24Seven, Volume 1

Written and/or Illustrated by Jose Luis Ágreda, Jeff Amano, Paul Azaceta, Gabriel Bá, Hilary Barta, Frank Beaton, Nate Bellegarde, Ivan Brandon, Ryan Brown, Chris Brunner, Eric Canete, Benito Cereno, Becky Cloonan, Dave Crosland, Farel Dalrymple, Jonathan L. Davis, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Rami Efal, Matt Fraction, John G, Rob G, Brandon Graham, Miles Gunter, Phil Hester, Mike Huddleston, Adam Hughes, Rian Hughes, Frazer Irving, Paul Lau, Jasen Lex, Sonny Liew, Vasilis Lolos, Andy MacDonald, Jim Mahfood, Alex Maleev, Paul Maybury, Fábio Moon, Tony Moore, Melissa Oeming, Mike Oeming, Dan Panosian, Leland Purvis, Rick Remender, Esad Ribic, John Ney Rieber, Eduardo Risso, Jim Rugg, Neal Shaffer, Lakota Sioux, Mark Andrew Smith, James Stokoe, Rick Spears, Ben Templesmith, Frank Teran, and Danijel Zezelj.

Edited by Ivan Brandon
Image Comics; $24.99

This was a hard review to write. Not because I’m conflicted about the material (though I am), but because I was so completely off in my expectations for the book and it’s taken some work to align myself with what it really is.

(more…)

The Slightly Askew Adventures of Inspector Ham & Eggs #1
Written by Stephen Lindsay; Illustrated by Lauren Monardo
Chimaera Comics; $3.95

Like my write-up of Pirat Tales last month, this is going to be a shorter review. Since I’m used to writing longer pieces about graphic novels and collections, I feel a little weird doing these briefer ones for single issues. It feels like I’m slacking off or something.

But thinking about the name of this column, I also feel like it’s a huge part of what I’m supposed to be doing to tell you about new series that look like they’re going to be really cool. Pirat Tales was one of those; Ham & Eggs is another one.

I learned about Inspector Ham and his junior partner Eggs over at Steve Niles’ forum, so I suspected right away that this wasn’t a kids’ book. And of course, any comic that proudly talks on its cover about reveling in the carnal delights of hookers, hatchlings, and hogs obviously isn’t meant for the little ones. So, in spite of the adorable characters and the cute names, I wasn’t exactly shocked at what I found in Ham & Eggs. Still the art and the concept is so disarming that with every profanity and decapitated guinea pig whore I found myself grinning and thinking, “No, they didn’t just do that.” But they had, and they’d continue doing it for the rest of the issue.

(more…)

The Fog Mound, Book 1: The Travels of Thelonious
Written by Susan Schade; Illustrated by Jon Buller
Aladdin Paperbacks; $8.99

The first thing you notice about The Fog Mound is that it’s an interesting mix of chapter book and graphic novel. Chapters alternate between being told first with illustrated text and next with comics. I’m halfway through the second volume now and I’m still not sure why they chose to do it that way, but I like it for a couple of reasons.

First, it breaks up the visual monotony that comes with any 200-plus-page book. Maybe it’s just me, but unless the story is the greatest thing I’ve ever read, I always find myself counting how many pages I’ve got left when I’m reading longer material. There’s just something about seeing page after page of text or comics panels that makes my eyes glaze over. I also set my DVD display to show me how much time I’ve got left when I’m watching movies, so like I said, maybe it’s me.

I didn’t have that problem with Thelonious though. Each chapter felt new and interesting because it was a different format from the one I’d just read.

(more…)

The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle
Written by Jim Butcher; Illustrated by Ardian Syaf
Del Rey; $19.95

I’m a Dresden Files n00b. Probably because I got my fill of supernatural detectives a long time ago. I still love John Constantine and Hellboy and Cal McDonald and Goon, but those are the guys who introduced me to the concept. I don’t need Anita Blake and I didn’t think I needed Harry Dresden. Actually, I’m still not sure that I need Harry Dresden, but I found out that he’s a lot more fun than I expected.

It helps me and my compulsive need to start series at the beginning that Welcome to the Jungle takes place before the first novel in Butcher’s Dresden series. It introduces the characters in an easy, natural way. Of course, it also helps that most of the characters are clichés.

I’ll come back and talk about Dresden in a minute, but the most formulaic characters are the police. Lt. Karrin Murphy is Dresden’s contact at the police department. She’s strong, smart, blonde, wears pantsuits, and though she trusts Dresden enough to hire him for cases, she rides him pretty hard. She’s the tough lieutenant from every ‘80s cop show you ever saw.

Her partner, Sgt. Carmichael, is Harvey Bullock. Or maybe Sam from Sam and Twitch. Or any other fat, balding, cynical detective.

(more…)

The Wretch, Volume One
Written and Illustrated by Phil Hester
AmazeInk; $13.95

I’ve been a big fan of Phil Hester’s art since his Green Arrow days. I think it was The Atheist or thereabouts where I realized he could write too and became an even bigger fan of that part of his career. Since then, I’ve slowly been tracking down stuff like The Coffin, Stronghold (which I hope he and Tyler Walpole will finish some day), and now The Wretch.

I didn’t know what to expect from The Wretch. I guess from the costumed character with the pitiful name I figured it must be about some kind of under-appreciated superhero. Knowing Hester’s other work, I knew there had to be something else to it than that, something deeper, but I never anticipated the metaphysical questions Hester introduces.

I remember reading something Hester said in an interview or wrote in an article when The Atheist came out. He wouldn’t pin down exactly what he was trying to say in The Atheist, but he did specify what it wasn’t doing. He wasn’t trying to declare his world-view through the mouth of his title character. He was, in fact, coy about what his world-view actually is. I’d be putting words into Hester’s mouth to try and paraphrase further, but the feeling I got was that he was trying to raise some worthwhile questions without specifying what he thought the answers are. I see a lot of that in The Wretch too.

(more…)

Pirat Tales #1
Written by Dan Taylor; Illustrated by Orlando Baez
IDW; $3.99

Orlando Baez draws one, hideous rat. Well, lots of them, actually. The rodents in Pirat Tales aren’t the cute-and-cuddly variety. They’re the kinds of animals my wife has nightmares about. Long, evil snouts; tiny, beady eyes; thin, naked tails; vicious, little teeth.

It’s really rather perfect for the story Dan Taylor’s written. There’s not a lot of high-seas adventure and swashbuckling in the first issue of Pirat Tales. That may or may not be coming in future installments, but the story begins not with a daring, Reepicheep-like pirate-king swinging from the rigging, but in squalid backrooms and seedy, dockside taverns.

(more…)

Flight Explorer, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi, Johane Matte, Kean Soo, Phil Craven, Jake Parker, Steve Hamaker, Ben Hatke, Rad Sechrist, Bannister, and Matthew Armstrong
Villard Books: $10.00

I’m not convinced that there’s a need for a version of Flight that’s specifically aimed at kids, but I’m sure glad there is one. I’ve only read two of the Flight anthologies and I’m struggling to think of anything in them that I wouldn’t read to my six-year-old. Some of the material may go over his head, but that happened in Flight Explorer too. That doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the heck out of it though.

(more…)

Halo and Sprocket, Vol. 2: Natural Creatures
Written and Illustrated by Kerry Callen
SLG; $8.95

First thought on receiving a review copy of the book in the mail: Uh oh. I haven’t read Volume 1 yet. I’d better see if I can get that one sent to me so I can review it first.

First thought on reading the letter that accompanied the book: Hmm. It’s been five years since Volume 1 came out. There are probably a lot of folks who haven’t read that one. Maybe I should just dive in and see how it reads to someone new.

First thought five pages into the book: Reads really well, actually.

On the back cover of the book, Randy Lander calls Halo and Sprocket “the perfect sitcom.” With all respect to Lander, I disagree; mostly because that description raises expectations that I don’t know if Halo and Sprocket is trying to meet. I tend to judge comedies on one thing only: how much they make me laugh. And while Halo and Sprocket is cute and charming and insightful, I didn’t find it uproarious or side-splitting. Nor do I think it was intended to be.

Maybe what Lander meant by “sitcom” (I haven’t read his full review) has more to do with the book’s format. It’s not a narrative with a plot; it’s a series of short stories about a young woman who lives with a robot and an angel. More Casper the Friendly Ghost format than Owly, if that distinction makes sense. The stories are all delightful and funny, so yes, “situational comedy” is definitely an appropriate label, but again, you won’t be struggling to breathe from laughing too hard. You’ll be smiling though. Widely.

(more…)

Rob Hanes Adventures #11
Written and Illustrated by Randy Reynaldo

Rob Hanes Adventures is an infrequent comic, but it’s one that I look forward to. Like Jeff Smith’s Bone, I cut Randy Reynaldo a lot of slack on his release schedule because I know he’s doing it a) as a labor of love, and b) all on his lonesome. And RHA’s “complete story every issue” policy means that I’m not having to remember plot threads from three or four months ago when I pick up a new one.

RHA is a great concept. Rob works for a global investigations outfit that sends him all over the world to get involved in all kinds of adventures. One issue may have him trying to solve a cozy mystery in the English countryside, while the next issue finds him deep in the jungle or stopping a mad scientist. Reynaldo has complete freedom to tell whatever kind of story tickles his fancy at the moment. That means that the series is always fresh; always surprising.

In the most recent issue (#11), Rob is fighting a pirate ring with ties to a fictionalized North Korea. Unfortunately, it’s not one of the stronger issues in the series. For one thing, while the pirate ring operates in part from a junk in Chinese waters, it’s really not a band of high seas raiders. This group is more interested in things like counterfeiting money and making a profit from other people’s copyrights.

(more…)

Flight, Volume 5
Written and Illustrated by JP Ahonen, Graham Annable, Chris Appelhans, Bannister and Grimaldi, Matthew Bernier, Scott Campbell, Svetlana Chmakova, Tony Cliff, Phil Craven, Michel Gagné, Steve Hamaker, Kazu Kibuishi, Kness and Made, Sonny Liew, Reagan Lodge, John Martz, Sarah Mensinga, Ryan North, Richard Pose, Paul Rivoche, Dave Roman, Israel Sanchez, Kean Soo, and Joey Weiser; Edited by Kazu Kibuishi.
Villard Books; $25.00

I’ve got some catching up to do on the Flight series. I read the first one ages ago when it came out, but various other reading obligations prevented my getting Volumes Two through Four. There’s nothing like a free review copy to renew your interest though, and now that I’ve read Volume Five, I very much want to go back and read the ones that I missed.

Volume One was unique and beautiful, but as with most anthologies, not all the stories were successful. At the time, I still thought it was one of the best anthologies I’d ever read, but there was room for improvement. For one thing (whether this was the fault of the book or my own misinterpretation, I’m still not sure) it seemed like every story in Volume One was somehow tied to the theme of flight or flying. At some point since then, I’ve read somewhere that “flight” isn’t the focus of the anthologies anymore, if it ever really was in the first place. So, with Volume Five, I felt freer to just enjoy the stories on their own terms without trying to read a unifying subtext into them. Possibly as a result of that – but possibly as a legitimate increase in quality as the editor and artists have grown and matured – I enjoyed every single story in the latest volume. Certainly some of them affected me more deeply than others, but each of them affected me in some way. I wasn’t tempted to brush off or dismiss any of them. And together, they form a harmonious package that’s absolutely lovely.

The anthology opens with Michel Gagné’s “The Broken Path.” It begins as a beautiful, silent fantasy about the inhabitants of an alien world who are trying to save themselves from an oncoming meteor. The action is easy to follow, even when it involves magic spells and otherworldly solutions to the crisis. But I say it “begins” as a fantasy, because by the end it’s become more than just that. It’s a touching story about sacrifice, gratitude, and love.

(more…)

Full disclosure in that Grant Gould is a friend of mine. It may not be important to you that he’s one of the nicest dudes I know and that he constantly cracks me the hell up, but what should be important to you are that he’s talented and the following three words: Vikings vs. Werewolves. How can you not want to read that?

Grant’s career so far is mainly as a sketch card artist for every major trading card set from Revenge of the Sith to Iron Man. His first comic Wolves of Odin is coming in November from Super Real Graphics, but I wanted to know more now, so I asked him some questions and I’m sharing the answers with you. He was also recently announced as one of the artists on Lucasfilm’s Clone Wars webcomic, but I’ll save that conversation for a future column.

Michael May (MM): Tell me about your background with sketch cards. How’d you get into that?

Grant Gould (GG): In 2004, Topps was looking for new artists to tackle their Revenge of the Sith card set and one of my online pals, artist Tom Hodges, was already on the set and gave me the heads-up and put in a good word, etc. I sent Topps some samples, they got me approved through Lucasfilm, and that was that. Since then I’ve worked on several more Star Wars sets, Lord of the Rings sets, DC, Marvel, Heroes, Halo, Indiana Jones, you name it. Sketch cards have been huge for me in terms of helping to get my name out there and get my foot in the door.

MM: What’s your favorite piece that you’ve done so far?

GG: As in, which is my favorite card set so far?

MM: I’m wondering more about which drawing of yours are you most proud of? You’ve done so many sketch cards and commissions and fan prints; is there one particular piece that you still look at and think, “Yeah, that was a really good one.”

GG: Well, I tend to be my own worst critic. I have a habit of really liking a piece, then going to sleep and looking at it the next day and suddenly hating it. But there are a few things I’ve done that I’m pretty pleased with, even if I do see faults in the art that I wish I could change. For example, on the most recent Lord of the Rings: Masterpieces card set, I had the opportunity to illustrate one of the base cards and that was a huge thrill because I’m such a massive fan of Tolkien and the LOTR movies. I think I tend to be most proud of the projects that I enjoyed the most – not so much the projects that I think the drawings look the best, if that makes sense.

MM: Perfect sense. Drawing sketch cards and commissions is pretty secure work for you, right? What’s the attraction to making a comic that makes you want to spend more time on that and less time on the work that pays more regularly? In other words, at this point in your career, why comics?

GG: To be honest, sketch cards and commission work aren’t very secure, or reliable, in terms of making a living off this stuff. I knew that I would have to start branching out into other things if I wanted to keep any sort of fulltime art career going. I think there are three major factors in me getting into comic work:

(more…)

Out of Picture, Volume 2
Written and Illustrated by Andrea Blasich, Nash Dunnigan, David Gordon, Michael Knapp, Benoit le Pennec, Sang Jun Lee, Kyle MacNaughton, Peter Nguyen,Vincent Nguyen, Jake Parker, Willie Real, Jason Sadler, Daisuke Tsutsumi, and Lizette Vega
Villard; $26.00

If I’m going to talk about Out of Picture, I gotta talk about illustrators first. I always note the writers and primary illustrator at the top of my reviews, but I think I might be doing some of the visual artists a disservice by referring to them primarily as illustrators.

An illustration, whether it’s a picture or a verbal thing, is an explanation. It’s intention is to make your story or your point or whatever clearer. Yeah, visual illustrations can be beautiful pieces of work on their own, but they really succeed or fail based on how well they clarify the writing. And that’s a lot different from what we’re asking comic book artists to do.

A comic book artist (or cartoonist, if she’s drawing her own story) has to do a lot more than take a story and make it prettier or – ideally – more understandable. In comics, the visual artist is supposed to be part of the storytelling process. There’s acting to be done, with facial expressions and body language. Yes, the best illustrators do all that too, but it isn’t as vital to – as inextricably a part of – what the book is. That’s why I hate all the arguments about whether the writer or the artist is more important to the final product. It has to be both of them or it isn’t comics. The visual artist has to be every bit as much a storyteller as the verbal artist or your comic sucks.

(more…)

The Underburbs #1
Written by TJ Dort and Joe Haley; Illustrated by Joe Haley
Rolling Boil Press; $3.00

Halloween is my second favorite holiday right after Christmas. If we got presents and the day off from work on Halloween, it’d probably nudge Christmas right out. I certainly anticipate it as much as Christmas every year. I start watching horror movies in September as my son is figuring out what he’s going to dress up like. Leading up to the big night, there are hayrides and apple orchards and Jack O’ Lanterns to make. Then on the last day of October my wife takes the boy out into the crisp night air to collect his loot while I stay home to pass out candy and watch Bela Lugosi movies. What could be nicer?

Because I have all these fond emotions wrapped up in Halloween, I’m a sucker for comics like I Luv Halloween, Cryptics, and The Super Scary Monster Show. I love books about cute, little monsters or kids dressed as monsters. Anything that captures that Halloween atmosphere for me. So, when I saw TJ Dort and Joe Haley’s table at Wizard World Chicago, The Underburbs immediately got my attention and I had to stop.

(more…)

Atomic Rocket Group 66 #1
Written by Robert Curley; Illustrated by Will Sliney
Atomic Diner; $4.95

I thought I’d become skeptical of self-published comics. I thought I’d become jaded enough that if I didn’t know the publisher or hadn’t read some darn good reviews, I was going to be very careful about my purchases. Guess not.

But c’mon. I see in Previews a comic with a robot, a spaceman, a black-masked pulp adventure hero, and a gal wearing what looks like a ‘60s spy catsuit… I’m gonna be curious. Then I read that it’s set in ’57 and features characters named Space Phantom, Night Ghost, Lunar Girl, and a misogynist who turns into a woman named Minute Maid? You’ve got to work pretty hard to screw up a concept like that.

(more…)

Strangeways: Murder Moon
Written by Matt Maxwell; Illustrated by Luis Guaragña, Gervasio, and Jok
Highway 62; $13.95

Much like its main character, Strangeways has had a long, hard road. Matt Maxwell may not have encountered any werewolves or crooked sheriffs – at least I hope not – in his quest to produce his Western werewolf comic, but I still don’t envy him the headaches.

Strangeways first saw publication as a mini-series for Speakeasy. Sort of. One issue had been released when Speakeasy shut its doors and Maxwell, like all the other Speakeasy creators, had to figure out something different to do with his book. I don’t have any inside information as to why, but for whatever reason Maxwell chose not to pursue publication as a mini-series with another company. Instead, he decided to finish the entire story and publish it himself as a graphic novel. It meant that fans of that first issue had to wait longer to finish the story, but the wait’s over now. Sort of.

I remember being struck at how cinematic that first issue was. I’m often confused when comics creators use the word “cinematic” to describe their work, but it fits Strangeways. Comics and movies are two different animals and one doesn’t feel like the other, regardless of the comparisons the press release writers love to make. Still, there are several things about Strangeways that bring the word to mind.

(more…)

Christopher Mills recently mentioned on his blog that he and Eduardo Barreto have a Sinbad comic they want to do. That’s the fourth one that I’ve heard about lately, but you know what? The more the merrier. Swashbucklers are cool and Sinbad is one of the best. As long as the comics are good – and I’m confident that Mills and Barreto’s will be – there’s room for all.

And isn’t it a ripe time for an Islamic hero? I’d love to read a Sinbad comic created by someone with an Islamic faith, but until that happens I’m happy to check out what’s available. Unfortunately, of the four Sinbad comics I know about, I’ll likely only check out two of them.

One that I won’t be reading is BlueWater’s Sinbad: Rogue of Mars. As cool as it is to have a line of comics inspired by Ray Harryhausen stories, BlueWater’s Ray Harryhausen Presents comics are a case of too-good-to-be-true. The stories I’ve read aren’t very exciting and the color palettes they use are offensively dull and ugly. It’s a shame, because I was really looking forward to that line.

(more…)

“Fringe Benefits” has a double meaning this week. As usual, it means that we’re talking about cool comics you can find on the fringe of the mainstream. But today it also means that one of the side benefits to having this column is that I can occasionally talk about my own stuff.

For instance, If you’ll look in this month’s Previews, the one with this cover:

And if you’ll turn to page 326:

You might see a blurb like this:

(more…)

Christopher Mills is a pal of mine, but it’s an acquaintanceship born out of my fondness for his work. I hesitate to call him a pulp writer because I have some connotations that go with “pulp” that aren’t all positive. As fun and thrilling and yes, good as the best pulp can be, there’s a large percentage of it that just feels hacked out. The very name “pulp” refers to the cheapness that was associated with the original work in the genre and – rightfully or not – I’ve always connected that with stories that were more or less disposable. And that’s not Mills.

It’s not Lovecraft or Howard or Bradbury either, so I know my prejudice isn’t exactly fair, but I’d still hate for someone to hear me describe Mills as pulp and assume that he just wrote exploitative, sensationalistic stuff without any thought given to things like story and character.

My first experience with Mills’ work was his Gravedigger webcomic (later published in book form by Rorschach Entertainment). I wrote at the time that it “was not inspired by the pulp fiction of the ’30s and ’40s. It was inspired by the Pulp Fiction of 1994.” I was kind of spellbound by the main character and loved how, though he’s a villain (not even an anti-hero) and almost completely without morals, Mills gave me just enough to like about him that I could root for him anyway.

Femme Noir – coming in June from Ape Entertainment – isn’t as dark as Gravedigger. It’s got more of the traditional, pulp elements too. It takes place in Port Nocturne, a corrupt, perpetually rainy city with more than its share of organized crime, mad scientists, femme fatales, and mysterious vigilantes. One of the femme fatales doubles as a vigilante and there you’ve got your premise.

(more…)

Happy April Fools, I guess.

Sorry this week’s column is late. I’m being a swell joe and honoring an “embargo” on the first item I’m talking about. Lord knows why.

April Fools is my least favorite “holiday” of the year, mostly because of all the stupid fake news stories that come out around this time. Like the press release I got from Mohawk Media proclaiming, “Having recently launched their Mr. T: Limited Advance Edition Graphic Novel, publisher Mohawk Media have decided to celebrate April Fool’s Day with the announcement of Mr. T Versus, a series of comic magazines which see Mr. T doing battle with other famous characters.” The characters they tease on their website include Doctor Who, Wolverine, and Dracula.

The saddest part for me is that I’d actually really like to read a comic about Mr. T vs. Dracula. Instead of dreaming up an April Fools Day hoax with fake covers, why couldn’t they have just made some cool comics? That’s what the rest of these people did.

(more…)

I’ve almost made the complete switch to waiting for collected volumes of my favorite comics. Now that they’re released about six minutes after the final issue of the series comes out, they just make too much financial sense not to go that way. But there are exceptions.

One is my regular DC and Marvel superhero comics, but that’s because we’re not guaranteed trade collections for every series I like. Yeah, chances are that Wonder Woman will keep getting collected, but Green Arrow and Black Canary? I’m not so sure. But even if I knew a trade was coming for those, I’m not sure I’d give up buying the single issues. Maybe it’s just pure nostalgia, but when it comes to a certain kind of story – like superheroes – I like getting small, monthly doses.

And that applies to a very few, other adventure comics too. It has nothing to do with my ability to patiently wait for a collection. I’ve proven to myself that I can do that. The stories are just as good even if I don’t get to talk about them online the day after they came out. But damn it if there’s not something just thrilling about the format of a short, compact, little comic you can read and be done with in fifteen minutes or so. What I’ve lost patience with are the comics that aren’t making the best use of that format.

(more…)