Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour: I'm partial to the earlier, funnier stuff

One link: HBO has a comic by Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel called The Birth of Super Ray available for free download as a promotion for their show Bored to Death.  Looks good; I always enjoy me some Haspiel.


Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour
By Bryan Lee O'Malley

Is there much to say about this final volume in one of the best comics series of the 21st century?  Everything that could be (and has been) said about the first five volumes holds true here, from the goofy comedy and likeable characters to the video game references and fun action.  There's a nice conclusion to the love story that works as a shutting of the door on this portion of Scott and Ramona's relationship as they embark on the grand adventure of their future together, a nicely hopeful and romantic send-off that should warm the heart of anybody who has ever been in a long-term relationship.  Scott makes the rounds of his ex-girlfriends as he gathers his energy for the final showdown with Gideon, he fights his a doppelganger that represents the mistakes that he wants to forget before realizing that it's part of him, and does more of the growing up that's been nice to see over the last few volumes.  It's good times all around.

So, since that's not much of a critical analysis, here are a few of the things present in this volume that I've really enjoyed about the series:

-Metafiction

I love the way the characters just casually mention that they're characters, or remember stuff that happened in previous volumes.  It fits right in with the acceptance of video game tropes and wacky fantastical ideas as if there's nothing strange about them.  The world of the series is a heightened version of reality, where people have recognizable characteristics and personality traits, but exhibit outsized emotions, break out into fights or songs, and treat it all as perfectly normal.  That's awesome.

-Reader inclusion (culpability?)

The fourth-wall-breaking even goes so far as to draw the reader into the story, as if we are affecting the plot and characters just by observing them.  It's a fascinating idea, a sort of communication directly between the author and the reader, and it's an element of that metafiction that isn't used all that often, entwining all involved with the comic, fictional and real, together.  It's a good example of the inclusiveness that makes the series so enjoyable, rather than a part of a hipster/gamer/comics/manga subculture.  Everyone can get something out of it!

-Odd captions

This is a subset of "metafiction", but I've always loved the goofy captions (if you can call them that; maybe "on-panel text" would work better, since they're often more like descriptive subtitles or non-onomatopoeic sound effects), which seem like part of the video game references but don't always fit into that idiom (unless they're meant to represent a narrator shouting out things like "Scott wins!").  They're another entertaining layer of communication between O'Malley and the reader, even in scene transitions like "Anyway" or "Soonish".

-Cute, slick art that continues to develop new facets

O'Malley's art is always described as "manga-influenced", but that's only part of it.  His characters do have big eyes, but they're different from most of those you see in manga, more round, with thicker outlines and smaller irises.  The face and body shapes are different too, with chins usually being round rather than pointed, and bodies more squat, with thicker feet.  The style is unique to O'Malley, and he draws from all sorts of influences.  That said, there's one moment in this volume reminiscent of fighting manga like Dragonball Z or Fist of the North Star that was pretty great.  The use of bursts of lines (sometimes for speed, but also for energy or emphasis) and lighting effects are really nice here too, as seen in the image above.  It should be fascinating to see what O'Malley will do next now that he's free from the chains of a long-running series and able to go in any direction he chooses.

So, is that it for this volume?  A few notices of neat stuff and a general good vibe?  I hope that's not all that comes across, since I really do love this series, and it's been one of the highlights of the 2000s so far in terms of comics.  As fun as all the fighting and video games and funny lines are, it's the grounding in character that has made it all work, the way the people populating this goofy world, their friendships and relationships with each other, seem real, giving readers an anchor to hold on to in the midst of all the craziness.  Seeing Scott holding down a job and being responsible, having a great time playing music with his band, spending quality time with his friends, and embarking into the unknown with a serious girlfriend is a great jumping off point in a wild journey that, for all its over-the-top fighting and silliness, is a recognizable symbol of the tumultuous years of our youth.  One can only hope that we can all look back so fondly on that time in our lives, remembering the highs and learning from the lows.  Whether we collect coins and extra lives or just hang out in bars and make jokes with our friends while trying to win over our dream girl, we're all human.

Ikigami: Death sucks

Elsewhere: I reviewed the "lost" episode of Dollhouse for the TV of the Weak column at The Factual Opinion.

This is cool: Bryan Lee O'Malley will have this nifty Scott Pilgrim poster for sale at PAX, and hopefully available online afterward. I might have to order one.

Ikigami: The Ultimate Limit, volume 2

By Motoro Mase

I'm still not sure what to think of this series, but it's definitely an interesting one. As we saw in the first volume, the main stories mostly focus on the reactions and decisions of people who know they are going to die, with occasional appearances by Fujimoto, the ostensible main character, to question the morality of the system. In the two stories here, he gets dumped by his girlfriend for always being so morose about his depressing job, causing him to basically threaten to turn her in to the secret police as a "social miscreant", which would lead her to be forcibly reeducated and possibly executed. Orwellian! Later, he seems to have gotten over his misgivings about the system, and he's even impressed by the positive effect a psychological counselor has when a victim becomes upset. But all was not as it seemed; she wasn't being completely honest about her methods. Oh, those totalitarian regimes! Why can't they be based on truth and decency?

As the series progresses, it should be interesting to see Fujimoto continue to question the system, but for now, the series is all about the victims, who are, of course, never deserving of death. Sometimes there's a bit of mystery as to who is going to be targeted for death, as in the first story, which sees an aspiring commercial director abusing drugs to keep his energy levels up. His girlfriend is upset about the abuse, and keeps confronting him about it, but he doesn't listen, choosing to put his career above both their relationship and his own well-being. So which one of them will get marked for death? And will he be able to sacrifice his own goals to be with her? It ends up being an interesting, sad tale, as he learns about how much she really loves him and how it must have torn her up inside to see him destroying himself.

The second story is probably even better, as we see a young screw-up working at a nursing home finally get a sense of purpose when a senile old woman mistakes him for her long-dead husband. He couldn't seem to do anything right, so being able to help her makes him finally feel worthwhile. But his impending departure seems to crush her, so he has to give her some tough love in a very Japanese-seeming scene that emphasizes self-reliance rather than depending on others. It's striking, touching stuff, seeming to reflect the attitude of a nation that had to pull itself back together after being devastated by war.

It's kind of melodramatic stuff, but Motoro Mase makes it work with his detailed realizations of the settings. He's good at giving the characters realistic expressions and filling up the pages with mundane details that really bring the stories to life. And he's got a great sense of pacing too; the first story sees an excellent moment in which the young couple is arguing about the guy's drug addiction, and after she calls him on his failings, he slaps her. A scene of small, mostly background-less panels gives way to a detailed double page spread that seems to freeze the moment as the reality of what just happened sets in:

Mase does that kind of thing really well, and when dealing with such highly emotional stories, he's pretty good at hitting readers right in the gut. I don't know if this sort of thing is for everybody, but if you want to see people struggling with deep subjects of life and death, you could certainly do worse.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe: of High Expectations

One link: Robot 6 posts the trailer to a short film that adapts the first issue of Street Angel.  Fun, or so it seems.  I'm fine with the comic staying as a comic, and a lot of Jim Rugg's artistic flourishes probably won't survive the transition, but I bet that would be a fun project to make.  Maybe the entire thing will get Youtubed at some point, and we can see how well they did.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The Universe (volume 5)

By Bryan Lee O'Malley

Something seems a little bit off about this, the penultimate volume in Bryan Lee O'Malley's immensely popular and entertaining series.  But maybe that's by design.  There's the usual mix of slacker humor, relationship moments, goofy fights against evil exes, and videogame references, all rendered in O'Malley's uniquely exaggerated style (and if you don't know what I'm talking about, I strongly urge you to read the first volume and get hooked like the rest of us), but some of the joy seems to be missing, and the volume as a whole is kind of a downer.  That might be a bit of dramatic structure, setting things up for the climactic final volume, but it also seems like maybe the characters are growing up a bit and are unhappy with the lack of focus in their lives.

The volume kicks off with Scott's 24th birthday, and he declares that he will be "the best 24-year-old...ever!"  But what does that mean?  He has moved to a new stage in his relationship with Ramona now that they are living together, he is working at his new job, and his band is recording an album, but he still doesn't seem to be making any personal progress.  At some point in your life, you've got to stop sitting at home playing games on a cell phone all day, and Scott might be starting to realize that.  The band certainly is, since with a lack of actual performing, the fun seems to have gone out of the endeavor.  And Ramona is troubled, thinking that maybe she isn't meant to be with Scott after all.  The latest evil exes, a pair of Japanese twins, only reinforce that feeling, describing her relationship with Scott as a sort of vacation from her "real life".  If he's going to convince her that that's not the case, he needs to really get things together, even more so than in the last volume, and show her that he's better than the evil guys in her past.

The series has been a lot of fun, but O'Malley seems to realize that early-twenties ennui only goes so far.  You can't stay in that zone of semi-maturity forever, as easy as it might seem, so he's pushing them and us to move forward and grow up.  

Not that you can't still have a good time along the way; there's still plenty of good stuff here, it's just lost some of its luster.  In what seemed like an interesting stylistic choice at first, Scott fights several of the twins' killer robots, but mostly in the background while other characters are talking about unrelated topics:  

But that's a smart move; it would get kind of boring to see fights over and over with little variation, so O'Malley not only changes things up humorously, but demonstrates how tedious the same old thing can get.

Not that this is a tedious volume in any way; instead, it's fascinating to see O'Malley continue to develop his characters and make them feel like real people even though they populate such a wacky, fantastical, somewhat metafictional world.  And the storytelling is as tight as ever, using thick lines that disguise an excellent attention to detail; a favorite moment sees Kim Pine give that telltale grimace that comes after taking a swig of alcohol:  

Really, the best bits aren't the wild action (although what we see of those is pretty great), but the character moments, like Ramona yelling at Scott from the bathroom while wrapped in a towel and dripping wet, or Wallace Wells mock-flirting with Scott while wearing a flowery bathrobe, or Scott freaking out when he finds out that Ramona doesn't really like his band.  That kind of human detail is what makes this series worth following, and all the silly jokes in the world don't add up to much without it.

Ultimately, this volume might differ a bit from the high expectations that preceded it, but O'Malley is showing that he won't just continue trudging along the same path for the rest of his career.  He's dedicated to progressing his characters and his world, to the point that he's going to be bringing it to a close with the next installment.  He's definitely building to an exciting climax, from a dramatic and an emotional standpoint.  One hopes that he'll be able to do so satisfactorily, but there's really no reason to doubt.  Like all the other fans out there, I can't wait to see.

Dragon Ball: A joke about testicles here would not be inappropriate

God, I'm such a liar. Why do I lie so much? From now on, I'm going to say, "I'll have a review up when it's up, so don't expect it at any specified date. So there!"

But I do have another review of Fantastic Four: True Story #2 up at Comics Bulletin.

And I did want to link to this short comic by Hope Larson and Bryan Lee O'Malley. Enjoy.

Okay:

Dragon Ball, VIZBIG Edition volume 1 (a.k.a volume 1-3)
By Akira Toriyama



I haven't read a whole lot of shonen manga, possibly due to a subconscious condescension toward the genre. It's aimed at little kids; it can't be worth my valuable time! But I do often hear that some shonen series are quite good, so I feel like I should check some out. But then there's the other factor: length. Many of the series are intimidating in scope; series like One Piece, Naruto, or Dragon Ball last for dozens of volumes and would potentially make for months or years of reading. If I start, will I ever be able to finish? And if I'm ever going to try to read some of these, where's the place to begin? If I go with a more off-the-wall series, like, say, Beet the Vandel Buster, will it not be good enough, and thus taint my interest in the entire genre?

Well, why not just jump in to one of the most popular series from a respected creator? Dragon Ball is an incredibly well-liked manga, and Akira Toriyama is somebody who I've really enjoyed in the past, so why not start at the beginning and see how it goes?

While the series as a whole is overwhelmingly long, it's easy to jump right into at the beginning. In short order, we get introduced to Son Goku, a young, monkey-tailed orphan who lives in the wilderness. He's pretty sheltered, so he's pretty surprised when a girl named Bulma shows up and disrupts his life. She's looking for all the "Dragon Balls" in the world, mystical jewels which, when all seven of them are collected, will summon a dragon god who will grant one wish. She already has two of them, and Goku has a third, left to him by his late grandfather. Bulma ends up recruiting Goku to join her on the quest for the Dragon Balls, and they embark on a series of wacky adventures looking for them.

It's pretty enjoyable reading, since Toriyama has built an interesting, unique world, full of futuristic technology, talking animals, mystical creatures, magic, and dinosaurs. And the characters are tons of fun to spend time with; Bulma is faux-sophisticated, but still young and naive, while Goku is so sheltered, he's astonished at everything he sees, including the differences between boys and girls:



He's also incredibly strong, so he ends up in plenty of fights and other adventures. He has a magical extending staff, and in the course of their journeys, he acquires a cloud that he can fly around on, but it only works for those who are pure of heart. He seems to qualify simply due to his ignorance; he's so simple and clueless that it comes across as a complete lack of guile.

Plenty of other characters soon join the fray, including Oolong, a shape-changing pig who is obsessed with girls' pantiesl; Kame-Sen'nin (a.k.a The Turtle Hermit, a.k.a Muten-roshi, a.k.a the Invincible Old Master), a weird, horny old man who is also obsessed with panties; Yamcha, a badass thief with a mastery of martial arts and a deadly fear of girls; and Pilaf, an evil, dictator who is also collecting Dragon Balls. It's constant hilarity, and surprisingly, the Dragon Ball quest reaches its goal before the end of the second volume. I wasn't expecting that; it seems like the sort of story that could be dragged out for several more volumes. Of course, it ends in just about the silliest way possible, leaving the possibility of another quest in a year's time, when the Dragon Balls become eligible for collection again (that's the rules of the game, I guess). In the meantime, Goku decides to go for training with the Invincible Old Master, who, despite his goofy look and complete lack of morals or decency, is the great martial arts master who trained Goku's grandfather.

This training sequence takes up most of the third volume, as Goku is joined by Kuririn, a fellow trainee who is a bit more on the worldly side (he can tell the difference between boys and girls, for one). After a lengthy qualifying feat that sees a new member join the cast (Lunch, a girl who changes personalities from sweet and nice to mean and violent whenever she sneezes), they end up going through an over-the-top, cartoonish version of the training sequences in martial arts films. The Turtle Master has them run all over the place delivering milk, plow large fields with their bare hands, swim through shark-infested waters, and dodge a swarm of bees while tethered to a tree. Amusingly, he says that while they might already be skilled, the goal is to "break the wall of humanity" and achieve superhuman abilities. Hey, sounds logical to me.

After eight months of training, they end up entering the Tenka'ichi Budokai, a martial-arts tournament that will determine "the strongest under the heavens". When they get there, they discover that all the training has given them amazing speed and strength. While they worry that they might not be able to compete against the hundreds of other contestants, they both easily make it to the finals, which will mostly take place in the next volumes, seeing them compete against a variety of strange characters, which include a dinosaur, a powerful old man, a sexy girl, and a disgusting fat guy who fights with the power of his stench. It should be incredibly fun to see it play out.

So, it's a hell of an enjoyable story, due to Toriyama's skill at setting up fun situations and populating his crazy world with quirky characters. Being a story aimed at the younger crowd, it's chock full of bathroom/anatomy humor, with joke after joke about butts, boobs, wee-wees, poop, panties, and so on. It seems a bit weird, considering the difference in cultural appropriateness between Japan and the U.S., but it's still quite funny; Toriyama has a great sense of timing:



He's also good at upending expectations; when the evil Pilaf captures Goku, Bulma, and Oolong, he grabs Bulma, intending to torture her to get her to reveal the location of a hidden Dragon Ball, the most degrading act of torture he can think of is this:



He also pulls off some nice wordplay (probably more so than we realize, considering how difficult it is to translate a lot of Japanese puns; the translators should be commended for what does come through). Pilaf makes for an especially rich source of comedy; he and his cohorts are known as the Reich Pilaf, and he's constantly using phrases like "order of Pilaf", "side of Pilaf", and so on. I don't know, it's silly, but it cracks me up.

And the action! Considering that there are still a few dozen volumes of constantly-escalating stakes to go, the fighting here is already pretty exciting, with Goku seeming near-invincible. Toriyama has such a dynamic style, it's super-fun to watch people get beat up:



Like the rest of the story, I can't wait to see what he comes up with next.

I should also mention that the series is apparently based on Journey to the West, a classic of Chinese literature. I'm not especially familiar with the story, and I'm not sure how exactly this series maps onto it, although I'm pretty certain Goku is the Monkey King, and Oolong is Zhū Bājiè (a.k.a "Pig"). Perhaps the rest of the connections are yet to come.

So I'm certainly glad I gave this story a shot, because I think I've quickly become an addict. Toriyama has a skill at crafting page-turning stories that make you highly excited to find out what will happen next. It's ridiculous; this is kids' stuff, but I can't tear myself away. I'm going to have to keep reading and see where it goes. I don't think I have any other choice.

This review was based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher.
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Bonus self-referential humor!



Man, I guess I'll need to read Dr. Slump sometime as well.

Stay classy, San Diego

Monday finality:

I expect this will be the final parroting of other sites' stories here, now that the con is over and all. But how about this: Neil Gaiman is writing Batman? Da fug? Looks like it's a story called "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?", and obvious homage to Alan Moore's "Whatever Happenend to the Man of Tomorrow?". Andy Kubert on art, so it will probably look like crap. This seems like small potatoes for Gaiman; he's got the literary respectability, so he shouldn't need to bother with lame superheroics. But maybe he had a story he really needed to tell. Me, I haven't been impressed with his recent comics work (although I do love Sandman and pretty much all of his novels), so I doubt I'll bother with it. But who knows, maybe he'll pull something great out of his ass. At least he's probably being paid a pretty penny for it.

Some slightly interesting stuff from the Fables panel: another standalone graphic novel called Fables: Peter and Max, about Peter Piper and the Pied Piper (who are brothers, of course). Illustrated by Steve Leialoha, who I've not really been a fan of on Fables art (I believe he illustrated the first volume, which is the weakest one by a very wide margin). We'll see how it turns out. There's also a spy-themed Cinderalla miniseries, written by novelist Chris Roberson, and a Fables/Jack of Fables crossover called The Literals, which, following the style of superhero comics, also has tie-in issues in both series. I don't know if that's the best idea, but whatever.

Hey, it's the cover of the next volume of Scott Pilgrim!



Supposedly, there was an Oni Press panel in which this book was discussed, but I can't find anything about it on any of the major news sites, so any other news which was announced can go unremarked upon by me.

Apparently Scholastic is doing at least one more volume of Bone collections (colorizations?) after finished volume 9. I assume this would include Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails and Rose, unless there is anything else that I'm not aware of.

Okay, I think that's enough of my blither-blather. I doubt I'll bother doing any more of this sort of "news" writing, since nobody comes here to find breaking stories (at least, I hope they don't). Outside of a couple interesting bits (Darwyn Cooke's Parker books, Viz's Urasawa licenses), there just isn't that much for me to talk about, other than the fact that I wish I could be there. And from the conventions that I've been to, I'm more interested in prowling around artists' tables and meeting creators than hearing company heads inform everybody how excited they are about some upcoming crossover. It's fun to attend a panel and hear a creator talk about their work, but reports on news sites are pretty boring, with factual descriptions of what transpired. "Brian Bendis said that he really likes working with Khoi Pham." "A fan asked what Jeph Loeb's favorite color is, and he sarcastically said 'chartreuse.'" That sort of thing can be enjoyable if you're sitting in the audience, but reading about it is generally pretty damn lame. So in the future, screw it. I can mention interesting news at the top of whatever my next post is, if I feel like it, and I'll limit most convention discussions to ones that I attend. Take that, apathy!

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Sunday junk:

There's some interesting stuff from IDW's panel, but nothing that makes me sit up and cheer or anything. They lead off with lots of talk about zombies and vampires (and Ben Templesmith's Welcome to Huxford, which I'm actually looking forward to reading), but then drop some offbeat news, like the collection of a Spanish strip from the 80s called Torpedo, which, from what little information I can dig up on the web, was drawn by Jordi Bernet. There's one or two other notable things, but I'm most interested in Ben Templesmith's The Presidents of the United States, which should make for an interesting comparison to Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey's forthcoming (someday) Action Presidents! Templesmith says he wants to spotlight some of the lesser-known presidents, but look at the sample image:



Yeah, nobody knows about that guy.

Looks like I might actually be interested in a comic from Devil's Due, now that they're going to be releasing books from French publisher Humanoids, including finally finishing the John Cassaday-illustrated I Am Legion. I regret missing out on most of the DC imports of Humanoids books from a few years ago, but that was when I was just getting back into reading comics regularly, and I was less adventurous then. So now I'll hopefully have the chance to check these out.

Here's a summary of Chip Kidd's panel about his Bat-Manga book, with a couple slideshow images. I'm looking forward to checking that one out.

For more stuff about manga, ComiPress has a list of announced licenses, many of which might be interesting, but it's hard to tell until we learn more information. Viz's Shojo Beat panel has some interesting info (I'll have to try to check out the VizBig edition of Fushigi Yuugi, and Blank Slate sounds cool), but maybe only for shojo junkies like me.

For an example of Newsarama's Eisner-winning journalism, check out this interview with Valerie D'Orazio about her upcoming Cloak & Dagger miniseries, in which they mention the art team, but never state who they are. Very helpful guys. I think I'll start apologizing when people offer me congratulations for the award.
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Saturday things:

Another example of Vertigo kind of reaching: a new Haunted Tank series, set in Iraq. What's next, a revival of Joe Simon's Green Team, set among the high-stakes world of commodities trading? Hey, I should pitch that to Karen Berger.

Damn, Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba are all over the place lately; they've got a new series called Day Tripper coming out from Vertigo. Other news from the Vertigo panel: Dark Entries, the non-Azzarello Vertigo Crime book, will feature John Constantine (wow, they're really going for something new and different there). After Seaguy 2: Slaves of Mickey Eye, Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart are doing Seaguy 3: Seaguy Eternal (awesome news!). Another Morrison series, War Cop, will be coming out at some point, illustrated by Sean Murphy (I might be one of the last people to know about this).

Eh, I could probably find some other stuff to talk about (like the Eisner award winners; I've already got one congratulations for Newsarama's win), but screw it, I'm tired. And this is all ending up kind of boring anyway. We'll see if I can muster the interest to talk about anything else.
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Friday updates:

I don't know If I'll bother with this, but it's at least kind of interesting: Marvel and Stephen King are doing some sort of comics/video/internet/cell phone thing, with art by Alex Maleev that is presented in "pan and scan" format with voiceovers and whatnot. Weird. Sounds kind of dumb, actually, but it's notable that they are trying to tell stories using a new medium. Maybe I'll try to check it out at some point, although I don't have a cell phone that can do that sort of thing.

I don't know why I neglected to mention the Dark Horse horror panel yesterday, maybe because nothing really jumped out at me as especially noteworthy, but there are some interesting tidbits, like the fact that Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba will be illustrating an upcoming BPRD miniseries. That's pretty cool.

Here's some more information about that David Mack adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "The Electric Ant". It sound's pretty cool; I'll be interested to see how well Mack can adapt Dick's style to comics. Lord knows it should be better than the "make it an action movie!" approach Hollywood has usually used. And check out the nice artwork:



Info about the upcoming collection and revival of Dean Motter's Mister X. I've never read that series, but I probably should try it out. It looks cool.

Manga news! CMX has acquired the interesting-sounding titles Genghis Khan and March on Earth. Del Rey has a series called Yokai Doctor, which is a good title, at least. They also announced some cool-sounding non-manga books, like In the Flesh, a story collection by Israeli artist Koren Shadmi, and Life with Dr. Dangerous, by Paul Hornschemier.

More in-depth stuff about the new Ennis/Dillon Punisher miniseries, which sees the return of Ma Gnucci, the mob boss who was dismembered by a polar bear and seemingly burnt to death back in their original storyline. This kind of reeks of trying to squeeze too much lemonade out of a particularly well-worn lemon (that doesn't even make sense). But Ennis should be able to at least make it pretty funny, I imagine.

God, news has to just trickle out in annoyingly minute details, doesn't it? Here's a very slight update on the Vertigo Crime imprint, revealing that the comics will be in graphic novel format, black and white, about 200 pages long. And you can find out the titles of the actual books, for all that good that will do.

There's one worthwhile item in this post about the Image panel, and that's that Darwyn Cooke will be writing and drawing Madman Atomic Comics #14. There, I saved you the trouble of reading through the rest of the dreck. Actually, there's one or two mentions of Invincible and The Walking Dead, and I know those aren't terrible, so I suppose you could read it if you're a Robert Kirkman fan.

Hey, how about this? Viz announced that they finally licensed Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys and Pluto, both of which should be coming out in the US in February. Awesome. That might be the best Comicon news I've heard yet.
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Because I feel like it, I'll try to do a roundup of news and whatnot from San Diego as the convention continues. Looking back at the post I did last year, it's interesting to see that many of the announcements didn't bear fruition until right around now, a year later. So let's see what's in store for mid-2009:

The first big news is pretty awesome: Darwyn Cooke will be adapting Richard Stark's Parker novels into a series of graphic novels for IDW. Suh-weet. I'm all over that. I love Cooke's art, and it will be great to see him doing some more serious, adult work.

Boom! Studios has a new deal with Disney/Pixar to do stories spinning off from their movies (and also The Muppet Show. Weird). I'm surprised there hasn't already been an Incredibles comic book, since that's obvious, but their other stuff should lend itself to the medium as well. We'll see how it goes. Here's the original story, and here's an interview with editor Paul Morrisey. And an interview with Boom! EIC Mark Waid, who mentions that Roger Langridge might be involved with the Muppets book.

Vertigo, which seems to be flailing around for some sort of identity, is launching a new imprint, Vertigo Crime. Starting sometime next year, the first two books will be written by Brian Azzarello (cool!) and Ian Rankin (who?). Why couldn't these have been plain old Vertigo series? Huh.

CBR has an interview with Gerard Way, mostly talking about the upcoming second volume of The Umbrella Academy. There are some interesting tidbits of information, and some boring talk about a movie adaptation (it works best as comics; why worry about adapting it to film? Oh, right, money). If you're a fan (of the comic, or his band, you weirdos), check it out.

Looks like that's all for now, but I'm sure I'll have more to add soon.
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I don't know if this is really comics news, but Virgin is doing some sort of multimedia project with Grant Morrison called MBX, based on the Indian epic Mahabharata. It includes animation and video games, but who knows if there will be any comics involved. If it's anything like Morrison's awesome Vimanarama, I'll be glad to check it out.

Here's an interview with Guy Davis about The Marquis. I've never read that series, even though I dig Davis's art. I'll have to try to check it out sometime.

More to come soon, I'm sure. I'll eventually start sticking updates at the top of the post, but it's still too small and too new for that.
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Lots of boring news about the X-Men and Green Lanterns and crap like that. Meh. But I was interested to see a new Agents of Atlas series from Jeff Parker and some as-yet-unnamed artist. Here's a kind of in-depth article about it. I don't know if I'll want to read it, what with my current antipathy toward superheroics, but I'm definitely more interested in that than whatever's going on with Wolverine.

Other possible stuff of interest from Marvel: a David Mack-drawn adaptation of Philip K. Dick's "Electric Ant" (with Paul Pope on covers!), and Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon doing a six-issue weekly Punisher: War Zone miniseries, which is supposed to be more along the lines of their humorous, satirical Punisher work, rather than the more adult MAX series.

Shojo Beat: Good riddance to bad (i.e. poorly-designed) robots

I thought I would have some external reviews to link to, but I guess not, or at least not yet. So I'll get right to business:

Shojo Beat
March 2008



That's right, Bryan Lee O'Malley provides the awesome cover to this issue! Check out that kick-ass image! He's a pretty cool fellow, methinks. The interior sees him do a standard interview, and I learned from the introduction that he is "known to his fans as 'BLOM'". I guess I'm not much of a fan, because I had never heard that before. Is it actually true? The nickname I hear used most often is "Mal". Anyway, he also contributed a yonkoma-style four-panel strip, which I hope I won't get in trouble for reproducing here, for any non-subscriber fans of BLOM/Mal:



As you probably saw from the cover, this is "the art issue", which means there are a few pages discussing artistic tools and techniques, including an interesting comparison between a page of Japanese manga (with notes about artistic details like screentones and effects) and its English translation (with details about translating dialogue and sound effects). It's not really anything groundbreaking; if you've read anything about comics art production or translation, you'll be familiar with everything discussed. But it's a good start for any of the kids, who are, you know, the actual intended audience of this magazine.

We also get to hear the first mention of the new series to replace Absolute Boyfriend, Gaba Kawa. It's only five chapters long, and it's something about a trouble-causing demon girl. We'll see what that's like next month.

Okay, on to the manga! There are two previews this month, starting with:

ION
By Arina Tanemura

This is only a short preview, excerpting less than a full chapter of this early work by Arina Tanemura, creator of Full Moon and Gentlemen's Alliance, and a popular creator that Viz has been promoting the hell out of (she was their special guest at last year's San Diego Comicon). Myself, I don't really like her style, since the ridiculously large, sparkly eyes she draws on all her characters creep me out. This one was earlier in her career though, and it seems like she hadn't quite reached her later heights of ocular dysmorphism, so it's not as offputting here. The story concerns a girl named Ion who recites the letters of her name as a sort of good luck charm, which usually works. Apparently, she's going to find out from the leader of her school's occult club that she has psychic powers or something, but we don't actually get that far in this preview. Instead, the focus is on the annoying student council president, who is determined to make her his girlfriend, prompting her to flee whenever he draws near. Eh, it's cute and everything, but not something I would read. But I did want to comment on the costume design. It seems like manga creators (especially in shojo) like to design neat uniforms for their fictional schools (see Vampire Knight, or Tanemura's own Gentlemen's Alliance), and this one is no exception. Tanemura's design of a sort of belly shirt over a dress (or pants) looks cute enough on girls, but absolutely ridiculous on the boys. And the class president's "long hair tied back with a bow" look doesn't help matters:



I don't know, I just found that hilarious. That's all.

B.O.D.Y.
By Ao Mimori

This preview is a full chapter about a girl who likes a boy in her class because he seems quiet and studious. But then she finds out he works for a host club, and is scandalized. And that's about all there is to it, at least in this first chapter. It doesn't seem like a premise that would lead to much of a variety of stories, but maybe Mimori expands the cast a bit in later chapters or something. It seems cute enough, and the art is fairly appealing, if not especially memorable. So, yeah, I don't think I'll bother keeping up with it. Somebody let me know if it turns out to be great or something.

Absolute Boyfriend
By Yuu Watase

Here's the big event of this issue, the final chapter of one of the series that started running in the first issue of the magazine. And, as I had heard, it's a pretty awful, anticlimactic ending. The series was never great (it seemed like Watase lost interest somewhere around the "Night gets turned into a tiny version of himself" storyline), but it deserved a better sendoff than this. What happens is [SPOILERS, even though I've pretty much made clear that I don't think the series is really worth reading. But if you can't bear to find out what happens until you read the final collection, skip to the next review], after Soshi moved away last chapter and left Riiko and Night to live happily ever after, Night burns out his circuits and "dies" (although Watase does leave open the possibility of a sequel, so he could come back someday). But it's not like he gets to profess his love to Riiko as she holds him in her arms and he breathes his last breath (fires his last electron?); instead, it happens off-panel, and Riiko comes home to discover his body being taken away. Maybe Watase was depressed or something. "You thought you were going to get a happy ending?!? Suckers!!! There's no such thing as 'happily ever after'! Love dies for no reason, and you will never find true happiness! Bwa ha ha ha ha!!!" So, yeah, it's a crappy ending to a pretty sub-mediocre series. I will say that there is one bit that is kind of affecting; when Riiko discovers that Night is "dead", she desperately and frantically tries kissing him to wake him up, like she did way back at the beginning of the series. Watase doesn't back down on that point; she portrays the loss as a devastatingly sad scene:



So it's not like she just has Riiko move on with her life like she had lost a toy or something. I'll give her that point; she's a good enough creator that she managed to wring a slight bit of real emotion out of a terrible anticlimax. But only a little. Now I'm going to have to try to read Fushigi Yugi or something, and try to forget about this little misstep.

Crimson Hero
By Mitsuba Takanashi

Ah, now we're finally getting to the good stuff (along with the promise of a return to the series' regular plot). This chapter sees Nobara's adopted volleyball team, the Eagles, challenged to a high-stakes game against the college team that her mentor Ryo supposedly plays for, but was kicked off because...you know what? I'm not going to go into a long explanation. It's all soap operatics and whatnot, so I'm sure you get the idea if you haven't been reading the series, and if you have been reading, you know what I'm going to say anyway. So I'll just say that I'm looking forward to the next chapter, which will hopefully be full of good volleyball action, which I've always thought was the best part of the series. And it'll be extra dramatic for all involved, with Nobara needing to prove herself, Ryo needing to obtain a prominent place on the college team in hopes of an international career, and other characters all invested in the outcome in some form or another. Plus, Nobara's not-quite-boyfriend Yushin shows up, so there will be that added drama. Good times, I hope, and even if it's disappointing, they've stated that Nobara will be returning to Tokyo after the game, so we can all get on with the normal drama of her high school team.

So this chapter is mostly setup for that upcoming game, with a nice flashback involving Ryo's high school days and his relationship with a girl that wasn't as dazzled by his talent as everyone else was.



Since she died tragically, he'll get to prove his worthiness to her and earn her love from beyond the grave. Ah, the stuff of teenage romance. Anyway, it's a decent chapter, but I'm excited for some hot court action next month. Don't let me down, Takanashi!

Vampire Knight
By Matsuri Hino

After the big "Zero confronts his evil vampire creator" storyline that recently concluded, we get some hints as to possible future storylines, as Zero gets framed for her death (which Kaname actually committed...and I'm probably trying to explain the plot too much again). But the real highlight of the chapter for me was this scene, in which Yuki tries to convince Zero to drink her blood:



We need more comedy like that; this series is too serious for its own good. Other than that scene, there's not much of note going on here. Maybe something will happen next month (but probably not).

Honey and Clover
By Chica Umino

This series continues its excellent mix of humor and character-based drama, as we see the gang scramble to finish their final projects by the end of the school year. Morita's project is especially funny:



But will he finish it on time and be able to graduate? Here's a hint: he's already been in college for seven years, and doesn't seem too keen on leaving. We also get some of the series' now-trademark drunkenness and violence, and a nice moment between Mayama and Ayumi. And that's just in this month's first chapter (each issue contains two chapters of the series).

In the second chapter, Professor Hanamoto gets the opportunity to travel to Mongolia with a colleague to do some research for a book, and he asks if Hagu would like to go with him. This leads to an excellent, affecting flashback about how Hanamoto convinced Hagu to come and attend the college, leaving the home she shared with her elderly grandmother. He decides to ask her after he discovers her artwork and can tell that she is trapped by her circumstances:



It's a quick, simple scene, but it's lovely, conveying Hagu's artistic drive and Hanamoto's protectiveness and encouragement. It's the kind of thing Umino does so well, building her characters through quiet, personal moments in between the loud, wacky antics.

The chapter closes out with a bit in which the whole gang ends up helping Hagu search for a four-leaf clover to give Hanamoto as a going-away present:



Good times. I can't wait to read more next month.

Sand Chronicles
By Hinako Ashihara

This month, we get to see Ann and Daigo's reunion, as he comes to visit her in Tokyo for her birthday. So there are a bunch of cute scenes of them going on a date, and some teenage awkwardness that seems pretty realistic:



We also see Fuji's meeting with the man who might be his father, and it's pretty disappointing (for him). The guy doesn't seem very accepting or even interested in him, and Fuji is obviously left reeling, although he does his best not to let it show. Then he meets up with Ann (after Daigo has left for home) and does something rash (buy the series to find out what. Mwa ha ha ha!). It's a nice portrait of a reserved teenager struggling with emotion and trying to keep it all on the inside.

So it's another fairly quiet chapter in this notoriously bumpy series. I'm expecting some highly emotional drama to come crashing in and upset everything really soon. Or maybe Ashihara has gotten the big tragedy out of the way and is settling down to tell a story of teenage romance. We'll see what she has in store; I expect it will be good reading.
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So that's it for this month. Ah, I do love my Shojo Beat! And isn't everybody proud of me actually doing some regular posting? I hope I didn't speak too soon. More tomorrow, if all goes well, and I'll probably look at the solicitations that are coming out this week. And I'm thinking of doing a sort of "special event" soon, so watch this space!

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together: 9999 experience goes a long way

That's right, I'm lucky enough to have read the new Scott Pilgrim book before it hits the stands. You may all bask in my glory. And if you want, you can read my review of The Expendable One volume 2: The Boob Versus the Boobs over at Silver Bullet Comics (quick summary: it's not good). Okay, on with the main event:

UPDATE: I've removed some images (due to spoilers) at the request of Oni Press and Bryan Lee O'Malley, but hopefully the review still makes sense. Sorry if it impairs readability for anybody.

Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
By Bryan Lee O'Malley



I haven't reviewed any of the previous Scott Pilgrim volumes, because the most recent one came out before I started blogging. But I'm a big fan of the series, and I love the way Bryan Lee O'Malley combines goofy humor, video game references, over-the-top action, and genuine characters and relationships into a satisfying, enjoyable whole. This volume is no exception; it sees Scott facing relationship problems with his girlfriend Ramona, the possible loss of the apartment he shares with his friend Wallace, the prospect of getting a job, shakeups in his band (the wonderfully-named Sex Bob-Omb), and two people trying to kill him. One of those is a strange Asian man who keeps attacking him with a samurai sword, and the other is the next of Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends, who, in a major twist, [SPOILER here! Highlight to read inviso-text] is a girl! The way O'Malley depicts Scott processing this information is laugh-out-loud hilarious [end SPOILER].

So it's an excellent volume of a consistently good series, but since I tend to overanalyze stuff, I'm trying to figure out what it is that's so damn great about it. Part of it is O'Malley's skillful cartooning; the characters are so expressive with their big eyes that it's easy to get caught up in what they're feeling:



Of course, expressive eyes are nothing without good writing, and O'Malley has a great affinity for dialogue and characterization. Scott is funny and relatable because he's kind of naive, often surprised by the stuff going on around him (the character-related stuff, that is; he takes the fantastical fights and video game paraphernalia like save points in stride). I love the way he is amazed that one guy his friends know has a car. All the other characters bounce off Scott in fun ways; Stephen Stills and Kim Pine (his bandmates) kind of put up with him, acting aloof and overly cool. His roommate Wallace seems kind of protective, like an older brother. And Ramona is kind of withdrawn, but she really seems to care for Scott and enjoy being around him. They make a good couple, and it's fun to hang out with the gang:



O'Malley is also great with timing, especially the comic variety. Whether it's Scott going to work:



Or reacting to some good news:



It's all paced perfectly, and it reads really smoothly, adding to the enjoyable experience. And the dynamic comics "effects" he uses add a lot of punch to scenes like the one where Scott sees [SPOILER again! Highlight to read inviso-text, and click here for the image] Ramona talking to the girl who is trying to kill him [end spoiler], or when he runs to reunite with a special someone:



And don't forget the action! This volume is a bit lighter on the fights than the previous ones, but the ones that make the cut are awesome. Really, I could just open the book to a random page and find stuff worthy of pointing out; the entire thing is nonstop fun, just as Pilgrim fans expect. If you haven't read the series before, well, this isn't the place to start, but you should run out and get the first volume. You'll soon be hooked. If you're a longtime fan like me, this will not disappoint. Now if only O'Malley could get these things out more often than once a year...

The book comes out next week, on November 14, and it's supposedly slightly longer than previous volumes (216 pages) at the same price of $11.95. Get it!

Thanks to Oni Press for the review copy.

This week looks like a money-saver

In that there's not much that I expect to buy. But first, some news via Chris Butcher:



That's right, Scott Pilgrim volume 4 is finally coming out! Bryan Lee O'Malley says on his site that it's solicited this month for September. Awesome!
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Okay, on to:

New comics this week (Thursday, 5/31/07):

Note that stuff shows up on Thursday this week due to Memorial Day.

Punisher Presents Barracuda #4

I've been enjoying this series. I think it is going to end and set up Punisher #50, or some upcoming storyline. But it's been good and self-contained so far, and I hope it will stay that way. I'll probably end up getting the various Punisher MAX volumes eventually anyway.

Silent War #5

I haven't been reading this series, but I think I might have to get the collection just for Frazier Irving's art. The story might also be okay. After reading Gutsville #1 (review forthcoming), I'm really digging Irving. He's awesome.

Boys #7

Ah, this series returns, under a different publisher (Dynamite). I enjoyed the first six issues, although I recognize that they're not the best thing Ennis or Robertson have done. We'll see how it goes. I'll probably keep reading, unless it gets really bad, which I doubt will happen.

Boys vol. 1

And here's the collection of those first six issues, for those who haven't read it and want to. Like I said, it's not the greatest thing ever, but it's worth checking out if you're an Ennis fan.

Hellboy Darkness Calls #2

The first issue was good, and I'm on board for the rest of the miniseries. Not much else to say.

Shaolin Cowboy #7

Wow, it's always a surprise when a new issue of this series shows up. I love it, but it seems to be on the same schedule as All-Star Batman and Robin. I think the last issue ended with the Cowboy in the bowels of a giant lizard with a city on its back, about to fight a monster lady or something. And there was that cool bit where he cut a shark in half (lengthwise) with his chainsaw-ended bo staff. Who knows what will happen next; part of the best thing about this series is its unpredictability. I expect awesomeness, and I doubt Darrow will disappoint.

Shiny Beasts GN

This isn't on my shop's shipping list, but Midtown Comics lists it. I might have to special order it. Oh yeah, it's a collection of various Rick Veitch strips from the 80's that he did for Epic, I think. I've been anticipating it ever since I heard about it. Should be cool.
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And I think that's all. Hey, check back tonight for reviews of last week's comics, I think.

2006: Comics Are Cool

And thus begins the great roundup of the year 2006! I always enjoy these types of "year in review" articles, so now is my chance to do some of my own. I'll follow up with movies, and maybe some other categories later, but for now I'll focus on:

The Best Comics of the Year!

(In my opinion, anyway. Out of what I've read. And that I remember correctly. I'm always welcome to input, if anybody wants to add their own two cents in the comments.)

It seems the proper etiquette is to rank these things, and I like the "top ten" format, but I don't think I have ten items in each category, so I'll go with a top five, including any honorable mentions that I feel like adding. On with the show!

Best Miniseries:

This is an odd category, since other than the top two, all the series are currently unfinished. I want to give honorable mention to The Nightly News, which is only two issues into a six-issue series and could turn out to be great; Mouse Guard, which is a very enjoyable (and cute) series about some badass rodents; and The Other Side, which still has two issues to go and I like very much, but might end up unsatisfying. Oh yeah, The Next was also a lot of fun, with some great sci-fi concepts by writer Tad Williams. And Polly and the Pirates was a lot of fun, and really cute! UPDATE: I was reminded of Paul Pope's excellent Batman: Year 100. That one was awesome.

5. Agents of Atlas

I find myself reading fewer and fewer superhero comics these days, but if more of them were fun action romps like this, with aliens, gorillas, and robots, I could see myself changing.

4. Local

This series has a ways to go, and seems to be experiencing some delays, but it has been really good so far. Brian Wood and Ryan Kelley are really drawing me into the life of their protagonist, and the sense of location that they bring to each issue is great. I'm eagerly awaiting the Austin, TX issue, since that's where I used to live.

3. Dr. Strange: The Oath

Brian K. Vaughan is writing a great series here, with some excellent art by Marcos Martin. Vaughan is one of my favorite writers, and he's doing great stuff with Dr. Strange, a character that I find myself liking a lot lately, even though I haven't read many of his stories.

2. X-Statix Presents: Dead Girl

And speaking of Dr. Strange, he's the real star of this miniseries by the creators of the much-missed X-Statix, Peter Milligan and Mike Allred (with some help by Nick Dragotta). It was a really fun story about the nature of death and resurrection in the Marvel universe, and we got to catch up with the team as they suffer through the agony (and/or boredom) of hell. I'm glad to see Allred returning to his character Madman later this year; I hope Milligan can get out of the Marvel ghetto he's been in lately and start a new Vertigo series or something.

1. Seven Soldiers

I wondered how I should categorize this, but I think I'll have to include the whole megillah in one big, 30-issue (or so) miniseries. It's probably my favorite comics thing in the last few years, and it's been as much fun to discuss it on the Web with people as it has been to read it. Grant Morrison just seems to keep on rolling with the amazing writing. I hope he continues to write comics this good indefinitely. He sure seems to be on pace for it!

Best Ongoing Series:

Honorable Mentions:

I read Fables in trade paperback format, but each collection that I read seems to get better, so I have to recognize it as an ongoing series. Warren Ellis and Ben Templesmith's Fell seems to be coming out sporadically, but it had some very good issues this year. So did Ellis's Desolation Jones, which ended it's first brutal arc (illustrated by the great J.H. Williams III) and continued into a second (with art by Daniel Zezelj) after a hiatus. Godland, by Joe Casey and Tom Scioli, is a wonderful dose of Kirby-esque craziness, and Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane, by Sean McKeever and Takeshi Miyazawa, is a fun throwback to the "teen drama" era of Spider-Man, with a focus on teen life, with only occasional supervillain battles. Huh. I guess I could have managed a top ten for this category. Oh, well.

5. Runaways

Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona are about to wrap up their run on this series, and it has been a great one. This year had some incredibly good stories, including what might be my favorite comics moment of the year, when the Leapfrog consoles Molly about Gert. I hope the book maintains its quality once Joss Whedon starts writing it, because Vaughan has these characters down to a T.

4. Astonishing X-Men

Speaking of Joss Whedon, this series give me hope for the future of Runaways. He has really grasped the characters in this book very well, and he's writing some kick-ass stories about them! After the disappointing "Danger" storyline, the book took a hiatus, and then returned revitalized, giving us a feral Beast, a childish Wolverine, a gun-happy, goggle-less Cyclops, and a heartbroken Kitty Pryde. And that's not even mentioning the incredible art by John Cassaday. I would call this the comeback of the year.

3. DMZ

Brian Wood gives us another winner, illustrating the exploits of a reporter living in a war-torn New York City. It's an arresting comment on our country's current situation (and any war, anywhere, really), with really well-thought-out situations and characters. It's easy to ignore the problems of people living under the constant threat of death when they're half a world away, but what if they're in our own back yard, in a neighborhood we recognize?

2. All-Star Superman

Here's Grant Morrison again, actually making Superman interesting to me. Whether it's a superpowered Lois Lane making Superman fight off suitors, Jimmy Olsen becoming Doomsday to fight a crazed Superman, or Clark Kent interviewing Lex Luthor during a prison riot, Morrison is writing some wonderful stories. And Frank Quitely is ably illustrating them, doing things I didn't think were possible (see below).

1. Ex Machina

This has been my favorite series for the past couple years, and it didn't do anything to change that this year. Brian K. Vaughan is writing some really good stories about politics, and Tony Harris is doing wonders bringing them to life. This year saw the "March to War" and "Smoke Smoke" storylines (and a two-issue flashback miniseries), which continued to demonstrate this series's amazing mix of politics, superpowers, and personalities. I love Mitchell Hundred as a character, and Vaughan has built a great supporting cast to interact with him. I can't get enough of it.

Best New Series:

I actually could only come up with four items for this category, all of which could have contended for Best Ongoing Series.

4. Testament

I love reading Douglas Rushkoff's theories, and this series is a great examination of the Bible, it's history, and it's place in the world today. Plus, it's really fucking weird. Rushkoff is really experimenting what comics can do here, which is great to see in a series published by a mainstream company. We'll see how long it can last.

3. Jack of Fables

I thought about picking this up in trade format, like I do with Fables, but I guess I couldn't wait. Which is good, because this has been a really fun series so far. Jack is a fun character, and it's very enjoyable to see him interact with other characters on the periphery of the main series. I hope it just gets better as it continues.

2. Casanova

Matt Fraction seemed to come out of nowhere and start writing awesome comics this year, with Casanova leading the pack in all it's Morrison-esque craziness. It's been tons of fun, evoking wacky spy films and throwing so many crazy ideas out that the reader is nearly overwhelmed. Gabriel Ba has done a great job on the art, really bringing Fractions scripts to life with style. Definitely one of the best books out there right now.

1. Nextwave

I might not have considered this so highly if I didn't know it was about to be cancelled, but it probably deserves the spot anyway. I don't know if I've enjoyed any other series this year more. Warren Ellis has been turning his usual ideas and attitude up to eleven, and Stuart Immonen has capably risen to the near-impossible task of realizing them. And somehow it's not selling. Say it isn't so!

Best Graphic Novel:

Honorable Mention: Sloth (by Gilbert Hernandez), in all it's crazy, David Lynch-ian glory.

5. Can't Get No

Rick Veitch's surreal tale of 9/11 was very affecting, with some great imagery and thought-provoking symbolism. It's good to see Vertigo publishing this kind of thing (and Sloth, for that matter.

4. Five Fists of Science

Mark Twain teams up with Nikola Tesla to combat the Lovecraftian horrors summoned by J.P. Morgan and Thomas Edison! Matt Fraction strikes again, writing a highly enjoyable tale with lots of action, great dialogue, and a love story to boot!

3. Scott Pilgrim and the Infinite Sadness

I don't know if a new Scott Pilgrim book is going to come out annually now or what, but it will be treasured whenever it does. Bryan Lee O'Malley tells a great story of young love, peppered with kung fu fights, video game references, and rock and roll.

2. Fables: 1,001 Nights of Snowfall

This was an amazing collection of short stories that reveal the origins of several Fables characters, featuring beautiful art by the likes of John Bolton, Charles Vess, Brian Bolland, James Jean, and Jill Thompson, among others. It's probably best for readers of the regular series, but since that includes me, I really dug it.

1. Pride of Baghdad

Another one from the prolific and talented Brian K. Vaughan, with absolutely incredible art by Niko Henrichon. It's the true story of a group of lions that escaped the Baghdad zoo and wandered through the city during the American invasion in 2003. The story is symbolic of the real Iraqi situation, but also makes some good points about freedom, opression, and control, without being preachy or partisan. Really good stuff.

Best Artist:

Honorable Mention: James Jean is the best cover artist today, bar none.

5. Tony Harris

He brings a lot to Ex Machina, my favorite ongoing series, with his great renditions of facial expressions, not to mention the occasional superheroic violence.

4. John Cassaday

There are some REALLY good comics artists working right now, for Cassaday to be ranked this low. His work on Astonishing X-Men has been blowing me away, both with his quiet character moments and his balls-to-the-wall action scenes. I haven't been reading Planetary (I guess I'm waiting for the final collection), but I'm sure it's pretty good as well.

3. Stuart Immonen

As I mentioned above, his work on Nextwave is some of the best superhero art currently being published. I don't know if anybody else could pull off the over-the-top action scenes and character designs that he does. After Nextwave ends, he's taking over art duties on Ultimate Spider-Man, which I think is a big step down. Hopefully, he'll move on to something else soon.

2. J.H. Williams III

I think the last couple issues of Desolation Jones came out this year, and he contributed to one issue of Detective Comics, but even if the only comic Williams had done this year was Seven Soldiers #1, he'd still be a serious contender for the title. His art on that issue was beyond amazing, evoking the styles of all the artists on the various Seven Soldiers series while still retaining enough of his own style to be a feast for the eyes. I hope he continues to blow all our minds with his talent in 2007.

1. Frank Quitely

Quitely did something this year that I thought was impossible: he made me believe the Clark Kent disguise. In All-Star Superman #5, Superman spends the entire issue as Kent, and for the first time ever, in any medium, I believed that it would fool people. That's always been a joke about Superman, that people would have to be stupid to not recognize him just because he was wearing glasses. It's been something that people just have to ignore or accept, until now. The way Quitely draws it, everything about Clark Kent looks different from Superman, from the way he combs his hair, to his facial expressions, to his posture, even to how heavy he looks. Somehow, it becomes totally believable. That's how good an artist Quitely is. And that's not even mentioning his beautiful land(and space)scapes, his amazing action scenes, or the little details that he hides in his panels. He was truly the best comics artist this year.

Best Writer:

5. Joe Casey

Godland! Casey evokes the plots and dialogue of Kirby like no one else, but still retains a modern feel.

4. Brian Wood

I already raved about DMZ and Local above, so I'll just say Wood is fast becoming one of my favorite writers. Here's hoping he continues to shine.

3. Warren Ellis

Ellis was incredibly prolific this year, with Desolation Jones, Fell, Nextwave, Newuniversal, Blackgas, Planetary, and at least one issue of Wolfskin. Oh, and Ultimate Extinction. Did I miss anything? Did Ocean come out in 2006? What about Iron Man? Whatever he did, he shined, with his signature combination of hardassed tough guys, futuristic idealism, and technological fetishism, not to mention a skill for writing wild and crazy action. He's got a great run of quality going, and I hope it continues for some time to come.

2. Brian K. Vaughan

Vaughan seems to be the most-mentioned writer on the above lists of comics, and I didn't even include Y: The Last Man! I'm really digging pretty much everything he does right now, and I hope he keeps doing it for a long time to come. There's really only one man who could end up above him...

1. Grant Morrison

Morrison is the current genius-laureate of comics. It seems like he can't stop coming up with insane ideas. Like J.H. Williams, Seven Soldiers alone would probably have propelled him to the top of the list, but he wasn't content to rest on his laurels; instead he moved on to other things, like the amazing All-Star Superman, the Wildstorm relaunch (we'll have to see how that turns out), and a fun run on Batman. I'm sure he has more crazy ideas coming next year (here's hoping for Seaguy 2!).

Special Award for Excellence in Everything:

Chris Ware

Acme Novelty Library #17 was beautiful. I hope he starts cranking these out faster!
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And that wraps up the year in comics. I'm sure I could come up with more, if I kept thinking about it. There are a lot of indy comics and graphic novels that I either didn't get to or didn't include here. And I didn't even touch on the world of manga (mostly because I didn't read a whole lot of it this year). All said, this is a great time to be a comics fan, and it looks like it's only going to get better!