Category: Reviews

Review: ‘The Country Nurse’ by Jeff Lemire

Review: ‘The Country Nurse’ by Jeff Lemire

Essex County Vol. 3: The Country Nurse
By Jeff Lemire
Top Shelf, October 2008, $9.95

The finale of the “[[[Essex County]]]” trilogy – which will be available in October, so start saving your pennies now – draws together the first two graphic novels in the series, but at the expense of not being as coherent as a story itself. It has two main plot threads – one set in the modern day, following the nurse of the title, and one in 1917.

The modern plot is similar to the frame story of the second volume, Ghost Stories – Anne Quenneville travels around this fictionalized corner of Ontario, Canada on her rounds one day, looking in on her usual patients and giving us some callbacks to those first two stories. (The kid Lester has given up his cape and mask; ex-hockey player Lou is toast.) It does pull together all of the strands of “Essex County” neatly and well, but that’s pretty much all it’s doing; there isn’t much in the way of events, just Anne meeting people we already know or will soon come to recognize.

The other plot starts off about young Lawrence Lebeuf, a twelve-year-old orphan at an isolated orphanage deep in the woods. (Was it really common to have orphanages out in the middle of nowhere, staffed only by a nun and a caretaker? I guess it exemplifies “out of sight, out of mind.”) The orphanage is run by Sister Margaret, and the caretaker is a scruffy man named Charles Gerrard. Lawrence is something of a protégé of Charles’s; he’s the oldest of the orphans and Charles talks to him quite a bit about what he should do when he soon leaves the orphanage.

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Review: ‘Swallow Me Whole” by Nate Powell

Review: ‘Swallow Me Whole” by Nate Powell

Swallow Me Whole
By Nate Powell
Top Shelf, September 2008, $19.95

Ruth and Perry are stepsiblings, somewhere in the South – people say “shoore” for “sure,” biology teachers can’t even say the word “evolution,” and the kids’ slowly-dying, live-in grandmother is called “Memaw.” It also seems to be sometime in the late ‘80s, from the clothes and the music and the hair.

And they’re both – how should I put this? Oh, let’s use the jargon – both are very far from neurotypical. Perry hallucinates a tiny wizard who makes him draw incessantly for “missions.” And Ruth may even be schizophrenic: she hears voices and feels patterns in everything around her, particularly with insect swarms. She has a huge collection of insects in jars in her room; she’s stolen at least some of them from school, but it’s not clear where they all came from. When she finally has a break at school and is taken to the nurse’s office, the school cop immediately assumes she’s high and starts loudly questioning her about drugs – she doesn’t get diagnosed has obsessive-compulsive for several days.

[[[Swallow Me Whole]]] is a slow, swirling, uneasy book, centered mostly on Ruth and her efforts to live in the world – talking to her Memaw, getting a work-study job at the museum, trying not to be swallowed up by the massive swarms of insects that comfort her and that may, or may not, be real. (Don’t decide either way until you get to the end.) It begins with a few short scenes set about five years earlier, when Ruth and Perry are both pre-teens and Memaw’s hospitalization ends with her moving in with them and their parents. From there, it’s hard to say how much time Swallow Me Whole covers, since there are no external markers. They go to school but we don’t see school begin or end for the summer. We don’t see the seasons change. Scenes could be separated by a day or three months. It’s all now; it’s all happening, like life, one thing after another after another.

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Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #12 – “The Stolen Earth”

The hit BBC series Doctor Who is now in its fourth season on the Sci-Fi Channel, and since we’re all big fans here at ComicMix, we’ve decided to kick off an episode-by-episode analysis of the reinvigorated science-fiction classic.

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 #12: “The Stolen Earth”

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Review: This Week in Trinity – Part 8

As Comic-Con starts to lull into submission (begin your hype for ’09!), I finally get a chance to sit down with the latest issue of DC’s weekly [[[Trinity]]] and ask myself again why I ever agreed to do weekly reviews.

Yes, the series is still so much better than [[[Countdown]]] that it’s useless comparing the two, but after last week’s big explanations of some of the major mysteries, issue eight has no tension among much weirdness.

We start off with Morgaine Le Fey, Enigma and Despero all hanging out on the largest moon of Itatoq (funny, I’m vacationing there this winter). Because they’re villains, a fight ensues, but after some “We’re all so evil” dialogue the three agree to form their own evil threesome.

At their disposal is the Cosmic Egg, which confused me, since last issue seemed to imply the JLA had the egg (and the villain inside it) stashed somewhere safe. Apparently they stashed it on the largest moon of Itatoq (miles and miles of sandy beaches!).

After that are scenes of the heroes going about their lives, still filling the generic roles prescribed to them by the universe (aka Kurt Busiek). Bruce is sleuthing, Clark is fighting robots and Diana is… shopping. Ahem.

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Review: ‘Erotic Comics’ by Tim Pilcher

Review: ‘Erotic Comics’ by Tim Pilcher

Erotic Comics: A Graphic History from Tijuana Bibles to Underground Comics
By Tim Pilcher with Gene Kannenberg, Jr.
Abrams, March 2008, $29.95

We’ve reached an interesting point in modern culture, when even something as disposable and downmarket as sexy comic books can be the subject of a classy art book from a major publisher. Abrams is about as respectable an art-book publisher as you could find; they’re the official book imprint of both the Whitney and Guggenheim museums. And they’re also the publisher of [[[Erotic Comics]]], a well-crafted and thoroughly conventional art book with lots of pictures of comics panels featuring people at least half-naked – if not actively engaged in various lascivious acts.

Erotic Comics is, except for the smutty pictures, an absolutely standard coffee-table book – printed at a large but comfortable size, not too expensive, with several color reproductions on each spread, occasional background images as well, helpful, detailed captions, and a body text that’s thin beer but perfectly acceptable. It makes no sweeping claims for the field of erotic comics, and is content mostly to show some pictures and retell the same old stories about the men who drew them.

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Review: ‘Bluesman’ by Vollmar & Callejo

Review: ‘Bluesman’ by Vollmar & Callejo

Bluesman
By Rob Vollmar and Pablo G. Callejo
NBM, August 2008, $24.95

[[[Bluesman]]] was published once before, as three album-sized collections, but this is the first time the entire story has been collected between two covers. It’s a moody tale, told in black and white – but mostly in grays, from the background to the characters.

Lem Taylor is a blues guitarist, wandering through the rural Mississippi Delta in the late ‘20s, hungry and foot-sore. With him is a blues pianist, Ironwood Malcott, and together they make some excellent music. But that doesn’t put food in their bellies half the time, let alone a roof over the heads and a bed at night more than every so often.

As the book begins, their luck is beginning to look up: they get a decent gig at a popular juke house called Shug’s and are invited up to Memphis to record some sides by J.L. Dougherty, a traveling salesman who also acts as a talent scout.

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Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #11 – Turn Left

Doctor Who in Review: Season Four, Episode #11 – Turn Left

The hit BBC series Doctor Who is now in its fourth season on the Sci-Fi Channel, and since we’re all big fans here at ComicMix, we’ve decided to kick off an episode-by-episode analysis of the reinvigorated science-fiction classic.

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 #11: "Turn Left"

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Review: The Dark Knight

Review: The Dark Knight

Considering the amount of massive blockbusters that have disappointed the fans this year, it is safe to say that all of your expectations will be met going into this movie. [[[The Dark Knight]]] delivers on so many levels that it becomes hard to critique it, and all that’s left is pure childlike enjoyment for approximately two hours.

Those of you who are unaware of the plot for the sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins, this film takes place shortly where we left off: Batman is patrolling the streets, crime is on the rise, and more and more “masked vigilantes” are stepping up to try and take out the [[[Batman]]]. Wayne Manor is still destroyed, so all of the caped crusader’s hijinks are based out of a new penthouse apartment, which is a nice change. Batman’s gal Rachel Dawes (originally played by Katie Holmes) returns, this time played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. This time, instead of Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy filling the evil quota as Ra’s Al Ghul and Scarecrow, respectively, we get the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart as The Joker and Harvey Dent, which of course means we get to see a little Two-Face!

[SPOILER WARNING: READ ON AT YOUR OWN RISK]

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Review: New ‘Fables’ & ‘Jack of Fables’ Volumes

Review: New ‘Fables’ & ‘Jack of Fables’ Volumes

[[[Fables]]] is one of the big successes of the current version of the Vertigo line, where every book has a Hollywood-style high concept: all males on Earth are killed – except one!; New York’s mayor can talk to machines!; Refugee fairytales live in the modern world! And, in another Hollywood-esque twist, Fables even has a spin-off of its own, like Diff’rent Strokes begat The Facts of Life.

Last month, both the parent and spin-off series had new collections, with titles that implied a connection. So let’s look at the two of those books together:

Fables, Vol. 10: The Good Prince
By Bill Willingham, Mark Buckingham, and others
DC Comics, June 2008, $17.99

Fables, as you might know, is a series in which all of the folkloric and fairy-tale characters that you’ve ever heard of are real, and originally lived in an array of alternate worlds. But “the Adversary” – whose identity was revealed a few volumes ago – led huge goblin armies to conquer nearly all of those worlds, sending a few (but mostly very well-known) Fables to our world, to live in secrecy in an enclave in New York City.

More recently, the cold war with the Adversary is beginning to heat up, with Fabletown’s leadership striking alliances with the “Cloud Kingdoms” (you know, where the beanstalk led?) and with the as-yet-unconquered world of the [[[Arabian Knights]]]. (There’s also an unsubtle parallel between Fabletown and Israel that Willingham is a bit too fond of.) As we hit this tenth volume, we know that the Adversary is building for a major attack three years from now, and the characters of Fables learn that quickly as well.

The last storyline, [[[Sons of Empire]]], served to ratchet up tension, but [[[The Good Prince]]] goes the other way; Flycatcher – Prince Ambrose, the Frog Prince – has finally regained his memory, and is grieving over the loss of his family centuries before. But Red Riding Hood goads him out of his misery, and he rushes off to get fighting lessons from Boy Blue.

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Review: This Week in ‘Trinity’ #7

This issue is titled "A third symbol now…" but a more accurate one would be "OK, so here’s exactly what’s going on."

For six issues, Trinity was a fairly opaque book, with several seemingly disparate storylines and a completely mysterious large threat — the one screaming "Let me out!" in issue one.

What do we know now?

All the "disturbances" from issue two are an unknown form of primal energy. "Creation energies." The heroes quickly put two and two together and check on Krona, that Oan who tried to manipulate the beginning of the universe and accidentally created the multiverse (check out Crisis on Infinite Earths or Infinite Crisis for more on this).

Later in the book, it’s revealed that Krona is in fact the mysterious shouter of "Let me out!" that the trinity has been hearing. And, it’s a bit hard to decipher, but it appears that he’s getting close to escaping from the cosmic egg, if he hasn’t already.

The heroes are gathered to talk about all the goings on. They figure out the rash of museum robberies has all been to obtain wands, swords, pentacles and cups, which happen to be the four suits of the Tarot. Which leads them to Tarot, the girl who was kidnapped last issue by Morgaine Le Fey’s monsters.

They also have a third symbol appearing on Wonder Woman’s scar. The three are ancient Egyptian symbols: Strength, the high priestess and the world. Three symbols tied to our three heroes.

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