I can understand that some of it might not have as much impact if you’re relatively new to the DC Universe.
For instance, a major part of the crossover revolves around those Jack Kirby creations known as the "New Gods of the Fourth World."
So who are these New Gods? How are they related to the Greek gods who speak to Wonder Woman on a regular basis? What do they have to do with that powerful giant called Gog who’s been appearing in the pages of Justice Society of America? Why does Darkseid say he’s from the “Fourth World,” whereas Gog claims he's from the “Third World?"
Well, look no further, faithful fans! ComixMix is here to oblige! So, because you folks requested it after seeing our illustrated Countdown Breakdown, here are the New Gods in a nutshell:
Continue reading New Gods Breakdown: An Illustrated Guide to Jack Kirby's Creations ›
Mon Aug 4, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Review: 'Meathaus: SOS'
New anthology offers sweet art, so-so story
I was talking to cartoonist Jim Rugg recently about comics anthologies, and he said his thought as a reader is that each collection should have one great story, and then anything else good is just gravy.
In the case of the latest volume of Meathaus, SOS
The one great story in SOS, then, is the volume's first entry, a longish bizarro riff on Zelda (I think) from Farel Dalrymple. It's a story of two brothers who stumble into a mysterious cave and are attacked by an evil elf wearing a fedora and trench coat.
Dalrymple's art is as energetic as ever, and the story is a strangely edited puzzler that's worth multiple reads.
There's plenty more gravy in the 272 pages. Most notably Dash Shaw's melding of science fiction and nude modeling for art classes. I don't think any more needs to be said.
Sat Aug 2, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Review: This Week in 'Trinity' - Part 9
Your weekly dose of DC's big three
This ridiculous villain thing has officially gone too far.
First, we have the "evil trinity" of Despero, Morgaine Le Fey and Enigma. Then there's been Howlers galore and a trio of baddies headlined by the Eraser or White Out or whatever his name is.
And now? Swashbuckler!
He shows up amid the chaos of the bombed mall and lays a kiss on Diana's gubmint pal (also stealing her ID), and then later fails to steal Nightwing's mask. Both while offering B-movie banter.
He's apparently another villain in league with Le Fey, who along with her cronies is amassing more goodies that "define the essence" of key people. It goes back to the continued theme in this series of objects being instilled with a mysterious energy force of the earth.
Elsewhere, Bruce fights off attacking Howlers with Clark's help. They apprehend a few without being branded like Diana, but we don't know what happens with that yet.
As Clark is inner-monologuing about Bruce forgetting an earlier encounter with the Howlers, Diana comes over the shortwave to let them know the Crime Syndicate was responsible for mass kidnappings.
Two things here: The Crime Syndicate? And, wait a second, when did these kidnappings happen? Off-panel, I guess.
Fri Aug 1, 2008 — by Van Jensen
The Weekly Haul: Comics Reviews for July 30
Rounding up the latest issues
A pretty slow week in comics, as everyone's still gasping for breath post Comic-Con (including me, even though I stayed at home this year). Not even a dozen books worth reading this week, and I somehow missed the JSA annual. Still, some interesting stuff, with a strong DC showing.
Book of the Week: Blue Beetle #29
There's also a bizarre bit of text added that says: "No trespassing: Violators will be Prosecuted." Except the last word is crossed out and "Persecuted" is written over it. Meaningless fluff that distracts from an attractive bit of art.
Like I said, though, the issue is good stuff aside from a few minor awkwardnesses as Sturges warms up to the series. Jaime keeps on adventuring, though he's falling into a big mess involving Intergang and smugglers.
Sturges uses that to create a nice dynamic, as Jaime is forced to take a side in the immigration debate. This is a really good jumping-on point, if you've been thinking of giving the series a try.
Runners Up:
Green Lantern #33
Johns uses subtlety in examining the reasons Sinestro went mad with power, and the prophecy of the Blackest Night finally is starting to be revealed.
Thor #10
Continue reading The Weekly Haul: Comics Reviews for July 30 ›
Fri Aug 1, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler
Manga Friday: Who Are You?
Three books where things aren't who they seem
This week we’ll be looking at three books with main characters who look like one thing, but are something else.
Nephilim, Vol. 1
By Anna Hanamaki
Aurora, May 2008, $10.95
On a continent with the unlikely name of Elwestland, two political powers – with the is-it-quitting-time-on-Friday-already? names of “The Empire” and “The Federation” – are in a long cold war, having split the land right down the middle. Oh, no, wait! There’s also a nearly impassable jungle right in that middle, conveniently separating the Empire from the Federation. And in that jungle live the mysterious, nomadic Nephilim.
Nephilim appear in one form by day and another by night – this may simply be swapping gender, but the text of the book doesn’t quite say that – and their night-form is the true one. (They’re fertile in that form, among other things.) But if an outsider sees a Nephilim in his/her true form – possibly only if the Nephilim is naked, but that doesn’t seem to be the important bit – The Curse declares that Nephilim must kill that outsider personally, or start to die slowly.
And our plot begins when the dashing Imperial soldier Colonel Sir Guyfeis S. Northenfield, who is also a top bounty hunter, a master of unarmed combat, and probably a deft hand at Parcheesi, too, is charging through that not-nearly-impassable-enough jungle on a mission to retrieve the fair Lady Lia, who has been kidnapped by perfidious Federal agents. He avoids or kills Federals by day, and has a quick run-in with a wandering Nephilim named Abel. (Rolling a fifteen or higher on the Random Encounter table, clearly.) That night, Abel is bathing in a stream, so Guy sneaks up to catch an eyeful – either unaware of the curse, secretly hot for the cute boy he thought Abel was, or just terminally nosy. He discovers Abel is “truly” (by night, at least) female, and she then tries, very badly, to kill him.
Thu Jul 31, 2008 — by Andrew Wheeler
Review: 'Slow Storm' by Danica Novgorodoff
A firefighter and a stableboy meet in Kentucky tornado season
Slow Storm
By Danica Novgorodoff
First Second, September 2008, $19.95
This is Novgorodoff’s first full-length graphic novel; she was an Eisner nominee last year for the one-shot A Late Freeze. She’s got an assured, pseudo-outsider art style, with big blocks of color and slablike faces, but her writing isn’t quite up to the same level yet. Slow Storm will be in stores in September, but comics stores and online retailers are, as always, already taking pre-orders.
Ursa Crain is a firefighter in Kentucky’s rural Oldham County who has a very confrontational, unpleasant relationship with her brother and coworker, the very thuddingly named Grim. (What kind of family names their two kids Ursa and Grim, anyway? Did they know their kids would be characters in a story with heavy symbolism?) These two siblings clearly don’t get along, but we don’t know why – and their sniping and digs don’t give us much of a clue. Grim also complains that his sister “looks like a moose,” as if he wants her to increase her sexual attractiveness – which doesn’t sound like any brother-sister relationship I know. (Particularly since the other firefighters – the ones not related to her – are already sexually harassing Ursa in their mild, Southern, good-ol-boy way.)
Rafael Jose Herrera Sifuentes (Rafi) is a stableboy from Mexico, living in Kentucky illegally upstairs in the stable where he works. He comes from horse country himself, but he could only live hand-to-mouth there, and so he got himself smuggled into the US to be able to send money back to his family. He had the usual bad experiences on the way – robbed by the coyotes taking him over the border, shot at by a racist rancher – and somehow settled into this Kentucky stable.
Continue reading Review: 'Slow Storm' by Danica Novgorodoff ›
Thu Jul 31, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Review: 'Shmobots' by Adam Rifkin and Les Toil
Attack of the slacker robots
Shmobots
Government negligence leads to a city full of worthless robots (termed Shmobots), and three of the laziest ones hang out with a guy and do pretty much nothing with their lives.
The humore here -- from writer Adam Rifkin -- is all pretty obvious, heavy on robot cliches and slacker jokes we've heard before. Yet the book has an undeniable charm, no doubt because its creators acknowledge those faults and even celebrate them.
Sure, the lead robot character is a carbon copy of Bender from Futurama
There is a more involved plot than I let on: the robots and human friend are constantly looking for money, while unknowingly they're being stalked by the Shmobot Killer. The plot advances at a marijuana-soaked pace.
Continue reading Review: 'Shmobots' by Adam Rifkin and Les Toil ›
Wed Jul 30, 2008 — by Van Jensen
Review: 'Burma Chronicles' by Guy Delisle
Western perspective shades eastern adventure
With all of the past year's insanity in Burma -- mainly monk uprisings and government oppressions -- you'd think Guy Delisle's nonfiction comic Burma Chronicles
As is Delisle's style, he passes up on the chance to take an expansive view of the country where he lived for six months (he's written previously about stints in Pyongyang and Shenzhen).
Instead, the book is almost self-centered in how it simply recounts Delisle's experience as the husband to a Doctors Without Borders. He depicts himself as the ultimate average Joe, a dude content to live life as it comes.
Most of the cartoons are of little moments, like Delisle venting about the sporadic electricity (and sporadic air conditioning), or his hunt for ink to finish a book.
That isn't to say he doesn't experience Burmese culture or interact with the locals. He does, but the majority of what he includes in the book are little innocuous windows into the country.
Continue reading Review: 'Burma Chronicles' by Guy Delisle ›
