Immortal Iron Fist
Written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction; Art by David Aja
2008 Eisner Winner for Best Writer for Ed Brubaker
In shonen manga (Japanese comics targeted toward boys) there's a stereotypical storyline where the hero is forced to take part in a tournament against an army of freakish opponents. It's popular because there's a lot of action and is a convenient framework for drama but for whatever reason it's only been used rarely in U.S. comics. I think that's because every story in superhero comics comes down to strange people beating each other up so a tournament where a bunch of them get together for this purpose doesn't hold the same thrill. This makes Brubaker and Fraction's stories in Immortal Iron Fist different in two ways. Besides being one of the few instances that this story is used in American comics it's also one of the few times that I have been genuinely interested in how it would play out.
The Iron Fist is an easy superhero to sum up. He's a martial artist who beat up a dragon and consequently can make his hand glow. He was from a hidden city in the Himalayas which can only be reached once a decade. He's also a billionaire playboy who used to hang out with a tough guy from the mean streets and they ran a private detective agency together.
Brubaker and Fraction's story introduces an lineage of warriors who have held the title Iron Fist and one of their main purposes is to fight a tournament against seven other similar warriors to determine which mystic city can reach the outside world. The previous Iron Fist is a man whose father was a steampunk supervillain. When he decided to abandon his position he used his skills and that technology to form a team of pulp adventurers. Forces that pursued him for over fifty years cause the two Iron Fists to collide on the eve of this tournament. And those same forces are raising the stakes for this tournament far higher than they have been before.
If I had to pick a single word to describe this series it would be energetic. It's packed to overflowing with over the top concepts like "an empire of hypothetical science" or a woman who contains an army of spiders. There's no sitting back to provide exposition on why a dog wearing aviator goggles is on a team in the style of Doc Savage and that's fine by me since these are concepts where nothing is necessary beyond the concept itself. And none of it comes across as just random things thrown against the wall; once you accept the broad concept of mystical cities with superpowered kung fu champions then there's no reason not to accept the idea that one of those champions is powered by women who turn into birds. And this stuff never lets up as there's always something new and wondrous around the next corner.
The downside to this is that this is not a deep story. There's no grand unifying theme or deep message. It's about enjoying a hyperkinetic, over-the-top adventure story. I have no complaints on that front since even in superhero comics it's rare that I find one that is this much fun.
The other problem is that there are some aspects that I was left wanting to see more. The other warriors are intriguing and if Brubaker and Fraction could have piled on more just about them. I suspect that if they had continued their work on the series all the things that I want fleshed out would have been explored. Still what they've provided is sufficient for the story they're telling.
I loved David Aja's work on Immortal Iron Fist. He has a lean, lanky style with his figures that looks different from the standard superhero artwork. His characters are lithe martial artists, not overly muscled steroid abusers. He used a style of illustrating action that I've never seen before and connects with the martial arts in a brilliant way. In the middle of his fluid action he has inset panels highlighting the moment of contact; it controls the pacing of the action to freeze the most intense moment. This book has a cinematic feel that is all about control of pacing and how images are framed.
I read The Immortal Iron Fist as an omnibus that collected all of the issues of that these creators had done and their entire story was a fun one. It's complete in one volume in this format and I'd recommend it to anyone who thinks that it sounds like fun. Like most great martial arts films it's not a story that will make you think but it kept me smiling the whole time I was reading it.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Review - Dr. Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?
Dr. Strange: What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen?
Written by Marc Andreyko; Art by P. Craig Russell
1998 Eisner Winner for Best Penciller/Inker
When it comes to superheroes my personal favorite is Dr. Strange. It's not because of his powers; they tend to be loosely defined and vary based on the needs of the story. And it's not because of his stories; if I took the hundreds of issues of Dr. Strange written since the character was introduced I might be able to point out three dozen that are really great. What I like about Dr. Strange is the core concept. It's the classic Marvel story cranked up all the way. You have an arrogant man who has been corrupted by worldly things until a tragedy of his own making brings him low. Now in other Marvel comics they deal with this by building a suit of armor and punching criminals. Or by climbing down walls and punching criminals. Or hitting their brother with a big hammer and punching criminals. Dr. Strange on the other hand got to the bottom and then reevaluated his life, realized his failings at a person, and then worked hard to change his ways. He was far ahead of the curve in terms of comic book characters and completely different from any other superhero out there.
What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? is the only time that my favorite superhero has won an Eisner. That makes sense since as I mentioned there's aren't a lot of good stories featuring Dr. Strange. In fact this book isn't a good story; it's flawed in every way possible. It also exists as a showcase for gorgeous P. Craig Russell artwork and on that level it succeeds.
Dr. Strange's friend is abducted, and a monastery of the same order that trained him has been slaughtered. He follows the trail through strange dimensions to an evil sorceress who demands his assistance is maintaining her dying kingdom. Naturally complications ensue.
Andreyko's story is not coherent. An individual page can hold together well but let me run through the first nine as an example. Strange finds a strange message in his fortune cookie delivered by a demonic waiter. Goes home and realizes his friend is missing. Gets a telepathic message from his mentor sending him immediately to the Himalayas. Goes to a strange universe where he talks a pack of monsters into opening a door for him. Gets to the monastery to find nearly everyone dead. One of the survivors has been brainwashed to kill Strange and the doctor knocks him out. After extracting information from the potential killer's mind he then goes to another universe. Really, that's nine pages. And most of it doesn't matter a bit to the actual plot that runs through the whole book. The demonic fortune cookie message that provides the title of the book doesn't tie into anything. The taunting monsters at the doorway don't matter. The death of the monks is never mentioned again.
The reason for this is that Andreyko seems to be blindly following the Joseph Conrad's hero's journey without actually bothering to build a story out of it. The hero's journey as a storytelling framework only works if you're actually telling a story. What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? is just a series of events. One station per page is insufficient to deal with the developments.
He does eventually locate a narrative but it comes in over halfway through this very short book. From there it's a by-the-numbers affair though considdering Andreyko was actually painting by someone else's numbers that shouldn't be a surprise.
There's only a few characters who are around for more than a page in the story and none of them are interesting. Strange is following the steps of the plot because it's there. The villain never is developed further than evil queen. There's a person who shows up toward the end to hand out the exposition and not do anything. I didn't have any reason to care about any of these people or what they did.
While I may not have a single nice thing to say about Andreyko's story I also have nothing but praise for Russell's artwork. He dives into the psychedelic artwork that has been the hallmark of Dr. Strange comics from the beginning and draws fantastically elaborate set pieces. The panel structure itself warps and extends as part of the surrealist effect. These are beautiful pages.
Unfortunately they're beautiful pages that are unreadable. I love the art and because I love Dr. Strange I don't regret reading What Is It That Disturbs You Stephen. On the other hand if you don't share my fondness for the character or Russell's art then you'll wind up annoyed with the book.
Written by Marc Andreyko; Art by P. Craig Russell
1998 Eisner Winner for Best Penciller/Inker
When it comes to superheroes my personal favorite is Dr. Strange. It's not because of his powers; they tend to be loosely defined and vary based on the needs of the story. And it's not because of his stories; if I took the hundreds of issues of Dr. Strange written since the character was introduced I might be able to point out three dozen that are really great. What I like about Dr. Strange is the core concept. It's the classic Marvel story cranked up all the way. You have an arrogant man who has been corrupted by worldly things until a tragedy of his own making brings him low. Now in other Marvel comics they deal with this by building a suit of armor and punching criminals. Or by climbing down walls and punching criminals. Or hitting their brother with a big hammer and punching criminals. Dr. Strange on the other hand got to the bottom and then reevaluated his life, realized his failings at a person, and then worked hard to change his ways. He was far ahead of the curve in terms of comic book characters and completely different from any other superhero out there.
What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? is the only time that my favorite superhero has won an Eisner. That makes sense since as I mentioned there's aren't a lot of good stories featuring Dr. Strange. In fact this book isn't a good story; it's flawed in every way possible. It also exists as a showcase for gorgeous P. Craig Russell artwork and on that level it succeeds.
Dr. Strange's friend is abducted, and a monastery of the same order that trained him has been slaughtered. He follows the trail through strange dimensions to an evil sorceress who demands his assistance is maintaining her dying kingdom. Naturally complications ensue.
Andreyko's story is not coherent. An individual page can hold together well but let me run through the first nine as an example. Strange finds a strange message in his fortune cookie delivered by a demonic waiter. Goes home and realizes his friend is missing. Gets a telepathic message from his mentor sending him immediately to the Himalayas. Goes to a strange universe where he talks a pack of monsters into opening a door for him. Gets to the monastery to find nearly everyone dead. One of the survivors has been brainwashed to kill Strange and the doctor knocks him out. After extracting information from the potential killer's mind he then goes to another universe. Really, that's nine pages. And most of it doesn't matter a bit to the actual plot that runs through the whole book. The demonic fortune cookie message that provides the title of the book doesn't tie into anything. The taunting monsters at the doorway don't matter. The death of the monks is never mentioned again.
The reason for this is that Andreyko seems to be blindly following the Joseph Conrad's hero's journey without actually bothering to build a story out of it. The hero's journey as a storytelling framework only works if you're actually telling a story. What Is It That Disturbs You, Stephen? is just a series of events. One station per page is insufficient to deal with the developments.
He does eventually locate a narrative but it comes in over halfway through this very short book. From there it's a by-the-numbers affair though considdering Andreyko was actually painting by someone else's numbers that shouldn't be a surprise.
There's only a few characters who are around for more than a page in the story and none of them are interesting. Strange is following the steps of the plot because it's there. The villain never is developed further than evil queen. There's a person who shows up toward the end to hand out the exposition and not do anything. I didn't have any reason to care about any of these people or what they did.
While I may not have a single nice thing to say about Andreyko's story I also have nothing but praise for Russell's artwork. He dives into the psychedelic artwork that has been the hallmark of Dr. Strange comics from the beginning and draws fantastically elaborate set pieces. The panel structure itself warps and extends as part of the surrealist effect. These are beautiful pages.
Unfortunately they're beautiful pages that are unreadable. I love the art and because I love Dr. Strange I don't regret reading What Is It That Disturbs You Stephen. On the other hand if you don't share my fondness for the character or Russell's art then you'll wind up annoyed with the book.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Review - Starman: Sand and Stars
Starman: Sand and Stars
Written by James Robinson; Art by Tony Harris and Guy David
1997 Eisner Winner for Best Serialized Story
During the dark days of the nineties for superhero comics there were few bright spots. The brightest of these was Starman which stepped beyond the typical superheroics and told the story of a man trying to live up to the ideal of the superheroes. It's title character is better remembered by his actual name than the pseudonym he took up. It had its emotional ups and downs but even at its worse avoided reveling in the violence and gloom that defined superhero comics at that time. It's a story best told from the beginning but if you want to jump into the middle then Sand and Stars is one of its high points.
Jack Knight's father was the superhero Starman in the 1940's and was followed by many other people in his foot steps. Jack himself had no interest in it and enjoyed a quiet life dealing in collectibles. When events conspire to force Jack to take up his father's mantle he does it reluctantly at first. Over time he gradually becomes more comfortable in his role as hero of the city.
A few years later comes "Sand and Stars" where a hunt for a cherished belonging of his father's greatest enemy sends Jack to the home of man who was the superhero Sandman in the 40's. When a neighbor is murdered the retired superhero and the man who isn't sure he wants to be a superhero join forces to track down those responsible.
It's not the plot that makes "Sand and Stars" enjoyable; the mystery is a bit light and I coudn't get that interested in it. What is terrific in "Sand and Stars" is the characters. Jack reveres the past so working alongside a hero from fifty years before inspires him. He has to deal with hero worship and not all of it directed to Sandman. The Sandman on the other hand is living in a comfortable retirement until Jack inspires him to become involved in a new case. They play off each other fantastically in a way that works with Robinson's strengths. They're men who are not superheroes and yet find themselves in that role.
This storyline is a turning point in Jack's heroic journey and that aspect of it makes it a weak place to start with Starman. It is where he starts finding his willingness to jump into action and grows in other ways. Still it is very understandable on a basic level as just an adventure story on its own.
Tony Harris has a style that matches such a character driven story well. On the other hand I'm not fond of how he depicts action; it seems a bit static and the layouts don't ever go beyond a basic level. Since action tends to be the least important thing in Starman this didn't really bother me. Guy David on the other hand did a brief sequence in the story in the style of a 1930's New Yorker cartoon and it looks fantastic. It would have been distracting if it went longer but he did a great job at giving it a unique feeling.
If you want to read Starman, and I do recommend it to anyone who isn't completely repulsed by the concept of superheroes, then start with Sins of the Father or the first volume of the omnibus. The entire arc from beginning to end is a great story. Sand and Stars in isolation is also great but it will feel like just another superhero story to someone who doesn't have the background.
Written by James Robinson; Art by Tony Harris and Guy David
1997 Eisner Winner for Best Serialized Story
During the dark days of the nineties for superhero comics there were few bright spots. The brightest of these was Starman which stepped beyond the typical superheroics and told the story of a man trying to live up to the ideal of the superheroes. It's title character is better remembered by his actual name than the pseudonym he took up. It had its emotional ups and downs but even at its worse avoided reveling in the violence and gloom that defined superhero comics at that time. It's a story best told from the beginning but if you want to jump into the middle then Sand and Stars is one of its high points.
Jack Knight's father was the superhero Starman in the 1940's and was followed by many other people in his foot steps. Jack himself had no interest in it and enjoyed a quiet life dealing in collectibles. When events conspire to force Jack to take up his father's mantle he does it reluctantly at first. Over time he gradually becomes more comfortable in his role as hero of the city.
A few years later comes "Sand and Stars" where a hunt for a cherished belonging of his father's greatest enemy sends Jack to the home of man who was the superhero Sandman in the 40's. When a neighbor is murdered the retired superhero and the man who isn't sure he wants to be a superhero join forces to track down those responsible.
It's not the plot that makes "Sand and Stars" enjoyable; the mystery is a bit light and I coudn't get that interested in it. What is terrific in "Sand and Stars" is the characters. Jack reveres the past so working alongside a hero from fifty years before inspires him. He has to deal with hero worship and not all of it directed to Sandman. The Sandman on the other hand is living in a comfortable retirement until Jack inspires him to become involved in a new case. They play off each other fantastically in a way that works with Robinson's strengths. They're men who are not superheroes and yet find themselves in that role.
This storyline is a turning point in Jack's heroic journey and that aspect of it makes it a weak place to start with Starman. It is where he starts finding his willingness to jump into action and grows in other ways. Still it is very understandable on a basic level as just an adventure story on its own.
Tony Harris has a style that matches such a character driven story well. On the other hand I'm not fond of how he depicts action; it seems a bit static and the layouts don't ever go beyond a basic level. Since action tends to be the least important thing in Starman this didn't really bother me. Guy David on the other hand did a brief sequence in the story in the style of a 1930's New Yorker cartoon and it looks fantastic. It would have been distracting if it went longer but he did a great job at giving it a unique feeling.
If you want to read Starman, and I do recommend it to anyone who isn't completely repulsed by the concept of superheroes, then start with Sins of the Father or the first volume of the omnibus. The entire arc from beginning to end is a great story. Sand and Stars in isolation is also great but it will feel like just another superhero story to someone who doesn't have the background.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Review - The Mystery Play
The Mystery Play
Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Jon J. Muth
1995 Eisner Winner for Best Painter
Grant Morrison might be the most divisive man in comics today. To some he's a stylistic genius whose concepts leap from the page and to others his concepts tend to be a mishmash of randomness with little underlying structure. I'm in the second column since for every work he does like All-Star Superman where Morrison juggles the lofty ideals with telling the story there's three where he drops the story for the sake of the big ideals. The Mystery Play falls in this second category where Morrison piles metaphor upon metaphor and loses track of both the mystery and any kind of structure to his metaphors. Muth's artwork may have been fantastic but it can't save this book.
As an attraction a small village in England is staging a performance of the Mystery Play cycle, a set of medieval plays with a biblical theme. During the performance of the initial play the actor who played God is murdered. A quirky police detective arrives to investigate the murder and in the process dark secrets are uncovered.
Morrison's plot is confused. That's not a typo; it's confusing as well thanks to how it's told. The story shifts focus wildly; it's hallucinogenic sequences collide with the abrupt transitions to narrative scenes that feel shuffled like a deck of cards. Is this out of place scene a dream sequence or part of the plot? This does not come across as an intentional effect since as the scene goes on the context makes it clear.
Another case of this is the use of metaphor. For the first half of the book "God" has no name other than "God" and I thought this was an intentional part of the story. Then suddenly in the middle of a scene someone starts talking about an argument with a "doctor"; since there was a coroner in an earlier scene I thought they were talking about him until a few pages later it became clear that they were talking about the murder victim. There's one more scene where the victim has a name and then it's not referenced again. So was Morrison trying to isolate the victim from the story, build a metaphor around the death of "God", or just couldn't decide what he was doing?
Even when he's explicit with his themes Morrison can't bother to establish them smoothly. There's brief segments that establish a moral decay in the village but it's a case of telling the reader about it rather than showing it. Supposedly the murder is changing things for the worse but we as readers never actually see that happening. When it comes to the use of religion there's pieces that look clever when they're isolated and when put in context with the whole work don't fit. As an allegory it fails leaving only the plot to carry the weight.
Not that the plot makes a lot of sense anyway. Morrison attempts to build to a big plot twist that once revealed doesn't make any sense and then throws it out for an ending that's back to metaphor.
Despite all those complaints I have nothing but compliments for Muth's artwork. He paints scenes that are hauntingly beautiful in their gloominess. Everything is overcast in his art; gray and black predominate and the negative space formed by them in the panels creates striking images. The book is done in oil paints with the characters in fine detail and the background is broad strokes of shading. It's a wonderful style for a mystery and I'd like to see more of it.
The failings of The Mystery Play are completely Morrison's. He tries to have things both ways and have a allegorical story and a murder mystery and fails to do either well. Muth's artwork is great but it's not a good enough reason to read this pointless story.
Written by Grant Morrison; Art by Jon J. Muth
1995 Eisner Winner for Best Painter
Grant Morrison might be the most divisive man in comics today. To some he's a stylistic genius whose concepts leap from the page and to others his concepts tend to be a mishmash of randomness with little underlying structure. I'm in the second column since for every work he does like All-Star Superman where Morrison juggles the lofty ideals with telling the story there's three where he drops the story for the sake of the big ideals. The Mystery Play falls in this second category where Morrison piles metaphor upon metaphor and loses track of both the mystery and any kind of structure to his metaphors. Muth's artwork may have been fantastic but it can't save this book.
As an attraction a small village in England is staging a performance of the Mystery Play cycle, a set of medieval plays with a biblical theme. During the performance of the initial play the actor who played God is murdered. A quirky police detective arrives to investigate the murder and in the process dark secrets are uncovered.
Morrison's plot is confused. That's not a typo; it's confusing as well thanks to how it's told. The story shifts focus wildly; it's hallucinogenic sequences collide with the abrupt transitions to narrative scenes that feel shuffled like a deck of cards. Is this out of place scene a dream sequence or part of the plot? This does not come across as an intentional effect since as the scene goes on the context makes it clear.
Another case of this is the use of metaphor. For the first half of the book "God" has no name other than "God" and I thought this was an intentional part of the story. Then suddenly in the middle of a scene someone starts talking about an argument with a "doctor"; since there was a coroner in an earlier scene I thought they were talking about him until a few pages later it became clear that they were talking about the murder victim. There's one more scene where the victim has a name and then it's not referenced again. So was Morrison trying to isolate the victim from the story, build a metaphor around the death of "God", or just couldn't decide what he was doing?
Even when he's explicit with his themes Morrison can't bother to establish them smoothly. There's brief segments that establish a moral decay in the village but it's a case of telling the reader about it rather than showing it. Supposedly the murder is changing things for the worse but we as readers never actually see that happening. When it comes to the use of religion there's pieces that look clever when they're isolated and when put in context with the whole work don't fit. As an allegory it fails leaving only the plot to carry the weight.
Not that the plot makes a lot of sense anyway. Morrison attempts to build to a big plot twist that once revealed doesn't make any sense and then throws it out for an ending that's back to metaphor.
Despite all those complaints I have nothing but compliments for Muth's artwork. He paints scenes that are hauntingly beautiful in their gloominess. Everything is overcast in his art; gray and black predominate and the negative space formed by them in the panels creates striking images. The book is done in oil paints with the characters in fine detail and the background is broad strokes of shading. It's a wonderful style for a mystery and I'd like to see more of it.
The failings of The Mystery Play are completely Morrison's. He tries to have things both ways and have a allegorical story and a murder mystery and fails to do either well. Muth's artwork is great but it's not a good enough reason to read this pointless story.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
I'm going to be busy for a while...
I have a few things to read.
That's what I got from the Great Diamond Pricing Glitch of 2010.
First impressions? Iron Man wavers up and down in quality of writing based on Fraction trying to be realistic but not understanding how certain fundamental things like the criminal justice system work. I call it the uncanny valley of superheroes - the more "realistic" you try to make them the more glaring the problems with how unrealistic the story is. As a helpful guideline to other writers: law enforcement officers illegally kicking in the door to a CEO's office and hauling them off to indefinite detention without trial would be on the national news and get them and their bosses fired then arrested; that's assuming it already hasn't happened since they publicly shot up a well-off Washington condo with no legal basis a few hours before that. Also doctoring images to cover up a crime only works if you didn't commit the crime on world wide television in the first place.
The flip side of that is the Captain America which features a robot Nazi, a Russian oligarch sharing his brain space with a super villain, and a guy with a robot arm and indestructible shield who goes around fighting terrorists and it manages to be a rip roaring good time. I think it's because it never got bogged down in minutiae that made me think about how flawed the story was.
I don't have as many golden age reprints in my collection as I'd like so I'm enjoying the Golden Age Marvel Comics omnibus. Still that's the kind of thing only for extreme comic book nerds and fans of pulp.
Daredevil has me interested but I'm waiting to fill in some gaps before I continue. There's about five smaller books I need to get before I can go past that first volume on the top of the stack.
I've read those issues of Walking Dead but it's nice to have my own copy. I don't know if I can take forty-eight consecutive issues of it given how depressing it is.
Along those lines I already own most of the issues in those Nexus Archives but I couldn't resist having the Steve Rude art in a nicer format. I'm probably going to bump that one up the priority list for reviews since I love his art so much.
The Creepy Archives are awesome. The stories may be hokey but listen to this list of staff artists from #16: Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, Eugene Colan, Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Jerry Grandenetti, Rocco Mastroserio, Gray Morrow, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Wallace Wood. No matter how silly the monster stories are every issue looks great.
The Mister X Archives I bought on a lark since I recalled hearing about the series a long time ago and never gave it a shot. What better time to try it than when I can get the whole thing in a nice hard bound edition for twelve dollars.
Then there's Comic Book Tattoo. The one item on the list that I explicitly added to my cart because of my hobby. I am not looking forward to that one.
So I better get to this. That yard of books aren't going to read themselves.
That's what I got from the Great Diamond Pricing Glitch of 2010.
First impressions? Iron Man wavers up and down in quality of writing based on Fraction trying to be realistic but not understanding how certain fundamental things like the criminal justice system work. I call it the uncanny valley of superheroes - the more "realistic" you try to make them the more glaring the problems with how unrealistic the story is. As a helpful guideline to other writers: law enforcement officers illegally kicking in the door to a CEO's office and hauling them off to indefinite detention without trial would be on the national news and get them and their bosses fired then arrested; that's assuming it already hasn't happened since they publicly shot up a well-off Washington condo with no legal basis a few hours before that. Also doctoring images to cover up a crime only works if you didn't commit the crime on world wide television in the first place.
The flip side of that is the Captain America which features a robot Nazi, a Russian oligarch sharing his brain space with a super villain, and a guy with a robot arm and indestructible shield who goes around fighting terrorists and it manages to be a rip roaring good time. I think it's because it never got bogged down in minutiae that made me think about how flawed the story was.
I don't have as many golden age reprints in my collection as I'd like so I'm enjoying the Golden Age Marvel Comics omnibus. Still that's the kind of thing only for extreme comic book nerds and fans of pulp.
Daredevil has me interested but I'm waiting to fill in some gaps before I continue. There's about five smaller books I need to get before I can go past that first volume on the top of the stack.
I've read those issues of Walking Dead but it's nice to have my own copy. I don't know if I can take forty-eight consecutive issues of it given how depressing it is.
Along those lines I already own most of the issues in those Nexus Archives but I couldn't resist having the Steve Rude art in a nicer format. I'm probably going to bump that one up the priority list for reviews since I love his art so much.
The Creepy Archives are awesome. The stories may be hokey but listen to this list of staff artists from #16: Neal Adams, Dan Adkins, Eugene Colan, Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Steve Ditko, Frank Frazetta, Jerry Grandenetti, Rocco Mastroserio, Gray Morrow, Joe Orlando, John Severin, Angelo Torres, Alex Toth, Al Williamson, Wallace Wood. No matter how silly the monster stories are every issue looks great.
The Mister X Archives I bought on a lark since I recalled hearing about the series a long time ago and never gave it a shot. What better time to try it than when I can get the whole thing in a nice hard bound edition for twelve dollars.
Then there's Comic Book Tattoo. The one item on the list that I explicitly added to my cart because of my hobby. I am not looking forward to that one.
So I better get to this. That yard of books aren't going to read themselves.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Review - Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers
Fables: March of the Wooden Soldiers
Written by Bill Willingham; Art by Mark Buckingham, Craig Hamilton, and P. Craig Russell
2005 Eisner Winner for Best Serialized Story
There are some series that won multiple awards that I have talked about in one shot but with Fables I've been spreading things out. There's two reasons for this. The first is that unlike the other lengthy series I spoke about Fables is still ongoing so it is likely to win a few more before it's finished. The second is that the awards have been for specific stories which are conveniently collected in individual books. This is the case with "March of the Wooden Soldiers". The last time I said that I liked Fables but didn't like that initial storyline. At this point twenty issues later in the Fables story it is deep into the intrigue and quality that endeared the series to me when that initial story turned me off.
Fables is about fairy tales living in the real world as refugees who fled their own stories in the face of a conquering army led by someone they only know as "the Adversary". This story opens with a flashback the fall of the last fortress in stories and how it held out for one last group of refugees to escape. Centuries later one of the people who failed to escape from that last stand stumbles into the real world signaling that the war that they had fled has found them. Adding another complication is that in the middle of this crisis a mayoral election threatens to overturn the power structure of their sanctuary.
At this point Willingham has moved beyond his phase where he seemed to think that appropriating existing characters and using them in contrary ways is clever. His characters have developed their own voices so while Prince Charming may be a cad he's also a diabolical, scheming, and extremely charming one who is has appetites for wealth, women, and power and the abilities to gain them. Bigby Wolf isn't just the hard boiled detective; his lupine traits are clashing with his human as he reaches out to Snow White. And she's grown from being the tough woman as she's allowed to have vulnerable moments. Part of this is that Willingham has had twenty issues to build on the character but a lot of it is that he's just gotten a handle on how he wants to develop his versions of these familiar characters.
This story is also works on its own with just a basic understanding of the premise. The stories before it were about establishing the world they live in. "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is when the overarching plot that had been simmering in the background since the beginning finally moved to the foreground. This is the point where Fables stops being about story book characters living in the real world and starts becoming about their war which they stage from the real world against stories. It's kicked into high gear for something that's fast paced and exciting even though action really only bookends it. It's a page turner with plots, counterplots, hints of things to come, and tension that ramps up until it becomes unbearable.
Craig Hamilton and P. Craig Russell handle the art duties on the opening chapter which is stunningly beautiful. They put together scenes of lovely horror, the fairy tale charm running into mass slaughter. It's the last stand for legendary heroic warriors and they capture it with a style that's effective in its contrasts. Mark Buckingham provides the art duties for the rest of the book and while he can't match the other two for style he is great with how characters look. You will never mistake one character for another in Buckingham's art and the facial expressions could almost tell the story with no words at all.
I enjoy Fables as a series a lot and I'd like to say that "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is a high point. I can't do that since in my view everything from the second storyline to the tenth are spectacularly good. I can say that "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is something that anyone can pick up and if they love it then they'll love Fables. And I have a hard time picturing anyone who has ever enjoyed a fairy tale not loving it.
Written by Bill Willingham; Art by Mark Buckingham, Craig Hamilton, and P. Craig Russell
2005 Eisner Winner for Best Serialized Story
There are some series that won multiple awards that I have talked about in one shot but with Fables I've been spreading things out. There's two reasons for this. The first is that unlike the other lengthy series I spoke about Fables is still ongoing so it is likely to win a few more before it's finished. The second is that the awards have been for specific stories which are conveniently collected in individual books. This is the case with "March of the Wooden Soldiers". The last time I said that I liked Fables but didn't like that initial storyline. At this point twenty issues later in the Fables story it is deep into the intrigue and quality that endeared the series to me when that initial story turned me off.
Fables is about fairy tales living in the real world as refugees who fled their own stories in the face of a conquering army led by someone they only know as "the Adversary". This story opens with a flashback the fall of the last fortress in stories and how it held out for one last group of refugees to escape. Centuries later one of the people who failed to escape from that last stand stumbles into the real world signaling that the war that they had fled has found them. Adding another complication is that in the middle of this crisis a mayoral election threatens to overturn the power structure of their sanctuary.
At this point Willingham has moved beyond his phase where he seemed to think that appropriating existing characters and using them in contrary ways is clever. His characters have developed their own voices so while Prince Charming may be a cad he's also a diabolical, scheming, and extremely charming one who is has appetites for wealth, women, and power and the abilities to gain them. Bigby Wolf isn't just the hard boiled detective; his lupine traits are clashing with his human as he reaches out to Snow White. And she's grown from being the tough woman as she's allowed to have vulnerable moments. Part of this is that Willingham has had twenty issues to build on the character but a lot of it is that he's just gotten a handle on how he wants to develop his versions of these familiar characters.
This story is also works on its own with just a basic understanding of the premise. The stories before it were about establishing the world they live in. "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is when the overarching plot that had been simmering in the background since the beginning finally moved to the foreground. This is the point where Fables stops being about story book characters living in the real world and starts becoming about their war which they stage from the real world against stories. It's kicked into high gear for something that's fast paced and exciting even though action really only bookends it. It's a page turner with plots, counterplots, hints of things to come, and tension that ramps up until it becomes unbearable.
Craig Hamilton and P. Craig Russell handle the art duties on the opening chapter which is stunningly beautiful. They put together scenes of lovely horror, the fairy tale charm running into mass slaughter. It's the last stand for legendary heroic warriors and they capture it with a style that's effective in its contrasts. Mark Buckingham provides the art duties for the rest of the book and while he can't match the other two for style he is great with how characters look. You will never mistake one character for another in Buckingham's art and the facial expressions could almost tell the story with no words at all.
I enjoy Fables as a series a lot and I'd like to say that "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is a high point. I can't do that since in my view everything from the second storyline to the tenth are spectacularly good. I can say that "March of the Wooden Soldiers" is something that anyone can pick up and if they love it then they'll love Fables. And I have a hard time picturing anyone who has ever enjoyed a fairy tale not loving it.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Review - Tomorrow Stories Volume 1
Tomorrow Stories Volume 1
Written by Alan Moore; Art by Kevin Nowlan, Rick Veitch, Jim Baikie, Melinda Gebbe, and Hilary Barta
2000 Eisner Winner for Best Anthology
2000 Eisner Winner for Best Writer
2000 Eisner Winner for Best Penciler/Inker for Kevin Nowlan
Tomorrow Stories is an ironic title. Moore's anthology is not science fiction but going even further than that most of it's contents are rooted in the pulp traditions some of them predating the popularity of comic book superheroes. These are yesterday's stories and they are an interesting anthology.
Easily the best of the series in the anthology is Greyshirt. Moore and Veitch set out to do an Eisner homage and succeed brilliantly. Naturally Moore has no trouble writing stories with a pulp flavor that hinge on some irony; it's Veitch's artwork that takes it over the top. He replicates Eisner's flare for integrating multiple layers of imagery into a single story. The best of these features four parallel stories that are layered in floors of an apartment building and decades; each floor is it's own story and time frame and at the same time each of them comment on each other. The Greyshirt stories are visually exciting and well told. The only downside is that it made me more interested in getting more of Eisner's Spirit than it did in making me want to continue reading about Moore and Veitch's version.
Cobweb comes from the tradition of cheesecake in the pulps. She's a sultry vixen and her stories emphasize that. These are the least thematically consistent in Tomorrow Stories. There's an adventure story, two prose pieces, a few pages of science fiction, a historical, and a noir themed story done in the style of children's comics. These stories tend toward the entertaining but not exceptional. While Melinda Gebbie's illustrations keep up with the myriad of tonal shifts the lack of a theme beyond sleazy stories.
Jack B. Quick is comedic Tom Swift; a boy whose superscience inventions cause trouble in the farming community he lives in. I found these to be a lot of fun as Jack butters cats to work on antigravity or builds an FTL motorcycle so that the town cop can pull over speeding photons. Moore doing science jokes is much funnier than his attempt at satire. Kevin Nowlan's Eisner winning art is astounding; I liked Veitch's better but Nowlan manages to take some strange phenomena and make it understandable.
The First American is Moore's attempt at satire in the style of the Zucker brothers and are the stories that just fell flat for me. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the humor is often ten years out of date; a Ken Lay parody doesn't carry as much weight in 2010 as it did in 1999. The occasional funny gag isn't worth pushing through the ten weak ones to get there. The First American is also the only one of these stories that isn't in a pulp style and that makes it a discordant note in the anthology. Jim Baikie's artwork is hyperactive enough to convey the concepts; the problem here is completely on Moore's shoulders.
There's also a brief five page story a superhero parody called Splash Brannigan that Hilary Barta provides the artwork for. Presumably there will be more stories about this character in a second volume so I'll withhold judgment on it for now.
On the whole I liked enough of Tomorrow Stories to recommend it but I wasn't enthusiastic about it. The only stories that I'd have no hesitation on is Grayshirt and twenty-five percent of an anthology isn't a strong selling point. Fortunately I also liked Cobweb and Jack B. Quick as well which made the whole package worth my time.
Written by Alan Moore; Art by Kevin Nowlan, Rick Veitch, Jim Baikie, Melinda Gebbe, and Hilary Barta
2000 Eisner Winner for Best Anthology
2000 Eisner Winner for Best Writer
2000 Eisner Winner for Best Penciler/Inker for Kevin Nowlan
Tomorrow Stories is an ironic title. Moore's anthology is not science fiction but going even further than that most of it's contents are rooted in the pulp traditions some of them predating the popularity of comic book superheroes. These are yesterday's stories and they are an interesting anthology.
Easily the best of the series in the anthology is Greyshirt. Moore and Veitch set out to do an Eisner homage and succeed brilliantly. Naturally Moore has no trouble writing stories with a pulp flavor that hinge on some irony; it's Veitch's artwork that takes it over the top. He replicates Eisner's flare for integrating multiple layers of imagery into a single story. The best of these features four parallel stories that are layered in floors of an apartment building and decades; each floor is it's own story and time frame and at the same time each of them comment on each other. The Greyshirt stories are visually exciting and well told. The only downside is that it made me more interested in getting more of Eisner's Spirit than it did in making me want to continue reading about Moore and Veitch's version.
Cobweb comes from the tradition of cheesecake in the pulps. She's a sultry vixen and her stories emphasize that. These are the least thematically consistent in Tomorrow Stories. There's an adventure story, two prose pieces, a few pages of science fiction, a historical, and a noir themed story done in the style of children's comics. These stories tend toward the entertaining but not exceptional. While Melinda Gebbie's illustrations keep up with the myriad of tonal shifts the lack of a theme beyond sleazy stories.
Jack B. Quick is comedic Tom Swift; a boy whose superscience inventions cause trouble in the farming community he lives in. I found these to be a lot of fun as Jack butters cats to work on antigravity or builds an FTL motorcycle so that the town cop can pull over speeding photons. Moore doing science jokes is much funnier than his attempt at satire. Kevin Nowlan's Eisner winning art is astounding; I liked Veitch's better but Nowlan manages to take some strange phenomena and make it understandable.
The First American is Moore's attempt at satire in the style of the Zucker brothers and are the stories that just fell flat for me. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the humor is often ten years out of date; a Ken Lay parody doesn't carry as much weight in 2010 as it did in 1999. The occasional funny gag isn't worth pushing through the ten weak ones to get there. The First American is also the only one of these stories that isn't in a pulp style and that makes it a discordant note in the anthology. Jim Baikie's artwork is hyperactive enough to convey the concepts; the problem here is completely on Moore's shoulders.
There's also a brief five page story a superhero parody called Splash Brannigan that Hilary Barta provides the artwork for. Presumably there will be more stories about this character in a second volume so I'll withhold judgment on it for now.
On the whole I liked enough of Tomorrow Stories to recommend it but I wasn't enthusiastic about it. The only stories that I'd have no hesitation on is Grayshirt and twenty-five percent of an anthology isn't a strong selling point. Fortunately I also liked Cobweb and Jack B. Quick as well which made the whole package worth my time.
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