Comic Quickies: Wrapping Things Up

The Massive #1: When this series was announced, I got pretty excited.  The concept seemed cool, and on top of that The Massive provided me with a chance to give Brian Wood another shot.

Basically, what's going on here is that all of a sudden, the weather on Planet Earth has gotten really crazy and unpredictable.  As a result, Economies have toppled, coastal cities and towns have been laid to waste thanks to tsunamis, and the human population has been decimated.  During such shitty times, I guess the best place to be is on board a sturdy sea-faring vessel like the folks of the Direct-Action Conservationist ship,  Kapital.

We meet these folks, all of whom are members of an environmentalist group who are trying to figure why Mother Earth is so pissed at her inhabitants, as they are puttering about near Kamchatka. They're attempting to make contact with their sister ship, the Massive, but not having any luck.  Before too long, they are attacked by Pirates, which provides a little bit of action, while Wood peppers in back-story.  The problem is that neither piece is all that interesting and I couldn't bring myself to care a lick about what was going on in this opening issue.

The art, handled Kristian Donaldson, is solid, but she drove me nuts with her character designs.  Many of the key crew members on board the Kapital, are older than me, (their year of birth is given right in the panel), however, they all look like they are about 19-24 years old.  Even the captain, a guy who is 46 years old, looks super young.  On top of that, they all look and dress like hipsters, which is pretty fucking stupid given the fact that they live on a ship currently hanging around the Arctic.

The issue was pretty boring to begin with, but then it went and aggravated me with stupid looking characters who look nothing like their age.  I don't need a comic to look "cool" and "hip" to make me read it,  suffice it to say that I was not impressed.  I removed this title from my pull box immediately after finishing the issue.

Transmetropolitan Volume 10: So I finished up the Transmetropolitan series.  Yeah, it was great.  The last few trades really flew by and delivered some incredibly entertaining reading material.  Not only that, but the series ended quite well.  I was impressed.  It's not too often that folks are able to wrap up long series and wrap 'em up well, but Warren Ellis was able to do just that.

Robertson's art was phenomenal throughout. I am still a little stunned that he did the art for every single issue in the series.  That is impressive.  Usually artists need a break so they can stay caught up and keep the issues coming out at a monthly rate, but Robertson was there from issue one on through.  Given how much detail he adds to every panel makes this all the more impressive.  To top it all off, there is never a noticeable moment where the art seems rushed or half-assed.  This is simply a very talented artist delivering some top-shelf art issue after issue.

If you haven't had the chance to read Transmetropolitan yet, I strongly urge you to get your hands on the first trade and enjoy.  This is a landmark series in the world of comics and features both a writer and an artist working at the top of their games.  This is the perfect series for Ellis because the story provides a great catch-all for all his wonderful, mad-cap, zany, and genius ideas...and if anyone is gonna be able to draw that shit, it is Robertson.  Really great stuff.

Comic Quickies: Tales of Death

The Unexpected: 'Tis the season for horror, and The Unexpected, a one shot from Vertigo, is packed full of the stuff from the glorious cover drawn by Rafael Grampa to the back cover, which has an ad for The Big Bang Theory which is a wholly different brand of horror.

Vertigo managed to pull together some pretty big names to contribute to this anthology, but for the most part, I was disappointed with the content.  There was a decent ghost story in there from Joshua Hale Fialkov and Brian Wood delivered the goods with his tale Americana, (though it was a story that didn't actually feel like horror) and I enjoyed looking at Farel Dalrymple's art, but aside from those few high points I was pretty underwhelmed.  The rest of the content seemed to fall into one of two categories: "gore-fest" horror, which I don't care for at all, or "shocker endings!" which were never very shocking and at times outright predictable.

The $7.99 price tag makes me feel like I was ripped off.

 The Shade #1 of 12: After Batman, The Shade is my favorite DC character.  I say this despite my only previous experience with the guy being the first Starman Omnibus.  His shady demeanor, (pun intended), his ambiguous morals, and his creepy ability to make shadows come to life as beastly constructs makes him a memorable and like-able character.  The fact that this twelve issue mini-series is written by James Robinson, who wrote the Starman stuff and has an all-star lineup of artists working on the issues made this title a must have for me.

The first issue got things off to an odd start.  From what I can tell, The Shade basically spends his time sipping tea with superheros, and engaging in post-coitus repartee with his lady.  He also takes a stroll.

Robinson seemed to more intent on showing who The Shade is and only gives readers a very small taste of what he is capable of.  There is a shocker ending that was actually shocking, and has me pretty excited for the next issue.

Also, Cully Hamner handled the art for this issue, and he makes everything look beautiful.  Definitely worth checking out.  It'll be interesting to see where the hell this one is going.

Who is Jake Ellis #5 of 5: FINALLY!!

I think it was about at two or three month wait (it felt like longer!) for this final installment of what has been one of my favorite comics of the year.  Delays suck, but Who is Jake Ellis is worth the wait.

Since the very first issue, this has been an comic steeped in mystery, with a healthy dose of espionage action tossed in to make a delicious concoction of comic genius. I loved everything about this comic, from the writing, to the art, and the colors, and the final installment delivers on all fronts.  (Except for the ugly gray-tone cover, what the hell?)

I've always said that good endings are hard to come by, and the ending here (or is it?  More Jake Ellis please!) is pretty well handled.  Writer Nathan Edmondson wrapped up much of the mystery that was swirling around the primary characters, and answers most of my burning questions, and manages to leave the door open for potential sequels.  Not too shabby by my book.

If you aren't already reading this in single issues, buy the trade when it comes out. You will thank me.  Who is Jake Ellis is one of the best titles to hit shelves this year.

Sweet Tooth #26: Jeff Lemire is a busy dude lately.  He's writing and illustrating Sweet Tooth, plus writing  two other comics, and working on his creator owned graphic novel Underwater Welder in his spare time.  So when I heard that he was taking a three month hiatus from his Sweet Tooth drawing duties, I wasn't that surprised.

His sub, Matt Kindt, has been the subject of much scrutiny between myself and other Sweet Tooth readers at the comic shop.  I wasn't too thrilled to think that someone other than Lemire would be drawing the likes of Gus, Jeppard and the other Sweet Tooth folks, a feeling that seemed to be universal.

Well, boy was I surprised when I cracked open issue #26, Kindt's first call of duty, to find that he would be handling the art for a three issue side story titled The Taxidermist that is set one hundred years prior to the events of the main story line.

The story follows Dr. James Thacker on his sea-faring journey to the icy northern wastes of Alaska in search of his brother in law, who has gone missing while attempting to set up a Christian mission for the native Alaskans.  As soon as Thacker, the ship's captain and first mate hit land and begin their trek towards the settlement, things start to get weird, and before too long, their sled dogs are mysteriously killed, and things go south from there.

An awesome start to what looks to be an interesting side story.  Oh, and Matt Kindt's art is a good match to the strange story of icy Alaskan mystery and mayhem.

Near Death #1: Would I read a crime thriller set in Seattle? Sign me up!  Well, that's just what you get with Jay Faerber's Near Death.

Markham is a killer for hire, but from the looks of things in the early pages, his most recent job went to shit.  Now Markham is severely injured, and racing to save his own life.  He winds up on the operating table of a friend who runs an animal hospital and flatlines during surgery.  During his near death experience Markham is confronted by the hundreds of souls he's put to death, and told he needs to make amends for his sins.  Markham eventually is saved, and during his recovery, decides to use his skills to save people rather than kill them.

This first issue delivers the concept for the series in a pretty straight forward and workman like manner.  There is a no nonsense feel to the comic, which is possibly meant to make the story seem more spare and hard boiled, but to me it made the characters, especially Markham come across as empty vessels.  There is an interesting twist at the end that makes me think there might be more to this fledgling series than meets the eye, but I'm definitely on the fence with this title.  I do have the second issue waiting to be read, so I'll see if #2 can deliver the goods before I decide whether to carry on with this series or not.

Review: Northlanders: Sven the Returned

Sven the Returned is the first trade collection of Brian Wood's Northlanders series. Set in 980 a.d. Northlanders follows Sven, who has returned to his ancestral lands in Orkney to claim the inheritance left by his recently deceased father. Sven's plan is to quickly show up, get his money, and head back to Constantinople where he has spent most of his life amongst the palaces, as an elite soldier. Of course, things aren't that easy. He returns to discover that his uncle, Gorm has claimed Sven's birthright. Sven however, is not discouraged by his Uncle's betrayal. Nor does he fear the small army of men loyal to Gorm who view Sven as a traitor. Sven embarks on a one man war to claim his birthright.

Filled with hardcore Viking action and gore, Sven the Returned is a pleasure to look at. Illustrated by Davide Gianfelice, the artwork is quite stunning. Gianfelice and colorist Dave McCaig do a fantastic job of nailing the harsh northern climate setting, using flat-toned hues to lend a real life quality to the beautiful backdrops and scenery. Gianfelice also manages to make the brutality of combat look beautiful, yet realistically gory. Lots of blood was spilled in this graphic novel, but considering the weapons of choice for that time, it seemed perfect.

I wish I could say as many nice things about the writing as I could the art. But I cant. Once again, I find myself let down by Brian Wood. A major snag for me was the language used. Wood completely modernized the dialog to the point that the vikings talk like cheesy modern day action movie characters. Juxtaposed with the art work which depicted period specific clothing, weaponry, tools, dwellings, etc. this felt incredibly out of place. I wouldn't have minded too much if the dialog had been moderately update so as to not be archaic, but this just felt like overkill.

Wood's plotting led to other annoyances. The first being Sven's affair with Thora, one of Gorm's love-slaves. At one point while they are banging, Sven states: "She was my first, when we were young. I suppose I made all kinds of stupid promises to get her to fuck me." However, about forty pages later while Wood is giving Sven's back-story, we see that he left his village at a very young age. I would guess, from the art depiction, the way child-Sven acted and behaved, and the other back-story events, that he was about ten years old at the time. Maybe he did have sex with Thora at age ten, but it seems highly unlikely and was an annoying flaw in the story.

Another plotting complaint is the conflict between Sven and Gorm's right-hand man, Hakkar. From the very first moment they meet, (Hakkar knocks Sven out with a brutal uppercut) the two seem to be on a collision course. For much of the book I was anticipating this eventual showdown, but it never happens, though there was plenty of opportunity for them to throw down. Instead, amidst contrived formality they become "brothers" or some lame thing like that, and it all felt like such a cop out.

I had other gripes too, including the characters, all of which were poorly developed, and the plotting, which lacked focus, and came to a uninteresting climax. As much as I wanted to like Sven the Returned, I simply couldn't. In most cases, the combo of vikings, sword fights, and sex would be a hit for me, but this just fell flat. This may be the end of the road for me and Brian Wood.

Grade: C-

Review: DMZ: On the Ground

DMZ: On the Ground is the first graphic novel in writer Brian Wood's DMZ series. The story takes place in the near future, and follows Matty Roth, a young journalist, into a hard to imagine war-zone: New York City. With U.S. imperialism bogging down the military machine in overseas interests, middle America decides to rise up and begin the second Civil War. With the so-called Free States army pushing their way towards the oceans, they come to a stand-still in Manhattan, or as the world now calls it: The DMZ.

The story focuses on Matty Roth, a young and inexperienced journalist, who gets the gig of a lifetime due to a sweet hook-up from his Dad, who has connections which are never fully explained. Matty, along with a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, choppers into the DMZ. Upon landing they are immediately attacked, and surprise, surprise, Matty is the only survivor. Now he has to survive in the most dangerous place on Earth. Luckily he meets Zee, a doctor of sorts who shows him the ropes and Matty must make the choice of getting the hell out of the DMZ, or seizing the opportunity of a lifetime to become the only reporter in a deadly war-zone... buuuuut of course he stays, otherwise there wouldn't be a story to tell.

The actual nuts and bolts of the rebellion; which states are on which side and what territories each group controls are never fully explained, and was confusing at times. The whole history of the situation is never fully explained, and I often found myself thinking: "Maybe Wood just had a cool idea to turn NYC into a war-zone and never really got any further than that." Because that is how it feels. I kept hoping for a map that would give me a better idea as to what the hell was going on in the U.S. but never got one. Hopefully things get explained in greater detail as the series goes along.

Which brings me to my favorite thing about DMZ: On the Ground, and that is that I care a lot about the dilemma that Wood sets up. I was immediately intrigued by the whys and hows of a second Civil War. I wanted to know the politics behind it, and the arguments for each side. I found myself wondering: if this really happened, which side I'd be on, and while Wood didn't divulge much information in this regards, my curiosity is sufficiently peaked, and I love the basic premise.

All that being said, Matty isn't the greatest lead character. I never found myself caring for what happened to him. He initially comes across as a young dip-shit journalist, who is completely naive. By the end of the first book, he had matured quite a lot, as he would have to given his situation, but I felt like Wood could do more with this character to make him more realistic.

The artwork by Riccardo Burchielli is solidly done. Seeing New York City as a bombed out war-zone was pretty cool. The drawings contain a fairly high level of detail, and he gives a real sense of place with all the dirt, grime, and graffiti in the DMZ.

Even though I've made my share of gripes, this is simply the first volume in a multi-volume story, so there is a lot more still to happen, and Wood may easily wipe away all my gripes in the next volume with some back-story and further fleshing out of Matty's character. This first volume did feel like it was all about set-up and that the next installments would really kick things into gear. The ideas in DMZ are cool enough to keep me around for at least one more installment, but I feel like I'll need to see more if I am in for the long haul.

Grade: C+