ANNIHILATION books 1-3

Another series (or group of series) I'd heard a lot of good things about was the "cosmic Marvel" stuff of a few years ago.  Spear-headed by editor Andy Schmidt and writer Keith Giffen, followed by DnA (Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning) this set of books - including Nova, Guardians of the Galaxy, Annihilation, and a series of mini-series and one-shots - got a lot of attention on podcasts I listened to and boards I visited online.

But my budget was slim and I never knew where to jump on board.  So I never checked it out.

Now that those series seem to have ended, I have decided to go back and check out the collections.  So I jumped in the deep end of the pool and requested the first three collections - Annihilation books 1-3 - through the library.

And I was impressed, overall.  These three collections encompass the series:  Drax the Destroyer, Annihilation: Nova, Annihilation Prologue, Annihilation: Ronan, Annihilation: Silver Surfer, Annihilation: Super-Skrull, Annihilation, and Annihilation: Heralds of Galactus.  And they are some hefty books.

The first collection started slowly for me with the Drax the Destroyer mini-series.  Four issues set on Earth, in order to set up this character for what he needed to be in the coming event, it moved along at a slow pace, for me, and I found it a bit of a chore to get through.  I think some of this can be chalked up to a point made by Peter Rios, late of CGS, that cosmic characters don't work well when they are earthbound.  These are aliens that belong in the stars where they can have cosmic, epic battles and storylines rather than what inherently becomes the focus when these characters are planet-bound, the banality of their "human" side.

We aren't reading these books to see how they interact with ordinary people.  We want the stakes to be high, the battles to be blazing, and the canvas to be infinite.  As an example, look at the Silver Surfer.  His original series (much-beloved, in hindsight), which was written by Stan Lee and drawn by John Buscema (a pretty good creative pedigree, there) only lasted 18 issues.  And it was all set on Earth.  When Steven Englehart and Marshall Rogers relaunched the Surfer in the mid-80s, the very first thing they did was to get the Surfer off Earth.  And his series then went on to a run of over 150 issues, if you include the 7 annuals.

But I digress.

Anyway. After we get off Earth and into space where the "Annihilation Wave" is running rampant through the galaxy, taking out Kree and Skrull worlds and anything else in its way, things get interesting.  And, from her on out, it's basically the story of this giant war that rages across the cosmos, bringing with it the destruction of the Nova Corps (except for our local Nova Corps warrior, Wendell Vaughn), the death and rebirth of the super-skrull, the betrayal of and hunting down of Ronan the Accuser by his fellow Kree.

We meet a huge collection of characters throughout these three books, and one of the things that was nice about these books was that the editor chose to include short bios of the main characters in the story, like the Who's Who or Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe entries I read, as a kid.  It helped a lot.

This was a massive story that encompassed 30 issues, and the most impressive thing, for me, is how the creators managed to keep the story moving forward without it feeling as if they were just treading water.  I fully expected to be tuning at by the time I reached the midway point, but I just wanted to keep on pushing through.  I burned through the bulk of the second trade on a single Sunday morning.  It was that captivating for me.  Certainly there were a few slow spots - the aforementioned Drax mini and the Ronan mini-series, which was similarly planet-bound - but for the most part, the writers and artists kept me interested throughout the bulk of the story.

And they did some things that seem obvious, in hindsight, but which are generally out of character for comic stories.  One thing was that, in the timeline they included at the opening of chapters and scenes, they had this war take place over the course of many, many days - hundreds of days.  Typically, due to the nature of serialized comics and the limited space within a single issue, the battles - and even the "wars" - feel as if they take place over the course of only days, or even within a single day.  It seems to be the nature of the beast, but I appreciated the fact that these creators chose to add a bit of realism to this "Annihilation Wave" threat.  It helped to ground things, as well as imbuing the struggle with more tension than one might have if it seemed to be truncated, time-wise.

And, secondly, they didn't have any clear cut winner at the end.  this story ended with concessions given on both sides, so that they could end the bloodshed.  It was a smart way to go because, again, it was not the expected way to go.  And, it opened up future storylines for these characters, on both sides, since we all know evil doesn't like to be kept down.

Overall, this was a great introduction to the recent "Marvel Cosmic" books, and I am looking forward to continuing with future trades.

chris

PAYING FOR IT by Chester Brown

I've been reading a lot lately, meaning to write up those books that have really "wowed" me for the site here, and I just haven't found the time for it.   A lot of these books I've been getting through the library "inter-library loan" services where I work, which means many have been returned.  That said, I'm going to attempt to capture a bit of what I felt and why I enjoyed these books in the next few days.  Please bear with me, if I am rather vague in some of my descriptions or reasoning.

So, one of the best books I read in recent weeks was Chester Brown's most recent offering - Paying For It, from Drawn & Quarterly.  

This was an incredibly compelling read.  Brown's intelligence and cartooning acumen are fully on display in this book.  Brown isn't flashy, isn't pushing the boundaries of what a comic page can be, but he is very good at what he does - telling stories in comic format.

Paying For It follows Brown as his long-term relationship dissolves, and he turns to propositioning prostitutes in order to find what he wants in a relationship, i.e. none of the possessiveness that so often encompasses "loving relationships," as Brown puts it.  We watch Brown as he goes through a succession of girls in an attempt to better understand himself and society, while interspersing these trysts with philosophical dialogues Brown has with his friends and fellow cartoonists Seth and Joe Matt, along with other friends and family members who make cameo appearances.

The questions broached in this book are intriguing and ones that are not easily answered.  it was this aspect of the book that I found most invigorating and refreshing.  Brown brings up some very tough questions, and through the narrative it becomes obvious that he has thought about these questions long and hard.  He makes some very good points, points not easily ignored.

That said, I found myself unable to agree with Brown on his overall point, that substituting our current "romantic" view of love and relationships with a "retail" model, as seen in his interactions with these prostitutes.  Brown's evolution over the course of this story was extremely interesting, and he made his point with fervor and intelligence, but I found many of those arguments seeming to cherry-pick analogies in order for him to make his point, and I felt that Brown's arguments would fall apart under too harsh scrutiny.


Unlike some reviewers, I didn't find Brown to be a pitiable character that one should fell sorry for.  I believe he has found a situation that works very well for him.  And, although I can't subscribe to his viewpoint, I heartily recommend this book.  It's engaging and will make you think, two things that don't always go hand in hand.

chris

Reading Watchmen - pages 1-5 + the cover image

My grand experiment (can he make it through the whole year?) has begun over at Reading Watchmen.  Here is an example of what you'll find over there - the annotations for pages 1-5 plus a look at the cover image, which happens to be panel 1 (or panel 0, if you must) for the issue. 

SPOILER ALERT: The answer to the murder mystery that encompasses the surface narrative of the book is revealed in my annotations for page one.  Don't read any further if you've never read the book or watched the film and still plan on doing so. 

Fair warning.  Turn away now.

Okay.  Here we go:

CHAPTER I:

At Midnight, All the Agents . . .

  

Cover Image:  As we will see in future issues, a common design element for each of the twelve chapters is that the cover image is always an extreme close-up of the first panel within the issue proper, essentially making the cover the first panel of each issue.  Here we see a close-up of what will be one of the major recurring symbols throughout Watchmen – that of the smiley faced button with its spot of blood above the right eye.

PAGE 1

Panel 1:  Introduction to Rorschach through his journal.  The initial statement: “Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach,” relates directly to a later issue in which we discover Rorschach’s origin and the incident that sent him over the edge to crazed vigilante.

We also see a storytelling technique that Moore & Gibbons use liberally throughout the book – though often for very different reasons.  That is, a bit of dialogue is juxtaposed against the image in order to, among other things, heighten readers’ awareness of events, comment upon two varying scenes, or offer a bit of irony to the audience.  In this case the statement: “I have seen its true face,” hangs just above the bloody smiley faced button in the gutter.

Panel 2:  Again, the juxtaposition of dialogue and imagery, as Rorschach writes: “The streets are extended gutters . . . full of blood” over a scene focused on a gutter that is full of blood.

Also, note the first clue to Rorschach’s identity as his feet walk out of the journal entry into the blood, foreshadowing the bloody path down which he and his fellow “heroes” are about to tread.

Panel 3:  First look at the man holding the “The End is Nigh” sign – whom I’ve seen dubbed the Doomsayer elsewhere but whose name we will discover is Walter Kovacs, alter-ego of Rorschach.

We also have more dialogue/imagery juxtaposition with Rorschach’s: “. . . I’ll look down and whisper ‘no.’ ”seen from a camera angle above the two men in the panel.

Panel 4:  And more juxtaposition as we read Rorschach’s journal entry:  “They could have followed in the footsteps of good men . . .” and see Kovacs’s bloody footprints lead away from the pool of blood.

Panel 5:  The camera angle continues to pull back higher and higher as Rorschach writes:  “. . . and didn’t realize that the trail led over a precipice . . .”

Also note our first clue as to who killed the Comedian.  The large truck in front of the bloodstained sidewalk sports a pyramid within a circle, the corporate logo for Adrian Veidt’s companies.

Panel 6:  The camera rises still higher as the pool of blood becomes nothing but a spot on the scenery below.  Rorschach writes:  “. . . the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell . . .” which also foreshadows later events.

And the statement:  “. . . nobody can think of anything to say.” carries over into

Panel 7:  as an ironic comment on the detective’s flippant remark:  “That’s quite a drop.”

This panel, and the slow pan away from the gutter in panels one through six, also highlights a visual theme for this issue, that of great heights (whether that of these skyscrapers or, figuratively, those heights to which the heroes once attained) and staring down into the abyss.

PAGE 2

Panel 1:  Detective #2:  “Do you think you black out before you hit the sidewalk, or what?” 
This question will be answered in a later flashback.

Also, in the distant background we see one of the zeppelins that will pepper the skylines of the book, signifying this is a different Earth from ours, and also symbolically displaying the reality that Dr. Manhattan – whose symbol is a hydrogen atom, which would be the fuel for the zeppelins – is looming above everything in this brave new world.

Panel 3:  With this panel, we see something novel for comics in the mid-80s, though more commonly utilized today – the use of color to evoke an emotion or imprint a scene or scenes with a common hue.  The flashback scenes of Edward Blake’s murder are all bathed in red.

Panel 5:  “He would have put up some kind’a fight, I’m certain.”  We can see with the imagery – and again, we see the juxtaposition between words and images – just how hard a time the victim was having of it, despite his physical size.

Panel 7:  “Maybe he just got soft.” 

Again, this statement juxtaposes with the imagery, and we can see that, although he’s taking a pounding, Blake is someone who has not lived a soft life.  We also see that, contrary to the theory these detectives are positing, it appears it was only one person that took out Blake.  Of course, the point of view of the reader is such, that this is not conclusive. 

Panel 8:  “It’s Vice President Ford!” 

This is our first indication that the world in which the Watchmen live is not the same as the world in which we are living.  Ford was out of office – as the President – in 1976, but this story takes place in 1985.

PAGE 3

Panel 2:  Note the pirate ship on the bookshelf behind the detective.  Pirates are the most popular characters for comics in this world where superheroes walk among the populace, and the “Tales of the Black Freighter” comic that will be shown later will have far-reaching symbolic significance on the main story itself.

Panel 3:  Here we see the blood spattering the smiley face button.

Panel 6:  More hints at a different world:  fashion as exemplified by the hat worn by the man in the elevator, and the smoking implement utilized by this same man – especially as compared to the traditional cigarette Detective #2 is smoking.

Panel 7:  Another example of juxtaposition, this time used for black humor as the man in the elevator tells the detectives:  “Ground floor comin’ up.” as we see the image of Edward Blake being thrown through the window.

PAGE 4

Panel 1:  Knot-tops, KT-28s, and ‘Luudes are references to kid gangs that exist in this alternate reality.

Panel 2:  Juxtaposition:  “A lot of crazy things happen in a city this size.” overlaid on the image of Edward Blake falling to his death.

Panel 3:  An insinuation that heroes are not beloved on this Earth as they are in our comics when Detective #2 makes the comment:  “We don’t need any masked avengers getting interested and cutting in.” 

Note the comic in the boy’s hands in the foreground – the first look at the “Tales of the Black Freighter.”  Also note behind him two other comics – “Pirate” and “X-Ships,” and, more importantly, the headline on the newspaper states “Vietnam 51^st State” an even more ominous indication that this is not our world.

Panel 4:  Juxtaposition:  “. . . well, what say we let this one drop out of sight?” as Edward Blake falls into the night.

Panel 5:  First mention of the Keene Act of 1977, which we find out later is the legislation that outlawed masked heroes. 

The cars look different, another sign this is a parallel reality. 

On the right of the panel we see Kovacs marching with his sign toward the detectives. 

In the foreground, a symbol of another of the overriding themes of the book – the threat and fear of nuclear devastation – can be seen in a flyer for a popular candy, MMeltdowns, which has as its brand image a mushroom cloud, symbolic of the meltdown from a nuclear detonation.

Panel 6:  The statement, “Rorschach’s still out there.” carries over to

Panel 7:  as, in the foreground, we see Kovacs (the alter-ego of Rorschach) approaching the detectives. 

Note Kovacs is checking his watch, which is on his right wrist, signifying that he is left-handed.  (Clue #2 that he’s Rorschach)

The statement, “What’s the matter?” from Detective #2 as Detective #1 pulls his jacket closer about his neck, carries over to

Panel 8:  as Detective #1 says, “Uh, nothing . . . just a shiver,” as they pass the man with the “End is Nigh” poster.  This is significant because the man they are discussing, Rorschach – a violent and feared vigilante – is the man with the “End is Nigh” poster.

PAGE 5

Panel 1:  Clue #3 that Kovacs is Rorschach: 

It is now night, but looking back at the final panel of Page 4, we see that this is the same image from a slightly different angle, and where we saw Kovacs’s head in Page 4, Panel 8, we now see the top of Rorschach’s hat.

Panels 6 & 7:  Rorschach takes out his grappling gun to fire it with his left hand, tracing back to panel 7 of the previous page, where we see that Kovacs is left-handed from how he wears his watch.

Panel 9:  Rorschach scaling the façade of this skyscraper is another indication of the overall theme in this issue of the heroes looming over everything in this world. 

Reading Watchmen - and so it begins

With the advent of 2012, I have begun my year-long examination of Alan Moore's & Dave Gibbons's Watchmen over at my new sister site - Reading Watchmen.  I'll be repeating sections of my analysis here - mainly in the form of annotations, but with some essays as well - through the year to direct readers over to Reading Watchmen. 

Here is the opening to my annotations of Chapter 1, a short introduction to the project along with a thematic overview (one thematic overview) of the chapter in question.  I hope you enjoy, and click the link above to go check out the annotations for the first several pages of this landmark graphic novel.

thanks,
chris

CHAPTER I:

At Midnight, All the Agents . . .

First, a caveat:

In his introduction for the re-issue of Alfred Bester’s The Stars My Destination, Neil Gaiman wrote, “. . . you can no more read the same book again than you can step into the same river.” Which is true. When I first read The Lord of the Rings as a teenager it had a very different meaning than when I read it in my early thirties. I had matured, my understanding of the world had grown, and I had broadened my experiences during the interim fifteen or so years. It was a far different book than the one I remembered, because my perspective had evolved.

Which is to say, there are many themes one can pluck from Watchmen and its individual chapters. It all depends upon your point of view. As an introduction to each chapter, I have chosen to discuss a specific theme or visual motif found within that chapter, as a way to look at the chapter in toto and to get you, the reader, into a proper mindset for what follows. I chose to focus on a single theme with each chapter in order to keep you, and me, from getting bogged down under the weight of my own words, and to make each of these chapters a bit less cumbersome. I would also encourage you to dig a little deeper into your own reading of this book and see what other theme and motifs you discover. I hope you enjoy.

A note on Spoilers:

 I am going to assume that if you’re reading this, you have already read Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons’s Watchmen. With that in mind, please note that spoilers abound in what follows. In fact, arguably the two biggest mysteries in Watchmen (the identity of Edward Blake’s killer and the identity of Rorschach) are given away in the annotations for panels 5 & 3, respectively, of page 1. So, please be forewarned: these annotations are meant to enhance one’s reading experience of Watchmen and it would be doing yourself a disservice to continue from here without having read the source material first.

Thematic Overview:

As Watchmen opens, it has been eight years since passage of the Keene Act, a law that outlawed masked vigilantes. In the 1985 of this story only three heroes are still active – Dr. Manhattan and the Comedian both work for the U.S. government while Rorschach continues his fight against injustice in his own inimitable manner. Despite this, these heroes – even those who have retired – loom large over this world’s landscape. They drive public policy and scientific advancements from the shadows, shaping this world in ways that could not be imagined by the “common man.”

Throughout this first issue, Dave Gibbons accentuates the sense of these heroes towering above the landscape, and the people, through his visuals. In fact, we experience this in the opening scene. As the camera pulls up and away from the blood-splattered smiley face button, we ultimately reach the scene of the crime. At an almost vertiginous height, we meet the detectives in charge of the case as they peer out from the window of Eddie Blake’s apartment – the pool of blood on the sidewalk now little more than a spot of red.

Lofty heights are also utilized when introducing most of the other main characters – Rorschach, Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias), Dr. Manhattan and Laurie Juspeczyk (Silk Spectre II). We first see Rorschach as he approaches Blake’s apartment building (our vantage point is from beneath Rorschach, giving us a sense of the skyline above him), and watch him scale the side of the building to enter Blake’s apartment. Veidt is introduced in the penthouse of his corporate tower, a skyscraper that appears to overlook the entirety of New York City. Dr. Manhattan, who can modify his body in any manner, is introduced to us – along with Laurie – as a giant at least as tall as seven full-grown men. We, the readers, are meant to feel insignificant in relation to these characters through their depictions in these introductory scenes. It is worth noting that the only member of the Watchmen not introduced in this manner is Dan Dreiberg, the second Nite Owl, who is also the most grounded of these heroes.

The use of this visual motif throughout the initial chapter is interesting and says a lot about the characters as well as the setting of this book. By dint of the book’s title alone, we know the Watchmen are the main protagonists, despite the fact that most of them are no longer active agents. But still, they hang over this world like a dark cloud, affecting the status quo – particularly Dr. Manhattan – so dramatically that the average person might feel obsolete. The general populace is scared of these vigilantes, which is why the government disbanded the Watchmen and outlawed masked vigilantes.

This use of vertiginous imagery also helps us understand the psychological make-up of the heroes as well. Blake and Veidt are characters who are motivated by the moral superiority the feel the hold over everyone else. Veidt’s unmatched intelligence and physical prowess, in his mind, feeds his belief that he should be the final arbiter of mankind’s path. While the Comedian (Blake) always harbored disdain for the rest of the heroes, who, in his mind, didn’t understand the big picture. He laughed at their attempts to curb crime by attacking the symptoms – drug pushers, prostitutes, petty criminals, “supervillains” – when he knew that nothing would change unless they were willing to attack the source – those corrupt individuals with political or economic power. And Dr. Manhattan’s detachment from the rest of humanity is visualized brilliantly in his opening scene – his nearly fifty-foot-tall blue frame not only exhibits his unbelievable powers, but also punctuates his emotional distance from what it means to be a human being.

There are many other instances of this visual motif throughout the issue and the rest of the series. It is one of the things that comics can do so well, offering subtle visual cues that can enhance the mood or themes of a story. This was one of the stated aims of Moore & Gibbons with Watchmen – to expand what was possible within the medium and to focus on the unique aspects of storytelling in comics without losing the basic premise, tell a good story. It is this ambition, coupled with their respective talent, that spurs me to return to Watchmen year after year, only to discover something new with each reading that I hadn’t experienced before.

T-minus 1 day

Reading Watchmen

The year-long journey begins, in earnest, tomorrow. 

Happy New Year.  See you on the flip side.

chris

T-minus 2 days

Only two days until my year-long examination of Watchmen starts at ReadingWatchmen.com.  Come join what I hope will be an informative and interesting ride.

chris

CGS Secret Santa - process part 3

So, here is the final piece I did for the CGS Secret Santa "event." I've gathered some comics to ship off with it and will drop it in the mail Monday. This is the second year I've participated, and it is a really great experience. I had a lot of fun.

Nostalgia - more G.I. Joe comic book ads

Like the title says. Here are some more of the commercials created for the 1980s G.I. Joe comic book from Marvel. No doubt, it helped to be partnered with Hasbro.

Enjoy,
chris


issue #25



issue #30



issue #37



issue #54

Apologies for this Political Interruption

Millionaire surtax: yea or nay? I am so tired of the useless political "debate" going on in our country, and become frustrated when common sense gets shouted down by baseless rhetoric. NPR had a story on whether millionaire small-business owners would stall hiring if the "millionaire surtax" proposed as way of payment for the middle class payroll tax rebate were to be ratified. What their unscientific but telling report showed is that, no, probably not.

The entire story, with a link to another story that addresses the GOP's main argument (but apparently is being ignored by them), is reprinted below. All emphases are mine. Please note that the Republican Senator the reporter talked to, John Thune of South Dakota, makes his point with supposition and intuition, based not at all on fact - or at least he presented no hard facts to back up his position.

We will return to our comic, cartoon, nostalgia filled posts shortly. Thank you for your indulgence.

EDITED to note that the reporter for this piece was Tamara Keith

chris

For the second week in a row, the Senate on Thursday voted down proposals to extend the payroll tax holiday through next year. In the case of the Democrats' proposal, Republicans objected to the "millionaires surtax" that would be used to pay for it.

Ever since the idea of the surtax was introduced weeks ago, Republicans in Congress have railed against it, arguing that it is a direct hit on small-business owners and other job creators.

INTERJECTION: Let’s disregard the bipartisan bill introduced this week that included this important point, as noted by one of the bill’s sponsors, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME): “Our bipartisan plan is fully paid for with a two percent surtax on those who earn $1 million or more a year, but - and this is critical - with a carve-out to protect small business owner/operators.”

The argument is that many small-business owners report company profits on their individual taxes because of the way their businesses are structured. Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., says the surtax would hurt their ability to hire.

Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota says the "millionaires surtax" would hurt small-business owners' ability to hire new workers.

"It's just intuitive that, you know, if you're somebody who's in business and you get hit with a tax increase, it's going to be that much harder, I think, to make investments that are going to lead to job creation," says Thune.

We wanted to talk to business owners who would be affected. So, NPR requested help from numerous Republican congressional offices, including House and Senate leadership. They were unable to produce a single millionaire job creator for us to interview.

So we went to the business groups that have been lobbying against the surtax. Again, three days after putting in a request, none of them was able to find someone for us to talk to. A group called the Tax Relief Coalition said the problem was finding someone willing to talk about their personal taxes on national radio.

So next we put a query on Facebook. And several business owners who said they would be affected by the "millionaires surtax" responded.

"It's not in the top 20 things that we think about when we're making a business hire," said Ian Yankwitt, who owns Tortoise Investment Management.

Tortoise is a boutique investment firm in White Plains, N.Y. Yankwitt has 10 employees and in recent years has done a lot of hiring.

As a result, Yankwitt says he's had many conversations about hiring, "both with respect to specific people, with respect to whether we should hire one junior person or two, whether we should hire a senior person."

He says his ultimate marginal tax rate "didn't even make it on the agenda."

Yankwitt says deciding to bring on another employee is all about return on investment. Will adding another person to the payroll make his company more successful?

For Jason Burger, the motivation is similar.

"If my taxes go up, I have slightly less disposable income, yes," said Burger, co-owner of CSS International Holdings, a global infrastructure contractor. "But that has nothing to do with what my business does. What my business does is based on the contracts that it wins and the demand for its services."

Burger says his Michigan-based company is hiring like crazy, and he'd be perfectly willing to pay the surtax.

"It's only fair that I put back into the system that is the entire reason for my success," said Burger.

For the record, both Burger and Yankwitt have made campaign contributions to Democrats in the past, but they say their views on the surtax are about the economics of their businesses and not their politics.

And they're not alone.

"I, like any other American, especially a business owner, I want to make as much money as I can and I want to keep as much money in my pocket as I can, but I also believe in the greater good," says Deborah Schwarz, who owns LAC Group, an information management firm with offices nationwide and in London.

Surtax or no, Schwarz says she hopes to keep hiring.

"We're going to keep on writing proposals, going after contracts, hopefully winning them, and when we do we're going to continue to hire people," says Schwarz.

All of this contradicts the arguments about job creators being made by Republicans in Congress.

"Those I would say were exceptions to the rule," responds Thune. "I think most small-business owners who are out there right now would argue that raising their taxes has the opposite effect that we would want to have in a down economy."

But those small-business owners apparently don't want to talk.

Great memories - G.I. Joe comic ads

In response to my post on Pulped Faces in comics, good friend Gibran Graham reminded me of some of my fondest-remembered commercials when I was a kid. The ads for G.I. Joe comic books.

Here's one I found on youtube. I'll post more later, as I find time to search for them.

Enjoy.



chris

A.D. New Orleans by Josh Neufeld

A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld

I read this a few weeks back and wanted to write about it here. But life kept getting in the way, and then I had to return it to the library, and I figured – well, that was just a missed opportunity. But this is, in my opinion, such an important work that I need to at least put something down regarding it here.

I followed the news stories when Katrina hit back in 2005. I was as horrified as the next person by the facts that trickled out of New Orleans. I paid attention, as best I could, and read and watched as much as I could about this disaster. And maybe that’s why I held off on reading this for so long. I worried it might be too dry or might offer little that I didn’t already know. I’m not sure. But, I have to say, I am very glad I finally read A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge.

Josh Neufeld’s book recounting how six lives were directly affected by Hurricane Katrina is incredibly moving. He humanizes this tragedy in a way that only the best news stories were able to do. Thanks to the people spotlighted by Neufeld – from an Iranian-American store owner to a well-off, altruistic doctor – readers are afforded the opportunity to experience a variety of viewpoints within New Orleans leading up to, during, and after Katrina hits.

I was surprised how quick a read this was, which is not to slight it in the least. I think it’s a testament to Neufeld’s ability that this is such a complete story and includes so much detail of these victims’ lives. Neufeld boils things down to their basic components. His clean, detailed artwork combined with economical dialogue manages to convey all that is needed for his audience to be engaged by the narrative.

I wish I could speak more specifically to this book. But I apologize; I can’t.

But I can say that once I started reading, I didn’t want to stop. If I hadn’t needed to go to work the morning I opened it up, I probably would have finished it in one sitting. As it was, I finished it that night after I was done with work and dinner and putting out son to bed. A.D. New Orleans After the Deluge was a terribly affecting, well-written, beautifully drawn book. And it is one that any fan of the medium – or any “feeling” person – should make the time to read some day. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

chris

Writing Process - revising the first draft

I've finally gotten back into the swing of writing (though, admittedly, I was contributing quite a bit here at Warrior27 when I wasn't actually "writing" or working on my own fiction and such). I've sent off a short story to a few more publications (hoping to find that one editor who will "get" this story - not that the rejections thus far have been unexpected, nor do I feel I was slighted by not having this story accepted, but it can often come down to an editor understanding what the writer is going for and hopefully catching them on a good day, but I digress)

I also sent off a non-fiction manuscript (the first 30,000 words) to another publisher with fingers crossed.

And, I pulled out one of the many first drafts I've been sitting on, allowing them to percolate a bit before working to wrestle them into something resembling a good story. It took me twice as long to do the revision on this story than it took to initially write it, but that's because my first draft practice generally involves me metaphorically "vomiting" the entire story onto the page - or at least a vague outline/list of scenes, etc. - typing as fast as I can in order to keep up with the ideas coming into my head. Because of this pace, I very often am spelling out motivations and scenarios in far too much, and too dry, detail just because that's how it's coming to me and I don't want to lose my thoughts.

Of course, these less than poetic first drafts also come about because just as many days can be spent laboring over the words, being unable to find that one word I have skulking about the back of my mind, and I end up putting down some description of what I'm looking for rather than the actual scene. It can be equal "speed" and "labor" during this, but I always feel good after a day of writing (and can quickly become an ass when I go days without writing).

Anyway, as an example, here's a sample page from my revised first draft:



As Greg Rucka says (as I'm sure all, or most, writers believe), the real writing comes in the revising process. I'm in the process of applying my revisions to this draft and am anxious to see how many words I managed to lop off in the process. I know there were entire sections of this short that got the axe, so it should be - as is common, for me - quite a bit.

And then, I'm going to apply a new technique I learned from Joe Hill's blog and totally re-type this second draft into its third draft, "making every sentence and word earn its keep," to paraphrase Hill. After that, I hope to have something that will be worthwhile for the world (or at least some small publication of short fiction).

We'll see.

chris

Pulped faces in comics - Snake-Eyes and Flash

Like many my age, G.I. Joe from Marvel comics was my gateway into comic collecting. It was easily accessible (no extended continuity, as with the superhero universes), familiar (the cartoon and toys were already in full gear when I discovered comics at my local bookstore), and enthralling for a young boy (guns! tanks! masks! Cobraaaaaa! Yo Joe!!!!!).



And the lynchpin character was Snake-Eyes. What was not to like? He was mysterious, tragic, wore all black, and was a freakin' ninja. Hell, yeah! This was my guy. And I was lucky because three issues after I began with #23, readers got the secret origin of Snake-Eyes with issue 26 & 27. Phenomenal stuff. If there was any wavering on my part, with that two-parter Larry Hama solidified my status as a G.I. Joe fan, and I hung on until somewhere around the 140s - quite a run.



Throughout the series, Hama would often come back to Snake-Eyes origin, sprinkling in more details that would link him even more closely with other characters within this universe such as Storm Shadow, Scarlet, Duke, and Zartan (??).

If you're unaware of their connection and you've ever been a fan of these characters, you need to seek out these issues (I believe #84 recounts their connection)



Anyway. Eventually, we finally got to see Snake-Eyes's true face - the one that had threatened to make many a person in the comic ill just from the sight of it. Mark Bright was the current artist when Hama finally showed us readers this horrific visage in issue #93, and I admit to being a bit let down.



Returning to that issue now, a couple of decades later, I can see that Bright - with his highly skilled pencilling - did the best he could and managed to make Snake-Eyes rather gruesome, but it didn't work for my young mind. It is, no doubt, a result of one's imagination providing a far more vivid image than what any artist could contrive.



Though, the resultant mashing of Barry Allen's face by Big Sir, as portrayed by Carmine Infantino, certainly is a fine example of the image being more horrific than the imagined one.



chris

It's that time of year

Ian - getting some ideas for his list to Santa.

CGS Secret Santa time - Process part 2

Here's the inked version for my Secret Santa sketch.

CGS Secret Santa time - Process part 1

I'm a regular member of the Comic Geek Speak community, and every year they have a "Secret Santa" thread where members sign up and agree to send a comic-themed package to the member with whom they are paired up.

Included in the Secret Santa package is a sketch of a character chosen by the receiver and at least 3 comics from your collection that you no longer wish to keep. Last year was the first time I participated, and it was an incredibly fun experience. So, of course, I couldn't wait for this year's list, which got started a few weeks back.

The person for whom I am a "Secret Santa" wanted, for a sketch, either a comic character in an unusual costume/scenario OR any X-Men character of my choice. Not being overly artistic, I initially went with the latter - knowing I could find some good reference and, at the very least, do a pretty good copy of an image - but, as I thought about it, I came up with an image of a couple of X-Men - Wolverine & Nightcrawler - in an unusually festive scenario.

So, since I did this last year, here is my initial sketch for this year's Secret Santa thread @CGS.

Warren Ellis's & Paul Duffield's FREAKANGELS

Warren Ellis is one of those handful of strong writing voices in the medium right now. His work can be hit or miss for me - though there are far more "hits" than misses. But since TransMet and Planetary ended (two of his longer, signature storylines), I'd been searching for that next big "Ellis" story.

Freakangels was/is it.



A free webcomic published by Avatar Press, Ellis and artist Paul Duffield - whose list of credits was minimal prior to this collaboration - finished their story earlier this year. Six volumes (of 144 pages each) comprise this story, and it's not only available to read for free but Avatar has also collected it into hardcover and softcover collections for one's shelf. And, at some point, I plan on getting them because this is something I want to own and be able to easily share with others.



A near-future dystopian tale about a group of kids born at the same moment who were mysteriously, and unknowingly, imbued with powers that, seventeen years later, caused much of London to become a flooded wasteland, Ellis and Duffield join this group six years after their powers manifested and caused the widespread destruction.



Through the course of the series, readers watch as these young men and women - all scared and just trying to maintain some semblance of a normal life - discover the full extent of their powers. With this recognition of how powerful they truly are, the Freakangels finally decide to take more responsibility for their previous actions and return to what they originally sought to accomplish - make the world a better place for everyone.

As trite as that sounds, if you are familiar at all with any of Ellis's work, you know that it's not as easy as this. He puts these characters through the wringer, revealing ugly truths in their pasts that inform their futures, pushing these characters to grow even as many only wish to turn in on themselves. It really is some of his best work, and Paul Duffield's fully-realized and beautiful artwork complements the story wonderfully.



One last thing about this story that stood out for me - and I can't say whether it's perceived or actually something Ellis consciously did in the writing - was the very different feel it had with regard to the pacing of the story. Basically, this lengthy narrative (864 pages) takes place over the course of just a few days (maybe even two), and it feels as if Ellis is able to just take his time with the story. I attributed this, initially, to the fact that it was a webcomic, and thus, was free of the trappings of the periodical print comic, which has strict page counts and certain tropes, such as the cliffhanger at the end of an issue, that work to encourage readers returning for subsequent issues.



As I stated, I don't know if this was just the manner in which I read the story or an actual conscious effort on Ellis's part to structure this story differently (he stated early on that he did not feel beholden to end every week of 6 new pages on a cliffhanger, which was refreshing from my point of view as a reader), but it worked for me. And it allowed the narrative to flow more naturally, which, I believe, is why I feel so strongly about Freakangels.

If you haven't checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and start at page one. I don't believe you'll be disappointed.

chris

ESSEX COUNTY volume 3

With the third volume of the Essex County Trilogy – all of which is collected in a single omnibus edition from Top Shelf, if you weren’t already aware of that – Jeff Lemire fulfills the creative promise exhibited in the first two volumes. Lemire’s storytelling is magnificent, the narrative touching, and he manages to pull everything together, despite the unorthodox manner in which he chose to tell this story. Lemire jumps back another two generations from the previous volume, showing us the roots of the LeBeuf family, which we discover is more closely tied to that of Anne Quenneville, the nurse who has taken care of Lou LeBeuf in his waning years.

There’s little more I can add that I haven’t already said about the first two volumes. This is a moving tale amplified by the evocative imagery provided by Lemire’s loose, yet consistent artwork. Essex County is one of the most moving comic stories I’ve read in a long time. I would challenge anyone to read this and not come away with the realization they had watched an amazing new talent emerge over the course of these three volumes.

Buy this book.

Read this book.

You will not be disappointed.

And then, once you’ve finally remedied that character flaw, check out the interview Comic Geek Speak did with him a couple years back. It’s really a great conversation, and will enhance your reading experience.

Enjoy,

chris

NEW TO ME: JLA Strength in Numbers

This fourth volume of the (then)-revitalized JLA was a near-complete blast. My journey back to the late 90s that I missed – at least as far as big, superhero comics of the time – has been interesting thus far. These collected volumes of JLA feel a bit like the Star Trek movie franchise (the best ones are the even numbered ones). But of all the collections to date, this one, by far, is my favorite of the bunch. With the end of each chapter, I eagerly wanted to read the next one, and often did – devouring a fair chunk of stories straight through on a Sunday morning, from the end of the Prometheus Unbound arc up through the four issues penned by Mark Waid. JLA: Strength in Numbers showcases the best about this iteration of everyone’s favorite DC team.

The first thing I discovered, when I opened the book, was that Yanick Paquette used to be a Mike Mignola clone (which puts him in good stead, as Ryan Sook is another Mignola clone who has gone on to become an amazing comic artist, in his own right). This first tale, written by Christopher Priest for the second JLA Secret Files, brings together a new league (consisting of many who were part of the league disbanded at the end of the previous collection). There’s a nice call-back to the Bwa-ha-ha league with Guy Gardner, in his Guy Gardner Warrior We don’t get a one punch moment like the one provided by DeMatteis, Giffen, & Maguire, back in 1987, but we do get Batman silently putting Guy in his place. guise, assuming the pose he did then, as he prepared to tell everyone he was going to lead.

But this story, though well done, is disappointing. Why did Morrison bother to have the league disband in the prior issue, if there was only going to be a relatively unchanged roster in the next one? Sure, there are some new recruits like Huntress and Zauriel and Steel, but these are all in addition to the Big Seven. The quick reversal on Superman’s part just rings hollow and makes the ending of the “Rock of Ages” story arc feel forced and contrived. But that’s a minor nitpick because the stories with this newer, bigger, stronger JLA are a whole lot of fun.

First, we get Grant Morrison writing a three-issue arc titled “Prometheus Unbound.” In this narrative, readers get to see a new villain who appears to have thought his take-down of the JLA through completely. Stealing himself aboard the satellite by taking the place of someone who’d won a contest to be a superhero for a day with the JLA (thanks to Morrison being way ahead of the curve with regards to reality television), Prometheus takes down the members of the JLA with impressive efficiency, dispatching Steel, J’onn J’onnz, and Batman with relative ease.

Prometheus puts the rest of the league on their heels, utilizing the fact that a hundred journalists had also been invited to see the JLA Watchtower as leverage against the heroes, but is defeated through the ingenuity of the newer members like Steel and Huntress, as well as the surprise appearance of Catwoman (who stole onto the Watchtower disguised as Cat Grant). The arrival of Catwoman comes out of left field and doesn’t feel fully earned on Morrison’s part, but the way the rest of the team members managed to come together to overcome Prometheus, along with his meltdown due to an overload of information, saves it for me.

This story arc is followed by two two-issue tales from guest writer Mark Waid. Despite this being known as Morrison’s JLA, these are the best stories of the bunch and some of the best from this entire run, to date. Waid offers a story of probability gone wrong followed by an adventure with Adam Strange on an enslaved Rann. Waid employs big ideas as well as Morrison does, but there’s a definite tonal shift. Waid’s stories feel more lively and fantastic with a less serious undercurrent than is found in Morrison’s JLA work. Waid, like Morrison, understands these characters intimately and, though I might question his portrayal of Orion, his offerings in this collection are reminiscent of silver age comics, with the wonder and fun often found in those old stories. And, with the climax of the Adam Strange two-parter, Waid injects some very real emotion through Adam Strange’s sacrifice that really elevates this tale.

After those four issues written by Waid, which also included Superman’s re-integration into his traditional form, Morrison returns to write the final two-part story of this collection, wherein Starro the Conqueror returns to plague the JLA. It’s another typically well-written tale, with big ideas and the heroes’ ability to think overriding their brawn in order to send Starro away. And, despite the tonal shift to a darker, more serious narrative style, the climax is rather humorous, as it basically involves the heroes playing a prank on Starro and its invading force.

I wish there were more superhero comics like this. And I don’t just mean the high level of writing on display, but I also wish there were more two-part stories rather than the often laborious six-part “epics” that fit snugly into a trade paperback. JLA Strength in Numbers includes a single-issue story, a three-part story, and three two-part tales. They race along at a nice clip and both Morrison and Waid, along with Christopher Priest, pack a lot of story – relative to what we’ve become accustomed to in this current comic market – into the pages provided. For my money, I felt like I got far more value from this book, which has five different adventures in it, than I did in the previous volume “Rock of Ages,” which was a single six-issue storyline.

Now, I can’t wait for the next trade.

chris