Monthly Archive: May 2008

Review: ‘The Rabbi’s Cat 2’ by Joann Sfar

Review: ‘The Rabbi’s Cat 2’ by Joann Sfar

Joann Sfar, one of the major lights of the current European graphic novel scene, has written or collaborated on more than one hundred books, but probably his most famous and acclaimed work is the original [[[The Rabbi’s Cat]]], which won the prestigious Jury Prize at the Festival International de la BD d’Angouleme (Angouleme International Comics Festival).

Sadly, I still haven’t read it. Luckily, that means that I can review this sequel with an eye towards the new reader – since I was one myself.

The Rabbi’s Cat 2
By Joann Sfar
Pantheon, April 2008, $22.95

The title character is a nameless talking cat in Algiers in the 1930s, the pet of Rabbi Sfar – or perhaps of his beautiful, frustrated daughter Zlabya and her husband, a younger, urbane rabbi from Paris. I say “talking cat,” but most of the characters can’t tell that he talks – and it’s not clear what the difference is between those who can and those who can’t. (But the reader can always understand, which is the most important thing.) [[[The Rabbi’s Cat 2]]] collects what were the fourth and fifth French albums in the series, as the original Rabbi’s Cat collected the first three.

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Nick Fury May Appear in Future Marvel Films

Nick Fury May Appear in Future Marvel Films

Nick Fury’s appearance in the special scene after the end credits of Iron Man may not be the last we see of the man with the eye patch.

Fans have assumed that Samuel L. Jackson will naturally resume the role in the forthcoming Avengers movie, but now we have a little more evidence to support that prediction. Well, not much, but at least it’s something.

According to Devin Faraci at CHUD, Jackson recently met with Kevin Feige, the President of Production at Marvel Studios. The two haven’t met since Jackson filmed the cameo scene in Iron Man. It’s only idle speculation as to what the two met about, but Marvel could be getting a fast start on assembling its Avengers and getting them locked down with contracts.

The Avengers film is currently slated for release in July 2011.

(via CHUD)

Patriot Games, by John Ostrander

Patriot Games, by John Ostrander

You may have seen this via e-mail. It’s getting passed around a lot.

It is the VETERAN, not the preacher, who has given us freedom of religion.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the campus organizer, who has given us freedom to assemble.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the lawyer, who has given us the right to a fair trial.
 
It is the VETERAN, not the politician, who has given us the right to vote.
 
It is the VETERAN who salutes the Flag.
 
It is the VETERAN who serves under the Flag.

At this point, a photo follows with Marines escorting a flag draped coffin to a grave and is followed by a prayer for the dead that I remember from my Roman Catholic days.

This is lump-in-the-throat, tear-in-the-eye agit-prop. Normally, I wouldn’t care – but they’re using veterans, whom I think should be honored, to try and make points for the Right, and that gets me riled.

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Hunter S. Thompson: The Comic Book?

Hunter S. Thompson: The Comic Book?

Journalista recently directed me to a quartet of illustrations based on gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson found on Hey Oscar Wilde! It’s Clobberin’ Time!!!, a website featuring work from artists’ personal collections, focusing on interpretations of their favorite literary figures.

Confession time: I’m one of those people who has read everything ever written by or about Thompson, and he remains one of my favorite writers of the last few decades. Needless to say, this illustration of Thompson by Ben Templesmith, who also happens to be one of my favorite artists in the comics industry, caused me to have a minor heart palpitation.

The four pieces of Thompson-inspired art featured on the site include work by Scott Morse, John Kricfalusi and Jim Mahfood in addition to the piece by Templesmith pictured here.

 

Review: ‘X-O Manowar: Birth’

There’s something so gleefully ridiculous about the concept of X-O Manowar that you can’t help but smile while flipping through this paragon of 1990s comics.

Essentially Encino Man meets Battlefield Earth (though far better than such a comparison implies), [[[X-O Manowar: Birth]]] (Valiant, $24.95) collects the series’ beginnings as Aric, a fifth-century Visigoth, escapes from his alien captors with the aid of a miraculously powerful suit, then finds himself in the modern world.

The creative team — Bob Layton, Jim Shooter, Barry Windsor-Smith and Joe Quesada — push the fish-out-of-water story to the extreme, with the evil arachnid-like, laser-zapping aliens on a quest to enslave humanity and only the brutish, idiotic Aric standing in their way (actual sample of Aric’s dialogue: “But why I can… no… uh…”).

The story is completely over the top and doesn’t offer much to ponder over, but it’s also not striving for that. Screw pathos, this is a down-to-the-last-out laser battle with spider aliens! Aric bounces from one fight to another, and each comes through with a surprise or two.

Included are issues 0-6, with some scripts and original drawings for issue 0, and the original story “[[[The Rise of Lydia]]].” The collection is also recolored and remastered, and it’s an attractive hardcover volume. I’d recommend this primarily for those who either are long-time X-O fans, or for those who can’t pass up a good, messy fight with aliens.

Changes Afoot at Archaia Studios Press

One of the biggest Cinderella stories in comics publishing has been that of Archaia Studios Press, which began primarily as an outlet for the projects of co-founders Mark Smylie and Aki Liao and exploded with the success of series like The Killer and Mouse Guard.

Not too long ago, ASP announced a big slate of upcoming books. This morning, they made a far different announcement: Liao is leaving the publisher "for personal reasons" and efforts are being made to transition into a larger operation.

Though this isn’t necessarily good news — the publisher acknowledges struggles to get books out on schedule — it is very nice to see ASP handle the shakeup in such an open way. From the release:

Ken Light, an investment banker at the DAK Group specializing in small to mid-size company divestitures, sales, and acquisitions, will be assisting ASP in the search for an outside investor or strategic partner to acquire Aki’s stake in the company.

As part of the reorganization, the company will also take the opportunity to address internally the publishing delays that have plagued it of late to ensure a smooth schedule that satisfies not only its own standards but also that of its creators and the expectations of fans and retailers.

“Our growth in the last year has clearly strained our workflow capacity,” said ASP co-publisher Mark Smylie. “Lateness has historically been a problem with many creator-driven and creator-owned titles, but our own workflow issues have exacerbated the situation. We are as frustrated with our struggle to get books out on time as, I’m sure, are our readers, and we want to make sure we come out of the reorganization with a better workflow and solicitation process model. So while there will be some further delays in the release of recently solicited titles as we restructure, we also want to make sure we emerge in the next few months from our reorganization with a release schedule that we can hit on a regular basis, as guaranteed as possible. We can only ask that our many supporters, retailers and fans alike, be patient with us during this time.”

Bizarro Am Not On Sports Illustrated Cover

Bizarro Am Not On Sports Illustrated Cover

 I knew I wasn’t the only person looking at this year’s baseball season and wondering if something unnatural was to blame for the state of the league. Of course, the best indicator of something amiss with the sport is probably the fact that my fantasy baseball team is actually doing well this season… which never happens.

Nevertheless, the strange state of affairs in pro baseball works to the benefit of the comics community as DC announced today that an upcoming issue of Sports Illustrated will feature Superman’s  negative-image nemesis, Bizarro, on the cover.

From the press release:

Superman has appeared on the cover of TIME Magazine. Wonder Woman graced the debut issue of MS. MAGAZINE. And Batman has appeared on a number of magazine covers, most notably LIFE MAGAZINE. Now, classic Superman villain Bizarro, smashes his way onto the newsstands with the latest issue #2263 of SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, which reaches newsstands on May 26. The cover, by comic book superstar Mark Bagley, takes a look at the “Bizarro Baseball Season” and features a member of the Tampa Bay Rays knockin’ the stuffing out of everyone’s favorite Yankee, Derek Jeter.

And now I feel obligated to share with you the great headline DC’s PR crew came up with for the announcement:

FOR NOT IMMEDIATE RELEASE: BIZARRO NOT MAKE COMIC BOOK HISTORY WITH APPEARANCE ON SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COVER

It’s no secret that I hate hate hate parroting press releases on the site here, but I couldn’t resist passing this one along. You win this round, DC.

A larger version of the image is posted after the jump.

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EZ Street: Danny Crashes

EZ Street: Danny Crashes

In today’s brand-new episode of EZ Street, by Robert Tinnell and Mark Wheatley, Danny crashes in a bad way.  He’s hearing voices, and they’re calling him names.  And who is that behind him, ready to hit him with a board?

 

Credits: Mark Wheatley (Artist), Mark Wheatley (Colorist), Mark Wheatley (Letterer), Mark Wheatley (Writer), Mike Gold (Editor), Robert Tinnell (Writer)

More: EZ Street

 

‘Dungeon Monstres, Vol. 1: The Crying Giant’ Review

‘Dungeon Monstres, Vol. 1: The Crying Giant’ Review

The “Dungeon” series has gotten so full of stories, so complicated, that there’s a diagram on the back of this book to explain how all of the sub-series relate to each other.

Up top are the three main sequences – The Early Years (the creation), Zenith (the height), and Twilight (the downfall), as it says here – and below that are explanations of the other three clusters: Parade, Bonus, and Monstres. All are set in a giant castle in a standard fantasy world – the castle was set up by “the Keeper” as a habitat for various monsters, who could kill and devour the inevitable wandering adventurers. (So it’s a hack-n-slash D&D campaign turned on its head; the monsters win every time.)

Dungeon Monstres, Vol. 1: The Crying Giant
By Johann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Mazan, and Jean-Cristophe Menu
NBM, June 2008, $12.95

 

This particular subseries focuses on, as the back cover says, “great adventures of secondary characters.” So Monstres is the Cable & Deadpool of the “Dungeon” world, I guess…

The other different thing about Monstres is that the stories are illustrated by guest artists, not by series creators Johann [that’s how he’s credited on this book; though I’ve never seen the “h” in his name before] Sfar and Lewis Trondheim. In this case, the first story, “John-John the Terror,” has art by Mazan while the title story is illustrated by Jean-Cristophe Menu, head of the alternative comics publisher L’Association.

 

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Happy Birthday: Beautia Sivana

Happy Birthday: Beautia Sivana

Some people hope to take after their parents—others hope they don’t. For Beautia Sivana the latter seems more likely.

Her father, Thaddeus Bodog Sivana, is a crazed scientist bent on world conquest and the utter destruction of his nemesis, Captain Marvel. Beautia’s two younger siblings take after their father in their immorality but Beautia herself—who is as lovely as her name suggests—is more kind-hearted (and her favorite brother, Magnificus, is simply indifferent).

At times, she has even rebelled and aided Captain Marvel in escaping her father’s traps, though that may be as much motivated by personal admiration as by a desire to truly reform.

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