The Pickytarian

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February 09, 2005

Subway Reading: Small Gods

Trickle of Consciousness disagreed with my positive assessment of Hard Time. I can't say that he is entirely wrong - it's true, for example, that many of the characters have a stock quality to them. This includes Ethan, the protagonist. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that I still wound up feeling interested and invested in them. Gerber established many of the characters as stereotypes but then fleshed them out with nuanced personalities and moralities. I guess that what impressed me the most was that Gerber made such a compelling read out of a premise that, on paper, sounds unworkably complicated and littered with pitfalls. It should also be noted that Brian Hurrt's artwork knocked me on my ass every single month. Anyway, thanks to the Trickle for the link and the attention!

Yesterday I made an amazing discovery. Public libraries. Have you heard about this? Apparently you can walk in there, find books, and take them home for 3 weeks! For free! Incredible. The New York Public Library system has an awesome web site, which allows you to browse their entire collection and request books from any branch. They also have a ton of graphic novels and comic compilations! My comic budget is so very thankful for this development. Yesterday I borrowed both volumes of Graham Annable's Grickle (thanks to Two-Dimensional for the tip), Azzarello & Kubert's Sgt. Rock GN, and Lynda Barry's One Hundred Demons. I had considered buying each of these books, but ultimately I didn't take the plunge. Now I can read them anyway! Best of all, these are library copies, so I don't have to worry about banging up a $20 hardcover book by reading it on the subway. This is amazing. It's like Christmas every day.

Small Gods: The Killing Grin - I was going to do a nice, long review of this TPB, which Image put out last week, but honestly I can sum up my opinions in a few sentences. (What is that, cheering? I've got my eye on you, Mr. Smartypants...) It was a police drama with a sci-fi angle: the premise is that 1% of the population has some kind of psionic ability (telepathy, telekinesis, precognition, etc). Writer Jason Rand's characters, plot, and setting were all very strong. The art, on the other hand, was a little problematic. Juan E. Ferreyra is going for sort of a Chris Weston of style, hyper-real and very tight. The problem with a style like this is that you establish a framework of non-exaggeration, so the slightest aberrations in anatomy or likeness get grossly magnified. Ferreyra is an extremely skilled draftsman, drawing some of the most convincing and expressive faces that I have seen in a while. The problem is that these faces are sometimes attached to weirdly disproportionate heads and uncomfortably thick necks. If I was presumptuous enough to give the artist some advice -- and guess what, I am -- I would suggest more attention to the larger structures and forms and less noodling around with eyelashes and tight details. The compositions and staging could be pushed a little bit as well. All around, this was an enjoyable if somewhat unpolished effort. I look forward to seeing future work from both of these creators. Hmmm, I guess that wasn't such a short review after all. 3 stars.

Finally, read this brief missive from Warren Ellis about the debate over genetically modified crops. I wish I was one-tenth as good as Ellis at writing expletive-laden tirades. It would help if I was British; that way I could use words like "sodding" and "fuckwit" with the frequency that they deserve.

Posted by jdonelson_nyc at February 9, 2005 12:54 PM

Comments

Posted by: derek at February 9, 2005 10:42 PM