COMICS: John’s Wednesday Winners for 4/8/09

This was a bit of a light week for comics (can you hear my wallet breathe a sigh of relief?)  but a lack of quantity is no reflection of quality.  Great stuff from Warren Ellis and Fred Van Lente, as well as some enjoyable franchise entries:

Daredevil Noir #1

NY Times’ City Room Blog Marginalizes Comic Fans

In an entry on NY Times’ City Room Blog yesterday, Alan Feuer posted a blurb titled “Comics and Combovers” about the upcoming NY ComicCon. In one sentence, Feuer manages to insinuate that anyone over the age of thirteen who attends ComicCon is juvenile, while presumably, he’s supposed to be encouraging the public to attend. It’s a small comment…. but it really pisses me off.

“The culture is strewn with examples of grown men in their 40s – some in their 50s – unabashedly proclaiming love for comic books, an obsession that hints at lingering boyhood hungers and ranks up there with coin collecting as something to be given up by age 13. Maybe the security of affluence has permitted men to remain adolescents at heart well after middle age has taken their bodies.”

Well now. If you plan on following this blog regularly, (and hopefully, I will be posting regularly), it would be best if you realize this sort of thing is going to result in a tirade.

COMICS: John Reviews “Doktor Sleepless Vol. 1: Engines of Desire” by Warren Ellis and Ivan Rodriguez

Doktor Sleepless Vol. 1

The year 2000 has come and gone, but all that awesome stuff were promised back in the 1950s is still no closer to reality than it was then.  We don’t live in self-contained skyscraper cities, and we don’t commute to work via moving sidewalks or flying cars or personal jetpacks.  We don’t have robot butlers, and there are no food pills that substitute for entire meals.  The World of Tomorrow is a sad disappointment, but nobody seems to notice enough to get mad about it!  Nobody, that is, except the titular hero of Warren Ellis and Ivan Rodriguez’s Doktor Sleepless, a “science bastard” who will stop at nothing to bring about the world we were promised.

COMICS: John Reviews “Crecy” by Warren Ellis and Raulo Caceres

As the History Channel has proven since its debut, history lessons do not have to be boring affairs.  The history of warfare is particularly entertaining to watch or read about, and Crecy  is an historical account of one of warfare’s most important battles as reounted by Warren Ellis, one of the comic industry’s most prolific and entertaining authors. 

As its title implies, Crecy is the story of the British versus the French at the Battle of Crecy in 1346, one of the pivotal battles in the Hundred Years’ War.  The book’s description is intentionally worded to be applicable both to historical times and to the modern-day Iraq War: 

“A highly-trained but under-equipped army invades another country due to that country’s perceived threat to home security.  The army conducts shock-and-awe raids designed to terrify the populace.  This army is soon driven to ground and vastly outnumbered.”

Oh, that crafty Warren Ellis.  He would find parallels between 1346 and 2003.  But I digress.

The story is told from the perspective of an unnamed archer fighting in King Edward’s army.  This archer blends narration and dialogue as he takes time to look at and speak directly to the reader, even mid-battle.  He provides the reader with all sorts of background information on a variety of subjects, ranging from the reasons for the war to the checquered history of British royalty to the mechanics of archery, all with a typical Ellis characters’ characteristic foul mouth and pitch-black sense of humor.  The information is historically accurate, to boot! (Well, at least Wikipedia seems to present the same information.)  You’ll learn all about which Kings couldn’t speak a word of English, why the English hate the Scottish and the Welsh and the Normans and the French, why longbows are more adaptable to bad weather than crossbows and why the conditions of the Battle of Crecy changed the face of large-scale warfare forever.

Raulo Caceres’s art is truly spectacular, and in many cases outshines the story itself.  The work is all pencils and inks (no color), bu the illustrations are so incredibly complex and detailed that large-scale battles look better than any of the illustrations in the history books.  Caceres’s drawings may actually be too good for the story, as I found myself getting lost in them and forgetting to continue on.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here’s more than I care to type:

A splash page from Crecy, illustrated by Raulo Caceres

If you’re someone that enjoys either history or war stories (and especially if you enjoyed Braveheart) you’ll find Crecy to be visually breathtaking, thoroughy entertaining and even informative.  The only real “problem” is that it’s a bit on the short side at only 48 pages, but it’s priced appropriately at $6.99.  Read it for yourself, and learn why the “peace” sign is more ironic than you had ever realized.

COMICS: John Reviews “FreakAngels Vol. 1” by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield

Well, it’s been a while since my last review.  Be sure to learn from my mistake:  If you’re planning to write a review of something, don’t carelessly lend out your only copy to a friend!  I was certain I had accidentally left it on the bus one morning until a friend of mine returned it amidst a stack of comics I had lent her.  This means I won’t have to buy a new copy (yay for saving money!) but it also means I no longer have a good reason to buy the hardcover version.  But enough of this gay banter, it’s time to get down to business.

This is KK. She's a FreakAngel, and she can totally kick your ass.

The phrase “Post-Apocalyptic” almost immediately conjures images of a certain sort in potential readers’ minds: Desolate wastelands, motorcycles adorned with spikes, and scary-looking mutants wearing some strange amalgamation of football pads and scrap metal.  By no means does a “post-apocalyptic” future sound in any way like a place or time anyone would want to live (unless you’re already a mutant biker.  Way to be ahead of your time!)  With FreakAngels, Warern Ellis and Paul Duffield set out to turn the sterotypical vision of a post-apocalyptic future on its head, in terms of both setting and narrative.   The result is a relaxed, enjoyable trip into the most beautiful post-apocalyptic world I’ve ever seen, and the only one I’d ever want to live in.  Their synopsis says everything you need to know regarding backstory, and hints at the very unique nature of this story:

“23 years ago, twelve strange children were born at exactly the same moment.  Six years ago, the world ended. This is the story of what happened next.”

If you want a more straightforward story synopsis, here goes:  23 years ago, twelve children were born to different parents throughout the world.  Each one was born with uncharacteristically pale (though not quite albino) skin, as well as with the gift of limited telepathy and telekinesis. Six years ago, these twelve children were faced with an extraordinary ultimatum.  The exact details of the event have yet to be revealed, but the end result is that they were given a choice: Let the world continue as it is and give up humanity’s right to free will, or preserve people’s right to determine their own lives and endure a nearly extinction-level cataclysm.  They chose the latter, and now work to provide a safe and stable community for the few remaining survivors. (Incidentally, if you want a quick bio for each character, start here.)  Sure, some of you may exclaim, “Hey! He’s ripping off The Umbrella Academy!”  I wouldn’t go as far as to say that, but some similarities are certainly present (specifically, simultaneous birth of extraordinary-yet-weird children and an apocalyptic event.)

FreakAngels has its fair share of action, drama and suspense, but this is not your typical comic by any stretch of the imagination.  It feels like a glimpse into a real, (somewhat) fully-functional and fleshed-out parallel world.  Perhaps it’s because the story is designed to be read on the internet at FreakAngels.com, where Ellis and Duffield post a new six-page episode every Friday and don’t have to structure the story around comic or book publishing constraints.  It really feels as though they are taking their time with FreakAngels, and that they have enough material and story ideas to last more than a decade.  With thirteen main characters to develop and six years’ worth of backstory to reveal, Warren Ellis is able to concentrate on immersing the reader into the FreakAngels world at an organic pace, neither rushing past important details nor lingering in “filler Hell.” It’s first example of the famous “decompression” Brian Michael Bendis loves so dearly that I actually feel works properly for its medium.  It can get tedious when a monthly comic spends three issues on dialogue and character development with little to no plot advancement or action beats, but with FreakAngels you’ll never feel like you’ve gotten less than your money’s worth (largely because the web version is free.)

While its role as a webcomic is all well and good, there is much to be said for the print version of FreakAngels. Paul Duffield’s art is gorgeous enough to warrant not just a print version, but a high-quality hardcover.  The art looks heavily influenced by more intricately-drawn anime and manga, though I don’t know that medium well enough to determine which particular properties it resembles most.  Thank goodness for blogs’ ability to include pictures!  Something about Duffield’s illustration (and Alana Yuen’s colors) can make brutal war scenes seem beautiful.  In my mind, Sirkka’s gigantic machine gun makes no more than a light rustling sound as its darts rush their her targets.

Many of Ellis’s standard character traits are present in FreakAngels.  KK in particular feels like the latest in a long line of tough-as-nails subtle-as-chainsaws female characters (Jenny Sparks, Elsa Bloodstone, Channon Yarrow and Jakita Wagner all spring to mind.)  Amazingly, though, he injects an almost Runaways-esque innocence and charm into the character of Arkady, a young woman who suffered terrible drug-induced trauma and now is a few cards short of a deck.  Fans of Joss Whedon’s Firefly might see parallels between Arkady and River Tam, but the execution is different enough to convince me that she wasn’t a complete rip-off.  The dialogue is clever and snappy, but decidedly more realistic than in works like Transmetropolitan or Nextwave. It’s a testament to Ellis’s writing ability (and my constant suspension of disbelief) that FreakAngels makes a fantastic concept so darn believable.

FreakAngels is a rare treat in the world of action-packed summer blockbuster comics, and the first time I’ve read a Post-Apocalyptic story and thought, “Y’know, if this is what the end of the world is like, maybe it won’t be so bad after all.”  I don’t want to beg, but I strongly encourage you to go visit FreakAngels on the web and see it for yourself.  It’s free, after all.   I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pages, since I just can’t get enough of those aerial shots:

She flies through the air with the greatest of ease...

COMICS: John Reviews “Black Summer” by Warren Ellis and Juan Jose Ryp

Today is November 5th (Happy Guy Fawkes’ Day!), and America is abuzz with political news and discussion in the wake of the most heated race for the White House in recent memory.  Many of us will be happy to take a break from the constant barrage of political news pumped out by the 24-hour news networks, but since we’ve got the White House on our minds, why not check out Warren Ellis’s Black Summer, a shock-and-awe-inspiring cautionary tale of what happens when superheroes and politicians can’t see eye to eye.  If the cover image doesn’t grab your attention, I’m not sure anything will.

Now THAT's a cover!

And the image on the cover is only where the story begins! Here’s a brief synopsis for you:

In the bad old days, a group of scientifically and ideologically motivated young upstarts created spectacularly powerful new hybrid bio/weapon technology and used it to give themselves incredible super-powers.  They called themselves the Seven Guns, and they became America’s most powerful protectors from  enemies both foreign and domestic.  Now the Seven Guns have disbanded and are burning out or fading away, with one notable exception: John Horus, the most morally unshakable of the Guns, takes his war on corruption and exploitation to its undeniable source – the President of the United States of America.  He murders everyone in the Oval Office (see cover) and declares that America will have free elections (with properly counted paper ballots) to determine a leader worthy of the position.  The Pentagon gives the Guns’ former mentor (now a Black-Ops commander) license to kill Horus and his old comrades (most of whom did not support Horus’s actions, and none of whom were accomplices) but they’re the most powerful beings on the planet, and they’re not going down without a fight.  To quote the trade paperback’s back cover, “Black Summer is about where you draw the line.”

Black Summer is a return to Warren Ellis’s characteristic blend of deeply important social issues and wide-screen spectacular action (see: The Authority), with just the slightest hint of pitch-black humor thrown in for good measure.  His ambitions were lofty, considering the original purpose of the comic was to win a bet with his Publisher at Avatar Press.  He was given a daunting challenge: Write a book that mirrors the grandiose “Event” stories being published by the big-name comic book companies without relying on the crossover of familiar characters to sell books (since Avatar doesn’t have a stable of recognizeable superheroes to draw from.)  Eventually, he hit the mother of all story hooks:  What if a superhero killed the president?  Along with that came the theme of the story, “Where do you draw the line?”  The details of Black Summer followed soon after, from the creation of the characters to the establishment of how their super-powers could be expalined in real world terms.  The theme is explored in great detail throughout the book, ranging at times from tugging subtly at the back of your mind to smacking you full-force in the face, according to the story’s progression.  I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for stories that deal with superheroes’ ability (or lack thereof) to affect major change in the world, and Black Summer scratches that itch wonderfully.  At times you’ll find yourself rooting for the good guys, then the bad guys, then you’ll begin to wonder just who’s really good and/or bad after all.

The art in Black Summer is nothing short of astonishing.  I’ll admit that my only prior exposure to Juan Jose Ryp was in “No Hero” (his latest collaboration with Ellis, currently on issue #2) but I was completely blown away with the level of detail in his drawings.  The cover image above is a great example, but you don’t get the full effect until you see that every page has that much detail and is that expressive.  The action sequences absolutely explode off the page, and I’m kicking myself for not buying the hardcover edition.  Reading the paperback version is like watching Iron Man in Blu-Ray on a Standard-Definition TV: It looks great, but you know you’re not getting the full effect.  Flip through it at your local comic shop and see if you don’t immediately agree.

As far as dialogue is concerned, this is unmistakably an Ellis comic.  His political rants that made Spider Jerusalem such a joy in Transmetropolitan keep sneaking their way into Black Summer, like this one:

“Article One, Section 8: Congress shall have power to provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.  The Second Amendment:  A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.  When non-governmental organizations like private security firms are being put on the streets  of my otown – where’s Congress? Nowhere to be f!@#ing seen.  Companies like Blackwater routinely put Chileans and Bosnians on the streets, armed, to enforce not laws enumerated by elected representatives, but the terms of no-bid contracts handed them by a government that’s given up on ruling … I want the rule of law back.  I want my constitutional rights.  Give me a gun and i’ll make the bastards execute the laws of the Union.”

That’s just one sample of the heavier political stuff in the book.  For those who find it a bit wordy, don’t fret. It’s counter-balanced by lots of pretty explosions.  Sure, there are times when you could argue that Ellis shamelessly steals the characters’ voices and uses them as mouthpieces for his own political views (in particular, a rather scathing indictment of both Iraq Wars) but it’s framed nicely and it’s interesting to read, and if you’ve read any of Warren Ellis’s other landmark series (Transmetropolitan, Planetary, The Authority, etc.) it won’t seem out of place.

Time to wrap this up:  Black Summer is a big-budget action spectacular with plenty of ultra-violence in beautifully depicted detail, but also with a strong sense of social conscience and self-awareness.  It succeeds in its mission, which is to make the reader question exactly how far heroes should go in order to protect ordinary people from the tyranny of evil men.