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NEGATIVE BURN: THE BEST FROM 1993-1998
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Image Comics/Desperado Publishing
Writers:Paul Jenkins, Darko Macan, Alan Moore, Mark Chadbourn, Joe Pruett, James Pruett, Aldyth Beltane, Paul Tobin, Jeffrey Lang
Artists: Michael Gaydos, Edvin Biukovic, Terry Moore, Fred Harper, Avido Khahifa, Andrew Robinson, Craig Brasfield, Nathan Massengill, Goran Sudzuka, Dave Gibbons, Mark Chiarello, Arthur Adams, Kevin O'Neill, Steve Lieber
Writer/Artists: Brian Bolland, P. Craig Russell, Paul Pope, Jim Mahfood, James A. Owen, Bob Burden, Phil Hester, Evan Dorkin, Dave Johnson, Andy Kuhn, Nabiel Kanan, Zander Cannon, Mike Wieringo, Bernie Mireault, Stephen Cheng, Danijel Zezelj
Cover Artist: Ken Meyer Jr.
Editor: Joe Pruett
Price: $19.95 US |
Now that is an interesting period of time. 1993-1998 basically covers my slow transition from mostly Marvel and DC comics reader (and oftentimes reader of horrible crap) to someone with much wider tastes. Which means that I missed out on Negative Burn the first time around; I was too busy buying all five covers of X-Force #1 and every first issue that Image produced. Yes, I have sinned against the comic book gods and committed crimes of really bad taste, but the comic book gods have smiled upon me nevertheless and rewarded me with a "Best Of" collection of this much-lauded, critically-acclaimed anthology in one swanky trade paperback. As it turns out, though, Negative Burn wouldn't have been my cup 'o tea back then, and a surprising amount of it still isn't now. Artistically, the book is a joy, featuring work I hadn't seen from notables like Paul Pope, P. Craig Russell and Phil Hester, but the storytelling for me is a little more hit and miss, even from masters of the artform like Alan Moore. As with any anthology, only about 50% of the stories in here really appealed to me, which is kind of disappointing since it's a "Best Of," but it's still an anthology, and one without a theme to boot, so I guess it's only natural that the stories were going to range so widely in topic and approach.
Much to my surprise, my favorite tales in this volume were actually from creators I either didn't know or didn't know very well. "The King of Rain" by Mark Chadbourn and Fred Harper (who?) is a spooky, suspenseful tale of ghostly hauntings and psychological murder that held onto me all the way to the end and really earned its shock ending. "Playmates" features the familiar and welcome artwork of Steve Lieber, but is written by Jeffrey Lang, someone whose work I'm not familiar with. After reading this believable yet gripping tale of coming-of-age and discovering girls, I can't help but feel that this is my loss. I was also sad that I haven't seen other work by Stephen Cheng, whose "Cyberreal Orbit" tells a witty tale of the dangers of assumption and the ease with which one can miss an opportunity.
Which is not to say that all my favorite tales were crafted by unfamiliar names. With all the writers onboard this book, I was surprised that my favorite was Darko Macan, someone whose more recent work I've liked but never really loved. But Macan does some excellent stories here, most notably when he's teamed up with deceased artist Edvin Biukovic. Their two tales of war are fantastic, with the Vietnam era tale reflecting the insanity of the war and the effect it had on the men in it and the World War II tale having a touch more of a supernatural overtone to it, along with a clever ending to tie it up. My favorite collaboration between the two, however, is the amusing tale of an immortal who emerges to seek revenge on the man who tried to murder him, only to fall prey to his own weaknesses yet again. These tales show the true range of Biukovic's art, from the super-real look at the war fronts of Vietnam and World War II to the more baroque mansions of "The Immortals," and Macan displays a dark sense of humor and an understanding of the human psychological condition as well. Macan also contributes "Heart," a tale of love and madness, with art by Goran Sudzuka, and it is just as good as his other contributions. Macan may be the perfect writer for these short tales with twist endings, as he sets them up nicely and knocks them down, and makes great use of the small story space he's given to craft a memorable tale.
The short form is a difficult one, of that there can be no doubt, and for my money, not all of the writers here pulled it off. I left several stories confused as to what exactly was meant to have happened at the end of the tale, and there were plenty of others where I just couldn't get past the unclear lettering or muddled storytelling to even get that far. Alan Moore's poetry and songs have never been as engaging to me as his more straightforward comics work, and that's mostly what he contributes here. Despite teaming with artists like Terry Moore, Arthur Adams and Michael Gaydos, Moore's work here just doesn't resonate for me. It seems too heavy for such a short story form, even when he's handling what should be a lightweight subject like Godzilla for Adams. There are any number of other pieces in the book, especially most of Paul Pope's offerings, that likewise are a touch too experimental and (for lack of a better word) "arty" for my tastes. I'm more than willing to admit that this is little more than a personal taste issue, but for those who like me are usually not as interested in art for art's sake and more interested in story, there are many tales here that won't hit the mark.
Of course, even in those stories, the artwork is gorgeous. There are different styles at work in Negative Burn, but most of them can be categorized as darker styles with a focus on the use of shadows and light. There's some especially wonderful, stark imagery from Avido Khahaifa (another name I don't know), which reminds me of Miller's Sin City work to some degree in its use of shadow, and of course Paul Pope's distinctive, black ink-drenched style is always a treat, even if his work here is not as clear and polished as his more recent work. On the other side of the spectrum, I was quite taken with Andy Kuhn's hilariously exaggerated work on "Mime Story," Dave Johnson's sleek, stylized work on "Chicks, Hotrods and Kudzu" and Andrew Robinson's perfect comedic timing on "Dusty Star."
If nothing else, Negative Burn does offer up a little something for everybody. Stories based on song lyrics or poems, slice-of-life tales, bizarre comedy like "Mr. Mamoulian" and "Flaming Carrot," slapstick comedy like "Milk and Cheese" and "Knute's Escapes," even a solid tale of horror in "The King of Rain." It's not likely to be 100% for anyone, unless their tastes are astoundingly wide, but I think just about anyone could find a couple of gems in here, and fans of great artwork should definitely give this for a representative sample of some of today's big names and a couple names who really should be bigger. If nothing else, looking down that talent list, it's easy to see that Negative Burn recruited the very best in its time. 7/10
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