Current Comics Worth A Look

[Nova Land]

There are several comics-related threads I'd like to start over time, so before beginning this one I'd like to list some others and describe what each is (and isn't) intended to cover.

1. Comics for Skeptics.

2. Comics of Possible Interest to Skeptics.

3. Great Moments In Great Literature.

The first, Comics for Skeptics, would be intended as a place to mention, describe, and discuss comics people think skeptics would enjoy and might want to buy for themselves, or give as gifts, or see about placing in libraries. This would include comics that present skeptics in a positive light, that deal skeptically with paranormal issues such as faith-healing or speaking with the dead, etc.

Since many, many comics take super-science (people who come from other planets with higher gravity than earth will be able to fly; swallowing a pill can make a person shrink down to microscopic size, and swallowing another can restore the person to full-size; etc.) or the supernatural (ghosts, curses, and gods are real), it could be a valuable educational resource for skeptics to know which comics, especially which ones currently available, do not pander to these beliefs.

Examples of comics that might be mentioned in this thread are Jim Ottaviani's Two-Fisted Science and Dignifying Science (trade paperbacks that present stories about real-life scientists), Sandwalk Adventures (which satirizes religion and presents an enjoyable and understandable explanation of the theory of evolution), and individual issues of comics in which questions about the paranormal or supernatural are raised and then dealt with in a praise-worthy manner. (I already put up a post about Sandwalk Adventures, since I didn't want to wait until I had time to start this larger thread, but there are numerous other comics deserving mention.)

Largely this thread would be a heads-up to alert people to such comics; a typical post would supply information such as title, publisher, price, how to find or order copies, and a little description of what the comic is about and why it's worth knowing about. Sometimes another poster might care to add additional information about a title (such as to second a recommendation, give some background on the comic or its publisher, point out short-comings to a recommended title, discuss some of the contents, whatever.)

The second, Comics of Possible Interest to Skeptics, would be more concerned with currently-availble comics and would be for discussing bad as well as good examples. One reason for a thread like this is that it would enable skeptics to write letters to the editor (or, as comic book letter columns increasingly are phased out, to web-sites and bulletin boards) commenting on these issues and suggesting resources comics writers (and readers) might enjoy looking up.

For instance, there was a Daredevil story many years ago in which Uri Geller guest-starred, using psychic powers to bend steel bars and help defeat super-criminals. Some readers wrote in to explain how Geller worked many of his tricks and to recommend Randi's book, The Magic of Uri Geller.

This would be more of a discussion thread than the previous one. A typical post might be someone writing in to give thoughts about the religious views presented in the current incarnation of Spectre, or to ask for people's thoughts about 21 Down (imagine John Edwards as a young punk tattoo artist, except as an unconventional super-hero rather than a TV scam artist), or about God's guest-starring role (as a baseball-bat-carrying young boy) in Supergirl.

The third, Great Moments in Great Literature, might need to be retitled a little, just in case there are people who don't automatically think comics when great literature is mentioned. The idea with this would be for people not simply to say things like"Action Girl is my favorite comic!" or "Castle Waiting rocks!" but to describe some particular bit from the comic that the poster especially liked. A typical post might include a brief summary of some plot twist [marked with spoiler warning, so as not to spoil it for people who don't want it given away], or quote some favorite passage, or describe a favorite character and what makes her or him so memorable.

Besides giving people reading the posts a bit more to go on in deciding whether to check something out, this could also be a lot of fun, both in getting to tell favorite moments one recalls and getting to read other people's favorite bits.

So that leaves # 4, Current Comics Worth A Look, the thread I'm actually starting. This is more general than Comics For Skeptics, since the comic doesn't need to relate to skeptical issues. It just needs to be a comic book, current, and something that the poster thinks is good enough to be worth other people's attention. Discussion might come up about older comics (such as previous comics the creators worked on, or comics one is reminded of) or about the stories in the comics mentioned, or about thing in the real world that relate to the comics mentioned, but the main focus would be good current comics.

I get a box or so of comics each month. I'm just now going through the one that arrived in early October while I was away picking apples, so some of the comics I'm about to recommend have already been out more than a month. A new box should arrive in a few days, so if I'm eager to post about a few of these while they can still be called current.

Since I tend to write at length once I get started, my intention is to cover only one title per post. (This has nothing to do with trying to rack up a higher post count; I've already passed the 200 mark and so am qualified to have an an avatar and to receive the secret information packet that we're not supposed to tell newbies about.)

 

[Nova Land]

Green Lantern, current storyline on gay-bashing

Green Lantern.
DC Comics
Judd Winick, writer; Dale Eaglesham and Rodney Ramos, artists.
monthly; $2.25 cover price.

The current story-line in Green Lantern received some national attention, so you may already have heard about this. For those who haven't, it's about gay-bashing.

The story begins in 154, but 153 is a lead-in and worth picking up on it's own.

Green Lantern is Kyle Rayner, a cartoonist for a magazine similar to the New Yorker. His assistant is a teenage boy, Terry, who recently came out as gay. Kyle's girlfriend is Jenny, who has green skin, is the daughter of the golder-age Green Lantern, and used to be a superhero herself.

There are no fights with super-villains in # 153, just the story of Kyle and Jenny flying out to visit his mother and attend his high school class reunion. There are a number of amusing and funny sequences. At the end of the story, there's an unexpected phone call which stuns Jenny and Kyle...

# 154 opens with a 5-page sequence of Terry's friend David narrating what has happened:

I might have been holding Terry's arm, y'know, walking arm in arm... I'm not sure. I shouldn't have done it outside the club. Not on the street. Maybe I wasn't... It's all real hard to remember.

We couldn't have walked more than a block. Then I... Then I kissed him. Out on the street... I wasn't thinking. I just wanted to kiss my boyfriend.

Somebody started whistling at us.

We started walking back down the street. But we were pretty sure they were following us... And we're both looking around, and there was nobody -- nobody but us and them.

We got scared.

Terry's cell phone couldn't get a signal.

Then one of them yelled, "Hey, faggots!"

We weren't doing anything. We weren't bothering anybody. We were just walking home. Home. We were going home.

We heard them coming up behind us. We ran. We ran as hard as we could. We didn't even look back.

I thought if we split up they might... I don't know, I guess I thought if they couldn't catch both of us then... then they'd... stop. I didn't think that they would... I never would have had us split up if I thought they would just keep going... keep going after...

Terry kept going -- kept running forward. They went after him.

It was, like, five minutes -- Five minutes before I could work up the nerve to go find him...

A lesser comic would show the beating in graphic detail, or show Terry's battered body. This opening sequence is powerful because it doesn't show that. We see the street scene. We see David and Terry in panicked flight. We see David in tears as he relives the awful moments. We see the two separated. We see David hiding, the street become quiet, and David emerge from hiding to find Terry. But we don't see Terry until the next scene, at the hospital.

This is not a comic about colorful fights with super-villains (although some issues have those too). Writer Judd Winick focuses primarily on the interactions among his characters.

Which is not to say the issue is without action. After a frustrating encounter with a police officer who seems mainly interested in pinning the blame for getting beaten on Terry, Kyle goes out and tortures one person, savagely beats two others; he considers killing one of the two, but doesn't. I assume there will be repercussions to this in the next issues.

Winick is a good writer, even when writing mainstream superheroes as he is here. He's even better when he's writing for independent publishers such as ONI.

Perhaps his best work is a graphic novel Pedro & Me, about his friendship with a fellow actor on MTV's The Real World who had AIDS, went on to become an AIDS activist, and died. This book has been widely praised, can be found in some libraries, and is well worth seeking out.

Also noteworthy is Winick's Adventures of Barry Ween. These are the stories of a foul-mouthed pre-pubescent boy genius. These are told in mini-series form, then collected into trade paperback. I'd be tempted to quote some of the funny bits if I had an issue at hand, but most of what I quoted would have to be bleeped. This book is ROTFHMCDLMGLA funny!

 

[Nova Land]

Captain Marvel

Captain Marvel
Marvel. Peter David, writer; ChrisCross, artist.
Monthly; $2.25 cover price

This series has just started over with a new # 1. The story which appears there is the same one that would have appeared in # 36, but it also marks a major change in the character and a good place to start picking up this series.

Human-looking alien super-hero Genis, son of (Marvel Comic's) first Captain Marvel (who died of cancer), shares body-space with Rick Jones, former companion to The Hulk, Captain America, and other Marvel super-heroes. Only one of them exists in our reality at a time; when the metal bands on Rick's/CM's wrists are slammed together, they trade places, with one coming to earth and the other going to an other-dimensional realm. They are able to keep in mental contact, the one in limbo able to see through the other's eyes (which leads to some problems with privacy.)

Rick is not fully happy about this situation, and sometimes isn't very nice to Genis, who is still new to being an adult and unfamiliar with Earth. For instance, Rick taught Genis to shout the traditional super-hero battle-cry: "Owa Tagoo Siam". [I'm spelling that out from memory. lGenis stopped shouting it out after the first few times. Try saying it out loud yourself before going into battle.]

Genis comes equipped with standard super-hero powers such as flying, strength, etc., plus cosmic awareness.

As the new # 1 begins, there has been a major development: being cosmically aware has driven Captain Marvel insane.

You've had the experience in dreams. You must have.

In the dream, something bad's happening. Really bad. And naturally, you wanna stop it.

So the first thing you do is try and scream. Maybe as a warning to someone else in the dream. Or maybe 'cause you know, on some level, that you're dreaming, and figure the scream will wake you up.

But you can't make a noise. Your throat's all closed up. You can't get so much as a squeak out.

And then... this is the worst part... the bad stuff happens, and it all unfolds in, like, slow motion. You see it all happening, and you can't do a damned thing about it.

That's kind of what happened the night Captain Marvel went nuts.

Being cosmically aware, Genis is aware of everything at once. He knows about the drug deal going down on the corner. He knows about the Palestinian teenager about to blow up a busload of people in Israel. He knows about the alien invasion about to happen countless light years away in space.

The resolution to the suicide bomber situation in Israel is particularly unsettling and worth reading. So is the alien invasion in space. So is all of it.

"My fault. All my fault." That's what he keeps saying. The whole journey back to earth.

I try to tell him it's not. I try to tell him he can't be everywhere. Over and over again, I tell him he can't be responsible for everything that might or might not happen throughout the galaxy. And then he says...

"Yes. Yes I am.

"There's... There's an earthquake hitting in Tokyo... and... and on Alpha Gamma II... a traffic accident is about to claim the life of an innocent boy who... who... who if he doesn't die... becomes a mass murderer... And the Badoon are regrouping and... and the Emperor of Tau Kento is about to have an affair that... that will cause his wife to commit suicide... but... but avert a war that... that..."

I scream his name. He doesn't hear me. Or anything.

I know one phrase of Latin. Exactly one.

I don't know why I remeber it. The nuns in the orphanage where I grew up taught it to us as part of a class on ancient history.

It goes, "Quiem deus perdere, dementat prius." Whom the Gods wish to ruin, they first drive mad.

And as I shout at Marv in impotent desperation, I keep thinking that Marv got "cosmic awareness exactly wrong. It's not that you see the entirety of all creation. It's that the entirety of creation ... sees you. And if for some reason it doesn't like what it sees...

...then God help you.

Unless, of course, He's busy driving you mad. In which case...

... you're on your own.

 

[Nova Land]

Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey # 47
DC Comics; this issue by Terry Moore, writer; Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti, artists.
Monthly. $2.50 cover price.

If you watch the WB's new series Birds of Prey, this is the comic it's based on.

The comic book differs in some details from the tv show, but the spirit is the same. This is the story of the friendship between 2 women: Barbara Gordon (Batgirl before the Joker shot and crippled her, now Oracle, a computer genius who gathers information for the super-hero community); and Dinah Lance (the Black Canary). Barbara and Dinah work together: Barbara gathers information, and provides guidance to Dinah through an ear-piece Dinah wears, while Dinah goes out as the active field agent.

This issue and the next may be of special interest to skeptics because there is a faith healer involved prominently in the story. Unfortunately she looks to be genuine.

Good characterization; strong, sensible women characters who are friends as well as partners in crime-fighting; positive portrayal of a disabled character. What's not to like?

 

[Nova Land]

Fables

FABLES
Vertigo. Bill Willingham, writer; Lan Medina and Steve Leialoha, artists.
Monthly. $2.50 cover price.

Despite what you see on tv, the typical cop's life can best be described as unending hours of mind-numbing drudgery.

Gunfights and car chases are few and far between. They generate so much extra paperwork -- and second-guessing by everyone not involved -- that no sane cop welcomes such breaks in the general tedium of police work.

And no honest cop ever gets rich.

At least a Mundy cop gets to retire after twenty to forty years. I've been on the job for more than two hundred years -- ever since the first days of the Fables In Exile Compact and General Amnesty.

I've never been in a gunfight -- or fired a gun for that matter. I've never been in a car chase, much less learned to drive. And even the number of times I've had to chase a suspect on foot can be counted on one hand.

All in all, I can't say I've had what could be described as an exciting career -- or even a very interesting one. But once in a great while, small rewards do come along.

Anyone who's ever fancied himself a detective, openly or secretly, longs for the day he can do the famous parlor room scene.

What the Hell is that?

It's the moment I get to reveal who did what, how they did it -- and most important -- how I figured it all out.

So begins Fables # 5, "The Famous Parlor Room Scene -- Sans Parlor", in which detective Bigby Wolf (the big bad wolf of 3 little pigs fame) reveals the answers to the Rose Red murder case which he has been investigating the past 4 issues.

The premise of this series is that the characters of fairy tales -- Snow White, Rose Red, Jack (who climbed the beanstalk), Prince Charming, etc. -- are real and living among us. There are some surprising characterizations and delightful twists.

There are no fight scenes in this issue (nor in the previous four, as I recall), though Snow and Bigby do put coercive pressure on quite a few of the other characters in order to get them to go along with the plan Snow has come up with to resolve the problem facing them. The language may make this unsuitable for some younger readers; several times Snow White uses variants of an expression that starts with f, ends with uck, and isn't fire truck. It's not excessive or gratuitous, but it is there.

Quite apart from being a lot of fun, this is actually a pretty good comic for skeptics. There has been a mystery as the background for these first 5 issues, and Bigby solves it through careful observation and deduction. Half of this issue is devoted to Bigby explaining the things that were right in front of our eyes the past 4 issues; the other half is devoted to Bigby and Snow figuring out what to do about the crime, since they can't go to the Mundy (i.e., mundane, non-fairy-tale) authorities.

 

[Nova Land]

Some interesting Marvels

I don't want to give too much attention to Marvel, since I'd rather call attention to good stuff from less-well-known companies that people might be less likely to discover. But Marvel has been hiring some interesting creators, and many series are more than just mindless action. Here are quick listings for a few:

1. I already did a long entry for Captain Marvel.

2. Amazing Spider-Man is currently being written by J. Michael Straczynski, creator of tv show Babylon 5 and a pretty decent comics writer. (He has also done some indy titles: Midnight Nation, 12 issue series, already complete, and Rising Stars, still continuing (but also of finite length).

(Marvel's other Spider-Man titles include Peter Parker, Spider-Man, currently written by Paul Jenkins, and Tangled Webs, which rotates the creative team; both titles are generally quite readable.)

3. Black Panther, by Christopher Priest, features unusual story-telling (very non-linear!) and an intriguing collision of politics with the world of super-heroes. This is not a super-hero book, but features a character who had previously been seen as a super-hero. It's hard to follow the stories without reading a bunch of issues together, and it zips along fast, but if you can catch up and hold on it's a great-amusement park ride. Witty and thought-provoking -- usually good signs that cancellation or a price-hike is imminent.

4. X-Statix, by Peter Milligan (yes, that Peter Milligan) and Mike Allred (yes, that Mike Allred). Originally titled X-Force, and continued from that mainstream Marvel mutant title, this does not look or read like a Marvel comic. The premise is that, rather than try to take over the world, or use their powers to defend humanity in hopes non-mutants will come to accept them, this group of mutants has decided to win acceptance by becoming pop celebrities. Any mission they go on is likely to be crafted in advance to garner maximum good publicity and increase the sales on their t-shirts, coffee mugs, etc. People compete to join the team in order to rake in the big bucks, and quit the team if they get offered their own tv show or some other better-paying gig. In theory this ties in with the rest of the Marvel universe, and there are occasional cameos and guest appearances, but really this is a world of its own. (I wish I were doing a longer write-up on this one, because there are lots of great bits I'd love to quote!)

5. Elektra. Greg Rucka, a novelist and screen-writer, is writing this series about woman who formerly worked as an assassin-for-hire. Most Marvel's now carry a PG rating on the cover; this has the stronger "Mature / Violent Content" label. The funny thing is, it actually is mature. This is not a glorification of mercenaries. Those who enjoy the theme of redemption often featured in television's Angel series might also enjoy where this is going.

(If you check out Elektra and enjoy it, you might also look for his two Whiteout mini-series from ONI (both have been collected into TPBs) and his current on-going series there, Queen and Country.)

6. Marvel is also doing a line called Marvel MAX, their counterpart to DC's Vertigo line, except that Vertigo leans more to fantasy and science fiction (with graphic violence, profanity, and sex) while MAX leans more to elseworlds of Marvel-Universe-type characters (with graphic violence, profanity, and sex). Most of these are minis; the only continuing series at present is Alias. Some of these are worth a look, but I'll save that for a different post.

 

[Nova Land]

Tales From Birdbun Theater # 1

I don't have a copy of this, but just saw an ad and it looks worth mentioning. Here's a review snippet from the ad:

The Harvard Gay and Lesbian Review:

"Birdbun Theater is to other syndicated gay comic strips what Gilbert and Sullivan is to Soupy Sales."

The sample strip printed in the ad looks funny, and there's a web site, www.birdbun.com, that folks can go to and read more strips to see if it's something they'd enjoy. According to the site, the strip has been appearing in alternative newspapers since early 2000.

Tales From Birdbun Theater # 1
written and drawn by Dennis Tucker
"48 pages of naughty fun"; cover price is $4.95

 

[Nova Land]

Castle Waiting

Castle Waiting
story and art by Linda Medley
OLIO, Box 1953, Portland OR 97207
24 pages, b & w, $2.95 cover price
published sporadically, currently seems like about 4 times a year

Fables, from DC's Vertigo line, is about fairy characters living among real-world folks. Castle Waiting has the same basic premise, but the two books are nothing alike. (Except they are both worth a look.)

Castle Waiting is a charming and graceful fantasy, told with a pleasant art style and gentle good humor. These are everyday-life stories set against a fantasy backdrop. In my latest copy, # 15 ("Interiors, part one"), a young couple with a baby is moving into a new room in the castle, and Rackham is showing them around so they can choose which one they'd like.

Rackham: There's a spiral stair to the upper storeys just down that passage to your right... but let's go up through the tower. You have got to see the "amenities" on this floor.

(Rackham opens a door for them. Jain looks in, amazed; her husband is behind her, gently cradling the baby and totally absorbed with that. Throughout the remainder of the scene you can see him in the background, playing with the baby, oblivious to Jain and Rackham and the fixtures they are discussing.)

What do you think of this, eh?

Jain: My stars! Is it a bathing room?

This was the original kitchen. The tower has its own well and drainage system, so the king had it remodeled when they built the new kitchen. It was quite the modern extravagance...!

Of course, nowadays we just make do with a weekly tub in front of the fire.

Uhhh... these tubs are all two-seaters...!

Hedonists, my dear.

Jain, smiling and curtseying: Clean ones!

The tour through the castle to look at rooms is the main plot, but sub-plots include a horse-like character getting new shoes, two nuns sneaking caramels out of a candy jar, and a father talking with his daughter about playing with another child in the castle.

If you're looking for monsters and wizards and fight scenes, look elsewhere; but if you enjoy quiet stories with lots of playful details going on in the background, this is great stuff.

Note: this is suitable for all ages, but younger people would probably enjoy it more if it is read to them, as the book is written for adults and includes words such as maneuver, extravagance, farrier, mnemonic, predecessor, etc. (All spelled correctly! This book is lettered by Todd Klein, one of the finest letterers in comics, and the quality of the lettering makes this book a pleasure to read.)

 

[Nova Land]

Likewise # 1

The new comics box arrived!

On the one hand, of course: Yay!

On the other hand, I've barely had time to dip into the box that was waiting for me when I got home a couple weeks ago, and had hoped to get notices of more items from that box written up before this one came. Oh well.

Likewise # 1
story and art by Ariel Schrag
Slave Labor Graphics, Box 26427, San Jose CA 95159-6427
magazine size (8 x 11), 40 pages, b & w, $4.95 cover price

I'm quite fond of auto-biographical comics when they are done well.

Some people are especially good at opening up their lives on the drawn page. It takes special skill to be able to look back at one's own life and expose it to strangers, to be able reveal one's inner feelings and thoughts, the embarrassing side as well as the image one would prefer to project. Ariel Schrag is brilliant at this.

I was a little groggy when I opened this one, and at first I was a little confused.

The inside front cover says "Likewise is a true account of my senior year at high school. The entire book, which is 378 pages, was written and drawn during the year that I took off between graduating from high school and starting college. It will be released in an eight-issue sereis as I continue to ink it." Fine so far.

Page 1: classroom scene, Ariel's sitting at his desk, drawing comics pages writing notes to a classmate rather than paying attention to the teacher, meanwhile carrying on an interior monologue:

We've only been in school a week and 3 kids have died. Two were in car accidents and one was stabbed. I didn't know any of them at all. I awkwardly prayed for one who was in critical condition, last night in the bathroom.

am I gonna put the kids dying in my next comic book? seems kind of rude and horrible. but I mean the comic's important to me, it's the most important thing. what would Sally think?

no, I will not think what will Sally think, it's my book. I can't do this, what's she doing right now? I wonder if she's going to the bathroom.

how the f*ck am I supposed to know if you're going to get into Pomona, probably not. where the hell am I going to college! maybe I should go to Reed. Sally would think I was crazy and following her. oh yeah, I wanna go to New York

I'm now a senior in high school. I like my classes, I dropped math. I have some girlfriend or something I think her name's Mabel...

On picking up the book I'd assumed from the name that Ariel was female, but I guess boys can be named Ariel too.

So I'm reading along, here's this kid with over-active hormones thinking about which girl he has the best chance of having sex with. It seems well-done, but I'm not quite following some of the scenes; something seems to be off.

Then it gets stranger. Ariel is in the hall, needs to use the bathroom, there are some girls in the way giggling and having a good time and Ariel is thinking, move out the way, who do you think you are, I'm a senior and I gotta piss. whip out my dick and spray the walls with my name. did I just discharge all over myself? Ariel enters the bathroom. There's a girl standing there in her underwear, applying make-up. Ariel wants to use a particular stall, and so just stands there waiting; the girl looks uncomfortable, but doesn't say anything. And I'm thinking, this is strange. Co-ed bathrooms? In high school?

Okay, you're probably way ahead of me and thinking what an idiot I am. Ariel is, indeed, a girl.

The next 3 pages, with Ariel using a teacher's office to work on her comic, are beautifully done and clarify things nicely. If you are leafing through this comic in a store deciding whether to buy it or not, I recommend checking out these pages (5 to 7); that should give you a sense of what the comic is about, and whether it's right for you.

(If you like those but are still undecided, try pages 16 to 17, which are easy to follow without seeing the rest of the book, and provide a good showcase of Schrag's skill in a painful but touching scene.)

(One of the best, and funniest, sequences is on pages 13 to 14, Ariel's experience with safe sex -- but save that for if you buy the book. If you don't enjoy the other pages mentioned, you probably won't like this.)

This is very well-written. The art may take some getting used to, but if you get into it there is brilliant stuff here. Schrag often conveys more expression by leaving details (such as mouths or eyes) out than some artists can convey in fully-rendered drawings.

This is an appealing book with a very likeable central character. If you are not offended by the language used (and brief nudity), I recommend this highly.

[edited to insert an asterisk into an inappropriate-for-this-forum word.] Apologies. I included the word originally because I felt it would help people reading this review could get a sense of what the comic was like. I think the comic is well worth reading, but did not want someone with different sensibilities to go looking for it only to discover it wasn't suitable for them. I'll find alternative ways of conveying this in future posts.

 

[Nova Land]

True Story, Swear To God # 3
written and drawn by Tom Beland
Clib's Boy, Box 9020278, Old San Juan Station, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00902
e-mail: tom@yunque.net
48 pages, b & w, $2.95 cover price

I don't think I can do better at summarizing the series than Beland himself can, so here's his inside front cover summary.

So I met this great woman at a bus stop on my final night at the Magical Kingdom (yeah, I'm still calling it that!!!)... a night I'd never forget. Unfortunately, it was for ONLY one night. Bummer! She lived in Puerto Rico, me in California.

After weeks of getting to know each other over the phone and through e-mails... we hoped to meet again some day.

Then one day, Lily received an assignment to fly to Mexico and interview a rock band for her newspaper.

She then decided to book an additional flight to my hometown of Napa Valley and join me for my brother's wedding. We'd have three glorious days together.

Finally... at long last... we were reunited!

Oh, and her mother thought I could be an ax murderer.

Directly above the summary is a reprint of a page from the previous issue, showing a phone conversation between Tom and Lily. It's an excellent sample of Beland's work. Much of the humor to it lies in how the facial expressions complement the words, so I won't quote it; but if you are debating whether to buy this book (and can find a copy), a look at the inside front cover should be helpful.

The cover, a scene from the back of Tom and Lily strolling down a path together, with trellises of grapes on either side and rolling green California hills in front, conveys the tone of the comic well.

Not only is this a charming and sweet tale of True Romance, it is also told well in a way that gives humor to everyday moments.

Beland has a simple cartoony style, giving few background details except when they are absolutely necessary. This works out well, since what is left is simple drawings of the characters, spotlighting Beland's skill with body language and facial expressions.

One of the scenes in this issue is a discussion Tom and Lily are having of whether Tom snores, which continues all through their drive over to see Tom's family. We join the discussion already in progress as they stroll up the walkway to the door:

Do so! Do not! Do so! Do not! Do so!

Do not... INFINITY!!! Tom gleams in triumph HA!!

"Infinity?!" Cono... Now THAT'S MATURE!! (Her expression indicates she feels otherwise.)

Never underestimate the power of a well-timed "infinity".

That still doesn't change--

Ah-Ah-AHHH... "Infinity", my dear means "forever". Soooo... Case closed. Tom opens the door, and gestures gallantly After you.

 

[Nova Land]

Halo And Sprocket

Halo And Sprocket # 3
written and drawn by Kerry Callen
Amaze Ink (Slave Labor Graphics): Box 26427, San Jose CA 95159-6427
24 pages, b & w, $2.95 cover price

There are not many creators working in comics today who tell good short stories.

Kerry Callen can and does. There are 3 tales in this issue: an 8-pager, a 12-pager, and a 4-pager. The 8-pager brought me a smile, the 12-pager had me laughing, and the 4-pager had me laughing hysterically.

The comic is about a young woman, Katie, and her two friends who live with her: Halo (who's an angel) and Sprocket (who's a robot). Probably it was explained back in the first issue, or somewhere, how Halo and Sprocket came to live with Katie, but if so I've forgotten, and it really doesn't matter. They're there, and everyone takes it for granted; no big deal.

what makes these stories funny is the innocently incongruous take on the world around them that this odd pair have.

The first story, "About Face", is about Halo teaching Sprocket how to express anger. See, Katie went to the store, bought groceries, but didn't buy Sprocket the lubricating oil she had promised to get. Sprocket knows he should be angry; it's just that looking and acting upset doesn't come naturally to a robot. So Sprocket tries to teach him. That's what angels are for: to be helpful... It's a pleasant tale with some cute bits and a warm-fuzzy ending.

In "The Little Things": Katie, having found a cute teensy-tinesy box of detergent, stops off (with Halo and Sprocket along) to give it to her sister Gina. The four of them sit around a table talking about, literally, little things, with Sprocket needing an explanation why tiny detergent boxes are cute but tiny "mouse feces" aren't.

Gina: Do you guys always have conversations like this?

Katie (face down on table): >sigh< Yes.

Gina's young son Sam comes out for a spoonful of sugar (to cure some hiccups he doesn't have), Halo and Sprocket go to tuck Sam in, he mentions having received a dollar from the tooth fairy, and Halo and Sprocket (not realizing there are no such things as tooth fairies) take it seriously. Sprocket's advice to Sam, while logical and well-intended, has Sam lying awake in the dark, eyes wide, arms rigidly at his side, as the story closes.

The issue closes with "The Telemarketer", about an unfortunate young man trying to sell credit cards who manages to call Katie's place when only Halo and Sprocket are home. The first panel sets the scene with the man at his phone table (not even a cubicle) preparing to make the call; most of the rest of the story consists fo shots of the man, phone in hand, talking to Halo and Sprocket and getting passed back and forth between the two of them and getting more and more frustrated. The last page, especially the last panel, is hilarious. (Unless you're a telemarketer. In that case, find a different comic to read this month.)

Amaze Ink is Slave Labor Graphics' "All Ages" imprint. The stories are told in a simple cartoony style that is straightforward, easy to follow, and quite delightful.

 

[Nova Land]

X-Men U:nlimited # 38

X-Men Unlimited #38
writer this issue: Greg Rucka; artist this issue: Darick Robertson
Marvel; bi-monthly; standard (32 pages, color) size; $2.25 cover price

I don't usually buy this title, but Greg Rucka was listed as the writer and I like his work enough to buy almost any that's reasonably priced, even if it's for Marvel. I was quite please with the decision.

It is a year (Marvel time) since Pyotr Rasputin, aka Colossus of the X-Men, died. His friend Kitty Pryde, still in mourning, lights a candle and spends the day thinking of him. Then she happens to see a person who looks just like Pyotr. She knows it can't be him, but spends the issue searching for the person she has seen (and wondering if it could be Pyotr, or some enemy playing tricks, or...)

This is a quiet tale of friendships, memories, religious rituals and going on with life. There are no villains and no fights, no conspiracies and no returns of dead characters.

Maybe the answer to all grief lies in a good cry

Religion and ritual, there's always a reason.

Grief in Judaism is broken into phases, and the Yartzelt is really the last one.

There are rules, what you're supposed to do the first day after a loved one dies...

... then the first week...

... then the first month...

... all the way to the first year, the first Yartzelt.

The idea, I guess, is that it's supposed to take that whole year to come to terms with the loss.

So the Yartzelt, it's closure, but it's more.

Because when someone you love dies, it never goes away.

The words, taken without the pictures, don't convey the beauty of this passage, as Kitty discards the Yartzelt candle that has burned away, leaves a note for her friend Kurt who is sleeping on her couch, and goes out for coffee and to resume her life.

If you know who these characters are the story probably has additional layers, but even without reading a single other Marvel comic you can enjoy this one.

 

[Nova Land]

Getting The Sex Out of the Way

Getting The Sex Out of the Way
written by Matthew Manning
drawn by Stephen Stardog, Raina Telgemeier, and Matthew Loux
Meat Haus press, 184 Kent Ave.# 322; Brooklyn NY 11211
24 pages, b & w; one-shot; $2.50 cover price

Despite what the title may sound like, this is not an x-rated comic. There's skinny-dipping (but no private areas of the body shown) and a suicide, so it's about a PG rating.

[I do have an x-rated comic on order; it's got Roberta Gregory work in it, and she's usually excellent even when doing adults-only work. But that hasn't arrived yet.]

The story has a framing device, about a facial tissue company secretly monitoring people's lives in order to figure out how better to market their product, which provides an excuse for following the lives of several friends as they come together for a weekend reunion.

The art is done by 3 different people, each doing a few pages at a time. This creates a small problem, as the styles do not match as well as they should (for me, at least). One main sub-plot concerns Erik (who is gay) and his friend Joel (who Erik thinks is gay). Joel's story is pivotal to the story's ending; but Joel looks very different on different pages, which distracts from the story.

Of the art styles, I enjoyed the pages by Telgemeier best. She gives the characters a fluid, slightly cartoony look, with exaggerated expressions that communicate people's feelings well. Stardog has a scratchier style, and Loux (who does all the pages about the corporate monitors) has a more realistic style. All three do good work here, but I would have preferred to have only one style for the scenes of the people who are being monitored.

The story is strong enough for me to recommend this book despite my (small) problem with the art. The 22-page story explores the difficulties people often face in trying to make relationships work. There is a powerful ending and a beautifully-written last page.

I would quote the final 6 word balloons, but to appreciate them you need to read the story leading up to them.

 

[Nova Land]

One Plus One # 1

One Plus One # 1 (of 5)
written by Neal Shaffer; drawn by Daniel Krall
Oni Press, 6336 SE Milwaukee Ave PMB 30, Portland OR 97202
32 pages, b & w, probably bi-monthly, $2.95 cover price

Oni publishes a lot of interesting mini-series, such as the Whiteout, Barry Ween, and Blue Monday stories. Here's a new one, just starting out, that is well told and looks intriguing. It has paranormal aspects that might make it of special interest to some JREFers.

One Plus One is (so far) the story of two men meeting at a bar and having a conversation.

One, Leonard, is a regular, who goes to Dante's most nights, leaving when the place starts getting full. That's because, when he looks at people for any length of time, he sees how they're going to look after they die. The other, David, is a new person in town, on a job (nature not specified yet) and familiarizing himself with the territory.

Leonard usually tries to avoid people -- too painful seeing what the future is going to bring, since it always brings decomposition -- but he introduces himself to David because David is the only person he has ever seen who looks the same after Leonard has looked at him for a while as he did when Leonard first looked at him.

David explains that this is because he's already gone -- died and moved on a long time ago.

The two men enjoy their conversation together, and Leonard leaves the bar feeling better than he has in a long time, looking forward to future conversations.

Those are the paranormal elements so far. I don't know what direction this book is going; a lot will depend on what the mysterious job that brings David to town is. So far there's no violence, though there is a sense of foreboding (due especially to people in the background looking like decomposing corpses). The story is being told with intelligence and restraint. For those interested in stories about ghosts, people who can see other people's futures written on their faces, and what life might be like if such things were real, this looks like an entertaining story.

 

[Nova Land]

Strangers In Paradise # 53

... ........... ............. .........................................................
Strangers in Paradise # 53
written and drawn by Terry Moore
Abstract Studios, Box 271487, Houston TX 77277
24 pages; b & w; published about every 6 weeks; $2.95 cover price

SIP is a love story and comedy/drama; sometimes it breaks your funny-bone and sometimes it breaks your heart.

The best thing to do is to pick up the current issue and pick up the trade paperbacks, especially the TPB of the original mini-series. The more stories in the series you read, the more enjoyable each succeeding one is.

The original mini-series tells the story of Katchoo, Francine, and Freddy. Katchoo and Francine have been best friends since high school. Katchoo (Katerina Choovanski) is hopeless in love with Francine, but hasn't told her that for fear of losing her friendship. Francine, who suffers from low self-esteem, went through a period where she had sex with a lot of people; but once they had sex with her, they tended to leave her. Realizing that was not a good way to wind up in a happy relationship, Francine refuses to have sex with Freddy, even though the two of them have been living together close to a year. However, Freddy's main motivation in life is to have sex with women, so this complicates life. Also complicating life is that, since they don't have a place of their own to stay, Francine and Freddy are staying in a spare room in Katchoo's house. When Freddy decides he's not going to get any sex this way and breaks up with Francine, Francine is devastated. Katchoo misunderstands what has happened, and goes to wreak a fitting vengeance on the person who has wronged her best friend. From there, things get even more complicated -- and very funny.

When SIP began as a continuing series, a sub-plot was developed involving Katchoo's past and explaining how she came to be the kind of person she is in the mini-series ( a person who shoots her alarm clock when it goes off in the morning, and takes off after Freddy with an arsenal the average person wouldn't have a clue how to use). Freddy became less integral, and an artist named David became a key player. Francine has learned that Katchoo loves her, and the two have split apart and almost come back together numerous times.

There are many great episodes and scenes to discover (if you aren't already familiar with this wonderful series). In the current issue there's: Katchoo's long bar conversation with a woman she has met; Katchoo's phone call to her sister to confirm this person is who she says she is (hilarious sequence!), Francine's visit to her therapist; Katchoo going to see Casey (a beautifully touching sequence); and a worried Francine dropping by Casey's place (embarrasingly funny, with an Oh My God cliff-hanger ending.)

You won't understand who Casey is if you start with this issue, which would be a shame because knowing that makes this issue even better. It's still a great comic even if you have no clue about a lot of what's going on, though, so if you don't want to invest in TPBs or back issues it's still worth checking the current issue out.

As an added bonus, there is a 4-page preview of Jane's World by Paige Braddock, which apparently has been available as a strip on the web for some time and will soon be available in its own comic book. In the preview, Jane gets talked into attending therapy with her ex-girlfriend (whom she has no interest in getting back together with). Jane is less than thrilled with the idea of attending these sessions, until the therapist starts doing "past life regressions" with her. The treatment of past lives is very non-reverential, and skeptics may get a special kick out of these sequences. I enjoyed all the strips printed here, am looking forward to the comic when it comes out, and am planning to drop by www.JanesWorldComics.com to look for more, when I have time.

........... .........................................................................

 

[Nova Land]

Fleep!

Fleep
written and drawn by Jason Shiga
Spark Plug Comics, www.SparkPlugComicBooks.com
one-shot; 44 pages; $5.00 cover price

Fleep costs more than many comics, but it gives good value for the money.

Here's the basic set-up. A man goes into a phone booth to make a call.

The last thing I remembered, I was going to give Jenny a call and tell her I was running late. Next thing I know, it's pitch black, I'm laying sic crumpled on the ground and it feels like my head's being squeezed in a clamp.

After several minutes of blind gropings (of myself and my surroundings) my hands eventually stumbled across the familiar curve of a telephone receiver.

I wonder how long Jenny's been waiting.

Eventually he thinks to pull the booth door closed, and a light goes on. There are slabs of concrete surrounding the booth on all sides. The booth is labeled "Fleep" rather than phone. The operator answers the phone in a language the man does not recognize, and the phone book in the booth is similarly incomprehensible.

"There must be a rational explanation for all this," he thinks to himself, and for the remainder of the book he proceeds rationally to try to understand what his situation is, how he got into it, and how to get out of it.

Nothing paranormal is involved.

I don't know how satisfying others will find the solution; it isn't something I would have imagined without reading the book, but in the context of this story it worked for me. And there is a twist to it which packs a solid emotional wallop.

Enjoyment of the story does not rest solely on the solution, though; simply seeing how the person proceeds rationally through a totally bewildering experience was satisfying in itself for me. And there is a moral dilemma presented at the end of the book, after the man has discovered the truth of the situation, which I thought was nicely resolved and provides a poetic ending.

The art is simple and clear -- big eyes, exaggerated large mouth, definitely not photo-realism, but easy to follow exactly what is going on and easy to feel what the trapped man is feeling.

This won't be to everyone's taste, but I was glad to have spent my money on it.

 

[Nova Land]

Y: The Last Man

Y: The Last Man
written by Brian Vaughan; drawn by Pia Guerra and Jose Marzan
Vertigo (an imprint of DC, the Superman/Batman/Wonder Woman folks)
monthly, ongoing, 32 pages, $2.95 cover price

In the near future, an unexplained plague kills off all the men (and boys) -- all except one, Yorick, an amateur stage magician. Along with his monkey, Yorick sets out for Australia to be re-united with his girlfriend. By the end of issue 3 he has agreed to wait on that until he can be examined at a lab to see why he survived. An interesting and competent young black woman is accompanying him to keep him from being killed until he can be examined.

What makes this series enjoyable and worth looking at is that the writer seems more interested in exploring the political and social aspects of an all-woman world than in doing the Mad Max type action that these after-the-disaster stories often turn into.

The current issue is # 4, but this scene from # 3 catches a lot of what's fun about the series:

[Yorick and his mother are cowering in the White House near a window that has just been shot out. His mother, a member of Congress at the time the plague wiped out men, has temporarily assumed the presidency.]

[mom]: Get away from the window, Yorick!

[Yorick]: But who the hell is shooting at us, mom? Terrorists?

Worse... Republicans.

You're sure you're not jumping to conclusions, Representative? I mean, not every person who owns a gun is a Republican.

I recognize these women, Yorick. They're all wives of Congressmen

[One of the women with guns]: Listen up! Those were just warning shots! We don't want to hurt anyone... but we can no longer toldrate your coup of our government.

Coup? You mean... they weren't shooting at me?

There are only thirteen females in the senate and sixty in the house... and almost three-fourths of us are Democrats. A few of the wives of dead Republicans think we're trying to eliminate the two-party system just because we're not giving them their husbands' seats.

Are you serious? After all the men died, I thought you guys would be holding hands down at the United Nations or something.

When the Hell did women get so petty and... and power-hungry?

Didn't you vote for Hillary?

Republicans need not fear; by the end of the issue, a female Republican (the Secretary of Agriculture) has turned up and assumed the presidency.

 

[Nova Land]

Catwoman # 12
written by Ed Brubaker; drawn by Cameron Stewart
DC; monthly, ongoing; 32 pages, $2.50 cover price

There are currently 3 in-continuity Batman titles: Batman; Detective; and Batman: Gotham Knight. There are 5 titles that spin directly out of the Batman continuity, and which Batman often appears in: Nightwing; Robin; Batgirl; Birds of Prey; and Catwoman. In addition, there is a comic based on the animated cartoon Batman (Batman: the Gotham Adventures) and a comic featuring Batman stories about his past or future adventures (Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight). There is also Harley Quinn, about the Joker's girlfriend; Batman played a role in early issues but is now largely absent.

I'm fond of all these series; but I'm an addict. The two I think non-addicts might find most worth looking at on a regular basis are Birds of Prey (already mentioned in a previous post) andCatwoman.

Selina Kyle (Catwoman) has had a checkered career -- both as a character and as a comic book. She started as a jewel thief, became a whip-carrying, slit-skirted crime boss, reformed, returned to crime, reformed, returned to crime, reformed, married Batman and had a daughter, had that reality wiped out, now is generally recognized to have started her career as a prostitute, and is currently retired from cat-burglary, living in Gotham, enjoying a truce with Batman, skating the thin edge of the law, and working to fight corruption in the run-down areas of Gotham where she grew up.

Catwoman has had a variety of costumes over the years, many of them extremely impractical but sexually revealing. In recent years her breasts apparently developed an infection (common to many comic-book women) which caused them to swell up grotesquely. In her newest incarnation, her costume is much more pleasingly practical and the infection seems under control.

The book is now a fairly down-to-earth crime thriller, with a strong cast that includes Slam Bradley (an aging private eye -- one of DC's first heroes, pre-dating Superman), Holly (one of Selina's friends from her runaway and prostitute days), and Leslie Thompkins (a long-time volunteer doctor at a free clinic).

I especially like that Selina has a very different take on what she does than most costumed characters. She's interested in helping out the down-trodden, and bringing down the people who prey on them, but she's not a crime-fighter. Some of the injustices she's fighting are legal; some of the things she's willing to overlook are illegal. In this issue she encounters an old friend, Sylvia, who is currently running a shelter for homeless thieves, a sort of benevolent Fagan in that she treats them well and only takes 25% of what they steal as her cut. "You're not going to shut me down, are you?" Sylvia asks. "Or tell Batman" "Uh... no," Catwoman replies, "Just be careful. I'd hate to see any of these kids get hurt."

There is nothing paranormal in this issue. Future issues may feature appearances by characters with paranormal abilities, but on the whole the book seems to be trying to avoid that and to stay rooted mainly in reality.

I'm very fond of the art on this: lots of small panels, so that they can fit a lot of story onto each page. But even at small size, the art is clear, easy to follow, and captures facial expressions and body language very nicely. And the multitude of small panels makes the handful of larger panels that much more striking. You won't find pin-ups or large action poses here, so if that's what you like look elsewhere.

A new storyline, "Relentless", begins with this issue, so this is a very good starting point for new readers.

 

[Nova Land]

Legends of the Dark Knight 159-161

In Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight a rotating cast of writers and artists tell stories of the Batman from different times in his career, which may or may not be part of continuity. Some of these are quite good, and recently Legends has been on a roll.

The current story, "Loyalties", is a down-to-earth crime story set in Batman's past about Batman going to Chicago to help his friend (and future police commissioner) Jim Gordon with a case of corruption that Gordon had been involved with before coming to Gotham which has come back to haunt him.

The corruption and casual racism of the time are well-portrayed.

[cop who is guarding a bound, captive Jim Gordon]: Like Hatchett always says, a man's first loyalty is to himself and his family! After that, it's the team! And Alderman Maseryk is a great man!

I grew up in his neighborhood! He kept the streets in our ward safe, clean, and he keeps the Canadians in their place.

[Gordon]: "Canadians"? Oh, I get it. "Colored" as in African-American. That way you can talk about the "problem" in public. I'd forgotten how much work being racist took.

Barbara Gordon (who will one day become Batgirl, be crippled, and go on to become Oracle) plays a key role in this story.

The art (by David Lopez and Dan Green) is crisp and clear; the story (by John Ostrander, writer of many excellent comics stories) is compelling and well-told; there is absolutely nothing paranormal; and there's a heck of a cliff-hanger at the end of # 160. (Issue # 161, with the conclusion, should be out soon.)

 

[Nova Land]

Harley Quinn # 25

Harley Quinn # 25
written by Karl Kesel; drawn by Craig Rousseau and Dan Davis
DC; monthly, ongoing; 32 pages, color, $2.50 cover price.

Harley Quinn is an odd comic, featuring a lunatic (Harleen Quinzel, the Joker's former therapist and former abused girlfriend) as the leader of a gang of criminals. It is often quite funny (in a warped way), but for the last dozen or so issues has been connected to a lot of minor points of DC comics continuity that a casual reader might not understand or enjoy. She recently died, went to Hell, and had various paranormal experiences before finally being restored to life in her own body again.

However the current issue, # 25, features an interesting and intelligent take on the war between costumed characters (such as Batman) and their archenemies (such as the Joker). There is a 1-page prologue to this story at the end of the previous issue, but # 25 is quite understandable and quite enjoyable as a stand-alone story.

And even though it is clear from the start that Batman, Harley, and Joker are all playing games, even though the reader is looking for the double-crosses and scams, Harley's explanation of what has really been going on, at the end, is still a delight.