Pamphleteering: This selection apparently reflects my tastes

Here's what I brought home from the comic book store last week; it's about a month's worth of floppies, I think.

Atomic Robo: The Ghost of Station X #5 (of 5)
Written by Brian Clevinger
Art by Scott Wegener
Published by Red 5 Comics

Man oh man, what an end to a great arc of this ongoing series (which, in the style of Hellboy and BPRD, is delivered as a series of miniseries). Large-scale action that actually threatens the main character's life, with a mystery of ever-increasing scale slowly revealing itself in between moments of a global chase, culminating in the unveiling of a villain that connects perfectly with Robo's life, goals, and personality, making for a nigh-unstoppable threat that resonates beyond whether it can be blown up real good. With the century or so of time that the creative team has to work with, the range of stories that can be told is pretty great, typified by the jump from the last story's young, naive Robo to this one's confrontation of a huge threat challenging him at the height of his abilities and resources. Man, give me whatever these guys can dish out.
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Blue Estate #9
Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Robert Valley, Peter Nguyen, and Andy Kuhn
Published by Image Comics

I enjoy this noir story for the most part, with its goofy characters, occasional violence, and themes of Hollywood crime, but the most interesting aspect is probably the art, which shifts randomly, sometimes even within a single page, between each issue's contributors. Nathan Fox has been the highlight of the series, but he's not in this issue, so Toby Cypress is probably the star this month. One highlight is a moment in which a character's reaction to having a gun pulled on them is described like a car accident, and that's illustrated by a panel that ends up happening later in the issue when that character does get into a car crash. I don't know if I would recommend this series, since it's so idiosyncratic, but I usually have a pretty good time reading it. High praise?
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The Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred #2 (of 6)
Written by David Hine
Art by Shaky Kane
Published by Image Comics

Not sure what to say about this one. It's one of those bits where characters tell stories that might or might not be "true", apparently meant to be an example of the sort of story you might find in the comics described and sampled in the first volume of this series, with the hint that the various characters are all going to come together for some sort of metatextual crossover by the end of the series, perhaps to confront their creators or something. Whatever; I mostly just enjoy the crazy way that Shaky Kane depicts the weird (or sometimes just unfortunate) shit that happens to people, with the hairy monster of the last story being the highlight. Good times.
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Dark Horse Presents #9
By Mike Mignola & Joe Querio, Brian Wood & Kristian Donaldson, Paul Pope, Tony Puryear, Richard Corben, Rich Johnston & Simon Rohrmuller, Alan Gordon & Thomas Yeates, Steve Horton, Caitlin R. Kiernan & Steve Lieber, and M.J. Butler & Mark Wheatley
Published by Dark Horse Comics

Aside from the standard comment about anthologies being a mixed bag, I'm definitely digging this new incarnation of Dark Horse's house mag, which contains samplers of their best creators' work, along with other stuff that I'm guessing they thought was cool enough to print. There's no chapter of Neal Adams' batshit-crazy "Blood" this month, but I'm hoping that one comes back soon, since it's totally nuts. Howard Chaykin's "Marked Man" also ended, so it's mostly new or standalone stuff here. Mike Mignola has a Lobster Johnson short that's pretty cool, even if it ends kind of obviously. Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson's "The Massive" continues to be introduced; I'm guessing that the stories here are intros to the various characters in the regular series, which is coming later, right? I do like Donaldson's ultra-clean art, especially an eerie underwater moment in this chapter. Paul Pope is as awesome as you would expect with a story about Apollo 12, the second moon landing, full of distinctive lunar landscapes, that weirdly sketchy-yet-realistic machinery that he does so well, and the surprise appearance of a naked lady. Richard Corben adapts an Edgar Allen Poe story as well as you would expect; it's pretty great, with lots of horrified faces, desiccated corpses, tangled scenery, the usual. I like the beginning of Steve Horton's "Amala's Blade" too; it's a cool sci-fi/fantasy/pirate thing with some great designs and stylish art, plus what seems like a good female lead. Caitlin R. Kiernan and Steve Lieber's "Alabaster" is cool too, although I'm not sure if this is a character that has shown up anywhere before. I guess she's an albino monster-hunter that might or might not also be crazy? She sees a freaky four-faced angel at one point, and she also gets confronted by a werewolf lady. I'm not sure what's going on, probably by design, but I love Lieber's moody art.

On the other hand, I can't really figure out what's going on in Tony Puryear's "Concrete Park"; apparently, it takes place on another planet, and it follows various characters who live in a Los Angeles-like city of crime and gangs and whatnot. It jumps from character to character so much that I can't really follow it, and neither the art or the story are compelling enough to really want to do the work to keep up. Rich Johnston and Simon Rohrmuller's "The Many Murders of Miss Cranbourne" is all right, with a decent concept of a vigilante-killer old lady who presents herself with the air of an amateur detective, although this chapter focused on a policeman who falls for all her cover-ups, which isn't that interesting when we've already seen what really happened. The art is kind of generically cartoony too, not really expressive enough to be either humorous or deadpan. I'm fine with Alan Gordon and Thomas Yeates' "The Once and Future Tarzan", with its interesting concept of an immortal Tarzan living in a post-apocalyptic future, but it's been kind of staid and workmanlike so far, nothing to grab the reader and sell them on the coolness of the concept. And finally, M.J. Butler and Mark Wheatley's "Skultar" is a pretty dumb spoof of Conan and other barbarian-themed stories, but it does manage to hit on an amusing joke or two in each chapter. You have to get past the muddy art to see them though.

So yeah, good reading overall, and it will have to take a real dip in quality for me to even consider quitting. I suspect I'm there for the long haul.
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Haunt #21
Written by Joe Casey
Art by Nathan Fox
Published by Image Comics

I never expected to be reading this Todd McFarlane series about a ghost mashup of Spider-Man and Spawn, but when Joe Casey and Nathan Fox took over, I had to at least give it a try. And luckily, they appear to have jettisoned everything except the basic concept, which is about a couple of brothers (one of whom is a ghost) that can combine into some sort of ectoplasmic monster. I think they used to work for a spy agency or something, but Casey had that aspect of the book just disappear in his first issue, then killed off the living brother's love interest, instead having the character kidnapped by some sort of evil church and then rescued by a badass spy/mercenary who is like an ultra-competent version of Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski. It's been mostly non-stop action, which is pretty great stuff for Nathan Fox to handle, all ghost tentacles carving up bad guys left and right, lots of blood, gore, and intestines flying everywhere in the midst of mysterious architecture and crazy technology. There's also a bit of character development, as the ghost brother starts to get distanced from the living, caring less and less about morals and emotions and such, which makes for an interesting personal note in the midst of all the crazy action. I'm digging this, for now.
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Orc Stain #7
By James Stokoe
Published by Image Comics

Good god, do I love the crazy world James Stokoe has created here, full of weird creatures and cultures, random violence and destruction, bizarre structures, unique landscapes, and a sense that anything can happen, at least within the constraints that have been set up for the milieu. It's a nonstop barrage of mindblowing imagery, all the characters colored with inhuman tints and bristling with sickly pustules and gross scales, machines sprouting tentacles, everything up to and including rocks and mountains seemingly made of reptilian skin, characters getting smashed and sliced up with giant hammers, knives, and spiky hair (?), bright, yet somehow sickly, colors slathered all over the page, just a constant assault on the senses (well, the sense of sight at least, but the comic is so visceral, the mind imagines sounds, scents, and who knows what else). It's amazing, one of my very favorite comics of the moment. Damn.
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Prophet #22
Written by Brandon Graham
Art by Simon Roy
Published by Image Comics

Speaking of worldbuilding, Brandon Graham and Simon Roy are going nuts on their revival of this 90s series. I have no idea what the Rob Liefeld issues of this series were like, and I don't really have any desire to find out, unless I'm seized with morbid curiosity at some point; the world created here, a desolate future Earth populated by various aliens and monsters, covered with the wreckage of long-dead civilizations, is amazingly well-realized, and just watching the main character wander through it on his mostly-undefined mission is fascinating. I'm kind of blown away by the level of thought that has gone into the series, all the various creatures that interact with each other in the weird ecosystem and mix of cultures, most of them using gross biological technology that really emphasizes the utterly alien world. I can't wait to see where this goes, even if it continues to kind of freak me out.
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Rasl #13
By Jeff Smith
Published by Cartoon Books

I think this series is reaching some sort of endgame, a final confrontation between its universe-hopping protagonist and the evil government forces that exploited his inventions. I think we've finally been caught up on the details of the plot, which is nice, but the best part is probably the images of a town merged with several parallel universe counterparts, resulting in people and animals that are gross conglomerations of bodies sprouting multiple arms and heads, all screaming in hideous agony as they die miserable deaths. Fun! Jeff Smith can draw whatever he wants, and I'll read the hell out of it.
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The Sixth Gun #19
Written by Cullen Bunn
Art by Brian Hurtt
Published by Oni Press

This series has become one of my favorite current comics, but unfortunately, it's so consistently good that I don't know if I have much to say about it. I do like that Cullen Bunn continues to build the world as the series goes on, adding new elements with each arc, details slowly accumulating to create a rich mythology that includes mystical weapons, warring religious factions, demons, sorcerers, monsters, and all sorts of cool details that make the Old West setting come to life. It makes me trust that there's a plan for the whole series, and I can't wait to find out where it's going each month. Brian Hurtt on art definitely helps; he's a monster, filling out and solidifying all those details while maintaining a great sense of character and place, and lending an appropriately creepy, moody air when it's called for, which is most of the time. I love it, and I always want more when it's over.
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Spaceman #4 (of 9)
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Eduardo Risso
Published by DC Comics/Vertigo

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso are near-bulletproof for me after 100 Bullets, and they sure don't disappoint with this new Vertigo series, which is a completely different sort of thing, yet recognizably their work, full of that unique combined personality, all cryptic wordplay and encompassing atmosphere. The plot here, for those who don't know, follows a human-ape hybrid who was designed to work in space but has ended up scavenging the slums of a flooded earth as he ends up in possession of the kidnapped child of a celebrity couple. There are a bunch of twists and turns, and probably some secrets to be uncovered at inopportune times, but the most enjoyable part of the comic is getting to experience the future that Azzarello and Risso have created, trying to decipher the slang that everyone speaks in, marveling at the busted-up locales where the people survive and the believable technology that they use, enjoying the expressive characters and sudden, shocking violence. I expect nine issues is going to be too short of a time to spend in this fucked-up, all too possible future.
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Wasteland #34
Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Justin Greenwood
Published by Oni Press

Interest in this title may have been flagging around these parts due to the erratic schedule over the last year or so and the loss of artist Christopher Mitten, but things kind of snap back into place in this issue, with a revelation that brings many of the series' themes into focus, namely the emphasis on belief systems, the supernatural, creation stories, and religions. Suddenly, this isn't (necessarily) the sci-fi post-apocalyptic story that it appeared to be, but a sweeping history of mythological proportions. Huh, how about that? Color me reinvigorated.

Collection catchup: Vertigo plus one

Links: Have I pointed out Kevin Church's new projects? He's got a weekly strip called The Loneliest Astronauts with Ming Doyle, and it looks pretty damn enjoyable. And there's also what appears to be more of a serialized crime story called She Died in Terrebone: A Sam Kimimura Mystery, with art by TJ Kirsch. They both look quite good; that Church fellow is going places.

This Paul Pope strip of a scene from Dune is pretty nice-looking.

Hey, let's make this a regular thing (which probably dooms it to obscurity): short(er) takes on collections of ongoing series, what those in the publishing world (and, inexplicably, the comics community) call trade paperbacks. Go!

Fables, volume 12: The Dark Ages

Written by Bill Willingham

Art by Mark Buckingham, Mike Allred, and David Hahn

There were a couple possible ways to go with Fables after ending the long-running war plot, with the more difficult one seeming to be seeing how things work out in Fabletown and the Homelands after defeating the Empire. What would happen in all the liberated worlds, and how would the new leadership (such as it is) cope? Bill Willingham hints that this might be what is going on in the first issue of this collection, but then he immediately upsets the new status quo in a pretty surprising way, knocking the victorious Fables back on their heels and leaving them scrambling to not only survive against a new threat, but trying to figure out what has happened and who has done it to them. It's pretty canny storytelling, jumping back into the pattern of downtrodden heroes fighting a powerful enemy, but in a much different way than they had been before, and with a lot of new wrinkles to the setup. Yes, the title continues to be as gripping as ever, and I couldn't be happier, even with the tragedy that befalls the beloved characters here.

And that's the other thing that Willingham does: focus on characters, rather than just hitting plot points. The big event here (aside from the main plot developments, that is) has to be the worsening condition of Boy Blue; watching him slowly deteriorate while fighting his war injury until he looks like little more than a desiccated corpse is tough, and the moments he has with friends and loved ones are pretty great, especially his eye-opening confrontation with Rose Red, who also looks to be growing into a major character who is full of fascinating flaws. But even the little stuff is neat to see here, like Fables who were born after the evacuation to the mundane world wanting to gain a birthright by taking over some of the newly-freed worlds, or the way the animal Fables bristle at the way they get brushed aside from being included in big decisions. And the new bad guy, the ominous Mr. Dark, is one hell of a creepy fellow; I'm very interested to spend more time with him.

On the art front, Mark Buckingham is as good as ever, filling pages with tons of gorgeous detail that combines a realistic setting with fantastical characters and still seems like something out of a storybook. His art definitely fits the title of the arc, as it gets increasingly dark over the course of the story, using some interesting toning patterns and lots of inky shadows. Mike Allred also turns in some nice guest art on that aforementioned filler issue, which sees Pinocchio giving Gepetto, the deposed Emperor, a tour of Fabletown while dodging the various angry protesters, shopkeepers who refuse him service, and people who march up to give him a piece of their minds. I'm especially struck by Allred's depiction of Pinocchio as an innocent-seeming, dot-eyed young boy, which stands in contrast to Buckingham's usual cynical-faced miniature adult.

Yes, it's another good volume, and I'm as excited as ever to get to the next one. Interestingly, there is a bit of metafictional exploration here, as characters wonder about the power that mundane storytelling has over them. It hints at the contents of the next arc, "The Great Fables Crossover", which sees Jack of Fables, which usually goes much further in that metafictional direction, and a miniseries about an even more metafictional type of Fable, The Literals, meet up with the main title. I have no idea where it's going, but I can't wait to find out.

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Unknown Soldier, volume 1: Haunted House

Written by Joshua Dysart

Art by Alberto Ponticelli

This is one hell of an intense book, and not in a good way. That is, it's full of action and violence, but it's the type of thing that happens in the real world, and it's stomach-turning in its (only slightly exaggerated, I imagine) nastiness. Joshua Dysart famously made a research trip to Uganda to gather material for the story, and it shows, with lots of details that come straight from real life, and a sense of moral outrage at the awful way people can treat each other (both face-to-face and through willful ignorance and unseen advantage-taking). It's the kind of thing that's designed to make one angry at the inhumane acts being perpetrated on people, and mind-boggling to consider that it's only focusing on a small portion of the violence and horror that's going on in the world.

But all that detail is in service to an interesting story about a heroic African-American doctor who has pledged his life in service to the downtrodden refugees (or "internally displaced persons", to use a less headline-grabbing term that keeps them off the world's radar) of northern Uganda, along with his loving and equally-medically-talented wife. But the anger he feels at what he sees seems to be welling up inside of him, assisted by horrifically violent dreams, and one day he snaps after being caught in a standoff with a rebel soldier, with a strange, ominous internal voice urging him to commit his own acts of violence. He complies all too easily, sending him into what seems to be madness, and he ends up taking up a one-man war against the people who would casually rape and murder innocents, sporting the telltale bandaged face of the long-time war-comics character after he mutilates himself in despair at his actions.

There are hints at a story there about how he gained such deadly prowess with weapons and strategy, something about CIA brainwashing, but it's not really necessary; the real focus here is on the actions that spur him to take up arms, including the recruitment of children as soldiers, the rape and kidnapping of girls, and the casual murder of civilians just because they are in the way. There's some gut-wrenching stuff here, and its understandable to see the character want to painfully murder the perpetrators, but the actions he takes are just as horrible. And pointedly, they seem to make matters worse. He does his best to make things right, to stop those who are laying waste to the people and destroying lives left and right, but in doing so, he murders children himself, and only spurs them to retaliate in ever-more-awful fashion. Before his "conversion", he gives a speech about how violence only begets violence, and he just proves it later, turning into more and more of a monster and taking good people like his wife down with him. That seems to be the real message here, that peace needs to be achieved through something other than killing, and Dysart is doing his best to show why that is, and making sure we know it's not just artful speculation, but a very real issue that is killing more and more people each day.

Italian artist Alberto Ponticelli provides the art here, and it's often quite gorgeous, capturing the landscape really well and filling plenty of pages with the dirty details of medical camps and battlefields. The people, on the other hand, can sometimes be awkward, and maybe even a bit cartoony, but his exaggeration really brings out the lost innocence of the child soldiers, as their big heads, spindly limbs, and extreme difference in size from the adults really make them seem tiny and frail, especially when they are carrying huge guns that they seem barely able to lift. Some of the action is a bit hard to follow at times, but the gist is always clear; we understand who is being gutted and decapitated, or just shot, and even when it's a rah-rah action movie moment, there's a real feeling of disgust at what we see. Maybe a more "realistic" artist would have been more appropriate, but Ponticelli still does a good job of filling in all the nasty details, and he makes some of the more surreal touches and dream sequences really work. And who knows, maybe he'll get even better as the series goes on. That's something to hope for.

Ultimately, one wonders why Dysart chose to tell this story in this way. If you're going to do such extensive, dangerous research, why make an action story starring a version of a long-lived

war comics character? But maybe flying something like this under the radar as if it was just another bit of Vertigo violence is sort of the point. I suppose something like Joe Sacco's journalistic comics would have been more "acceptable", but maybe a release from a mainstream publisher will attract the attention of those who don't normally read about what's going on outside of their lives of Western comfort. Those of us who stick to what's comfortable occasionally need something to jolt us out of our complacence and realize the reality lurking beneath our entertainments, and maybe this will be enough to get us off our seats and actually do something, anything, to help make the world a better place. Sure, it might be kind of far-fetched, but it's a nice idea. Maybe Dysart can actually do something to help it happen.

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Wasteland, volume 4: Dog Tribe and Wasteland #25

Written by Antony Johnston

Art by Christopher Mitten

By this point, you're probably either on board this post-apocalyptic series or not, but it's still a comic worth discussing, considering the thought and work that Antony Johnston has put into the world-building here. It's much more than just a dusty adventure story; Johnston has crafted several different cultural traditions (so far), and much of the interest comes in seeing them crash together in different ways. And it's fascinating to watch, whether you're trying to understand the nuances of the slang that the people use or the different relationships between people. There's a continuing plot featuring some well-drawn characters and a lot of action and intrigue, but seeing the world they move through continue to be defined is the big treat for me.

The fourth volume sees some continuing development on that front, as Michael and Abi, on their quest to find the fabled A-Ree-Yass-I, almost immediately stumble across and get captured by a couple of "dog tribes" of people who live in close association with packs of dogs that have become much more than just pets. The main characters kind of just sit in the background while an intense drama plays out around them, involving a conflict between the tribes that is now being resolved via a marriage between the chiefs' families. It's another example of the way Johnston defines these characters and cultures so well; we get involved in their conflict very quickly, although we don't necessarily understand what they're talking about or the way they relate to each other right away; flashbacks work to get us caught up in the tragic story.

It's very effective work, with the alien society really coming to life. Johnston does a lot of the work, but Christopher Mitten's art is what really sells it, from the vaguely African tribal fashions of the people to the way they interact with their dogs, and the deference that lower-ranking people show to the chiefs is palpable. It's gorgeous work as always, in Mitten's signature scratchy style that hides a surprising amount of detail.

And then in the twenty-fifth issue of the series, Johnston and Mitten give us one of the regular interstitial stories that doesn't directly affect the main narrative, this time being a flashback to an encounter between Michael and the nomadic trader Sultan Ameer, explaining some of the animosity that we've seen. It's a nice little story, mostly focusing on one of Ameer's wives as she tries to visit her family, who she hasn't seen since she was forced to leave them as a teenager. It's sad stuff, effectively told as always. And the big highlight is Mitten's art, which for this special occasion is in full, painted color, looking quite beautiful, with lots of deep blues and purples and searingly bright oranges. Hopefully this won't just be a one-time treat.

I don't know if the series is still gaining any readers, but hopefully if anybody hasn't kept up with it, they'll give it a second look, because as the series progresses, the creative team's talent for crafting a fascinating world for their tale to play out in becomes more and more apparent. I hope they'll be able to continue to wow readers for as long as they need to finish telling their tale.

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DMZ, volume 7: War Powers

Written by Brian Wood

Art by Ricardo Burchielli, Kristian Donaldson, and Nikki Cook

It seems like the intensity never lets up in this series, but it's morphed into intensity of a different type in these later volumes, going from characters trying to survive in a war zone to protagonist Matty Roth trying to navigate the complex world of politics, barely able to understand the forces pulling him in different directions, with dire results not just for himself but for all of Manhattan if he makes the wrong decision. It's hard to watch, and while we can sympathize with his plight, he still seems to be letting others push him around and manipulate him too easily. He does finally take some steps to remedy that trend, but even that seems to be a selfish act, rather than the "right" one. But that shows him to be realistic, acting as a normal person would, which isn't always likable.

The title story of the volume is sort of the main event here, but the volume starts with a two-parter in which Matty travels to a U.S. Army base on Staten Island, where he finds a sort of bacchanal in which the base commander negotiated an unauthorized truce with the rebel army to facilitate some mutual partying. It resembles Rick Veitch's Army@Love, although toned down quite a bit, and with less of a satirical intent. But it's the kind of thing that one can see happening in a war zone, especially when the enemy shares your own culture and values. And when it all inevitably falls apart, it's as hard to watch as anything else in the series, considering that it all seems like it's taking place in the real world, in an alternate universe where these kids are next door rather than on the other side of the world.

And then the main event starts, as Parco Delgado takes power as the provisional governor of the DMZ, immediately making some controversial moves, declaring the region to be a sovereign nation and kicking out both combating armies and severing all military contracts, especially any involving the Blackwater-esque Trustwell Corporation. This leads to plenty of chaos, and Matty is kind of left in the lurch, with nobody telling him what's going on. It turns out that he's an important part of Parco's plans, since he has contacts to Wilson, the Chinese gangster who might have a source of funds for the administration. And after securing those funds, Matty finds that Parco's got a lot of plans that don't necessarily seem to line up with his idealistic campaign promises, and at least one action that seems reprehensible in its "ends justify the means" cynicalness. It's hard to watch, as Matty's dreams of peace seem to get further and further away, but as with everything else in the series, it seems all too real, the stuff of real-world backroom deals and compromises in morality to achieve political goals. And the thing is, Delgado is enough of a charismatic talker that you almost believe him when he explains his actions. And who knows, it might all work out for the best, but given the real-world-imitating nature of this series, that certainly seems unlikely.

The volume wraps up with a single-issue story that follows Matty's (ex-?)girlfriend Zee, who left him and went off on her own into the unpoliced, dangerous area of the city after getting disgusted with the compromises that he was making. But even she can't escape the tough decisions, as she ends up forced to choose between helping out a wounded mercenary or letting her die. She's dragged right back into the conflict, or at least its periphery, as is her nature. As much as she might protest, she's in this for the long haul, like everybody else.

Yes, the quality of this series keeps going at the same level, and it's admirable that Wood is continuing to develop the conflict in new directions, and not take any easy shortcuts. If you can handle the depressing levels of violence and the despair that comes from realizing that the real world is just like this (or worse), the series continues to be required reading. I'm confident that Wood can continue to keep it up, and I only hope I can do the same.

Pamphleteering

Here are some recently-read pamphlet-format comics; I seem to mostly talk about collections or graphic novels these days, so how about something different?  Thanks to Oni Press for sending them my way.  And now, from worst to best:

Uncle Slam Fights Back

Written by Ande Parks

Art by T.J. Kirsch

It might just be because this book seems irrelevant after November 4, but reading it was a chore, even though I do generally agree with the writer Ande Parks' politics.  This is meant to be satire, with the titular Captain America-esque superhero going senile and supporting the Republican right, prompting his sidekicks, a robotic dalmation named Fire Dog and a sexy FBI agent, to try to snap him out of it by taking him to the Republican National Convention.  Cue lots of "jokes" about the country going to hell; people being blinded by fear; rampant, mindless patriotism; John McCain being really old; and the manipulative jingoism and faux-religiosity of the right wing.  A lot of this definitely comes out of anger toward the people perpetrating this kind of divisiveness on the country, but while I respect that feeling, it comes off here as just as hateful as the those Parks is condemning.  At the end of the day, all that has been accomplished is Uncle Slam has regained his mental faculties, through the process of beating the snot out of those he disagrees with.  That seems like an enjoyable exercise, and it was probably pretty cathartic for the creators, but you know what's even better?  Uniting the country and electing a candidate who can change things and bring an end to this sort of obnoxious fearmongering.

So, I dunno, maybe if I had read this when the Republican convention was going on, I might have enjoyed it, but after several more months of ugly campaigning and a victory for good, this book ends up being out of date and kind of sad.  Maybe if it was actually funnier (it's mostly just angry) it would be an interesting time capsule or something.  And I don't want to complain about the art, because it generally accomplishes its goal of rendering the action in an expressive, cartoony manner, but there are times when it's hard to follow what's going on, especially in the opening flashback.  Overall, it's not worth reading.

Stephen Colbert's Tek Jansen #3 (of 5)

Written by John Layman, Tom Peyer, and Jim Massey

Art by Robbi Rodriguez

Well, this series has either suffered some unfortunate delays and setbacks, or wasn't really all that well-conceived in the first place.  While the series was already on a pretty slow schedule, the TV writers' strike certainly didn't help it; with the myriad delays, the last few issues are showing up well after The Colbert Report abandoned the joke.  Even fans of the show probably aren't going to be too interested in seeking out the series.  

That might not be an issue if the series was really funny and enjoyable, but something was lost in the transition between TV and comics.  While the original animated shorts mined humor out of throwing a lot of silliness on the screen for a couple minutes at a time, the comic isn't paced nearly as well and ends up being fairly boring and unfunny.  The loss of Colbert's voice acting (and the proximity to his on-screen image) hurts; while he brings his own arrogant persona to the cartoon, the character in the comic comes off as an obnoxious idiot.  It just doesn't really work, maybe because it's trying to tell an episodic serialized story about an alien invasion that Tek must fight rather than a short one-off involving some goofy alien encounter or something.  Of course, the Jim Massey-written backup story tries to do exactly that, but other than some humor involving Tek's nudity, it doesn't pack enough jokes into its length to capture the energy of the source material.

Robbi Rodriguez's art does a pretty good job of detailing the strange alien world of the series, but he doesn't quite make it as funny as it could be.  His Tek is more of a dumb-but-capable action hero, rather than an inept doofus.  He does manage to fit in some funny sight gags, like Tek disguising himself to look like the many-eyed bad guys by drawing a bunch of circles on his face, but the story would benefit from a lot more in the way of funny details worked into the corners of the drawings, Mad Magazine-style.  Darwyn Cooke's cover does a much better job of capturing the humor of the concept, but there was probably no way he was going to illustrate the whole series.

It's too bad; I like Massey and Rodriguez's Maintenance quite a bit, but this just doesn't really measure up to either that series or the original Colbert TV show.  It's something I want to like, but secondhand affection for the man whose name in the title isn't enough.

Wasteland #20

Written by Antony Johnston

Art by Christopher Mitten and Chuck BB

I greatly enjoy this post-apocalyptic series, so it's no surprise that this issue would get a thumbs-up from me.  But it's notable for being one of those one-shot issues that falls between story arcs.  These don't get included in the trade collections, so you have to pick up the issue if you want to read the entirety of the series.  And while this one isn't necessarily essential, it's one of those that does a good job of filling in the details around the edges of the main story.

The story here (which is illustrated by regular artist Christopher Mitten, which is a first for one of these one-offs) sees some kids in the city of Newbegin hear a street storyteller tell the tale of the founding of the city by Marcus, a villain in the main story of the series.  The kids don't really believe him though, and they offer their own versions of the story to each other, each believing theirs is what actually happened.  It's a nice look at the way legends grow over time and when developed by somewhat isolated societies (one of the versions came from somebody in a traveling caravan).  And while the "official" version from the storyteller is very mythic and sanitized, the other ones reflect their tellers, with a young boy spinning a story of violence and conquest, and the caravan-originating story reflecting mistrust of the powerful.  It's very interesting stuff, and who knows which one comes closest to the "truth".

But most interestingly, the stories themselves are presented as pages from a storybook, with text on one page and an illustration on the facing page.  Chuck BB, of Black Metal fame, provides these illustrations, which adds to their storybook quality, since his style is so different from Mitten's.  It's a striking contrast to the regular look of the series, and it definitely makes the tales seem more like legends than something that actually happened.  I especially liked this illustration:

That sword is gigantic!  It's a good issue, and I'm quite psyched for the next story arc.  Also of not here is the text piece at the back; it discusses dog tribes, which look to be featured in that upcoming arc.  So that's another reason to pick it up.  I do really dig this series.  Check it out if you haven't before.

The Damned: Prodigal Sons #3 (of 3)

Written by Cullen Bunn

Art by Brain Hurtt

I'm on the record as loving the original miniseries to which this is a sequel (here are some of my reviews of the individual issues), so it's not too surprising that I would really like this follow-up as well.  It's a shorter story (with another three-issue series slated to follow soon), but it definitely packs a punch, introducing Eddie's brother Morgan and setting up dual storylines, with Eddie exploring the land of the dead while Morgan tries to keep some demon gangsters from destroying Eddie's body so he can't come back to life.  This leads to some crazy scenes in which Eddie's corpse gets pummeled and shot in a grotesquely humorous manner, along with some real menace from the demons and creepiness from the ghouls that haunt the afterlife.  There are some mysteries that continue to deepen, as Eddie learns about the curse that his father brought upon the family and the extent to which he is tangled up in demonic rivalries.  It's excellently done, as always, with some exquisite artwork by Brian Hurtt.  I really can't recommend this series enough; it's got a great combination of nice writing, excellent art, and compelling plot.  I can't wait to see where it goes next.

Also of note is this post by Cullen Bunn, in which he talks about the process of adopting a child and how that affects his writing of the series.  Interesting stuff. (hat tip: Scott Cederlund).

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And that's everything for today.  More content tomorrow!

Real: Takehiko Inoue shows off his arm strength

Talk about good manga below, but first, I gotta point everybody to the Umbrella Academy story that's up on this month's MySpace Dark Horse Presents. When's the next miniseries coming out, dammit? Also in this "issue": A goofy story written by Zack Whedon (Joss's brother) and illustrated by Eric Canete that ties in with (Joss) Whedon's upcoming web-musical starring Neil Patrick Harris and Nathan Fillion, a weird insect-western by John Arcudi and Steve Young, and a short one by Tara McPherson. Good times.

Also, I completely missed this when I was talking to Christopher Mitten at Wizard World, but check out the back cover of the issue of Wasteland that just came out:



Yeah, that's right, I got blurbed! Sweet! I wish it didn't make me sound so monosyllabic (and unoriginal, considering the celebratory interjection I just chose to use), but I'll take it. And I've also got a review of said issue up at Comics Bulletin.

Okay, on to business:

Real, volume 1
By Takehiko Inoue



Takehiko Inoue starts out the Real with an excellent scene that instantly defines its central character and ensures that you'll (probably) want to keep reading about him. Tomomi Nomiya, a recent high school dropout who used to be the captain of the basketball team, makes a visit to his former school to say goodbye to the place. In short order, he confesses a crush to a girl, play-kicks the new team captain (in a way that is obviously joking but still hard enough that you can tell he really does feel like hurting the guy), bequeaths his basketball shoes to a couple friends, and then strips naked and leaves, stopping to take a shit in the entrance gate on his way out:



It's funny stuff, but still pretty tense and kind of disturbing; the kid is obviously a troublemaker, but he must have had some sort of drive to be the captain of the team. What happened to make him give up and quit school? We get a hint of an answer when one of his friends mentions a motorcycle accident, and we learn more about said accident when Nomiya visits the hospital to spend time with a girl named Natsumi, who we learn was rendered crippled and near-comatose while riding on his bike, while he barely suffered a scratch. In a hint of the good-heartedness that he keeps hidden under a tough exterior, Nomiya has pledged to take care of her, even though he doesn't really even know her; he just happened to pick her up and give her a ride before almost getting her killed. He feels responsible, so he tries to visit and cheer her up, even though her sister doesn't approve.

It's a nice establishment of character in a quick, entertaining few pages. Though Nomiya acts all tough and full of braggadocio, he's got a heart of gold underneath. He just needs to mature a little bit. And what could make him mature? Why, the hard work and dedication required to excel at basketball, of course! Unfortunately, there don't appear to be any public basketball courts in Japan (a foreign concept to Americans, since we're used to blacktop courts in every playground, or a hoop set up in our house's driveway), so he seems to be out of luck. That is, until he runs into Kiyoharu Togawa, an athlete who lost a leg to bone cancer but didn't let that stop him from continuing to play basketball, even if he's relegated to a wheelchair. While the two of them are antagonistic toward each other at first, they soon realize that they have a lot in common, especially since Togawa quit his wheelchair basketball team after punching a teammate who wasn't sufficiently victory-minded. They share a desire to play basketball, but lack the resources to do anything about it.

After a couple of Nomiya's friends from school start to get picked on by the new team captain, he recruits Togawa to confront them and settle things, on the basketball court, of course. After that, the two of them start playing games for money with rich kids, teaming up to school them and build a good bankroll. At the same time, Hisanobu Takahashi, the new captain of Nomiya's old team, gets into a bicycle accident and loses the use of his legs, so he is poised to join the world of wheeled athletics. It's all a good introduction to the characters, a deepening of their relationships, and a good setup for plenty of interesting plots to come.

Inoue really demonstrates that he is a master of the comics form here, quickly establishing characters and situations and setting up conflicts and alliances between characters. It's a pleasure to watch as he throws them together and lets them bounce off each other. The characters are so expressive, both in facial movement and body language:



I love the way Nomiya wears such a sad-sack expression all the time, and while he's fairly big, he carries himself kind of slumped over, like he's trying to look smaller. But when he's on the court, he gets such confidence that he acts like nobody can stop him. Togawa is similar, dedicated to doing his best and acting stoic, not letting anybody get close. And then there's the sports action, which Inoue knocks out of the park (to use a metaphor from a different game entirely). As anybody who has seen his artwork knows, he's amazing at depicting movement, really adding a visceral excitement to the on-court action:



But the other thing he does so well is depict the pure joy that comes from athletic activity, as in this scene from Nomiya and Togawa's first meeting and pick-up game, when Togawa actually (almost) jumps his wheelchair over a broom that has fallen onto the court when chasing after a loose ball:



That aura of pleasure and excitement that arises when playing the sport is probably as responsible for Nomiya and Togawa forming a connection as anything else, and Inoue conveys it perfectly, without having to resort to monologues about how much they love basketball, or how it makes them feel better than anything else, or something like that. It's wonderful, true-to-life stuff, and since it's such a relatable feeling, it draws the reader right into the story.

So where is the series going next? Togawa seems dedicated to bettering himself and playing with a wheelchair basketball team. Takahashi will certainly become entangled in matters now that he is crippled. But how will Nomiya remain involved? As a fully-mobile person, will he have to live out his fantasies of competition through his friends? Will he remain forever relegated to pick-up games for quick cash? Will he ever make a connection with Natsumi? I can't wait to read future volumes of the series and find out.

This review was based on a complimentary copy provided by the publisher. The book is due in stores on July 15.

Wasteland and Wormwood: Weirdness comes in different forms

Holy cow, two reviews in one post? Lets see if that actually happens. But first, a quick blurb about a dumb movie:

I watched that silly Korean movie Dragon Wars, and it was terrible. But also pretty enjoyable. For one, the plot made very little sense and mostly consisted of the wooden leads (who are two of the least charismatic actors I've ever seen) being repeatedly chased by a giant snake/dragon. There are some fun bits though, especially when an army of dragons and other beasts attack Los Angeles and have a war with the military, leading to scenes of dragon/helicopter dogfights in between skyscrapers. And the climax, in which a good dragon and an evil dragon have a big wrestling match in the middle of the desert is also enjoyable, just because it's so stupid. But the best part is probably Robert Forster's turn as a reincarnated kung fu master who keeps morphing into other people and showing up out of nowhere to save the day (or deliver exposition). All in all, it was a stupid, ridiculous, enjoyably awful movie. Check it out, if that seems like your kind of thing.

Or go watch Cloverfield. That one's much better. I won't go into details (since I'm sure you've heard all about it already), but it was really good. And not in an good-bad way either; it was excellent. See that one, if you have to choose between these two.

Okay, on to the real post:

Wasteland, Book 02: Shades of God
Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Christopher Mitten



So here's my dilemma with this series: it's quite good, but I don't know if I want to keep reading trades or start buying it on a monthly basis. I already have to buy single issues here and there, since the standalone stories that go in between story arcs aren't being collected in the trade paperbacks, and there's "backmatter" material in each issue that's not being collected either. And the other problem is, the long wait between trades makes it harder to get up to speed on the story; it took me couple chapters into this second collection before I was able to recall who all the characters were and what their status was. So I'm thinking I might want to switch to getting the monthly issues. Also, the story is exciting, and I don't want to have to wait too long to keep reading it.

But that's just pointless decisions about my reading habits, so I should emphasize that this series has gotten quite good. I think I gave the first volume a "modest recommendation", but that has morphed into a wholehearted "Read this!" now that I've read more of the story. Antony Johnston has really laid the groundwork and figured out an entire world of different cultures, races, and religions in this futuristic, um, land of waste. It takes some attention to try to keep it all straight, but it's totally worth the effort. Once I got back up to speed on who everyone was, I was quite immersed in the various political moves, betrayals, escapes, power plays, and fights that go on here. And that's not to forget the slow revelation of the book's backstory, in which we get a glimpse of how this wasted land came to be. Maybe; I'm sure there will be many twists in store.

So the story here is that the group of sun-worshipers ("sunners") from the first volume have been enslaved in the city of Newbegin by the ruling faction of the city, who worship their leader, Marcus. But Michael, the "ruin-runner" who alternately helped and aggravated the sunners in the first volume, shows up to help out, and he manages to mess with Marcus's head and foment a slave rebellion while escaping with heroine Abi to set off on a journey for the fabled land of A-Ree-Yass-I. There's also the small matter of an attack on the city by a huge mass of the nasty, monstrous "sand-eaters". It's exciting stuff, with plenty of twists and turns; I have no idea where the story is going to go from here.

Christopher Mitten does a great job of bringing the old, dirty world to life, and although there are occasionally some action sequences that are somewhat hard to follow (for me at least), he rarely slips up, providing some incredibly exciting sequences:



The gore certainly doesn't hurt. And I also love the way everything looks so ancient and dilapidated. This aspect really stands out during a "flashback" sequence to before whatever cataclysmic event caused the land to be so wasted:



The straight, clean lines really stand out against the usual dirty look of the art.

Also of note are the occasional flashbacks that show us Abi's backstory, letting us know how she came to be Jakob's "mother" and join the village she lived in. It's interesting stuff, and lets us know more about who she is. Now we just need to see more about the pasts of Michael and Marcus; I'm sure Johnston has many neat revelations in store.

So yeah, I'm all over this book now; this volume has converted me from an interested reader to a big fan; I'll be switching to monthly readership and following it closely, working up theories as to what is going on and everything. Well done, Johnston and Mitten!

One more note: I picked up the seventh issue a few months ago, since it was supposed to be a standalone story that wouldn't be collected. After reading this second volume, I recommend that any other trade-waiters also search that issue out; it introduces some characters and conflicts that turn out to be pretty important to the volume's story. Even if Johnston says it's not necessary, I think it is. Just saying.
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Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse, volume 1: Birds, Bees, Blood, and Beer
By Ben Templesmith



Man, Ben Templesmith is a strange fellow. But I mean that in a good way; it's what makes it possible for him to turn out highly entertaining comics like this one. I don't know where else I would be able to read dementedly violent tales of tentacled demons, worm-steered corpses, bearded robots, magically-tattooed strippers, or demonic pregnancy-causing male enhancement medications. So long live Templesmith and his psychotic imagination!

The story here centers on the titular character, a demonic worm that lives in the eye socket of a corpse, controlling its movements. He is joined by his robotic buddy Pendulum, an ex-stripper bodyguard, and a ghostly detective, and they all end up on cases where they fight demons and such. That's pretty much all you need to know; the pleasure is in the execution, seeing Templesmith come up with crazy visuals and funny dialogue.

And he sure delivers on those counts. Nobody makes art like Templesmith; I love the way he overlays sketchy-lined characters on top of vividly-colored backgrounds. This is especially effective here, when those backgrounds and splashes of color are usually dirty interiors that often get soaked in blood:



I shouldn't make it sound like the characters are just hastily tossed-off though; Templesmith actually does a fine job of detailing their features, and I love the coloring work that goes into them, adding some real weight and texture:



And then there are the freaky monsters, which usually sport plenty of slimy tentacles. Templesmith really brings them to light, making them look horrific and nasty:



He also usually has Wormwood react to them with joking nonchalance, which really adds to the humor of the proceedings. It makes for a really fun read. And so does the action; I love the way Wormwood's body, being already dead, can get regularly mutilated:



And the sarcastic way Templesmith depicts shootouts had me cracking up:



It's the "etc..." that really gets me, but I think the hand-scrawled sound effects are also quite effective, adding to the down and dirty nature of the stories.

So yeah, I don't have any deep insight here, and this isn't a masterpiece for the ages or anything, but it's a hell of a fun read, especially if you dig Templesmith's artwork. I can't wait to read more of this stuff; keep it coming, Ben!

Wasteland: What a waste

That title makes it sound like I'm saying this book is a waste, which it's not. Oh well. On with the show:

Wasteland volume 1
Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Christopher Mitten



I'm having trouble thinking of good stuff to say about this one. I read the first two issues of the series when they initially came out, and while I didn't exactly dislike them, they didn't "grab" me enough to make me feel like spending my money on a monthly basis. Well, now that I've read the collection of the first six issues, I think I like the series a little better, but I'm still not sure if I'll read the second collection or not. I do think it reads better as a whole, and I probably would have had a little trouble keeping up with the characters from month to month.

Anyway, it's a post-apocalyptic thing, which we're told takes place 100 years after "The Big Wet". The land appears to be desert now, and all the cities are in ruins. We're introduced to our characters, who are divided into two groups: a band of villagers who are traveling to a larger city, and the power structure of said city, which seems to be somewhat corrupt (that's an understatement). There's also a character who is a bit of a wild card. His name is Michael, and he is a wanderer, going it alone in the desert. He ends up wandering into the town of Providence, inadvertently bringing some (cannibalistic?) mutants called sandeaters after him. In the ensuing battle, the village is burned down, forcing the villagers, led by the sheriff Abi, to make a trek across the desert to the city of Newbegin.

Meanwhile, we see the political machinations of the leaders of that city, especially the Lord Founder, a blind religious leader (and de facto head of the society) who hates the Sunners, a competing religious sect that worships the sun. Most of the slaves in the city are Sunners, and he is worried that they will revolt (or maybe he's just unhappy that he is not the object of their adoration), so he makes moves to suppress them. Of course, the refugees making their way to Newbegin are also Sunners, so you know that will lead to trouble when they get there.

Over the course of the book, the refugees deal with plenty of hardships, including slave traders, wulves, and more mutants (these ones are called Dwellers and live in the ruins of the skyscrapers that made up the old cities). They only just make it to Newbegin at the end of the book, so the religious conflicts will have to wait until the next volume for a resolution.

It's a pretty interesting world that Johnston has built (is building?) here, with lots of details about religion, customs, and language. We get some hints of future plots when we hear of the legend of a "promised land" called A-Ree-Yass-I, and see that both Abi and Michael seem to have psychic abilities (healing and telekinesis, respectively). It should be interesting to see where the story goes in the future.

Christopher Mitten's art suits the story very well, whether depicting character moments:



Or action scenes:



I like the blur effect he uses at times on items or characters in the foreground. It's very cinematic. He also pulls off a neat effect in a scene where the villagers' holy man tells the legend behind the current state of the world. It seems to be done with layers of paint:



It looks really cool in black and white. He also uses this "painted" look at times to give texture to backgrounds like rocks and sand. It's very nice.

Well, I think I convinced myself to keep reading this series, whether by catching up on the issues or by getting the next collection. One thing to mention is that the single issues contain some text pieces and other extras giving some background on the world. These are not included in the collection; I read some comments by Antony Johnston saying that it was a way of rewarding readers for not "waiting for the trade". The latest issue that has been published is #8, so it would be easy to catch up the the issues after reading this volume. Whatever the case, it's a pretty good series; I'll give it a modest recommendation.

Thanks to Oni Press for the review copy.