Shojo Beat: Chicks dig vampires

Hey, get this: I thought it was going to be tomorrow, but it turns out that today marks two years of writing on this here blog.  How about that?  Normally, for milestones like this, I try to link to what I consider good or notable posts, but I don't feel like doing the work today.  Hey, I've got a kid; it's impressive that I can muster the energy for the content I do manage to write.  So, enjoy:

Shojo Beat

December 2008

So this is the Vampire Knight issue (as opposed to other issues that only seemed like they focused on that series), which means a special section dedicated to Matsuri Hino's series, and also lots of other vampire-related content, including mentions of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, and Cirque du Freak.  That special section is a "guide" to the series, offering eleven pages of content, including a story summary, a timeline, a "relationship chart" (which I can only assume was inspired by my own work), fan art, a crossword, a brief look at the anime adaptation, and a good deal of other stuff.  This kind of seems like overkill, but an offhand mention that Vampire Knight is the top-selling manga that falls under the Shojo Beat umbrella makes it understandable.  Anything to keep those girls reading about the bloodsuckers.

In addition, there's a nice video game section which mentions several upcoming titles and includes a page about the best game heroines (the list includes Samus Aran, Princess Zelda, Chun-Li, Jade from Beyond Good and Evil, and, for some reason, the chick from Mirror's Edge).  And a blurb about vampire-themed games, of course.

The preview chapter this month is from a series called Heaven's Will, but I can't remember a thing about it, outside of thinking it was kind of lame.  Looking back, it's about a girl who doesn't like scary stuff, but (get ready for irony) she is constantly followed around by ghosts that only she can see.  She ends up meeting a strange guy who exorcises ghosts, and he decides to help her.  He also dresses as a girl for some reason, and he has a vampire pal that can turn into a wolf.  And, it's very boring, maybe because the main character is so weak-willed that she seems like a empty void at the center of the series.  Who knows, maybe it gets better, but the short excerpt here doesn't make me want to search the series out.

I'm not sure why, but most of the chapters this month didn't exactly wow me, so hopefully I'll have something coherent to say about them.  None of them are bad (except Haruka, but that's a given), but it seemed like a bunch of fairly inconsequential stories ended up all appearing during the same month.  Or maybe I was just in a weird mood while reading them.  Uh, read on?

Vampire Knight

By Matsuri Hino

And with this chapter, a thousand slash fanfiction writers are born.  I won't spoil what exactly happens, but there's a moment here that is incredibly homoerotic, seeming like something that "that type" of fan siezes on rabidly.  It works pretty well in the context of the series too though, entangling the leads further into their weird, screwed-up relationship.  Plus there's some actual action, which is rare but always welcome in this perpetual mope-fest.  There's also a scene where Kaname tells Yuki he loves her, but you know Hino's not doing anything to upset the balance of the Yuki/Kaname/Zero love triangle, so I predict many more uncertain gazes and hesitant conversations in the future.  Not a bad chapter overall, even if there is still too much of the tiresome vampire politics that I'm always complaining about.  I'll keep reading.

Honey and Clover

By Chica Umino

While this is one of my favorite series, it's been only good, not great, lately.  My theory is that it's because of the continued absence of Morita, the most entertaining character (there's even an extended in-story callback to the Twister scene from around six months ago).  But it looks like that might change soon; however, for the time being, we've got more decent stories about our cast.  The two chapters this month mostly focus on Takemoto, who is struggling to complete his senior project and graduate (not to mention find a job).  He realizes here that he's not yet ready to be an adult; he hasn't figured out what he wants to do yet:

He ends up overworking himself and stressing out about his future, to the point that he gets an ulcer and ends up in the hospital, prompting a visit from his mom and step-dad.  He ends up deciding to continue on at the school for another year, which is an odd decision for both the character and the creator.  Maybe this is representative of a common Japanese struggle to come to terms with adulthood (see also Solanin, possibly my favorite comic of 2008), but it seems kind of like wheel-spinning on Umino's part, keeping her characters from growing because it's easier to tell stories with them in the same familiar situation.  That's unfortunate, but hopefully it's just a small bump in the road.

Umino still gets the chance to deliver at least one moving scene, in which Takemoto flashes back to a memory of his late father:

It's a beautiful look at the way we hold on to precious memories, and scenes like this make the series worthwhile, even if I don't like the direction in which the characters are going.  Hey, every series has an off chapter or two, and if this is the low point, I can't complain too much.

Honey Hunt

By Miki Aihara

And...the series starts to get ridiculous.  Last month, Yura seemed to do well at her audition, and so she gets a callback this month.  She ends up accidentally meeting the director of the project, and sharing a bowl of the noodles that they will be promoting.  Wow, what a coincidence, right?  I don't think it's spoiling anything to reveal that this meeting was the actual audition, since it's pretty obvious while it's going on.  But it works in the story; we can see that the director uses this method to get the most authentic reaction he can:

But that's not the ridiculous part.  No, that comes when Yura gets the part, and finds out it's some sort of strange noodle-themed TV show (as Chris Butcher would say, Japan), and she'll be starring alongside Haruka, a famous pop star who we learn is actually the twin brother of Q-ta, Yura's love interest.  Q-ta is also a pop star, and he'll be doing the music for the show.  And this is the ridiculous bit: Haruka discerns that Q-ta likes Yura, so he makes a big show of giving her a congratulatory kiss in front of everybody, prompting Q-ta to do the same.  Oy.  That's just silly, especially in a country where that sort of public display of affection/invasion of personal space is taboo.  But it's probably not meant to be taken too seriously, and it makes for decent drama with a bit of a humorous edge.  Not bad; Aihara makes some pretty entertaining manga.  This is one to keep an eye on.

Crimson Hero

By Mitsuba Takanashi

Volleyball action!  I'm always excited when this series gets around to actual on-panel competition, and what we see here is pretty exciting, enjoyable stuff.  Takanashi does a really good job of depicting the athleticism of the characters and the intensity of the matches; whenever a match becomes the center of the series' drama, I always dig it:

And it's good that the game gets some prominence, because the off-court drama is not some of Takanashi's best.  This game, Nobara's team is playing a school that almost always makes it to the national tournament.  The top player on the other team was established as pretty villainous a couple months ago, but we learn here that not only is she mean and avaricious, but she turned her back on her friends to gain a position on the starting roster.  If only she had a moustache, she would be twirling it ferociously.  It's not really necessary to establish this backstory; she's already the bad guy, and any drama involving her and her teammates only distracts from the main characters.  I suppose Takanashi could surprise me and come up with something really good, but, well, I'll be surprised if that's what happens.  But still: volleyball!  I should stop complaining.

Sand Chronicles

By Hinako Ashihara

I had thought this series might be nearing the end of its run, but Wikipedia says it ran for ten volumes in Japan, so it definitely still has a ways to go.  And that's nice; it's been consistently good so far.  The last few chapters have been hard to read, since the drama was amped up to high levels that were uncomfortably realistic.  But this month is the "tension release" chapter in which everything gets worked out, or at least brought back down to a livable level.  When we saw them last, Daigo told Ann that he would call her when he had things figured out, but three months have passed, and he still hasn't called.  Ann is still waiting (fairly) patiently, hoping he'll be able to figure things out.  But Daigo is still agonizing over how to be the best boyfriend he can, worried that he'll do more to upset her when all he wants is to help her and be there for her.  He gets a good pep talk from his boss, who gives him the perspective of someone with years of relationship experience:

Meanwhile, Ann has a realization of her own when a friend of hers who had been bouncing from boyfriend to boyfriend, never forming a relationship that was anything more than superficial, actually finds someone she cares about and establishes a meaninful relationship with him.  She tells Ann about how with other guys she always expected something from them, but with this guy, she wants to do things for him and make him happy.  It's the kind of epiphany that can result when you actually form a real, mature relationship, and that's something I love about this series: the way it looks at romantic relationships beyond the surface level, getting into the meat of being someone's partner.  This is exactly the sort of thing that stories for teenagers should be about, rather than stupid romantic comedy movies that make it seem like everything is going to be all right after the guy interrupts the girl's wedding to give a stirring speech.  I dunno, maybe lots of young adult stories are like this, and I'm just not familiar with the stuff that teen girls read.

But back to the story!  While it does take a realistic approach to relationships, it's not above the romantic moments, like the touching reunion that Ann and Daigo have here.  I may be a cynical bastard, but I'm not so stone-hearted that I don't get moved by scenes like this.  As always, well done.

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Hey, that didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would.  I don't know why I always think this stuff is going to suck; must be low self-esteem.  Next month: more in this vein!  Be there!

100 Bullets: ohshitohshitohshit

I'm getting behind again.  Ugh.  But, I've got a review of Fantastic Four: True Story #1 up over at Comics Bulletin.  And then this thing, which has been percolating through my brain for days:

100 Bullets, volume 12: Dirty

Written by Brian Azzarello

Art by Eduardo Risso

As has been mentioned before around these parts, I'm not exactly unbiased when it comes to this series.  It consistently blows my mind whenever a new volume shows up, so feel free to take whatever I say with a grain of salt (and watch out for spoilers, although I'll try not to reveal anything major).  But know this: I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's a really fucking good series, with some amazing writing and absolutely beautiful artwork.  I can't get enough of it.

With the series ramping up to its 100th-issue finale, Brian Azzarello seems to be setting up the pieces for a final conflict.  There's no multi-issue story in this volume; it's all done-in-one tales, showing characters being manipulated, screwed, and murdered on the way to the bloodbath that is sure to come.  The original conceit of the series (consequence-free revenge, courtesy of the titular projectiles) has long since been left behind, shown to be a setup for the real story of the behind-the-scenes-of-American-life power play that all the various characters are caught up in.  Agent Graves is taking out the heads of the Trust, one by one, as a revenge for their traitorous turn on him and his Minutemen.  Or is he?  Maybe he's actually working with one or more of the existing houses of the Trust to consolidate power.  Or maybe he's decided the vast criminal empire cannot be trusted to secretly run the country anymore, and he's eliminating it altogether.

Whatever the case, we're not privy to the decision-making or high-level maneuvers.  What we see here is the dirty work, as Graves' men go about the ugly business of massacre-ing their targets.  We've seen various members of the Trust from time to time (aside from the major ones like Augustus Medici or Megan Dietrich), but the ones that were unknown before this point barely even pop up for an introduction here before being executed.  It's pretty horrific, especially when we get to see just enough to know that they might be good friends or loving fathers before receiving a bullet between the eyes.  And as much as we might have grown to like characters like Cole or Victor, these chapters confirm that they're as vicious as anybody else in the series.

We also get some other looks at the idea of revenge, which is near-omnipresent in this series.  An especially powerful chapter sees Lono (probably the most vicious killer in the series, and that's saying something) confronted by a woman whose life he destroyed with his casual violence and nearly killed.  She swore to herself that she would kill him given the chance, but she can't bring herself to do it.  It's a fascinating scene, both in the emotions displayed and the implications; we know he's going to go on and keep raping and killing, so wouldn't it have been better to rid the world of him?  Azzarello gets a lot of credit for his complex plotting, but we can see that the themes and emotions are all incredibly complex as well.

And there's so much more that could be talked about, from the mannered dialogue to the layered "cuts" between scenes that play off each other thematically.  But among my favorite aspects is the little stuff that happens in between the major moments.  One chapter sees Victor do something for himself as sort of a reward for completing a killing that he was ordered to do, and the result is one of the most horrifying revelations I've seen in a crime story, probably because it's all-too-possible.  Another chapter uses a simple killing as a counterpoint to the high-level schemes going on between characters, and, as with the plentiful similar scenes over the course of the series, it's a nice way of reminding us that you don't need glamorous, conspiratorial motives to murder somebody; in fact, it's something that happens every day, and usually for stupid reasons.  It's Azzarello's way of keeping the series down to earth and showing that murder is an ugly, simple act, no matter how fancily it's dressed up.

There's plenty more to mention in the way of plot developments and revelations, but that can be covered by the anal retentive bit of work I perform below.  For now, I can't end anything without raving about Eduardo Risso's artwork.  It's as beautiful as ever, giving the characters a noirish setting in which to act out their awful deeds and detailing the actions of the characters amazingly expressively.  I end up meticulously studying the details of each page, even when I'm caught up in the story and feel the need to keep reading.  I love the way he defines locales, setting the mood for scenes perfectly (props should also be given to Patricial Mulvihill for her excellent colors):

And the character art is just amazing, bringout out the emotions of the characters beautifully:

Not to mention the way the scenes play out.  That previous scene sees Benito in shadows, on his way to being ready to enter the dark world of his father.  But even if you don't look at symbolism, the scene is just incredible, especially the way the shadows play across the water entrancingly.  And then there's the pacing of scenes:

That reaction panel in the middle functions perfectly to stop the movement for a second as he realizes what is happening, then the next tier of panels shows us what he sees, with the final one revealing the full implications of what is going on.  Breathtaking.  Or there's this bit:

I love the quirky establishing shot from inside the ice cooler; that's a Risso trademark.  And the following panels, which see Cole get situated before casually and menacingly confronting the other man at the bar, who has his face cleverly hidden until the reveal on the next page.  That last panel blows me away, with the eyes peeking out from the shadowed face and the smoke curling up around it.  Wow.  Finally, I love the high-energy panels that capture a moment of action or emotion; this one might be one of the best ones Risso has done yet:

Again, wow.

So that's probably everything I have to say about this volume (other than buy it if you haven't already.  You'll want to read the other 11 volumes first though), but I've got to show off my updated character map.  I've spent way too much time putting it together electronically and trying to make it legible, but who knows how readable it is.  As the series continues, it just gets more and more complex and clogged with information:

So there it is, containing every bit of important information I can think of.  Click to enlarge, obviously.  Dead people have a red X through their picture or name, red arrows mean somebody killed the character (or attempted to), and dashed lines mean I'm not sure about that information.  If you have any corrections or additions to suggest, let me know, but please don't spoil anything past volume 12/issue #88.  And try not to let it drive you insane, like it nearly did me.

This week, I don't feel too bad about staying home

Because there's not much of note.  By the way, this is the 600th post on the blog.  That's a lot of typing.

New comics this week (Wednesday, 11/12/08):

100 Bullets #97

We're nearing the end, even if it will be a while before I get to read it.  Since I'm working on volume 12 right now, I'm kind of obsessed with this series again.  It happens every time a new collection comes out.

Anna Mercury #4

Of five, I think.  Warren Ellis and his weird alternate universe steampunk-ish thing near a conclusion.  I stopped reading after the second issue, but I do want to check out the rest of the series at some point.  It's pretty interesting stuff, especially if you dig the Ellis-isms like I do.

Batman Cacophony #1

Kevin Smith and Andy Kubert Walt Flanagan.  So has anybody started a pool as to when this miniseries will actually finish?  A better question might be who would actually want to read it, but the answer is probably "more than is healthy".

Fables #78

Is there a new trade of this series coming soon?  It's another one that I get obsessed about every 9-12 months or so.  

Fantastic Four: True Story #4

Paul Cornell's goofy story about the FF entering the world of fiction ends here.  It's not bad, altogether.  I should have a review up at Comics Bulletin tomorrow, I think.

Galveston #1

New from Boom! Studios, this series extrapolates on the real-life friendship between French pirate Jean LaFitte and Jim Bowie to tell some of their adventures together.  Sounds like fun.  Johanna Stokes writes (from a story by Tom Peyer and Mark Rahner), and Greg Scott and Todd Herman split art duties.  I might write up a review, if I end up liking it.

Lost & Found

This Beau Smith-written one-shot pamphlet has a great sci-fi hook, involving a scientific research lab outside of the timestream which brings together various elements from throughout history for an action-packed adventure.  Who knows if that will live up to the promise, but it certainly sounds cool.

Batman Ego & Other Tails TPB

The collection of Darwyn Cooke Batman-related stories gets a softcover edition, so it looks like a good chance to check it out if you didn't want to shell out for the expensive hardcover.  This contains the Catwoman: Selina's Big Score graphic novel, the "Ego" arc from Legends of the Dark Knight, and other miscellany.  Good stuff.

Curious Case Of Benjamin Button HC

F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel about a man who ages in reverse gets a comics adaptation, written by Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir, with art by Kevin Cornell.  Sounds interesting.  Here's the official page, where you can see a two-page preview.

Exterminators Vol 5 Bug Brothers Forever TPB

This Vertigo series was supposed to be good, but I never really read it, since I didn't really like the first couple of issues.  Apparently, others shared my dislike, because it got cancelled due to low sales.  This collection finishes off the series.  So, would anybody recommend that I give this another try?

Fables Covers By James Jean HC

If you want a fancy collection of James Jean's art (besides his Process Recess books, that is), here's your chance.  His work on Fables has been uniformly excellent, and while I don't usually buy stuff like this, I might consider it if I had more money to throw away.

New X-Men By Morrison Ultimate Collection Vol 3 TPB

Here's the final volume of the "ultimate" collection of Morrison's run on the X-Men.  The story had kind of fallen apart by this time, what with his abrupt departure from Marvel, but there's still some damn good stuff here.  Check it out, if you haven't before.

Powr Mastrs Vol 2 GN

I wasn't too keen on the first volume of this artsy fantasy series, but lots of other people loved it.  Here's another installment; maybe I'll get more into it this time (if I ever get the chance to read it).

Salt Water Taffy Vol 2 Climb Up Mt Barnabus GN

Here's another series reaching its second volume, and I dug the first one.  In this one, Jack and Benny encounter a giant eagle, if the cover image is any indication.  I bet it will be fun.

Stray Toasters TP New Printing

Bill Sienkiewicz's classic weird series.  I have the original issues somewhere, but I haven't gotten around to reading them yet.  Here's the chance for anyone else who needs to catch up.

Ted McKeever Library Book 1 Transit HC

I don't know if there's a big audience for high-end reprints of Ted McKeever's work, but I'm quite interested to see this early series of his from 1987.  This volume collects the original five issues of that series along with an unpublished final chapter for $25.  Check it out, if it's something you would want to read.

Wet Moon Vol 4 GN

I've never read any of this Ross Campbell series, but I've heard it's good.  I think Campbell is a good artist, even if I didn't like his Minx graphic novel, Water Baby (see my review here), so I'll have to try to check these out someday.

Gankutsuou Vol 1 GN

Del Rey has this manga which adapts an anime that was based on The Count of Monte Cristo.  It sounds pretty crazy, doing a sci-fi interpretation of the book, but manga adaptations of anime are rarely all that good.  It might be better to check out the anime in this case.

Nodame Cantabile Vol 15 GN

I've been hearing about this series lately, namely that it's quite good, so I really should check it out sometime.  Looks like I'm only 15 volumes behind; I'm sure I'll catch up someday.

Record Of A Fallen Vampire Vol 3 GN

Hey, how about this series?  Is it good?  I think I have a couple volumes sitting in the piles of manga that Viz has sent me, but I haven't read them.  Is it worth taking a look?

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And that's everything?  Huh, not much.  More content tomorrow, so keep an eye out.

DMZ: War, what is it good for?

It's never a good sign when you have trouble coming up with something to say about a book.  Hopefully this won't be a waste of everyone's time...

DMZ, volume 5: The Hidden War

Written by Brian Wood

Art by Riccardo Burchielli, Danijel Zezelj, and Nathan Fox (with colors by Jeromy Cox)

I've been following Brian Wood's Vertigo series about a war-torn New York City since the beginning, and it's been a consistently good title, covering issues about life in a war zone in a way that (hopefully) gets insulated, safe Americans to realize what it's like to have your life torn apart by death and violence.  For the first four volumes (or 22 issues), Wood focused on reporter Matty Roth, who covered the situation on the ground and ended up involved in some important events while trying to show the outside world how Manhattan's inhabitants survive living among constant explosions and gunfire.  But this volume sees a slightly different approach, almost completely sidelining Matty in favor of getting a glimpse into the lives of some other, more minor characters, some of whom have appeared previously and some who are new.  It's basically six one-shot issues, but taken as a whole, they delve into the lives and thoughts of these characters in a way that would have been impossible when sticking to the normal storytelling as filtered through Matty's reporting.  It's a nice change from the usual, and a good way to do a series of "breather" issues between major storylines.

The first story follows a graffiti artist who goes by the name "Decade Later".  He is still living in the DMZ, trying to keep creating art as the city crumbles around him.  We get some flashbacks to before the war, as he developed his art and philosphy and refused to join either side of the fight.  Eventually, the story seems to take a turn toward commenting on the unethical imprisonment of "terrorists" who may or may not actually have any involvement with actual terrorist activities.  It's an oddly-structured issue, and possibly the weakest of the stories here, but it has some effective scenes.  Regular series artist Riccardo Burchielli illustrates the issue, and he does a decent job, if not the best I've seen.  Jeromy Cox really adds to the atmosphere with the coloring though, especially in the pre-war flashbacks, which have a nice washed-out feel, as if those times were less "heavy" than the current violent atmosphere:

The second story follows Amina, the suicide bomber from the "Public Works" storyline that Matty "rescued" (which effectively cut her off from all support, since she couldn't go back to the terrorists and she refused to let him help her).  Since then, she has moved to the Bronx, and survives by running deliveries for local (wannabe) criminal bosses.  It's far enough from the main fighting to not be too dangerous, but she still has to watch her back.  She ends up getting caught up in a squabble between corrupt military and local gangsters, and it looks like no matter how hard she tries, she's not going to be able to stay far from the war for long.  She'll probably make more appearances in the series, but this is a good opportunity to get a glimpse at her thoughts, as she resents Matty for what she sees as condescension and naivete:

It obviously wasn't easy for her, as someone of Middle-Eastern descent in post-9/11 New York, and when she got stuck in the DMZ, she didn't have many options; considering the suspicion with which she was viewed by seemingly everyone, throwing her lot in with terrorists didn't seem like a bad choice.  It's definitely not something any sane person would endorse, but sanity isn't necessarily an option when you could die at any time.  This is the kind of thing that Wood does so well with the series: help us relate to people that might make inexplicable choices, while not glorifying or even approving of their actions.  He also makes the good point that people don't have the luxury of leaving the horrors around them.  Even innocent people, who might try to get as far away from the fighting as possible, will eventually be affected.  It's easy to forget, when we live half a world away from these countries, but when it's happening next door, there's always the possibility that the violence is going to find you.

We get an art change-up in the third chapter, with Danijel Zezelj illustrating the story of Chinese gang boss Wilson.  It's another fascinating tale, as we see how Wilson used the opportunity of the war to gain power in Chinatown and then act to cut it off from the rest of the city, creating a sort of ethnic safe haven for his own people.  He has "his people"'s best interests at heart, but how much of it is motivated by petty racial strife and pursuit of power and money rather than actual good will?  It's the sort of thing that happens all the time in war-torn countries, and once again, Wood does a great job of recontextualizing it so we can recognize it happening in a more familiar location.  

The art in this chapter also bears special mention; Zezelj has a really distinctive style, full of heavy shadows and moody atmosphere.  It works pretty well for the most part here, although the color doesn't always do it favors.  Cox mostly sticks to monochromatic colors, with lots of variations on reds and browns:

Which makes the occasional bursts of color all the more distinctive:

But, as can be seen in some of Zezelj's other work, he probably looks best in simple black and white, and a scene in which an explosion takes place demonstrates that especially well here:

It might have been a risk, but I would have loved to see the entire issue done like that.  That's beautiful stuff.

The next chapter is the most Matty-centric one in the volume, as it deals with the death of his sometime-girlfriend Kelly, a reporter for a Canadian TV network.  As with much of the rest of the book, it's striking stuff, as we see her body on the first few pages (along with Wood's beautiful cover of the issue) and then flash back to see the events leading up to it.  She was a driven woman, and as her pursuit of success increased, so did her desensitization to the horrors around her, culminating in a scene in which she photographs an abandoned child without even seeming to realize what she was looking at.  It's harrowing stuff, seeing the deadening toll that exposure to constant violence can take, and what happens when she realizes this and takes action to deal with it is horribly sad.  As with the rest of these stories, and the series in general, Wood does a great job giving his characters real emotions, making them human in an all-too-realistic situation.

The next chapter might be my favorite, at least on the artistic front, since the excellent Nathan Fox steps in to illustrate the story of a young DJ hoping to make his big debut in a DMZ nightclub.  Unfortunately, he gets bumped in favor of a popular DJ from Japan who is coming into the city to make a live recording.  It raises the issue of exploitation of people's suffering, as when celebrities try to make some statement about helping people but are really just aggrandizing themselves.  Looking at it from the point of view of the people being helped/exploited, it's horribly condescending, and that feeling breaks out into violence here, as it seems to in every issue.  It's a nice little story; that is, it's a good comic, if not an especially happy experience.  But it does have some really good art; I love Nathan Fox's style.  He throws in a lot of detail, but makes the storytelling as clear as it should be, whether capturing emotions and gestures:

Or splashing some glorious, chaotic violence onto the page (I especially like the streaks of color that follow moving sources of light):

Finally, we get a story about Soames, a member of the Free States army, which is fighting an insurgency against the United States.  I don't believe he has appeared in the series before, but this seems to set up some future appearances.  Here, he deserts the army after becoming disillusioned with their hateful mindset.  He ditches the boat that they take into Manhattan, and then he strikes out across the island, hoping to defect to the other side.  On his way there, he gets wounded and ends up feverish, hallucinating that he is hunting in the wilderness.  Burchielli turns in some of his best art in the volume, especially in a splash page in which Soames imagines that he is laying in the midst of a field of animal skeletons:

Eventually, he decides that he can't identify with either side enough, so he stays in the DMZ, probably destined to show up later at some point.  The story ends up being an interesting look at the war zone from the perspective of an outsider.  There's no sign of life in Manhattan, outside of the people shooting at each other.  Soames is amazed that anybody actually lives there, since simply travelling across the island nearly kills him.  Hopefully, we'll get to see how he adjusts to living in this inhospitable territory.

So overall, this volume ends up being a really good respite from the usual examinations of geopolitics, complicated military conflicts, and ethical quandaries of its young protagonist.  While Matty Roth is a good lead, it's nice to get a break from him and see life in the DMZ through the eyes of some of its other residents.  I look forward to seeing what large-scale conflict takes place next.  Brian Wood really has a great book here, and I hope it continues for quite some time.

Breakdowns: Sacred cows are fun to skewer

I blame Dick Hyacinth for this.

Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young [Shit/Fuck]!

By Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman certainly deserves all the acclaim he's received for Maus (they don't give out those Pulitzer Prizes to everybody), and he's done some other work that deserves recognition (I still think In the Shadow of No Towers is pretty damn good), but as the new version of his long-out-of-print collection Breakdowns shows, that talent took some nurturing to become noteworthy.  The original book, which came out in 1978 had a very low print run, and it has been hard to find ever since.  But now it's back on shelves, published by Pantheon and given a fancy presentation and a lengthy comics-format introduction.  However, anybody expecting to discover lost works of genius will be sorely disappointed.  If you think the works of, say, Chris Ware are trite and navel-gazing, prepare yourself for the types of experiments in pointlessness that will make Ware's work look like a James Bond film.

But before Breakdowns proper starts (it gets a nice cardstock cover bound within the pages of the hardcover book), we get an introduction in the form of a comic strip called "Portrait of the Artist as a Young [obscenity]!", which was originally serialized in the Virginia Quarterly.  This is almost certainly the best part of the book, since Spiegelman is actually trying to communicate something to the reader: a look at his history and influences, showing what led him to become a comics creator.  It's generally pretty interesting stuff, giving us a glimpse into his childhood and his formative years as an artist.  There's some good emotional moments that Spiegelman illustrates while looking back (and forward) at his life, including realizing a sudden pain at the thought of his mother's suicide, thirty-five years after the fact; or the "gift" to his son of a horrible monster that feeds on low self-esteem.  And the anecdotes about his career and developing artistic sensibility are interesting; I especially liked a pair of scenes in which he shows his original "Maus" story to his father and some relatives, then to some fellow cartoonists at a pornographic magazine.  The relatives recognize the stories, having experienced them firsthand, but they don't even seem to notice that the story features cats and mice.  The cartoonists, on the other hand, don't even seem to notice the story, but compliment Spiegelman on his mouse drawings.

It's a nice series of strips, making for some good reading that mixes Spiegelman's entertaining cartooning with genuine emotion, and covering his reactions to his history and his present.  Unfortunately, it turns into a portent of what is ahead in the volume, as it ends with some incongruous strips in which Spiegelman plays with a narrative involving a cheating husband with no seeming purpose.  This devolves further into a series of quotes about comics and storytelling placed in captions and word balloons and having nothing to do with the art, which itself is just "remixed" panels from earlier in the story (or later in Breakdowns):  

It doesn't make a lot of sense when you first read it, but after getting through the collection, it seems that Spiegelman was trying to capture some of his earlier experimentation.  He needn't have bothered; there's plenty more of that to come.

Then we get to the actual reprint of the original collection.  It starts off strong, with the original three-page "Maus" story.  It's a very, very short version of what Spiegelman would eventually develop, but the power of his storytelling is evident even at this early stage.  Presented as a bedtime story told to a young Artie by his father, we get just a small glimpse of the horrors that were experienced during the Holocaust.  As an early version of the story, it's not as effective as the longer book to come; Spiegelman here seems to go a bit far with the cat-and-mouse metaphors, going so far as to have the mice work in a kitty litter factory and refer to the man who betrayed them as a rat.  But it still gives a look at what was to come:

The other good story at the beginning is "Prisoner on the Hell Planet", which depicts Spiegelman's reaction to his mother's suicide.  It was also included in the Maus graphic novel, so many readers are probably already familiar with it, but it is nice to see it at its original size here.  As Spiegelman says in the afterword, its scratchboard art was influenced by German expressionist art, and the detailed linework is definitely visible here.  But while it certainly looks unique, the emotional impact is the real focus, with Spiegelman's raw, intense emotion on full display:

Unfortunately, the quality ends with that story; most of the rest of the book is concerned with inane noodling with the form of comics without actually doing anything very interesting.  Strips like "Little Signs of Passion" throw narrative out the window, choosing instead to focus randomly on little details in a scene.  That strip sets up a sort of narrative about a dwarf, a midget, and a gimp, but it just repeats the same three lines over and over in captions, alternating with a quotation about telling stories, with the imagery skipping between what seems to be illustrations of the story, close-ups of details from those illustrations, and pornographic pictures, with the dirty imagery ostensibly there because one character works at the box office of a porno theater.  Who knows what Spiegelman was going for here; my suspicion is that he was doing a lot of drugs.

"The Malpractice Suite" takes this non-narrative experimentation to the extreme, using panels from the Rex Morgan comic strip innovatively by putting them within a larger panel and extending their imagery outside of the panel to comment on it, or at least do something goofy with it:  

But while this is an interesting starting point, Spiegelman doesn't do anything with it aside from creating a series of increasingly wacky images.  There's no connectivity between panels; it's just a meaningless tableau of silliness.

There are some other stories that try to do something with this deconstructive approach, including "Don't Get Around Much Anymore", which tells a sort of story about an elderly shut-in by focusing on background details in their living space, or "As the Mind Reels", which messes around with soap opera tropes by switching between somebody watching a soap opera on TV and the soap opera itself, while maintaining the same melodramatic tone and simulating a fading signal.  These also play with some interesting ideas, but ultimately fail at the most important task: being interesting.  A one-pager called "A Day at the Circuits" also tries something unique, with arrows pointing to multiple other panels from many of the panels on the page, creating a "choose your own adventure" approach to the story.  It's an interesting idea, but the story is nothing more than two guys sitting at a bar drinking; maybe it could be interpreted as illustrating the go-nowhere life of the alcoholic, but that's a stretch.  It's more likely that Spiegelman thought of an idea but didn't have much of a story to plug into it.

Actually, the experimentation began with a one-page strip between the first two stories that is part of a series of Spiegelman's called "Zip-a-Tunes".  This one sees a skeleton do a somersault, leaving his Zip-A-Tone shadow behind halfway.  It's a kind of funny gag, although it's based in the intricacies of comics production that those outside the industry probably didn't know about even then and is obsolete now.  It's this kind of insular viewpoint that pretty much exemplifies most of the work here.

But not everything is bad here.  There are a few strips from a series called "Real Dream", which illustrate surreal dreams of Spiegelman's.  They're pretty effective at capturing freakish nocturnal imagery, and the artwork really sells the weirdness and dream logic of Spiegelman's subconscious.  A one-page bit about moving to New York, battling cockroaches in his apartment, and fighting depression works pretty well too.  And "Cracking Jokes", a comics-format essay about humor, isn't bad, dryly looking at the psychology behind a simple joke and illustrating how it doesn't work when certain basic details are changed.  It does seem especially non-humorous, but that's kind of a joke in itself.

Closing out the collection is the story "Ace Hole, Midget Detective".  It's still not great, but it's a step in the direction of trying to tell an actual story while using the deconstructive tropes explored in many of these stories.  It's a parody of hard-boiled detective fiction, with the titular character investigating a murder involving a cartoonist, an art dealer, and the dame who came between them.  Spiegelman illustrates this femme fatale with a full-on Picasso-style cubist look, making for some crazy panels, since it's hard to get a character like that to interact with more traditionally-depicted characters.  I especially like the way he depicts her going around a corner:

Of course, Spiegelman can't resist some weird experimentation, so he throws in some dream sequences that do some silly stuff that doesn't make sense (I do like the inclusion of imagery from Winsor McCay's Little Nemo though), but it mostly works in the context of the story.  It ends up being one of the better stories in the book, but only because so much of the material is so far below the bar.

So, I gotta say, I'm not seeing the genius here.  In the afterword, Spiegelman complains a bit that fellow creators at the time didn't seem especially interested in these stories, but he chalks it up to being ahead of his time.  I would say it's probably because it wasn't as interesting and revolutionary as he thought it was.  He definitely deserved all the acclaim he received for Maus, and arguably some other, later works, but this early material shows a developing talent that hadn't fully formed, and still had some distance to go.  Read it at your own risk, lest you get as annoyed as I did.

-----

Note: For more about the book, I recommend this interview with Spiegelman at Chris Mautner's blog.  It's a really interesting discussion about the book and Spiegelman's comics.  The second half gets into some "state of comics" talk and the requisite questions about what he's doing next, but that first half is some good reading, and very illuminating for someone like me who is still trying to process the damn thing.

Tamara Drewe: --a lot of men into her thrall

Man, another missed new comics week?  I blame being sick again, and what the hell is going on that I'm always sick on Mondays lately?  Dammit.  But I've got this:

Tamara Drewe

By Posy Simmonds

Posy Simmonds is apparently a well-regarded cartoonist is her native England, but she is nearly unknown in the United States.  Chances are that that will change though, considering the storytelling and artistic skill on display in this new book.  She has an interesting and fairly unique style, possibly inherited from her work on children's books, in which she uses sections of text on most pages along with panels of comics artwork, with the text acting as a sort of inner monologue for one of the characters.  It makes for a different sort of reading experience than most comics (I won't even get into the pointless debate of whether the text disqualifies it from being a comic; it counts as comics, as far as I'm concerned), but Simmonds uses the mixture of storytelling media skillfully, and it ends up being quite satisfying.

The story here centers around Stonefield, a writers' retreat in the English countryside that ends up being a center of soap operatic intrigue over the course of the year depicted in the book.  Some of this involves the title character, who moves into a neighboring farm after her mother, the owner, dies.  As a sexy young thing, she immediately causes a stir, mostly in the loins of the various Stonefield men.  But the greater soapiness might come from the relationship between the couple that runs Stonefield, Beth and Nicholas Hardiman.  Nicholas is a famed author of crime novels, and his income allows the retreat to continue operating.  But while he is something of a prima donna, Beth runs everything, from the finances, to the cooking, to answering fan mail and typing his manuscripts.  So it hurts all the more when he cheats on her, although she seems to have resigned herself to it, as long as he is honest about it.  It's when he keeps it a secret that really bothers her, and a scene early in the book almost sees their marriage collapse because of his lies.  As dysfunctional and sad as it is, it's a realistic portrait of the compromises that people make to remain in the life with which they are accustomed.

Simmonds does a pretty incredible job with this characterization; everybody seems like a fully-formed individual here, and she gets right inside their heads, allowing us to experience these moments along with them.  Beth comes off well; we can see how she has thrown herself into her life, how she cares for her husband even when he exasperates and angers her, and how she loves writing enough to be a big part of it, even if she doesn't do it herself.  Simmonds' art certainly helps; as with all the characters, Beth comes off as distinctive and unique; it's a deceptively detailed portrait, given Simmond's soft-edged, clean-lined art style:

It's a testament to Simmonds' storytelling skill that we develop such affection for her characters; one of the saddest moments comes when Beth accidentally picks up what seems to be part of Nicholas' current novel, but turns out to be something different and personal:

But there's much more to experience here than the relationship of a middle-aged couple.  We also see Glen, an American academic who is in Stonefield working on a literary novel.  He's a fairly small part, but Simmonds also develops him beautifully, especially in how he reacts to Nicholas, who, as a popular, bestselling author, treats him with a sort of contempt disguised as respect.  It's a complex relationship, but totally believable.  He also has a strangely mixed reaction to Tamara, who writes a popular newspaper column and harbors ambitions of greater things.  He seems to have a contempt for her, but it's wrapped up in resentment at how she arouses sexual desire in him as a kind of tease, since they both know he would never have a chance with her.  The feelings are all awkward and complicated, but Simmonds makes them perfectly understandable through his inner monologue; it's skillful writing, made all the more so by how subtly it is accomplished.

Rounding out the characters to whose thoughts we are privy is Casey, a local teenager who gets wrapped up in all the drama involving Tamara and everyone around her.  The kids get interested when Tamara takes up with Ben Sergeant, the ex-drummer of a popular rock band.  Casey's friend Jody becomes obsessed with Ben, even going so far as to sneak into Tamara's house when she and Ben are out of town to root through his things.  Casey is hesitant to go along with these shenanigans, but she ends up getting roped into it by her more assertive friend.  As with the other characters, Simmonds paints a wonderful portrait of the inner life of these kids, using plenty of slang and showing how they are so focused on trivialities like sex (losing their "V-plates" is a big concern) and celebrity.  Although is that any more consequential than the more mature-seeming sex and fame that the grown-up characters obsess about?  As with the others, Simmonds subtly builds these characters until they seem like real people that we know.  It's masterful work.

As a whole, it makes for an immensely satisfying work, building to a tragically sad conclusion and developing the characters satisfyingly throughout.  And as nice as the writing is, the artwork complements it beautifully, giving the characters a nice expressiveness (a nice touch, since so much of what is going on takes place internally) and grounding them in beautiful landscapes that change along with the seasons.  It's a wonderful book, and Simmonds definitely deserves to gain wider acclaim because of it.  If you're like me and have never read any of her work before, give this book a try, and then join me in searching out her other works.  She's pretty great.

The Best American Comics 2008: Oh boy, here we go again

Holy cow, two posts in one day?!  I haven't been this prolific for months and months!  That's assuming I actually finish this post before tomorrow...

The Best American Comics 2008

Edited by Lynda Barry

Series Editors Jessica Abel and Matt Madden

For some reason, this annual volume always seems to inspire strong reactions in me (and I'm not the only one, if this infamous Beat post from last year is any judge).  I think it's the same reaction the people have to awards shows: "That [movie/song/show/comic/book/TV commercial] was all right, but I don't think it was the best of the year!  What about this other [band/play/music video] that I loved?  If you're not including it, that means you think I have bad taste!"  And so on.

But that's not really the point of this sort of thing, is it?  It seems like it's really all about spotlighting what the editors think is superior work, with the book's title being more succinct than We Think These Comics Are Pretty Good, In Our Opinion (2008 Edition).

Still, inclusion in this volume lends some respect, and it can be irksome to see a comic that doesn't seem to deserve said respect.  Thus, legions of complainers are born!  So, with that in mind, let's dive right in, shall we?

The comics stories in the book are presented in alphabetical order by the creator's name(s), so that seems like as good a method of discussing them as any.  But first, there's an introduction comic by the year's guest editor, Lynda Barry.  Myself, I've never really liked Barry's work, and this isn't really any exception.  She has some interesting personal anecdotes about experiencing comics like The Family Circus and the strips in Playboy as a child, and other ruminations on how we experience comics, but I don't think it holds together too well, and the complicated layouts are hard to read without enriching the reading experience at all.  I know people like her comics and all, but she just doesn't do anything for me.

But she's just the editor.  Let's look at the actual "best American comics of 2008" (which, it should be noted, came out between the eligibility dates of August 31, 2006 to September 1, 2007):

"Burden"

By Graham Annable

This is a good little story about a guy taking care of his brother's business after he moved away.  Or is it?  In the end, we find out that something else is going on that colors everything we've seen up to that point.  It's pretty nicely done; Graham Annable has a cartoony look that belies his background in animation; he does a great job of expressing subtle emotion without being realistically detailed.  I love this page, in which the main character visits his dad, who is distracted by a handheld video game:

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yeah, I would say so.

War Fix (excerpt)

By David Axe and Steve Olexa

I reviewed this book back in the spring of 2007, and I thought it was quite good, a fascinating look at the pursuit of the adrenaline rush brought on by war journalism.  I was surprised that more people didn't talk about it, but maybe its inclusion here will get more discussion started.  In this excerpt, we see writer David Axe leave for Iraq and experience the horrors of war firsthand.  It's a pretty good example of the book's contents, and it really showcases Steve Olexa's complex artwork.  In fact, it's one of the few stories here to use non-traditional layouts; nearly every other story is composed of rectangular grids of panels, with little variation.  A lot of "artcomix" stick to this simple structure, but artists in the mainstream (including the non-superheroic offshoots that aren't quite "indie" enough to normally be considered for a book like this) often seem to try to mix up the panel layouts and experiment with the form a bit.  I happen to like that sort of thing quite a bit, and I definitely would have preferred to see more "realistic" artwork in the book.  But that's more about my tastes than any measure of quality.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yes, and I recommend reading the book if you haven't had the chance.

"Trouble"

By T. Edward Bak

And now we get to the complaints.  This is apparently supposed to be a slice-of-life story, but it's not a very good one.  Two teenage girls lay around, watch TV, yell at a younger brother, discuss sex, and wrestle.  But not in a compelling manner or anything; no, it's a plotless bit of fluff that is probably supposed to be realistic, and the main interest is probably the frank discussion of sexuality and the swearing, but it's just boring.  The ugly art doesn't help either; it looks like it was done with a kids' marker set:

This is the kind of thing that pisses people off about anthologies like this.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Definitely not.  In fact, there are at least three better choices that cover similar subject matter in the "Notable Comics" section at the back of the book: Gabrielle Bell's "Hit Me", Ariel Schrag's "Shit", and Lauren Weinstein's "Horse Camp", all of which were in the Stuck in the Middle anthology (which I reviewed here).

Strips from Dykes to Watch Out For

By Alison Bechdel

Here we've got six somewhat random chapters of Alison Bechdel's biweekly strip from between August 9, 2006 and February 21, 2007.  As Bechdel states in the book's endnotes, she tries to keep the storylines of about a dozen characters running in real time while still injecting current news and politics into the background (or foreground) of the story.  It's kind of hard to tell from the excerpts here, but it seems like she does a good job of it.  The problem is, what we see is pretty limited; to get the full effect, you probably have to either read the strip as it comes out or comsume it in large chunks at once.  But it's obviously good work, so you can't fault the editors for wanting to include it.  I wonder if they made the best selections though; the most compelling storyline that we get a glimpse of involves two characters nearing a possible dissolution of their relationship, but there are also some strips included that don't even involve them.  Why were these particular strips selected?  Was it an attempt to showcase as many characters as possible?  It might have been better to try to focus on one storyline, to give the best demonstration of Bechdel's storytelling.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Maybe?  Probably?  Bechdel has been included in all three extant volumes of this series, and while she definitely deserved it for Fun Home last year, the editors don't make the best case for her inclusion with this selection.  If you're going to include a strip that runs in alternative weeklies, how about Keith Knight? 

The Salon (excerpt)

By Nick Bertozzi

But here's one I can definitely get behind.  This was one of my favorite books from last year (here's my review), and it certainly deserves any attention it hasn't already gotten.  Bertozzi's tale of art, murder, and magical absinthe was fascinating, and the excerpt chosen here is one of my favorite bits from the book, in which Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque work out some art theories that eventually led to the development of Cubism.  And, I'm happy to say, the excerpt also includes the infamous nude scene that got a retailer arrested for distributing obscene materials to a minor.  They didn't let the idiots scare them away from it; good for them.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yes.

"The Thing about Madeline"

By Lilli Carre

This short story sees a woman who has an alcohol problem come home one night to discover another version of herself sleeping in her bed.  Her other self ends up taking over her life, and she gets forced out and strikes off to start anew.  It's really nicely done; Carre introduces the character just enough to make us care about her, so the ensuing weirdness really strikes a note of horror.  I really like the loose-limbed expressiveness of the characters, and the way Madeline becomes more and more disheveled as she loses control of her life is wonderfully sad:

What's the story about?  I'm not sure exactly, but it might be looking at the way people can settle into a rut to such a point that they don't even recognize themselves anymore, and the only way out of it is to reinvent yourself completely.  Or that might be hokum; the story is still really good.  

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I would say yes.  The 2006 volume of this series had an excerpt of Carre's Tales of Woodsman Pete, and I wasn't too impressed with that, but this has made me completely reevaluate her.  I'll have to try to read more of her comics.

"Hopscotch"

By Martin Cendreda

This is a short one, only four pages long.  It's about two kids who are apparently homeless, hiding from adults by day and emerging at night to play in the streets, building fabulous structures out of discarded boxes.  It's a joyful little story, and Cendreda has some nice, expressive energy:

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Eh, it's pretty lightweight.  I don't know if Cendreda's art is so dazzling that you have to recognize this as better than almost everything out there.  But it's definitely not bad.  It's a cute, fun story, and I can't fault it for that.

"The Monkey and the Crab"

By Shawn Cheng and Sara Edward-Corbett

In what is apparently an adaptation of a Japanese folk tale, a monkey cons a crab out of a dumpling in exchange for a persimmon seed, since the seed can be planted to grow a tree that will yield more persimmons.  But when the tree grows, the monkey comes and steals the fruit and murders the crab.  Then the crab's son and his friends (an egg, a bee, a pile of poop, and a, um, fondue pot?) plot justice/revenge against the monkey.  I'm not sure what the point of this is; maybe the original tale has some sort of moral (beware of crafty people who want to take advantage of you?  Revenge is never satisfying?), but it seems like just an exercise in weirdness here.  The art style is minimalist, with blank white backgrounds surrounding the characters, but Cheng and Edward-Corbett do give the creatures a good expressiveness:

The two creators split the art duties, with Cheng illustrating the first half of the story and Edward-Corbett handling the rest, but they share a similar enough of a style that it's not too noticeable of a switch.  Overall, it's a decent story, but kind of arbitrarily strange.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Again, it's not bad, but I certainly wouldn't classify it as better than almost everything else out there.  That's my damn opinion, take it or leave it.

"Seven Sacks"

By Eleanor Davis

I've heard that Eleanor Davis is a really good young cartoonist, and this story (along with the cover of this volume) proves that popular opinion is correct.  It's a short tale, in which a ferryman carries a series of increasingly disturbing-looking creatures across a river, all of whom are carrying sacks containing something alive (one of them says it's rabbits).  They all seem to be going to some sort of gathering; what could it be?  We never find out, but we experience the freakiness of the situation along with the ferryman, and wonder if he should have done anything to find out what was going on or stop it.  Davis does a great job, giving the characters a nice expressiveness, which is especially impressive with the ferryman, who isn't drawn with a high level of detail.  But she really makes you feel what is going through his head, through the simple addition of a tiny sweat drop, or widened or narrowed eyes.  And the creatures are especially well done, looking increasingly weird and scary.  The backgrounds are beautiful, making it look like a placid, autumnal forest, which is all the more unsettling when all the strangeness enters the picture:

It's a very effective piece, perfectly paced for maximum effectiveness.  Nicely done.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Certainly.  Davis is definitely one to watch.

Strips from The City

By Derf

Another selection of the kind of strips that run in alternative weeklies.  I'm not too impressed by this one though; it seems to be about politics and current events, with occasional stops in the territory of the observation of the strange people the creator has seen.  But you know you're in dnagerous territory when the first strip compares George W. Bush to Hitler (specifically, the waning days of the Bush administration to Hitler in the bunker, with Bush urging his "troops" to fight on through a Fox News microphone).  Even if the art was excellent, that sort of thing would make me roll my eyes and check to see how long this section lasts.  But the art here is anything but; it's all lumpy, ugly people against poorly defined backgrounds.  Not a strip that I would seek out eagerly each week.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I say no.

The Saga of the Bloody Benders (excerpt)

By Rick Geary

Rick Geary's Treasury of Victorian Murder series is great, presenting grim, true historical tales in a very matter-of-fact manner and using his detailed-yet-offputting art style to give the stories maximum creepiness.  This is a good one, about a family of strange immigrants in Kansas who murdered and robbed several travelers before disappearing.  The excerpt here covers a good section of the story but leaves you wanting to find out the details of what happened.  It's a great tease for the rest of the book.  Yes, this is good comics.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yes.  Rick Geary is great.

Strips from Will and Abe's Guide to the Universe

By Matt Groening

I haven't really liked what I've read of Matt Groening's Life in Hell strip, but I had never seen his strips starring his sons.  That's too bad; I loved these selections, which do a great job of showing the weird logic in the way kids see the world, and how funny it can be to have them describe what is important or interesting to them.  I loved it; I'll have to check out the collected version of these strips if I get the chance.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Sure, although this is the third (and not the last) alternative weekly strip in this volume.  Are the comics in those newspapers really that great?

"Mammalogy"

By Eric Haven

This starts out as a silent, prehistoric nature story, as a dinosaur chases a little rodent around.  That's interesting enough, but then we flash forward to the present day for a dumb story in which a superhero named The Mongoose fights a lizard monster.  Ha ha, aren't superheroes lame?  I'm sure the anatomy and action are supposed to look incorrect and awkward, because you have to emphasize the fact that guys in tights are stupid:

There is one funny line, in which the girl being rescued asks if the furry-costumed Mongoose is a "furvert", but other than that, this is pretty boring.  There's also a pointless framing sequence around the superhero bit, in which a pudgy, bespectacled guy (apparently an author stand-in) watches the fight on TV.  I guess this is supposed to be about the eternal war between reptiles and mammals, but whatever.  It's not a good story.  Maybe if Haven had stuck with the dinosaurs, he would have had something.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  God, no.  Indie comics shouldn't have to be about how lame superheroes are anymore.  Move on already, people.

"Gold Diggers of 1969"

By Jaime Hernandez

In this flashback to the childhood of Maggie, one of the main characters in Jaime Hernandez's "Locas" stories, we see her tag along as her mother worries about paying bills and taking care of her kids, since her husband is always away on business, and she is about to give birth again.  It's a nice look at the characters' past; in addition to Maggie and her mom and sister, we also see a teenage Izzy and Blanca and Maggie's aunt Vicki, who is already busy being a wrestler.  The story is probably most effective for those who are familiar with the characters, but even newcomers should be able to relate with a woman who is worried about providing for her children and the way she relies on family and community.  Jaime uses a neat art style here, stripping his level of detail down to minimal levels and presenting the story in tiny panels, with the characters appearing as more cartoony, even super-deformed versions of themselves:

But he still has enough mastery of cartooning to make the characters wonderfully expressive.  Look at the way that little line under Maggie's mom's eye gives her a look of exhaustion.  Wow.  Any visit with these characters is nice, but Jaime uses every chance to deepen their personalities and build on their rich history.  Great stuff.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yes.  Jaime Hernandez is a master.

Strips from Underworld

By Kaz

I generally like what I've read of Underworld, but these are not very good.  Ugly characters say nonsensical things, and sometimes it's mildly funny.  The cartooning is decent, but nothing to write home about.  This one amused me though:

I guess this is supposed to be silly cartoons for adults, but the adult aspect is pretty much limited to some violence or naughty words.  Yawn.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I say no.  Another alternative weekly strip?  Come on.

"Cousin Grampa"

By Michael Kupperman

Michael Kupperman's Tales Designed to Thrizzle is some really funny stuff, but this story seems to have been chosen because it is surreal and impenetrable, and thus more artsy.  An old man wanders past some weird stuff and ignores it, choosing to watch TV instead.  Compared to the laugh riot that Kupperman can deliver, this one is pretty boring.  If it was my only exposure to Kupperman, I wouldn't bother reading anything else by him.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I'll say no.  Kupperman has much better stuff than this.

"Turtle, Keep it Steady"

By Joseph Lambert

Now this one I like.  It's a version of the old tortoise-and-hare story, with the competitors playing drums.  The turtle lays down a steady beat, but the rabbit goes nuts, pounding out a frenzied rhythm while drinking and making out with a girl rabbit at the same time.  Guess who wins?  There's not much to it, but Lambert makes it enormously entertaining by giving all the animals (both the performers and the bystanders who dance to the beat) a nice expressiveness.  He also comes up with a nifty depiction of the rhythm, with word balloons containing abstract shapes that represent the beats:

Yeah!  That's pretty cool.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I'll say yes.  It's pretty short and inconsequential, but with neat comics ideas, fun characters, and a cool atmosphere, what else do you need?

"Cupid's Day Off"

By Evan Larson

Cupid, who has begun to take his job too seriously, treating it like he's on military assignment, decides to take a vacation, leaving the equipment in the hands of his assistant with instructions to mess with it.  But she feels bad about all the unhappiness in the world, so she decides to remedy it by shooting everything she sees with cupid arrows.  This leads to some enormously funny bits:

When Cupid finds out, he's pissed.  What will he do?  It's a pretty funny little strip, and Larson has a nice, cartoony style that fits the story perfectly.  Fun stuff.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Maybe?  Light and inconsequential again, but still pretty enjoyable.

Berlin (excerpt)

By Jason Lutes

I had heard that Jason Lutes' series was quite good, but until now, I had never read any of it.  After this excerpt, I feel that it is imperative that I get my hands on the series as soon as I can.  It's a really well-done historical comic, looking at the titular city in the 1920s and 30s.  We see people struggling with poverty and the collapse of the banks, the rise of National Socialism, and the prevalence of anti-Semitism.  Even in this small sample, it's a good portrait of the contents of the series, exhibiting Lutes' grasp of character and setting, and his well-defined artwork.  He gets the locales down really well, and the characters look realistic, like we're watching real people live their lives.  Plus, there's humor and action:

Yeah, I've gotta read more of this.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I think it's safe to say yes.

Percy Gloom (excerpt)

By Cathy Malkasian

I heard this was a really good graphic novel, but I never got a chance to read it.  I hope to rectify that someday, and this excerpt only makes me want to do it soon.  We see the title character as he reminisces about his wife, whom he loved deeply.  But she joined a cult called the Funnelheads, and she ended up dying in a suicide ritual.  It's a sad story, and Malkasian's expressive linework gives Percy and those around him real feeling, even when using such a cartoony style:

Again, I gotta read more of this.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Again again, I think it's safe to say yes.

"The Teachers Edition." (excerpt)

By John Meijas

This looks to be a minicomic about teaching art at an elementary school in the Bronx, which does seem to be a good subject for a comic.  And what we get here is a nice story, but I hate the ugly sort-of-cubist art style that Meijas uses:

I do think he captures some interesting moments here, but he ruins most of them with the art, which just turns me off.  Eh, maybe it's just me.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  I'm conflicted, since I do think it has the seed of something really good, and maybe the art is just not to my tastes.  So, maybe, depending on whether you can live with/actually enjoy the art?

"Graveyard"

By Sarah Oleksyk

A young woman works the night shift at an all-night print shop, and she befriends a homeless junkie, even becoming attracted to him.  She tries to help him out, and it seems like she might be making a difference, but as often happens, the addiction gets the better of him.  It's a really sad tale, and it's all too real, looking at the toll that drug addiction can take not only on the users, but also the people who care about them.  Oleksyk sells it really well, doing a great job of capturing the movements and expressions of her characters:

It's quite good; I've gotta see if I can check out some more of her work.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Definitely.  Weighty subject matter sways me, I guess.  But the excellent cartooning and good grasp of character certainly helps too.

"The Forbidden Zone"

By Kevin Pyle

This story takes an interesting approach, presenting the imaginary adventures of some kids as if they were soldiers in a war comic, but occasionally dropping back to the "real world" narrative:

It's an interesting idea, and there's some decent character work with the kids, but there's not much to it.  I think this is part of an ongoing story in Pyle's book (series?) Blindspot, but there's little indication of that here, so the story has to stand alone, it seems.  And it kind of fails on that level, abruptly ending with no real resolution.  But that could be seen as realistic, since adventures end when kids have to go home for the day.  

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Not quite.  Beyond the "war comics" idea, there's not enough there to be especially good.  A nifty gimmick does not a great comic make.

George Sprott (1894-1975) (excerpt)

By Seth

I haven't read much of Seth's work, not because I dislike him or anything, but because what I've read of his doesn't make me want to rush out and get my hands on his comics as soon as possible.  But this excerpt of his strip that ran in The New York Times Magazine changes that; it's excellent.  It's a look at the life of the title character, an explorer, writer, and TV host, told in one-page strips composed of tiny panels that seem filled with life and detail, even in their cartoony simplicity.  Seth makes the accumulation of details about Sprott's life fascinating and compelling, presenting his story with some nicely-designed pages and good character art.  Here, we mostly get interviews with acquaintances and relatives, along with some first-person reflection on life and some funny struggling by an omniscient narrator to communicate the essence of Sprott's life, but failing, only managing to recount the dry facts.  Even in this small portion of the story, we get some really poignant stuff, like the remnants of Sprott's life left over in the hotel room where he lived:

And there's much more.  Man, that's another cartoonist I've got to try to read more of.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yes. 

"The Thanksgiving Series"

By Chris Ware

This series of five New Yorker covers (which Ware collected as Acme Novelty Library #18.5) get presented here in their entirety, printed sideways for awkward reading.  In typical Ware fashion, it's a nice collection of stories (or images that tell stories), looking at the lives of people and their families around the holidays.  There is one misstep though, and that's the fourth installment, which sees a pigeon named Penrod get berated by his wife to go collect food.  I usually enjoy the goofy stories where Ware anthropomorphizes animals or objects to an absurd degree (like "Branford, the Best Bee in the World", from Acme #17), but this one seems especially nonsensical (pigeons are afraid to go outside on Thanksgiving, because birds die on that day, I guess?) and pointless, and it interrupts the flow of the human story that the rest of the covers are telling.  Seems like a waste of space.

But Ware redeems himself with the last entry, which is a highly detailed look at the life of the older brother of an old man who appeared on the other covers.  The brother died in World War II, and the page collects a bunch of memories about him from his brother, with the little stories cascading down the page in tiny fragments.  It's beautiful and emotionally affecting, everything that Ware does so well:

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Yes, although the only essential page is the last one.  Still, Ware is a genius, and even if the other pages aren't perfect, this one more than makes up for them.

American Born Chinese (excerpt)

By Gene Luen Yang

This is another of the books that I really liked in 2007, presenting three interlinked stories that deal with the subtle and unsubtle racism that Asian-Americans deal with.  The excerpt here is a section from the most autobiographical of the stories, about a boy who wants to fit in with the other kids, and thus resists the friendship of a new kid who is a recent immigrant to the U.S., since he wants to distance himself from that which makes him different from the other kids.  It's a good bit of the story, and it makes you want to read the rest of the book.  Hopefully, people won't be put off by the fantasy and outrageously offensive sit-comminess of the other parts of the book.

Is it really one of the best comics of the year?  Sure.  Here's my review, for my full opinion on the book. 

So overall, that makes (approximately) 18 stories out of 26 that I think qualify for the description in the book's title.  Not a bad percentage, really, considering differences in taste.  Would I make any changes?  Well, obviously I would select a different lineup if I was in charge (you can see my picks for the best comics of 2007 for a lot of what would probably make it), and there are a few here that I think definitely do not belong, but it's a good collection, better than the 2006 edition, and probably better than 2007 (I didn't read that one, but I didn't think the list of inclusions was really up my alley).  It's definitely worth a read.