If you're a fan of comic-book art, you really need to check out Comiculture. This is only the second issue of the magazine-sized anthology, and it's quite late, but it's a gorgeous production that fills a niche no one else is tackling in comics. It's something of a mix between a comic anthology and a pop-culture 'zine, along the lines of Too Much Coffee Man but with a more colorful, mainstream approach. There's an experimental feel to the whole thing, both in terms of genre and art style, which means that it's not 100% my cup of tea, but there's plenty to like here and the art alone makes it worth the price of admission.
There's a terrific variety of genre and approach in this issue of Comiculture, with five self-contained stories, four continuing serials and one new continuing serial. Within those ten stories there are elements of horror, western, crime, super-hero, slice-of-life, politics, humor and general weirdness.
By far my favorite part of this issue was Steve Buccellato's "Joey Berserk & Claire," which explores the aftermath of a superstrong brawler taking on a bunch of criminals from a forensic science point of view. Buccellato's artwork and contrast of what happened and what the police are extrapolating is brutal and effective, and while there's still more questions than answers regarding the overall plot, Buccellato has an impressive ability to develop interesting characters in a small amount of space. Buccellato scores again this issue with the delightful story of France's premiere super-hero and his battle with an American coffee chain, which is light and funny.
Close behind is "I Loved A Zombie," Jessica Wolk-Stanley's weird autobio-style story of a girl whose trip to a farm over college break takes a turn for the weird when she discovers the presence of the undead. Wolk-Stanley captures the style of autobiographical comics in both writing and art, which makes the weirdness in the story stand out just the way it should while allowing her plenty of characterization for her lead characters and a believable backdrop for the story. It's quirky and fun, and certainly imaginative.
The self-contained story is probably one of the most difficult things to pull off in comics, and that shows in the stories here. Buddy Scalera and Brian Smith make an effective statement in a two-page silent story with "Making the Man" and Richard Starkings's "True Tales of the Comics Biz" is an entertaining and surprisingly personal look at the behind the scenes doings in the industry. Wohl, Hudson and Janson turn in a solid story with "Full Moon Station," but there were too many clues and I found the ending to be a bit obvious as a result. And I wasn't enamored of the artwork on "Space Monsters," where the CGI just looked somewhat stiff to me, and often-times wasn't clear enough in what was going on, a fatal flaw in a story about space combat.
The ratio of success on the continuing serials is a little better from my point-of-view. In addition to "Berserk" and "Zombie," this has the second part of the western "Gunpowder Girl and Outlaw Squaw" with some terrific gunfight choreography from Don Hudson and gorgeous color from Brian Buccellato and the second part of "An Alien Ate My Brian," which is damned odd and yet intriguing, reminiscent of MTV's short-lived flirtation with animation in things like The Maxx and The Head. Ben Raab's "Lost Tribe" also continues in this issue, taking a surprising turn from gothic horror into more overt super-hero, and while I feel like it could use a bit more strength as a standalone segment given the relative infrequency of Comiculture, it will probably hold up well when all is said and done.
Interspersed amongst the comics features in this issue are interviews and pop culture text pieces. I was thrilled to see an interview with Kerry "Halo & Sprocket" Callen, which reveals some interesting things about one of my new favorite comics and the man who creates them, and equally intrigued by the interview with Subway Series creator Leela Corman. Meanwhile, there's some interesting comics analysis from Klaus Janson and many of the rest of the contributors, a tribute to Jorge Zaffino and short pieces on games and music. This is a solid package with a lot of talent behind it, and though it may take some searching or a special order to get it, it's worth doing.
