« March 2005 | Main | May 2005 »
April 28, 2005
Subway Reading: Centerfield
Centerfield - If you've ever played organized youth baseball and found yourself playing the dreaded "left out" position, cartoonist Nick Jeffrey's autobiographical account of his experience on the St. Helena Crusaders will strike a chord with you. His story cuts much deeper than the expected Bad News Bears-style jokes, however, as a family tragedy plays out alongside the Crusaders' trip to the regional championship game.
The world of autobiographical comics is littered with boring, myopic, insight-impaired efforts. Relating uncomfortable misfit childhoods is a well-traveled road, but Jeffrey avoids the usual pitfalls of the genre by virtue of his endearingly ugly art and a sense of restraint that allows him to imply his ideas rather than spoon-feed them to the reader. The contrast between Nick's father and the overbearing father of the team superstar, for example, makes the eventual tragedy that much more powerful. This contrast is further examined in the epilogue-ish glimpses of Nick and the aforementioned star player. That's a nice touch that adds a lot of dimension to the story and its themes.
Visually, the characters in this book are ghoulish and creepy; these are some of the ugliest children you'll ever see. Jeffrey certainly doesn't spare himself, either. Nick's weak chin, puffy lower lip, and awkward coordination go a long way in defining his character. There is a lack of consistently believable 3-D space and a need for more economy and variation in the inking, but this book was apparently created 6 years ago while the artist was still in school. It's entirely possible that he has improved in these areas. Actually, the knowledge that this was essentially student work makes it that much more impressive.
This book was published by Alternative Comics thanks to a grant from the Xeric Foundation. If you can track it down, I recommend picking it up. I suppose that if you're a crusty old cynic, you might roll their eyes at the mildly sentimental tone. But I thought Jeffrey combined the humorous and tragic elements of his story in an effective and moving way. I look forward to seeing more work by him in the future. 4 stars.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 01:06 PM | Comments (1)
April 21, 2005
Subway Reading: Klarion and Young Avengers
A quick note before today's reviews: check out this post and comment thread on the Precocious Curmudgeon site about painted comics, featuring some opinions from yours truly. It's interesting how polarizing Alex Ross' work can be. Is it the fault of the work itself or is it because of the pre-conceptions that readers bring to painted comics? There are also some great recommendations for other painted work, which I am eager to check out for myself.
Klarion the Witch-Boy #1 - Once again, I need to give props to the DC brain trust for simultaneously putting out the Seven Soldiers and the Infinite Crisis crossover events. It's a cynical yet shrewd exploitation of the split between the elitist (AKA me) superhero fans and the... populist (?) superhero fans. I have way too many issues with the collector's mentality and grim n' gritty aspects of Countdown Crisis to even consider touching those books with a ten-foot pole. On the other hand, I know a lot of comic fans think of Grant Morrison as way too pretentious, high-fallutin', and dismissive of continuity to go anywhere near the Seven Soldiers stuff. While I would love to see a comic book that appealed to both sides, I have to tip my cap to DC for maximizing the returns from the comic book buying public.
I didn't mention a word about Klairon, did I? Like the rest of the SS tie-in books, I found it well-crafted and enjoyable, if not mind-blowing. Artist Frazer Irving is new to me, and I really enjoyed his iconic style. He is credited with the drawing and the coloring on the book, and honestly the coloring was maybe a touch too local-color specific and unvaried. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt, though, because I expect that he is setting up a visual dichotomy between the look of the Limbo-world in which this issue is set and the "surface" world or whatever, which is where the series is obviously heading. I'll give this one 3.5 stars.
Young Avengers #3 - Like its predecessor, this issue was largely devoted to exposition and backstory. It doesn't get too bogged down, though, and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. The art is starting to grow on me, though I would like to see a little more variation in the character's likenesses. I also thought the panel layouts and camera angles got a little repetitive: flip through and note how many horizontal single-panel tiers include a crowd of two or more talking heads.
The main thing that I want to mention is that writer Allan Heinberg ties this story to Kyle Baker's Truth miniseries! I assumed that Marvel's new conservative editorial regime would sweep Truth under the rug and never mention it again. I was thrilled to be proved wrong. Between the ties to that controversial series and the ambiguous sexuality of the Hulkling (every time I type or utter that name, I have a little tiny seizure), this series is sure to set off the reactionary message board posters. Which means more delicious fodder for Fanboy Rampage. Which means even more entertainment for me, which means that I am going to give this book 3 stars.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 11:45 AM | Comments (3)
April 20, 2005
This and That
After a VERY long drought, I finally spotted another comic book reader on the subway yesterday. Bob Kirkman would be happy to know that somebody on the F train was reading a Walking Dead TPB. Solidarity!
Shameless Plug #1: Meet the Pickytarian! I will be participating in 24 Hour Comic Day at Jim Hanley's Universe here in Manhattan. Feel free to drop by and lavish me with expensive gifts. Anybody who shows up and mentions this blog will win... um... how about an appearance in my comic? Likenesses will vary, mostly depending on how long I have been drawing by the time you show up.
I will post the results here, but probably not for a little while, because they are collecting our pages to submit to the 24-Hour Comic people at the end of the day. Hope to see you there!
The new pope is a very evil-looking dude. Throw a black cloak on that guy and you've got The Emperor from Star Wars.
Shameless Plug #2: I am selling another batch of comics on eBay. Now is your chance to pick up some great books cheap, including Street Angel, BPRD: The Dead, Amazing Joy Buzzards, Batman/Superman, and more!
Francesco Marciuliano, writer of the nationally syndicated comic strip Sally Forth and creator of the web comic Medium Large, writes one of the funniest blogs that I have ever read. In The Drink at Work Blog, he shares insight into the miserable world of syndicated comic strips and the generally thankless nature of professional cartooning. I especially enjoyed the How To Cope With Artistic Failure post. Also of note is the Sally Forth Fan Mail. Good stuff!
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 12:29 PM | Comments (2)
April 19, 2005
Subway Reading: The Ultimates
Welcome back, loyal Pickytarians! Sorry about the delays, which have gotten longer and more frequent in recent days. An increase in my workload and the beginning of the fantasy baseball season are the prime culprits, though there are certain other secret reasons... more about that another time. Meanwhile, I had planned to come back with a slew of brief capsule reviews today, but I have too much to say about The Ultimates. So let's get to it!
The Ultimates 2 #5 - I have nitpicks. Oh brother, do I have nitpicks. First off, I should state that I am digging the overall story in this title. The mystery of Thor's origin is intriguing and the execution has really kept my interest. I really enjoyed the Hulk trial a couple of months ago. Penciller Bryan Hitch and inker Paul Neary are the reigning kings of the "comic realists," and colorists Larry Molinar and Laura Martin have been doing an incredible job.
** SPOILER ALERT **
BUT... mechanically speaking, this issue was one of the most awkward comics that I have read in some time. When I say "mechanically," I'm referring to the staging and the panel-to-panel, page-to-page, plot-advancing aspects of the script. It seems clear that the plan was to have an 16-page fight scene, followed by 6 pages of wrap-up. The problem is that in order to fill those 16 pages, Millar relied on unexplained acts of convenience, faulty logic, and physical impossibility.
Let's start with the main goal of the "heroes." The characters pound the point about Thor's belt being the source of his power into the reader's and each others' heads in mind-numbingly repetitive fashion. Despite these repeated and increasingly shrill entreaties to remove his belt, nobody ever bothers to try. They punch him and wrestle with him. They shrink down to insect size and fly into his mouth. They shoot him with machine guns, flamethrowers, and "neuron-scramblers." At one point three people are even holding him down, yet none of them makes a single twitch in the direction of his belt buckle.
The only hero who seems able to follow one simple instruction is Quicksilver. The speedster gets up from a stretcher early on and dashes off into the snow. The problem, of course, is that quicksilver is super-fast. If he were to grab Thor's belt right away, we wouldn't have 16 pages worth of smack'em-powie. So he needs to be delayed somehow, and delayed he is. Somehow. I wish I knew how, but apparently it happens off-panel. Next time we see Quicksilver, he's laying on the ground with his sister trying to get him up. "Pietro! Quick! We only have 6 more pages until you're needed to resolve this fight!" Who wha huh? I suppose the argument can be made that he re-aggravted the injury that put him on that stretcher in the first place. OK, fine. But come on, you can at least drop that into the background of a panel somewhere. And it couldn't have been much of an injury, since all it took was Wanda's "The bad man HIT ME!" line to overcome all of its ill effects and... propel him into the sky?
Speaking of the Scarlet Witch, Millar does give her a great line about finding a reality where Thor is getting clubbed like a baby seal and she's going to summon that reality. But then she gets knocked down by Captain Britain, and two pages later, she... gives up? Forgets? Decides that it would be more effective and gender-appropriate for Quicksilver to save the day instead? My head is starting to hurt.
But let's forge on. On page 2, the soldiers who are halfheartedly trying to move Thor's alterna-teen followers to safety announce that they are one mile from the battle. They announce this over the radio to Captain America, who is in the middle of said battle. (This page is also notable for an errant word balloon that attributes dialogue to a teeny tiny person standing in the way-far-away background of a crowd scene.) The mile is apparently not far enough for them to avoid the danger, as a stray lightning bolt soon knocks down a tree that almost sort of threatens to muss their hair. Luckily for these soldier's coiffures, Captain America has suddenly developed the ability to teleport his body up to a mile in any direction! He swoops in and lifts the tree up off of the jeep that already cushioned its fall, and even sneaks in a snarky comment about the soldier's foul language. Which brings up another fun little side-note: I understand that Cap is a man out of time, and the he is shocked by the coarsening of American culture and all, but am I to understand that he would be dismayed by soldiers using foul language? I've read my share of Sgt. Rock and Two-Fisted Tales comics, and I can guarantee that the "$#%&-word" was indeed bandied about by more than one World War II-era soldier.
Gripe, gripe, gripe, piss, moan and complain. By now you've probably gotten the impression that I disliked this book. Despite the myriad of contrivances, I am still enjoying the heck out of this story arc. It's maybe the best super-hero book that Millar has ever written (damning with faint praise? Who, me?) and the visuals are spectacular. Still, these little bits of inconsistency and mechanical laziness are distracting and mildly annoying. They prevent me from giving this book more than 3 stars.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)
April 07, 2005
Subway Reading: Zatanna
Zatanna #1 - Just yesterday, I mentioned to my comic store cronies that I hadn't spotted any other comic readers on the subway in some time. Then, this morning, while reading the first issue of Zatanna, I turn around and see a guy reading an Alan Moore-era Swamp Thing trade! I shamefully admit that I have never read Swamp Thing. It wasn't until later that I understood the spooky coincidence that was afoot. According to Swamp Thing aficionado Mike Sterling, Zatanna contained more than one nod to Moore's legendary run! Whoa, dude. Whoa. Scary. Sort of.
As for the book itself, I have no complaints. Like the Seven Soldiers books that preceded it, Zatanna was a fairly straightforward comic book plot, filtered through the prism of Grant Morrison's singular writing style. Ryan Sook's artwork wears its influences on its sleeve, from the Tony Harris-like inks to the J.H. Williams-like panel layouts. Don't get me wrong: he does a great job of it. A lot of people try to ape Harris' style and more often than not the results are a spectacular failure. Sook avoids all the common traps by keeping things loose and dynamic. I found the art appealing, but it still kind of seemed like he was playing with other people's toys. All in all this book gets a solid 3.5 stars.
One thing that has been burning in the back of my mind (Ow! That's hot!) is the hypocrisy of bad-mouthing the Infinite Identity Crises while praising Seven Soldiers. Loyal Pickytarian Nevin elaborated on this in the comments the other day:
Your Infinite Crisis vs. Seven Soldiers dilemma is a good question. I think that the problem is that when people read a comic they don't like, they assume that there was something wrong with the storytelling devices or style, when it might just have been bad writing. There's nothing automatically wrong with "dark" or "realistic" stories, and epic crossovers are natural to superhero stories. Just because they were used poorly in Identity Crisis and Avengers Disassembled doesn't mean that we should be surprised that Grant Morrison can use the tools properly.I think the real test of the comics blogosphere will be Dan Slott's GLA. They're killing off a character in every issue. Sure, it's a self-aware joke about comic books, but I think they might still be telling the truth when they say that C-list characters will die. Will all the bloggers who hated Sue Dibney's death decide that it's ok if the character dies as a joke? Or will they turn against the beloved Dan Slott because killing characters is a sign of unimaginative storytelling?
Yeah, I know that Slott will probably make the issue moot by either undoing the deaths at the end or by discussing the issue so directly that there's no room for commentators to interpret for themselves. But I'm hoping I'll get to see some interesting reactions.
** ZATANNA SPOILERS ALERT **
Firstly, it's good to welcome back one of the most loyal Pickytarians of all to the comment page! I agree with his point about the execution being the biggest difference between Seven Soldiers (or GLA) and I.C. For me, it's not the fact that a character died that turned me off to I.C. In Zatanna, Morrison offs a half-dozen C-Listers for crying out loud. The difference is that it's Grant Morrison writing the story rather than a committee in a board room that's trying to figure out how to have the biggest-selling book of the year. The deaths in Zatanna feel like an organic, integral component of a cohesive, entertaining comic book story. It also helps that they weren't marketed to death as an event after which "Nothing In The DC Universe Will Ever Be The Same AGAIN!" I.C. was a story that was shoddily built around a marketing ploy. S.S. is also a marketing ploy, but at least it doesn't read like a secondary afterthought to a crass hype-machine.
Nevin also points out the second difference, which is the self-awareness factor. G.L.A. doesn't claim to be much more than an explicit parody of Avengers Disassembled. Unlike I.C., the laughs that it generates are intentional. Morrison may not be going for straight-up comedy with Seven Soldiers, but the #0 issue was loaded with commentary on the seemingly arbitrary nature of super-hero team-ups and cosmic events. A little self-awareness goes a long way with these kind of books. If the I.C. books weren't playing everything so melodramatically straight, they wouldn't cause nearly as much eye-rolling as they do.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 11:20 AM | Comments (6)
April 06, 2005
Best. Cover. EVER.
I just had to point out this cover that caught my eye at the comic store today. Jason Yungbluth's Deep Fried #2 features the funniest cover of the year, possibly the funniest of all time. My favorite thing about it is the look on the face and the body language of the "father." And the makeup on the baby's face... Oh, man. Sheer genius.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 03:07 PM
April 05, 2005
To Buy Or Not To Buy
The New Frontier Vol 2 TP - I recently borrowed Volume 1 from The Suckytarian, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not half as groundbreaking as it seems to think it is, but it's still fun, entertaining super-hero comics. Of course, when I got to the end of Book 1, I was smacked in the face by the fact that it ends squarely in the middle of the story. I know that this horse was beaten to death months ago, but I have to ask if it would have killed DC to put these two stories together into one book. Charge $40 for it, that's fine, it's a big story! But jeez, there was NO editorial justification for splitting them up like that. It's not like Volume 1 ended on a cliffhanger or anything, it just sort of... stopped. In tribute to this decision, I am going to
Detective Comics #805 - Food for thought: if I didn't know that David Lapham was writing this arc, would I still be reading it? I think so. I'm not entirely sure, but I think so. I'd describe it as a relatively boilerplate Batman plot punctuated by some extremely effective moments. I also think that they could have picked an artist that was more appropriate to Lapham's densely-paneled scripting style.
Identity Crisis #1 Final Printing - Just in case that sick, greasy, used feeling that you got by reading last week's Countdown to Infinite Crisis has worn off.
Losers #22 - The last issue in the current 3-chapter arc. This story has featured art by Ben Oliver, and quite frankly, regular artist Jock now has some big shoes to fill when he returns.
Seven Soldiers Zatanna #1 - More food for thought: is it hypocritical of me to castigate Infinite Crisis for being an epic crossover and then gush about Grant Morrison's mega-crossover Seven Soldiers project? Maybe it goes to show that DC is a lot cannier than I give them credit for. Knowing that snarky jerks like me will turn our noses up at IC, they schedule a simultaneous mega-crossover to sop up our money as well. Hmmmmm...
Superman Batman #18 - Is it just me or is this book about three months late? It doesn't really matter, as long as there will be 22 pages of Superman & Batman drawn by Carlos Pacheco to please my inner 13 year-old. Really, the dialogue could be in Hungarian for all I care. It's the same reason that I might have to buy that new Green Lantern series.
Death Jr #1 - I was not as enamored as others with Ted Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin series, but I think that was more of an indication of my own taste rather than an indictment of the creative effort. Despite the $4.99 price tag and the fact that this property seems to have been developed simultaneously as a comic book, a video game, and a movie, I am awfully tempted by this description, which I lifted from CBR:
Part of the appeal of the book is the quirky cast of friends: Pandora, a little goth girl; Smith & Weston, conjoined twins; Stigmartha, a girl who bleeds when she gets nervous; and The Seep, an armless, legless, foreign exchange student in a jar.
It might be a little too kid-oriented for my sophisticated and refined taste. But come on, Stigmartha, a girl who bleeds when she gets nervous? That's quality. This one will be a game-time decision.
Sea Of Red #1 - A 16th century vampire pirate finds himself in the present day, my friend. Vampire pirate! If, for some reason, you're not already sold, check out this rockin' illustration by artist Salgood Sam, courtesy once again of CBR.
GLA #1 - featuring the She-Hulk creative team of Dan Slott and Paul Pelletier. I'm all about it.
Incredible Hulk #80 - I am so happy that the interminable Bruce Jones run is finally over that I can't even judge this series on its own merits. It seems pretty good, but that may be the honeymoon glow from finally seeing some Hulk Smash instead of more Puny Banner blah blah blah.
Power Pack #1 - If they reprinted the classic Power Pack by Louise Simonson and June Brigman I would definitely buy it. If they were to create a new Power Pack series with manga-fied art I would definitely not buy it. Guess which way they went. The Pickytarian is most definitely not the audience for this book, and that's OK.
Ultimate Fantastic Four #17 - With the end of Waid & Wieringo's run on the regular FF, this is the last FF title standing with creators that I enjoy. And I've only got two more issues of Warren Ellis goodness before Mark Millar shows up and I run screaming in the opposite direction.
True Story Swear To God #13 - ** BLASPHEMY ALERT ** I gave this series the old college try, and frankly, I found it rather dull. Maybe I read a particularly sub-par issue or something? It left me cold and bewildered by the critical acclaim that it has received.
Spaztic Colon #2 - I don't know anything about this book, but considering that it was published by a company called "Angry Drunk Graphics," it gets the Best Title of the Week award. Now that I think about it, this may be the second such award for this title.
Budds Beauties & Beasts One Shot Nude Medusa Sp Ed - Ladies and gentlemen, I present the Best Title of the Week runner-up.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 04:44 PM | Comments (1)
April 01, 2005
Subway Reading: The Goon, Amazing Joy Buzzards, Ultimate Secret
The Goon #11 - According to the Dark Horse web site, this issue marks a new direction in Eric Powell's art style. The change came about because of an upgrade to glossier paper, which is more forgiving to the subtle tonal variations that Powell likes to create with pencil-shading. For one thing, I thought it was cool that DH found a change in an artist's style important enough to warrant an official announcement. More importantly, I like the new look. The Goon has been split between inked and non-inked styles for a while, usually to signify the difference between present-day action and flashbacks. This new style is sort of a merger between the two, with heavy inks deployed for outlines and pencil gradations replacing pen-hatching for shading and texture. Together with the appealingly unified coloring and the shiny new stock, the new style ratchets the visuals up yet another notch.
Story-wise, Powell returns to the wacky action that we all know and love. Dr. Alloy is mysteriously disintegrating, and he needs The Goon and Frankie to venture into another dimension and retrieve a chunk of un-earthly metal so that he can be saved. Hilarity ensues. It's nice to get some genuine laughs from a humor comic for a change, weird looks from my fellow subway riders be damned. Hey folks, at least I'm not bellowing out an obscene rant about The Bible, AIDS, and oral sex like this one guy was doing on a train car full of children the other day. Anyway, toothless grins go out to Powell for Frankie immediately going nuts in the other dimension, and for Alloy's Spanish-speaking man-lizard servant Lagarto. Simultaneously hilarious and gorgeous, The Goon remains my favorite book on the stands. 4.5 star.
The Amazing Joy Buzzards #4 - This title has never been perfect, but the pros have always outweighed the cons for me. In this issue, however, the cons squeaked ahead to a narrow victory. Smith and Hipp went a little heavy on the expository dialogue and the spotted blacks, making it a bit of a chore to get through the book. The multi-chapter mystery that wraps up in this issue gets a lot of attention at the expense of the throwaway jokes and zany action that we have come to expect.
** SPOILER WARNING! **
Then there's the way that the book ends. Basically, the climactic fight scene is missing from the issue. To see it, you have to visit the creators' web site or wait for the trade paperback. While I would normally fly off the handle with nerd-fan rage at something like this, in this context it really didn't bother me that much. The stunt fits in with the generally irreverent and self-conscious tone of the book. The thing that irks me about the missing scene is that the pages we did get were mostly talking heads and plot exposition. If the book had been humming along at its usual fun pace, I wouldn't miss the ending scene at all. This was a disappointing chapter from a title that has not built up enough good will to afford such a clunker. 2 stars.
Ultimate Secret #1 - I only have two major comments about this book. One, this was my first exposure to the art of Steve McNiven, and I was blown away. His work reminded me of John Cassady's, not because of his tightly naturalistic drawing style, but because he combines it with dynamic compositions and clever storytelling. My second thought is, "Holy God in heaven, can Warren Ellis slow a book down any further?" I went into this book expecting Ellis' usual slow pace. What I got was even less story than I ever imagined. Don't get me wrong; the action scenes were very cool, and the set-up was intriguing. Nonetheless, the end of the book brought up that all-too-familiar feeling of "that's IT?" I did enjoy the book, but even with the gazing that I was forced into by McNiven's lush artwork, it was over all too soon. 3 stars.
Posted by jdonelson_nyc at 01:15 PM | Comments (1)