March 22nd, 2013 - A Bloglet

Okay, I know the update this week is late. Well, that’s the good news.

The bad news is that I’m not in a position to provide a real update, either, so you’re getting something of a placeholder. In my determination to be a good blogger, though, I provide a placeholder with some meat to it.

It escapes us sometimes, but the characters we respect with awe/ fear started in humbler places. For instance, Kal-El was essentially thrown away by his parents. Peter Parker was miserable before that spider came along to bite him. We may not pay much attention to these moments, but they are formative moments, and they need to be accepted.

Gaze upon the following pictures I totally stole from the internet and meditate upon their story. Do they make sense? Do they offer new insight? Are they blatant gags and I’m just waiting to see who doesn’t get the joke? The answers next week! Maybe.

March 15th, 2013

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover. Let’s test that, shall we?

BTVS SEASON 9 FREEFALL #19 NOTO CVR



– “Bad Touch”, “Stranger Danger”, and “I need an adult!” all hit my brain at once when I saw this cover. It really hurt. To give you an idea, think of seeing someone with electricity arcing up their arm and then saying, “Turn your head and cough.” It hurt like that.

CRIME DOES NOT PAY ARCHIVES HC VOL 04



– Of course Crime doesn’t pay, nothing pays, we’re in a recession! Also, the lady’s going on a shooting spree! That’s notoriously a low-return criminal enterprise. (CC Note: Is it sad that more people think the crime being committed on that cover is the woman trying to wear those shoes with that dress?) (Don’t help.)

BATMAN #18



– Pets leave little gifts in boots. It’s what they do. Honestly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to broach the subject in the Bat-mythos. Alfred must have invented five different methods for getting guano out of a cotton-kevlar blend.

SUICIDE SQUAD #18



– I’ve seen this image before, but it was on a marquee poster for mud wrestling. I seem to recall the same number of wriggling vines being involved too. Hawkeye is going to need to stretch to pull this one off.

AVENGERS ARENA #6 NOW



– This looks like the combination of Battle Royale, Breakfast Club, and Revenge of the Nerds II. Now that I think about it, the series so far could be described that way.

THUNDERBOLTS #6 NOW



– A woman in skimpy clothing holding popular action figures? That’s so blatantly pandering I can’t believe I haven’t seen it before. Wow.

WOLVERINE #1 NOW 



– I just don’t get it. He’s charging toward the reader. Claws out. He wants to kill you, and he doesn’t know you. So why do we buy so many titles that he gets five series devoted to him?!?

WOLVERINE AND X-MEN #26



– You see??? And even though it explains on the cover who that guy is, I can’t help but think that Kraven’s slightly-blonder brother is going through Kraven’s rolodex?

SHADOW #10



-The Shadow, I guess, is trying to match Wolverine for number of crossovers. He doesn’t quite have the feel for it, if you ask me, and you totally did. He’s in Masks, and now he’s hosting characters from 50 Shades of Grey?  

That’s all, folks!!

March 6th, 2013 - Nonfiction Comics?!?

A term for comics that hasn’t died yet is “funnybooks”, in much the same way we call movies “films” despite the fact that no one records on film anymore. It’s a term people are used to, and so long as people get what they’re talking about, what’s the harm in using the expression, right? Well, in the case of “funnybooks”, the answer is “Quite a bit”.

When you look on the New Releases shelf, there’s a lot to take in. An infinite amount of color, poses and proportions that defy all understanding of human anatomy, settings and equipment that push the limits of the imagination, and that’s all before you get to “D”. Among all those books, let’s say for the sake of argument 35 titles between A through C, maybe five actually are trying to be funny. And that’s me being generous. Some readers may get their jollies from the way titles read next to each other, or accidentally suggestive covers, but I’m not counting those. I’m only counting the comics being published with the intent of making people laugh before anything else. These are very few. That’s not a bad thing until you come across someone that defines the entire medium as a place for giggles and nothing else because they only know the medium as “funnybooks”.

This week I’m taking a special look at two well-produced non-fiction books that, while not afraid to make a reader laugh, take their respective subjects very seriously, and succeed while doing it.

Poorcraft - The Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less (Trotman/ Nock) is what started me on this tirade, initially. (CC Note: So, IT’S to blame!) The title is humble, the cover art is full of smiles and puppies, and even the font is old-time energetic. To the typical, slightly jaded comic book veteran, this would seem to do everything it can to stay below radar. It’s a shame, because what lies within is a comprehensive guide to thriving in struggling circumstances, using contemporary situations as examples, something everyone could use.

The book is divided into sections for budgeting, food, transportation, entertainment, and just about every other aspect of a person’s life. It follows a doe-eyed spend-thrift hipster named Penny and her less-financially minded neighbor Nickel as they navigate a world that seems to cost more than what they have. Nickel has become accustomed to a certain lifestyle and is resistant to give it up. Penny has set her personality to “optimistic” and lost the lever, calmly confident that there’s an affordable alternative to anything anyone could need in any situation. Their spirited debate throws out the essential information and tips for the better lifestyle that the title promises.

Individually, they’re less character than archetype, Penny the confident, mindful ant to Nickel’s high-living, hungry grasshopper. Penny carries an aura of personal serenity, supposedly because she knows everything will be alright, where Nickel spends the entire time stressing over how her life is changing and she feels out of control. Penny spends the first few pages on her own to introduce the reader to the book, and while it’s dull, uninteresting stuff, it doesn’t last long. Once Nickel comes in, they spend the entire book more or less arguing with each other, and they read more like the devil and angel that appear on one’s shoulders. The bickering is entertaining, and turns what would otherwise be dry, monotone text into viable advice.

The illustrations evoke a sense of Steamboat Wille, simple and seemingly crude, but at the same time instantly recognizable and effective at communicating. Like the characters, the artwork uses classic styles to put a priority on the reader instantly understanding what’s on the page. They’re not out to jump-start a brand new format or shake up the industry, they just want to make it easier for their audience to save money.

I’ve made a few mentions of how safe this book is as far as its production is concerned, and before that sinks in too deep I want to make it clear that this was a necessary choice. Normally, I respect work that challenges, and there’s a lot to respect here. The characters and the artwork don’t throw down any gauntlets because the content itself is what directly challenges the reader. A lot of the tips and tricks described in the book are going to sound ludicrous to the stereotypical American, things like making one’s own cleaning products, and cooking an entire chicken and recooking it into different dishes to make it last a whole week. Nickel’s resistance echoes that of anyone that’s fallen on hard times, hoping that they’ll be able to make it through without changing their lifestyle. Sadly, that’s probably not going to happen. It’s a bitter pill to swallow, and may prove more of a challenge for readers than most art styles or narrative devices.

The biggest criticism I have for this is that it’s too successful at making itself appear non-threatening. I like alliteration as much as the next guy (CC Note: no, you like it way more than the next guy), and I also recognize the importance of getting a title to hook into new readers’ heads however one can. The full title has no pretention, making every effort to be non-threatening as it can. Where so many stories across all forms of media are built around tension and violence, I can appreciate the desire to balance that out with something calm and rational, something that doesn’t mind whether you pick it up or not. That’s its own kind of bravery. On the other hand, there is an overwhelming amount of attention being given to the economic problems people face today and very little covering solutions to those problems the average low to middle class person could actually use. In my own opinion, given the sheer volume of advice contained, and how pertinent it is to audiences, it could easily have gone with a bolder presentation.

Awkward title choices aside, I really do recommend Poorcraft. If you don’t need it, you probably know someone that does, and at $10 a copy, it’s what they need: a great bargain.

Comic Book Comics (Van Lente/ Dunlavey): This is a comic that goes a bit Inception on us, a comic that looks at comics. If you look too closely, you may find yourself in a panel reading the book, and at that point you may not be able to tell where you end and the book begins. If this happens, we cannot give you a refund, but we may recommend a good therapist.

There’s more behind the creation/ evolution of the modern comic than Stan Lee. There’s politics, bitter feuds, backstabbing, dreams forged in sweatshops, weddings with true love, chases… it’s a bit like A Song of Ice and Fire if it were about pen and ink instead of dragons.

You may recognize the names of the creative team. They worked together on Action Philosophers, another book adapting real life into something that reads lighter. Van Lente’s also penned mainstream books all across the industry. They know comics. They live comics. They did not rely on this when they started Comic Book Comics, though. Each issue has a bibliography section larger than some college-level final papers. The volume of information on each page can get pretty intense sometimes, with text and illustrations fighting to drown each other out. Clocking in at 320 pages, this makes for a pretty intimidating tome for the average reader.

Consider what it took to produce. Contracts going back to the turn of the century, partnerships that began as hobbies between friends but ended as vendettas, and some of the major players are still alive and active today. Families are suing multi-national corporations over underpants. This is not the kind of stuff people can talk about casually. Van Lente and Dunlavey would seem to have a lot of fun being as professional and meticulous as possible here. Every statement is cross-referenced, verified, and sourced. It’s enough to make any major journalist proud. You also get images of kaiju newspapers attacking Normandy or something. If you dare ask for anything more than that, we just shouldn’t hang out anymore.

Anyone interested in the sordid details behind the development of an entire medium should check this out. Educators looking for a new way to teach history to their students should check this out, and hope the attention spurs more players in the industry to develop textbooks in comic format. I know I would have paid closer attention to the names and dates that cost me my grade point average if there were faces – not portraits – to attach them to.

What it all comes down to is how much of an audience there is for non-fiction comics. When people can choose between their world and a world where a kid picked on by bullies can walk on walls and has to choose between a blonde and a redhead, the choice would seem pretty obvious, but don’t make it just yet. Our world has a natural gas deposit that’s been burning without any human intervention for decades. There is a diamond mine open to the public in the USA. The burial site of one of the world’s most famous kings was recently found under a parking lot. This world of ours has some really neat stuff in it, if you know where to look.

February 28th, 2013

I have to admit it. There are times when I love my job.

I’m paid to review comic books and graphic novels, that right there is pretty sweet. I’m given a forum to call out creators and publishers, both for when they do something wrong and when they do something right. Some may have this jaded image that as soon as somebody starts reviewing things professionally, they never like anything again, but that’s not true. Yes, we’re critical, but that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate things even while we’re noting their weak points.

Think of eating pizza with a group of friends: it was made with everyone in mind, and while individuals may pick things off they don’t like, most will enjoy it. I and other reviewers are right there at the same table, but we’re expected to tell the next table whether they’ll like what’s about to come out or not, and at our best, we’re comprehensive. Even if we love what’s on our plate, if we know some people at the next table are allergic to something, we need to share.

Of course, if something is so foul that the only way to get any satisfaction is to warn others away from it, well we might as well warn them in a way that’s funny. Keep all this in mind while I review this week’s books.

Guardians of the Galaxy 0.1 (Bendis/ McNiven): Say what you will about people, but we can be pretty arrogant sometimes. Earth holds the Miss Universe Pageant every year, yet not once have we invited another planet to represent. We tend to forget we’re not the only planet out there, and when we do think about the others, we tend to not think of them kindly. Changing it up (somewhat) is the relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy, a series about different species coming together to ensure the universe doesn’t break down and wreck all our stuff.

But before all of that, we look at their leader, Peter Quill. Yes, the creature responsible for the continued existence of what passes for order in the cosmos is a human... only not really. Not completely. Meredith Quill left for solitude so she could get some work done, except a spaceship crashed in her front yard and a STTOS alien stumbled out. STTOS aliens, by the way, appear human in every physical capacity but they’re alien because they say so, like more than half of the aliens on Star Trek: The Original Series. Meredith pulls a Kirk, the alien leaves, and ten years later a young Peter Quill has trouble with bullies: their faces keep flying into his slappin’ hand.

This being a prequel book, there are some very hard boundaries that can’t just be crossed. We know the boy’s going to grow up and leave for outer space. We know he’s preternaturally comfortable with alien tech. This issue isn’t a game changer, all it does is take two moments that define the character and put them in the spotlight. It brings the character back down to Earth in the sense that he’s more relatable now, at least as much as a half-alien, cosmic threat exterminating royal pain in the ass can be. Toward the end of the issue the reader’s caught up to present day, and the more traditional Bendis-style dialog comes in, but throughout McNiven delivers very crisp, emotive artwork.

If this is a genuine look at what the series will be like once it fully launches, we’re in for a good ride. Check it out.

Carbon Grey Vol 2 3/3 (Gardner/ Evans & Nguyen): There’s something about Russian history that captivates people. Maybe it’s the regal dynasty with a long-lost heir, or the closest thing to an immortal sorcerer on record, but people keep coming back to it and re-imagining what might have been. Carbon Grey takes the same amount of land, political intrigue, and mysticism, adds a dash of superpowered space rock, and serves it with a garnish of blonde, brunette, and redhead.

“Mitteleuropa” has two very notable families: The Medein are the hereditary leaders of the country, and the Greys trace their lineage back to the first Kaiser’s most trusted friend, bodyguard, and the only superhero in the world, Gottfaust. Trained from birth to protect the kaiser and his family, the thirteenth Grey has become implicated in the current kaiser’s assassination. This issue wraps up the second “act” in the Carbon Grey Saga with the finding of two powerful artifacts and the players behind the global power struggle playing their hands. People think others are dead when they’re not, others are most certainly dead, and in the next volume, called the Final Chapter, it looks like many other things will die.

Personally, this matches the feel of other Russian commodities like borscht or vodka: an acquired taste. There are so many plot threads being played out that one needs to either have taken notes throughout every issue or reference a wiki, which I couldn’t find. When there’s plenty of time and space for those plots to grow and take root in the readers’ mind, this isn’t a bad thing, but developments happen so often and with such intensity that it’s hard to keep up. This is a shame in this medium, because there’re few ways for new readers to catch on, and this denies readers many of those chances.

The artwork takes up a lot of the slack - every character has a very distinct look, providing a much-needed anchor to the narrative. On top of that, the art style’s pretty; digital painting instead of the traditional pencils, inks, and digital coloring gives the series itself a singular, heavy feel.

This is a very dense book, which historical fiction tends to be. When it’s complete and collected, I expect this is going to be a story that meets every definition of “epic”, but for now it’s merely a very demanding series.

Freelancers 4 (Esquivel/ Covey): Before anyone gets excited, this is NOT a how-to guide for becoming successfully self-employed. This is a book about two best-friend orphans that grow up to become bounty hunters. It’s hard to tell the two apart sometimes, we understand.

“Freelancers” in this case are a mix of private eye, bounty hunter, and action hero at the beck and call of the super rich. An orphan named Katherine Rushmore started the industry, and fellow orphans Val and Cass have been fighting their way out of her shadow since setting out on their own. Life outside the orphanage has been hard on them lately, but they’re pushing through. This issue follows them on a bodyguarding case for an identity thief that made the worst identity in the country profitable.

Depth is not one of the items on this book’s menu. This is a book about two hot chicks on the West Coast using kung fu and spouting one-liners. The good news is that Esquivel and Covey know it and they run with it. You get equal portions of pickled puns, deep-fried martial arts, and cheesecake. This is the kind of story that begs to be made into a TV series, but works just as well in a comics format.

This is a slice of light-hearted fun, nothing more, nothing less. It’s not for everyone, but every now and then it can be a treat.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - Nemo - Heart of Ice (Moore/ O’Neill): As large, imposing, hairy, and clever as Alan Moore can be, the scariest thing about him these days is that there are two of them. One is the creator of some of the most powerful stories the medium has known to date, the other uses the name to sell mediocre scripts for pocket money. You’re never sure which Alan Moore you’re getting until you open the book. That’s why you have me.

Janni Dakkur, the only child of Captain Nemo, is her father’s daughter. Neither party was wholly comfortable with this, and with him dead, Janni is left with one path to understand the man - by sailing his course. That means a lot of pirating, a bit of politics, and exploring. Driven to prove herself capable of more than her father, she takes the Nautilus to a place Captain Nemo visited, but dared not map, a place where he lost every member of the landing party save himself. And they weren’t even wearing red shirts.

The Alan Moore that writes for LOEG isn’t sure if he wants you to get all the literary references he and Kevin O’Neill use. Catching the nods to world literature has always been a keystone for the series, but the nods are becoming so obscure that they don’t hold the reader as effectively. It’s as if he wants to keep such pieces of work relevant, but also delights in proving he’s better read than everyone. The story underneath is fairly decent, carrying the theme of coming out of “greater men’s shadows” along multiple paths.

This follows up Volume 3 nicely, giving the tragic Janni another chance to find some sense of fulfillment. It may not have the same power as the original, but it’s a decent addition.

Have a great week, everyone! Remember, the next few updates are going to be off-format just a bit, so........ just try to go limp.

August 30th, 2012 - Couples Therapy

Fighting enemies is easy, but fighting with the people you care about is the real test of character. With enemies, every weakness found must be exploited, and it’s a clear win if they’re beaten, but when in conflict with someone that means a lot, just the idea of bringing them pain hurts, and weaknesses are known far too well. As luck would have it, there are a lot of comics coming out this week that adopt this theme, particularly in dealing with love interests. Just to warn everyone, when an action-based comic decides to tinker with the heart, it usually ends up broken.

Justice League 12 (Johns/ Lee), for those whose attention was caught by all the media hype surrounding it, features the first in-continuity kiss between Superman and Wonder Woman. It’s not a rumor, this isn’t a fake-out to draw in readers. They smooch.

All cards on the table: when I heard this might be happening, I didn’t care. If anything, I was slightly against it. Part of what made Superman and Lois Lane interesting to me, along with Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor, is that they were paired with such stark opposites on a lot of levels. Clark Kent goes by the book, Lois Lane likes to step on the book as she jumps fences. Diana is direct and holds nothing back, while Steve Trevor relies on stealth and timing to get things done. Watching such couples interact and reach out to each other was intriguing. It also got a lot of comic readers’ hopes up that they might attract someone way above their league. (As in Justice League?! Get it!?!) (CC Note: Calm down, Ryan.)

Superman and Wonder Woman was a pair much talked about in fan groups and movies going back for decades, but never explored in continuity. From a narrative perspective, it’s too perfect. They’re both blue-eyed brunettes, they have similar power sets, they both have exile in their origin stories, their costumes both rely on blue, red, and yellow… they seem too similar to be interesting. That’s the mindset I had going in.

What happened is I underestimated Geoff Johns. He told a wrap-up to his main story that showed the Justice League’s strengths and weaknesses, gave them places to go in the future, and drew the reader in with dramatic tension. And in this, he created a setting in which a couple of powerhouses can find comfort with each other in a natural, mostly believable way. I was impressed.

Jim Lee does what Jim Lee does, and there’s not much more I can say about that.

A v X 5 (Aaron/ Raney and Fraction/ Yu) actually deals with two different couples. A couple of couples, yes, very punny, now that that’s out of the way…



Not everyone may know this, but in current continuity, the Black Panther and Storm are married. One born and raised into royalty, the other grew from a street urchin into a creature of worship. One controls the most advanced civilization on the planet, the other controls the weather itself. One is human, one is mutant. When they work together, it’s beautiful. When they fight, it’s spectacular. It’s also very depressing, because when you get right down to it, they’re fighting for the exact same thing: the preservation of their people.

This brings us to another theme I found repeated through a few of the comics I’m reviewing this week: the leader’s sacrifice. Storm and Black Panther are intelligent people. They know how to assess a situation and plan around it. They also care for one another. With half an hour of deep conversation, they probably could’ve agreed to stay neutral and thus stay together. Instead they jumped in front of their populations to protect them in a time of crisis, and were a bit surprised to find they’d jumped to different sides. It’s VERY possible this happened because rational discourse doesn’t belong in an action comic, but a good job is done to suggest that they’re fighting because they know people are depending on them. Both are very aware of what it does to troops when the commanders sit a fight out, and neither can let that happen.

The other couple is Hawkeye and Angel. The stakes aren’t as personal for them, so they don't hold back. The results are... piercing.

American Vampire 30 (Snyder/ Albuquerque) features another odd couple, this one an immortal vampire and a mediocre musician. Somehow they made it work for something like eight decades. When things got rough one day, they started drifting apart. She ran into an old friend, they went on a couple of business meetings, one thing lead to another… It’s a tale as old as the horseless carriage, only with a lot more blood, claws, and fangs involved.



I’m coming into this series cold, but I don’t feel like I was hindered for that. There’s an immediate sense of what these characters want and what they’ll do to get it, which is a sign of good writing and, in this case, an endearing introduction to the story. The mythology is very different and few details explained, and again I don’t think it’s a big deal. Vampire mythology is so convoluted at this point that every author gets away with doing something different. There’s also a line that suggests the characters themselves may not have as many details on their own condition as they’d like either, which is a fun touch.

Artwise, Albuquerque’s style makes me think of a blend between Sean Murphy and Bill Sienkiewicz – sharp linework that doesn’t always connect smoothly gives the page definition without neatness, a style that works great with a trying to be just askew of what we expect.

FF 21 (Hickman/ Dragotta) is supposed to be the lighter of the books coming from 4 Freedoms Plaza, with more focus on the fun that family can have. Instead, by the end of this issue, I just wanted someone to hug me and tell me things don’t really work like that.                

If I discuss what happens in the comic, I’m going to spoil more things than I normally allow myself to do. I will say that Spider-Man makes a brief but embarrassingly memorable cameo, which brings me to something I CAN write about that addresses this comic.



A few years ago, PeterParker made a deal to “fix” the world around him at a great personal cost. A lot of readers didn’t like this. To them it felt like the story they’d bought, read, and enjoyed for years was being invalidated, and to a degree, they were right. On the other hand, because of the way the deal was made, all the characters involved were more or less okay with things, and as such they could move on fast. The stories that came out afterward rolled with it, and now it’s one of the more popular titles on the shelf, but some readers still feel burned.

That is NOT what happens in this comic.

When it comes to comics, particularly action comics, there really is no such thing as a clean break-up.

To add some much-needed counter-angst, I give you Wolverine and the X-Men 15 (Aaron/ Molina). (Sorry, but I can’t actually GIVE you this book. It costs money, which is something I don’t have a lot of right now, but if I did I would use it to give you things like this issue, but I digress.) (CC Note: You? Digress?) After so many books that could’ve held the subtitle “Love Hurts”, this was a very refreshing change of narrative pace.


A lot of that may be due to the fact that all of the romances featured (and there are many) are only beginning, and may stop before they get a chance to go anywhere. The couple going on the longest is Kitty Pride and Bobby Drake, and in fifteen issues they’re talking about maybe planning a first date. There’s a couple that has a picnic in a cave. A malevolent pig tries to ask three girls out at once, but only if shouting double entendres counts as asking someone out, and if the Stepford Cuckoos count as girls. There’s also a lovely panel where desert people and island people might just get along fine.

There’s a LOT of set-up in this issue. Resolution addicts should look elsewhere for their fix. By the end of this issue, there’s more tension than anything – everyone knows that big changes are coming very soon and that they very well may hurt. That goes for the upcoming conclusion to Avengers Vs. X-Men (October’s not that far away!) just as much as for the burgeoning relationships teased at here.

In summary: a very very cute issue.

There’s no easy way to say this so I’m just gonna say it. I’m going to go see other web sites. It’s not you, I just have nothing left to give right now. But maybe we can get together some time next week to talk about comics? I’d like that.

August 23rd, 2012

Most of the characters we read about don’t stay down. They can be knocked out, psychologically abused, physically pushed beyond the point of exhaustion, but somehow they always find the strength to stand up one more time and deliver the day-saving play. We want to be just like them, able to make that last-minute miracle happen, against all odds and in the face of all nay-sayers. We at Comic Carnival are recovering from Gen Con, even those of us who didn’t attend - they covered for those of us who did. As such, this blog entry may be a bit shorter than what you’re used to. But, as I told a pleasantly snarky GM this past weekend, I’m going for quality over quantity.

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan 1 of 4 (Straczynski/ Hughes) is a literary medium experiment. Sequential art depends on linear time and order to make the story tellable. That’s why it’s called sequential art. Dr. Manhattan of the Watchmen does not experience time linearly. He’s as much a “quantum event” as a human, defined by his perception of himself. As such, he looks as he thinks he should look and experiences things in whatever order he chooses, so telling a story around him in linear sequence wouldn’t seem to make sense. Nonetheless, this is Dr. Manhattan’s origin story, along with unexpected twists that set it apart from the one in the original graphic novel.

J. Michael Straczynski tries his best, and is able to give the reader the impression of what it would be like to jump from point to point in one’s own timeline. I’d like to say this was what he meant to accomplish, but this is 1 of 4, the beginning of a larger story. The end certainly asks questions I want answered, but it plays up the quantum angle of events so much by then that there’s no clear indicator that what see even matters or will matter.  By the end of this first issue, I’m not sure what’s going on, only there’s more of it to come.

Adam Hughes does the artwork. Do you know how long it’s been since Adam Hughes did interior artwork? Because I don’t. It’s been that long. The man makes a living on cover art, a great living, and he deserves it. Long ago, WAAAAAY back, he did interiors. It’s an event anytime an artist goes from interiors to covers and then back, and I’m pleased to say he doesn’t disappoint. Hughes is probably best known for his cheesecake, and this should remind readers that his page layouts and overall construction are healthy as well.

Lobster Johnson (Mignola/ Arcudi/ Torres) is a one-shot tale in the classic BRPD fashion, with fantasy and reality coexisting even as they appear to hunt each other. Lobster Johnson is pretty much the Batman of the BRPD-verse, a gadget-dependent lone wolf that goes up against anyone that hurts and kills people, not batting an eye when they turn out to be supernatural cultists.

I mentioned the “classic BRPD fashion” before, but until now never really gave much thought to what that was. There aren’t many origin stories in the BRPD, instead the reader is thrown into the middle of things and expected to catch on. This happens more often than not because the stories we’re thrown into the middle of aren’t complicated. Primal forces have primal desires, and primal desires don’t need much explaining. They don’t need a complicated response, either, just a definite one.

This example of the classic BRPD style showcases the Clawed Crusader tracking down a thief and murderer to an Egyptian cult, complete with clandestine meetings of the cultural elite, at least one woman in revealing clothing, and reversal after reversal after reversal. Things die. Some of them have it coming.

The writing is efficient. It tells what needs telling. There’s no character development, but this isn’t a story that calls for such things. This is a short action piece, and it does that well. The art reminds me a little bit of Mike Mignola’s style, but not too much. Not to the extent that I feel distracted by it. It’s just real enough to make a connection, but cartoony enough that my eyes just had a fun time. If you’re in the mood for a bit of old-school mystic murder mystery delivered in a single dose, this is your buy.

There’s plenty else coming out this week, some of which you may really enjoy, others you may not. Come on down and look around, you may find a treasure that I didn’t.

August 16th, 2012

It’s madhouse week at Comic Carnival, mostly because it’s a week where the entire city of Indianapolis goes a bit mad. People dress funny, group sit in rooms for hours at a time pouring over notes about things that don’t exist, and all of downtown pretty much locks down. That’s right, it’s Gen Con! Before I lose everyone to their dice bags, I’d like to remind everyone that there are MANY who aren’t going to attend the convention, and that funny books are still coming out on schedule. Relax.

Pathfinder 1 (Zub/ Huerta): Okay, here’s a book that is your gateway to Gen Con. It’s based off the popular roleplaying game that I have never played, but as I understand these things it’s like the Linux version of Dungeons & Dragons - an open-source game based off a more mainstream one that, while technically very sound and satisfying, only the hardcore need apply. Like I said, I’ve never played the game, so I can’t speak to that.

The comic I can speak for, and will speak for, as I do many comics. The art and writing styles are similar in that they’re not especially tight, but they’re fun. It’s got all the usual trappings: a warrior, a thief, and a mage walk into a bar, stumble upon a plot that seems tiny but is really much bigger, and they’re the only ones that can stop it. There’s nothing new going on.

That being said, the execution is well done. The action parts are graphic and fast, the exposition parts don’t drag the overall book down, and there’s humor enough to keep things entertaining. For all the crazy settings, the coked-up spellwork, and the designs that inspire head-scratching, the characters are very grounded and relatable. That guy that throws the meticulous plan out the window because nothing’s died in the past five minutes? The one that gets the entire party into trouble? I know that guy. That guy makes me laugh even as I wish I could choke him over Skype. And he’s here.

You may not read this book, but it’ll be acted out in various forms hundreds of times this weekend in Indianapolis. If you can’t be here to play it yourself, reading it may be the next best thing.

Birds of Prey 12 (Swierczynski/ Richards): I try to pick one book a week that I know nothing about, hold my breath, dive in, and see what sticks to me when I surface. My dive-right-in book this week was Birds of Prey, and as with many DC titles I try this experiment with, I didn’t fare well.


The Birds of Prey franchise is historically about a small cadre of B-level or less heroes, often female, that basically watch the superhero community’s backs. When someone tries to rob a bank, Superman comes in and slugs them with a smile and flash of pearly teeth, but when someone tries to rob Superman, the Birds drag the robber into a back alley where he/ she is broken into pieces. I don’t know the details behind this particular group, but somehow Poison Ivy has co-opted the group into going after polluting tycoons. Maybe it’s because the tycoons have manipulated the Justice League somehow, maybe it’s because Ivy possibly infected the group with a virus she’s keeping dormant unless they do what she asks, maybe one side or the other is on a new self-help regiment. I simply don’t know.

I really tried, but I couldn’t get into this. I was not drawn into the story at any point. Apparently everyone’s disappointed that a known murderer and ecological terrorist is willing to do unpleasant things? The art’s okay, but it’s not worth the price on its own, and the story just doesn’t contribute.

Daredevil 17 (Waid/ Allred): Last week I bemoaned It-Girl for daring to have a Mike Allred character not drawn by Mike Allred. This week we get a non-Allred character drawn by Allred. A weird bit of juxtaposition, but if you had no idea who or what I was talking about last week (CC Note: as opposed to any other week?), this is a good place to learn for yourself.

Daredevil is Matt Murdock, a blind man whose other senses compensated the way a teenager on a meth-LSD cocktail reacts to a micro-change in air density - they flipped out and went into overdrive. Matt learned how to process the new input before going insane, but this issue highlights that his closest friends may have just been waiting for insanity to finally show up. Murdock’s father’s bones appeared in Matt’s office. His friends think he dug them up and brought them there, and Matt’s not defending himself. He may have a perfectly reasonable explanation, like his best friend did in a similar situation, or he may be due for a straightjacket, it’s not made clear.

Daredevil’s never been a stable character. He’s great at his best, he’s hideous at his worst. Mike Allred is one of the few artists that can communicate the beauty behind both. Waid provides plenty of material for him and the reader to work with as well. This is kind of a one-off issue, but a good one.

The Shade 11 (Robinson/ Irving): After craploads of artist changes, location changes, character change-outs, and apparent wandering with no clear focus, finally there is something that resembles payoff.

It’s hard for me to “introduce” The Shade because he’s never had an introduction. Part of his character is that he’s immortal, every story he’s been in has him well established already, and the question of how he came to be has been brought up many times, but never fully addressed. His current foes get their introduction in this issue fast and full, and by the end there’s no ambiguity at all about where they came from or why they do what they do.

Through the conflict between the Shade and the Celestial Pharaohs (I know, just smile and nod...), all the disjointedness of the series to date starts coming into focus, and it’s made clear why things have led up to this point. And we’re assured that in the next issue, we’ll get our introduction to the Shade after years of waiting.

In a review of a previous issue, I think I wrote that this is not a series that brings in new readers. I feel the need to go one step further and say this isn’t for monthly readers, either. I’m going to try rereading this series after it’s done, all in one sitting, and I predict I’m going to really enjoy it. With four weeks between chapters as it is now, it’s a very difficult read.

That’s about all I have for this week. I’m assigning homework - go do something fun.