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While regular Snap Judgments are on hiatus, I'll be doing these "spotlight" columns on indy books and graphic novels in my review pile. This time out: One graphic novel and a handful of first issues.
GRAPHIC NOVEL SPOTLIGHT
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni Press)
Format: Graphic Novel
Price: $11.95
Website: www.scottpilgrim.com
 The first Scott Pilgrim was a big buzz hit for indy comics, and for me it was the best fusion of manga and American comics that I had seen. The second volume is even better, as it turns out, because with the premise (such as it is) established, O'Malley really gets to cut loose with the wildest of his wild ideas, so that we have a volume that contains everything from a sweet, believable romance to ex-girlfriend and ex-boyfriend trouble that includes ninjafied battles to the death. O'Malley mixes the tropes of manga, romance comics, punk culture and videogames into an almost stream-of-consciousness blast of weirdness that never stops moving and is always fun to read. The love lives of these twenty-somethings are complicated and connected in the strangest of ways, and their conflicts include bizarre confrontations better suited to a kung fu movie, but the actual core of the book is about realistic friendships and a romance that anyone who's ever been in young love will be able to identify with.
O'Malley turns his imagination loose in the pages of Scott Pilgrim. There's a dizzyingly cool sequence wherein one of Ramona's evil ex-boyfriends skates himself to death, and an interesting contrast as one of Scott's ex-girlfriends engages in a wire-fu style battle with his current paramour. There's a videogame style battle between Scott and an "evil boss" that complicates a teenage relationship. There's a cooking party where the gang makes a vegan sheperd's pie. There's a rock show. All of these strange happenings and run-of-the-mill settings work equally well, thanks in no small part to O'Malley's energetic art style. Clever use of speedlines, an amusing use of captions and some of the most expressive eyes that comics have to offer combine to deliver on all the energy and fun built into the script.
Truthfully, while the high concept of Scott Pilgrim is based on weirdness, it's the little details that makes the book such a delight. Scott's admission that garlic bread is his favorite food, that he could eat it at every meal, or Ramona's hilarious dressing-down of Scott's crappy apartment are little details that make the characters come to life even amidst the wild and unrealistic tangents that the story often goes off into. O'Malley packs a ton of these memorable moments into a story that is already bursting at the seams with fun and imagination, and in so doing finally pulls me kicking and screaming onto the bandwagon. Scott Pilgrim rocks, and offers up a much-needed dose of fun in comics.
SPOTLIGHT ON FIRST ISSUES
In going through my comp pile, I've been able to break down comics into different categories fairly easily. Superhero comics last week, minicomics the week before, and this time out, I'm looking at first issues. I've noticed in recent years (and it's probably always been this way) that known quantities like Superman or Spider-Man are an easier sell, but something genuinely new has a really rough go of it with comics fans. That's a shame, because the industry always benefits from fresh ideas and fresh voices. Even though I wasn't enamored of every first issue I read here, I found a lot of new ideas and good talent at work, and I'd like to encourage everyone to try at least one of the new books listed below. Some are out now, some came out a while ago, and a few aren't released yet but will be soon. Most are self-contained stories, although a few are the first chapter of a new story. Give a read, see what sounds interesting and try something new!
One note about the format this week: Since the format of all of these books is comic book (as opposed to minicomic or graphic novel), the "format" information in this column will include whether the book is full color or black and white.
THE BLACK DIAMOND: ON RAMP
by Larry Young & Jon Proctor (AIT/Planet Lar)
Format: Color
Price: $2.95
Website: www.ait-planetlar.com
 Aside from Demo, AIT/Planet Lar isn't really known for doing single issue comics, and certainly they haven't done full color serial comics at any point, so The Black Diamond: On Ramp is a bit of a departure for the company. Unfortunately, a steady diet of straight-to-graphic novel publishing seems to have dulled Young's skills with the single issue, because Black Diamond contains three killer high concepts, some great art... and nowhere near enough story to fill a $3 issue. What we have here are essentially three trailers for new projects, a promo comic without promo comic pricing.
The good news is, while the content is a little light, what there is of it is very high quality. Jon Proctor, of Marvel's little known but exceptionally pretty Gun Theory, serves up a beautifully stylized look at Young's world of the future, where an idyllic suburban existence takes place beneath a giant freeway that looks like '90s L.A. on steroids. There's a lot of mood setting at work here, from Proctor's visuals to Young's script, the latter of which has a Tarantino-esque conversational quality to it. Neither the plot nor the characters are really spelled out in the comic itself, but the general tone of it, a mix of '70s high octane/testosterone action and '90s pop culture awareness, is quite clear.
While Black Diamond is the extended trailer, On Ramp also features "teaser trailers" for a couple other upcoming projects. Kirsten Baldock and Fabio Moon deliver a fun, funny and action-packed six-pager for "Smoke and Guns" about cigarette girls dueling it out in the streets, and Matt Fraction and Steven Sanders serve up a one-pager and a splash that teases Nikola Tesla and Mark Twain teamed up in "Five Fists of Science." The latter is too short to really judge, but Fraction's pedigree mixed with that high concept has me anticipating "Five Fists" and the skill of Baldock and Moon are on full display in "Smoke and Guns," making that one a must-see as well. Hell, for all my gripes about the slow pacing, Black Diamond itself still has a killer high concept... I just don't know that the little teases glimpsed here match up for what $3 will buy you elsewhere in the comics market.
COEXISTING
by Andrew Drozd (Alternative Comics)
Format: Black and white
Price: $2.99
Website: www.AndrewDrozd.com
 Now here's an interesting story that resonates with a struggle I have often in my own life: How do you respect others' religious beliefs when you just can't wrap your head around believing that way? Drozd presents his autobiographical avatar as something of a short-fuse tempered jerk, and his insensitivity to his friend's religion as an offshoot of that, but he also presents the religion as something fundamentally illogical. Basically, it's a good balance between respect for other opinions and the recognition that most people just don't have that respect, or have to fight their own inner nature to get it. Drozd's art style is fairly simplistic, but he uses simple wardrobe devices to keep the characters distinct and has some interesting storytelling tricks, such as the three parallel viewpoints in the opening part of the story that begin to converge into one viewpoint as the story moves on. Using a basic art vocabulary and a story that resolves around conversations, Drozd manages to explore some fairly complex issues. Coexisting is the story of an unusual friendship, but more than that, it's an examination of social issues. Drozd contrasts Marcus's homophobia with Andrew's intolerance of religion and tries to indicate that everyone has their own hang-ups, as well as including an examination of the ethics of Wal-Mart. These are all big issues, all inter-related as our culture continues to reshape itself, and it would be impossible to cover it all even in a graphic novel, let alone a 32 page comic, but Drozd raises some interesting points and tells a good self-contained story in the course of things.
DIRTBOY #1
by George M. Dondero & Colin Adams (Moronik Comics)
Format: Black and white
Price: $2.95
Website: www.moronik.com
 Dirtboy is the story of a pair of juvenile delinquents on the run from another juvenile delinquent and her deranged pets. It comes with an interesting high concept, explained in the "Stan Lee Presents" style caption that begins the book, being the story of "bad kids," and I like the notion of this setting where each kid has something "bad" that sets them apart. However, I'm not entirely sure what the story is, if the bad kids are existing in a normal environment or if this is some sort of purgatory or refuge for them, and so the concept is a little bit vague. The story itself is pretty straightforward, not overly funny or full of surprises, but it's well structured and features some terrific art, reminiscent in a lot of ways of the work of Leland Purvis (Pubo). With Dirt Boy's abilities centering on burping and farting, Dirtboy would seem good for the just pre-adolescent crowd, but the focus on "bad kids" might make some parents wary. Dirt Boy #1 is strong from an artistic standpoint and solidly constructed, but it needed a clearer statement of the story and setting right up front to really hook me in.
 Every so often, a fresh project can remind you why you fell in love with a creator's work in the first place. John Kovalic's original foray into comics, Dork Tower, has become a bit mired in a "will they or won't they" plot for my tastes, but Dr. Blink is a funny and imaginative look at superhero psychoses, built around a very sympathetic psychologist lead character and his more down-to-earth daughter. The first issue does a terrific job of balancing the superhero gags (the team naming fiasco had me in stitches) with the everyday life of Blink and his daughter, as well as tagging in a character arc that pays off nicely in a non-humorous way. The artwork is also a treat, as Christopher Jones and colorist Melissa Kaercher deliver a style reminiscent of the "animated" younger readers books from DC. That's appropriate, since Christopher Jones has done some time on Justice League Adventures, but I mostly remember him for his excellent work on Young Heroes in Love, and his work here is just as strong, with excellent comic timing and clear storytelling as well as a likeable and bright style.
FLAK RIOT #1
by Michael O'Hare & Robert Place Napton (Image Comics)
Format: Color
Price: $2.95
Website: www.imagecomics.com
 Attractive art, intriguing characters and a neat idea for a setting are all characteristics of Flak Riot #1, a well-executed first issue that still didn't quite spark for me the way I like a first issue to. Part of this is probably because Napton and O'Hare's story is a little slow to start, giving us a glimpse of the more interesting "O.D." (that's short for Other Dimension) and instead spending most of their time on the boring life of our lead Zoe and her transformation into a bounty hunter. There's also a sort of forced quirkiness to the work, like jokes that you've heard told before, which makes Zoe's training session seem somehow familiar. O'Hare's artwork (as colored by Mike Garcia) does a fantastic job of capturing the otherworldly strangeness of the O.D. and even of Zoe's futuristic world, but the story stays a little too grounded and doesn't take us into the same realms of imagination. There's a solid foundation built here, but the book really could have used a more action-packed and faster introduction into its other dimensional setting and Zoe's exciting new job, rather than the drab existence she's trying to leave behind.
JOSHUA WARRICK: WEREWOLF FOR HIRE
by Kevin Altieri (A Catatomic Comic)
Format: Black and white
Price: $3.00
 The name Kevin Altieri may be familiar to some from his work on the animated Batman or the animated (but mostly unseen) Gen 13 movie. However, the work on Joshua Warrick: Werewolf for Hire, has less in common with what folks generally think of as the "animated" style and looks more like the work of Vaughn Bode, Wally Wood and Bernie Wrightson. Altieri has created a character in the suave troubleshooter vein (think a more mercenary James Bond who happens to be a werewolf), and in this one-shot, he pits him against some would-be rapist bikers. Most of the story actually doesn't center around the action, but around Joshua Warrick's unusual life, from the death of his parents at an early age (at the hand of Puritan witch-burner types) to the witch who saved his life with a great sacrifice to his more modern existence, riding around in limos on his way to take care of problems. Altieri's terrific artwork is put to the service of a number of good ideas, framed so that this is both a self-contained issue and a good jumping-off point for future tales. Though it's not widely available yet, my hope is that we'll be seeing more of Joshua Warrick in the future. There's no website for Joshua Warrick or Kevin Altieri, but you can pick it up at a couple of online retailers (a quick Google search ought to give some options) or from Altieri himself at conventions.
POINT PLEASANT #1
by Chad Lambert, Ryan Scott, Jason Moser, Michael Gray & Dan Barlow (APE Entertainment)
Format: Black and white
Price: $3.95
Website: www.ape-entertainment.com
 While I have some knowledge of paranormal stories from a misspent youth and a brief addiction to the X-Files, the Mothman and Point Pleasant are aspects of paranormal theory that I have little more than a passing familiarity with. Point Pleasant #1 centers on the Mothman and some events that took place related to him (it?), but more than anything it's a story about time travel that intersects with these events. I must confess, I was hoping for something more speculative than what Lambert offers up here, as Point Pleasant #1 doesn't really try to explain the Mothman, it just lays out one possible origin for the creature and the greatest disaster attributed to it. Those who already have an interest in the Point Pleasant and its paranormal history will no doubt find a lot to like here, as Lambert weaves together several elements of Point Pleasant history into a tale that literally spans centuries, and I'd also recommend this to anyone with a fondness for the paradoxes of time travel.
In terms of artwork, Point Pleasant isn't entirely satisfying. There are several artists, all working in a very moody, heavily shadowed style that doesn't always convey the story clearly. It's much more about mood, ala the work of Ben Templesmith or Ashley Wood, than it is about clear storytelling. Point Pleasant #1 isn't ever unclear, thanks in no small part to Lambert's script, but neither does it have memorable visual sequences to go with its compelling plot.
SILENT ASSASSIN: UNDERSTANDING TRAUMA
by Brian Ferrara, Narek Gevorgian & Don Redick (Terminal Press)
Format: Color
Price: $6.95
Website: www.terminalpress.com
 Silent Assassin begins, appropriately enough, with a more or less silent action scene that instantly grabbed my attention. The artwork by Gevorgian and Redick is incredible at conveying fluid movement and position, giving the sense of animation in still panel-to-panel storytelling, and Gevorgian's colors really pop off the page. Once everyone started talking, though, I saw that I had Silent Assassin all wrong. This is not a fun action comic, but a very dark exploration of human brutality wrapped in science-fiction trappings. A child's innocence sold by his druggie mother, corrupt police indulging in pedophiliac rape, matricide, theft, torture, medical experimentation, drug dealing, the brutalities of street life and even the murder of a seemingly innocent young girl by our lead character are amongst the horrors depicted in the pages of Silent Assassin: Understanding Trauma. Those seeking a light, fun, action-packed read should definitely look elsewhere.
Quite honestly, the darkness of the whole thing put me off to some extent. There's no question that Ferrara's story is shocking and that the way these elements are presented gets a visceral reaction, but at the end of this issue, I wasn't certain if there was a point behind the shock of it all. This creative team paints a very interesting picture, and the storytelling is undeniably compelling and professional, but the premise hasn't been made entirely clear yet, just the tone. Not what I'm generally looking for in my comics these days, but those who seek something in a very dark vein with beautifully rendered action might give it a look. I would also recommend it to fans of the late, lamented Scud: The Disposable Assassin, as it has some stylistic elements in common with that book.
THE STARDUST KID #1
by J.M DeMatteis & Mike Ploog (Image Comics/Desperado Publishing)
Format: Color
Price: $3.50
Website: www.desperadopublishing.com
 Of all the disappointments when Crossgen folded, the biggest one for me was the loss of Abadazad, the childrens' fantasy comic produced by DeMatteis and Ploog. So I was somewhat pleased to see the two creators tackling something in a similar vein for Image, although nervous that they wouldn't be able to recapture the magic of Abadazad quite so easily. As it turns out, they couldn't. The Stardust Kid is undeniably intriguing, with Ploog delivering beautiful visuals and DeMatteis weaving a tale of childhood and magic that has elements in common with the feel of Abadazad, but The Stardust Kid's concept isn't quite so clear and recognizable as that of Abadazad, and some unusual choices in the storytelling itself make for a good but not great read. DeMatteis litters the page with too many words, and Ploog uses an unconventional storytelling style heavy on the splash pages and borderless panels, and the resulting story feels dense in content but not so much in information and definitely not in terms of connection to the characters. Whereas the world of Abadazad and the problems faced by the children who loved it were clear from the outset, The Stardust Kid plays things a little closer to the vest, and so we get interesting characters and visual magic but no instant hook. The good news is, unless you're looking at this as a second run at the style of Abadazad (which I confess I was), The Stardust Kid is still a compelling and attractive read. I'm fairly certain that as the story develops, if it's not cut short the way Abadazad was, that it will draw me deeper into its web. Certainly DeMatteis and Ploog are working in a genre relatively untapped in modern comics, and certainly their talents are obvious from the first glance at the pages.
ZIG ZAG #1
by J. Chris Campbell (Adhouse Books)
Format: Sepiatone with some color pages
Price: $5.95
Website: www.jchriscampbell.com
 Adhouse has found another impressive talent in J. Chris Campbell, whose Zig Zag is an entertaining collection of the bizarre. In these pages you'll find a homicidal clerk, one of the most ill-conceived blooper/reality shows ever, an amusing tale of medical misadventure featuring the robot on the cover and an extended sequence of slice-of-life theatre as performed by bugs. Campbell's work has a sensibility shared with a lot of indy books, in that it focuses on the minutia of everyday life crossed with more out-there visuals or settings. The two bugs featured in "The Attic Bugs" are like a pair of hapless friends whose adventures in movie-going and dining out spiral into something of a big, outrageous conclusion. It's not unlike some of the best episodes of Seinfeld, except instead of George and Jerry, you've got two George Costanzas, each bickering with one another about the social gaffes the other makes. "The Attic Bugs" is all done in a sepia toned, fairly simple art style, and the same is true of "Tiny Tales of Big Business" a one-page strip whose cynical take on how job interviews really work made me laugh out loud.
What really made me sit up and take notice of Zig Zag, however, were the opening and closing color pages. The book opens with a senseless murder, and I was expecting a much different book from what we got, while the last sequence has the same misadventures of normal life feel transplanted onto robots. Campbell has a fun sense of humor that seems particularly biting when he's making his characters realize their own idiocy, and the punchline of the robot story is a great example of this. The color work also makes great use of geometric shapes and bright colors in a way that reminds me of the style of Scott Morse. Not that Campbell's work resembles Morse in any way, but in terms of having a unique and instantly recognizable style that is very attractive to the eye. At $5.95 for 32 pages, Zig Zag is a bit pricey, but the beautiful design and unique voice of the work make it worth a look.
Email Randy Lander comments about these reviews. |
