Graphic Novel Review: Hark! A Vagrant

I've been a fan of Kate Beaton's webcomic, Hark! A Vagrant for quite some time, and check her site often for updates.  As much as I love reading her comics when she posts them online, I most definitely prefer to do my reading the old timey way, on paper.  So when Drawn and Quarterly decided to collect a bunch of Beaton's comic strips and release them in a snazzy hardcover book, I wanted it like Gollum wants his precious.

Lucky for me, I have a wonderful lady, who probably noticed me cradling this book in my arms at a bookstore, and decided to buy it for me as a Holiday time nifty gifty.

What you get here are 166 pages of hilarious Hark! A Vagrant comic strips.  Pretty awesome.

If you are unfamiliar with Beaton's work, you should head over to the website and check it out.  It will make your day better.

For the most part, Beaton focuses on history, and historical figures to make up most of her subject matter, but also mixes in a healthy dose of literary characters, and some comic characters for good measure.  Whatever she happens to be focusing her attention on, it usually has hilarious outcomes.

Not only are almost all of her comics hilarious (I can't say they are all funny; I don't get the ones about Canadian political leaders!)  but her art is quite great too.  It seems like she can draw whatever her comic demands, and let me tell you, her strips can call for a very wide variety of people, animals, and locations.  Not only that, but she nails the period styles of dress and fashion quite well too.  

More than anything, the greatest aspect of Hark! A Vagrant is the humor.  As a kid I would read the comic strip section of the newspaper every morning as I ate breakfast.  Some of those strips like Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, and The Far Side had a lot to do with shaping my tastes in humor and entertained me on a daily basis.  Over the years I've gotten out of the habit of reading the comic strips, (probably because those aforementioned titles don't exist anymore) but with Hark! A Vagrant Kate Beaton has recaptured a large amount of the magic of those earlier comics. 

This stuff is definitely worth checking out, whether you do it electronically, or in print is entirely up to you, but one way or the other, you're sure to get a chuckle.  

Grade: A

Holiday Haul

With best of lists out of the way for another year, it is time to roll out the obligatory "look what I got for the holidays" post.  Personally, I love seeing what other bloggers reap in their holiday harvest, and this year I figured I'd share my own haul, meager as it is, as well.  

My lady was kind enough to brave the comic shop and pick up a couple of nice hardcover titles for me to add to the shelf.

Up first we have the collection comic strips from Kate Beaton's awesome webcomic, Hark!  A Vagrant.  Always good for at least a chuckle and sometimes a deep belly laugh, Hark! A Vagrant is a site I return to at least once a week to check for updates.  If you haven't experienced Kate Beaton's comic genius yet, check it out.

My other piece of holiday booty is De:Tales by artists/writers/twins/Brazilians Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba.  These dudes are two of my favorite comic artists, and De:tales collects some of their short comics works from the last few years.  Just from flipping through and scanning the some of the art, this collection looks to be a wonderful feast for the eyes, and hopefully a good read too!

The third, final and likely most crucial piece of holiday haul-age comes in the form of a new computer. Essential to the continuation of this blog.  My old desktop had been becoming increasingly finicky this fall, with the combined efforts of a few gift-givers, I was able to score a sweet new laptop for my blogging needs. I guess it will help for school too...

At Last, Sexism is Dead

If there is one thing that drives me crazy about comics, it is the fact that many of the women who populate these tales almost always have giant, kick-ball sized boobs, tiny waists, and round butts.  Of course there are exceptions out there, but flip thorough almost any comic published by the Big Two and you'll find many examples of what I just described.


Luckily, I wont be seeing that shit anymore, because Sexism is over.  At least Kate Beaton, the genius behind Hark A Vagrant!  says so.  Her latest update features a collaboration between herself Carly Monardo and Meridith Gran, which pokes pretty good fun at "Strong Female Characters".  It's pretty hilarious and definitely worth checking out.

Stop by Hark! A Vagrant to see the art that I wasn't savvy enough to figure out how to post.

Comic Quickies

Strage Tales II #3: The Strange Tales mini-series, where some of the biggest names in indie comics write in the Marvel Universe, wraps up with this issue. This final issue features some big names from the indie realm: Terry Moore, Dean Haspiel, Alex Robinson, and Kate Beaton, who all feature stories in this issue. The interesting thing is, aside from the two great comics by Kate Beaton, I was more entertained by artist/writers who were unknown to me. Young People by Michael Deforge which featured Spidey, Jubilee, and Iceman was pretty damn funny and With a Little Help from my Friends by Eduardo Medeiros which featured Spiderman, Juggernaut, The Thing and a sweet little old lady was not only funny, but had some cool artwork as well.

The standout story for this issue was easily the story simply titled Silver Surfer by James Stokoe. Not only was the story cool and engaging, but the artwork was absolutely gorgeous. Check out the first page splash:



Pretty pretty right? Me likey.



Dracula The Company of Monsters #2: I liked the first issue so much that I went back to my local comic shop and picked up the other two issues they had on hand, so this is gonna be a Dracula-centric installment of Comic Quickies.

In this issue, Evan, who has been working around the clock on a super-secret project that even he doesn't know all the pertinent details about, enacts some ancient spells, and brings Dracula back from the dead. The idea of extremely powerful corporations is scary enough, but one with Vlad the Impaler/Dracula in their thrall is pretty much pants pooping scary. So it should come as no surprise that Evan, the Everyman caught up in this mess, is appropriately stressed and worried about the ramifications of resurrecting such a beast. The guy is sort of stuck, since the corporation he works for also happens to be the family business. Bringing Dracula back from the dead is just phase one of this nefarious plot, and it is hard to say what Evan's Uncle, Conrad, the company CEO has planned once Dracula is fully awake. This was definitely an issue that left me wondering/excited to see where the hell things are heading.



Dracula The Company of Monsters #3: This issue introduces a new set of characters to the story. In the opening sequence, we meet Emil Stefanescu, his daughter, niece, and third cousin, who operate a small family business: Vampire Hunters. The group is scouting out the site of a slaughter which also happens to be where Barrington Industries, (those guys who resurrected Dracula), unearthed Dracula's bones.

In the meantime, back at Barrington Industries' high security lab, Evan has created an ingenious version of the house-arrest ankle bracelet. This device, created to keep Dracula in check looks a bit like a conquistador breast plate, complete with vials of holy water, spring loaded stakes, and shielded crucifixes. Despite these precautionary measures, Dracula claims to be harmless since he is in Evan's debt for bringing him back from the dead. Evan has to decide if is Dracula genuine, or simply an extremely manipulative bastard.

Another great issue of this series, which seems to get better with each installment.

Check This Shit Out

Just thought I'd share a really great web-comic with everyone today. Hark, a vagrant is a pretty hilarious website. Kate Beaton got on my radar after reading Marvel's Strange Tales II and it turns out she has a web comic that is loaded with tons of great material. For instance, this Wonder Woman comic:



Kate doesn't just do super heroes though. Her extensive archives mostly focus on historical folks, which is definitely worth a look. There's some other funny stuff as well. Check it out, but don't be surprised if you cant stop yourself from reading more.