The One Where He Doesn't Go To San Diego
No, no, I've never been to the San Diego Comicon; a couple of years back I wrote a column suggesting alternatives for those like me, whose schedules and/or budgets prevent taking the better part of a week off to go across the country and participate in the main event of the year for the comic book industry. I don't know that I have a lot of suggestions of what to do this year -- I told you weeks ago to rent Donnie Darko on DVD, there certainly are no movies worth going to see in theaters right now, and frankly this year I really wish I was goiong to San Diego.
I've made a lot of friends online in the past few years, folks who -- despite the miles between us -- have become a part of my life, buddies to chat with, talk about comics with, even turn to when I have a problem or need some advice. Of course, most of those guys are going to be in San Diego and a few of them are even meeting up, many getting together for the first time. Have a great time, folks -- and think of me if you see any cool convention exclusives. I'm not talking about Witchblade, here, just so we're clear.
If you are going to San Diego, be sure to check out Chris Ryall's convention preview. It sounds like he and the Movie Poop Shoot guys are going to have a blast. Somebody grab me a copy of their Poop Shoot Confidential, too, willya?
One thing I could do during the San Diego Comicon is go see The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which was released a few days ago. That's not going to happen, though -- the reviews have made it pretty clear this thing is a turkey, and since From Hell proved the futility of trying to adapt Alan Moore comics to film, I'll assume the reviewers know what they're talking about.
Wisely, last Friday I took the money it would have cost me to take my family to LXG and I bought the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Absolute Edition, an expensive but lush re-presentation of Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's six-issue landmark mini-series. I haven't fully immersed myself in the two volumes, yet, but I've started reading both and the work looks spectacular in this format.
Onto the floppies.
An ambitious, experimental anthology that doesn't quite work, Nepotism still gets points for its aspirations and presentation. It's a flipbook written by Geoffrey Hawley, with the anthology "Nepotism" on one side featuring stories drawn by the other creators and a solo story written and drawn by Geoffrey Hawley called "The Labyrinth" on the other with its own seperate cover.
"Nepotism" is made up of three stories, "The Question," "Fought Over" and "The Birthday Boy," each seemingly designed with a twist at the end and in the case of "The Question," at least one attempt at a visual pun. "Fought Over" is a prehistoric look at mating rituals and irony, and "The Birthday Boy" contrasts affluence and emptiness. Visually it's the most interesting of the three, and the sadness it suggests is a worthwhile topic. I wish this story had been longer and perhaps a little more developed.
Flipping the book over, "The Labyrinth" utilizes a style that won't be unfamiliar to readers of Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics to tell the tale of a man meeting two other incarnations of himself at varying ages in the rows of a topiary maze. This is the most complex and nuanced narrative in the book, and the one that most demands attention from the reader.
"The Labyrinth" seems to speak to the value of life experience at every stage, making interesting note of what we keep and what we lose on the long journey through a lifetime. It's suggested that each stage of life finds both wisdom and foolishness, and touches on the no-one-gets-out-alive nature of existence. The story doesn't necessarily offer solid commentary on these subjects, but it deserves respect for even looking at the questions it does. It's a challenging work and the best reason to give this title a try. Grade: 3.5/5
There's a powerful sense this issue of self-indulgence, undirected creative energy and a disregard for readers that threatens my interest in future issues.
Earlier issues have been biting, bizarre and outrageously funny, clearly indicating Simmons is a singular talent worth paying attention to. On the other hand, such Simmons releases as a one-off bit of strangeness called Cirkus New Orleans released by Top Shelf a year or two back, or Simmons's self-published All About Fucking have failed to capture my interest. In Happy #1 and 2 Simmons seemed to focus his off-kilter sensibilities into iconoclastic rage that was both entertaining and thought-provoking. With this issue, he revisits his circus obsession to no good end.
Look, if Robert Crumb tells you "No one but your friends is going to make the effort to read [the circus material]," my suggestion would be to take it as a kindness and try to work on other areas of my creativity that might possibly satisfy both readers and myself. Instead, Simmons prints Crumb's entire (and entirely accurate) letter pointing out that "It was a CHORE...very difficult to make out what you are trying to say, what it's all about...out of this incoherent chaos." I doubt Crumb has time to critique creators he sees no potential in, and it's too bad his gesture is apparently being dismissed by Simmons, because the man has a point.
Crumb's phrase "incoherent chaos" sums up Cirkus New Orleans, and it sums up this new Happy #3, subtitled "Zirkus." I'm all for allowing artists to explore the boundaries of their own brilliance, to the extent that it inflicts no harm on others. But the promise that Happy #4 will contain "the concluding chapter to the whole 'cirkus' business," is gravely depressing. Simmons even acknowledges that with a smirk as he notes "If you hated the other cirkus comics, you're really gonna hate this one." It's nice that he's defiant in the face of well-intentioned criticism, but apparently he's unwilling to listen to the voices of an artist like Crumb or a cranky crackpot internet funnybook reviewer like me when we tell him the truth; his talent is being wasted here, and so is the money of readers who were turned on by his earlier, more coherent and effective work. Grade: 1.5/5
Here's another Top Shelf title that asks readers to indulge the creator at too high a cost. Happy #3 seems a bargain compared to the five bucks this directionless, pretentious bit of fluff will set you back. The hostility and visual chaos of Happy #3 are at least interesting on some level -- Jennifer Daydreamer: Oliver is a stone-cold bore.
Three torpid, dream-like stories comprise the mass of this uninteresting 60-page comic book, all told in the same visually awkward, redundant style. Daydreamer celebrates the Rotring pen in her acknowledgements at the end of the book, so at least we know which tool was used to create the bland, contrast-free scratches that make up the artwork here.
Daydreamer is apparently fascinated with angels, trees and flowers, as a weeping little boy named Oliver cries his poor eyes out in tales that seem to be metaphors for sleep and dream but really are more analogous to listening to a not-very-bright philosopher fill you in on their fascinating theories until you want to claw your ears off and put your head in an oven.
Juvenile in theme and awful in execution, Jennifer Daydreamer: Oliver represents a masturbatory cry for better editorial judgement in the alternative comics field. There's no reason the book shouldn't exist, but there's no reason on earth any publisher should have wasted their resources (and risked their readers' trust) bringing it to market, either. Grade: 1/5
Ultimate X-Men #35
By Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch, Art Thibert and others
Published by Marvel Comics
Ultimate X-Men #35 is as much fun as you could ask for from a Marvel comic, with Bendis and Finch having a ball as they team up Teen Spidey and Wolverine to confront and run from Black Ops agents and shoot the breeze about mutant oppression and superheroics.
Bendis immerses fully in the brief history of the Ultimates universe, with an entertaining guest-shot from the Black Widow that is smart, clever and funny. Wolverine is the star of the issue, tough and dangerous and willing to go to every extreme (literally) to stay free. Bendis's Teen Spidey is the most appealingly human take on the character since the Lee and Ditko days, with his wide-eyed wonder giving the reader full entry into the story.
I had my doubts about Bendis takiing over Ultimate X-Men, but in very short order he has made it his own and turned it into one of the most entertaining titles Marvel publishes. Grade: 4/5
Fantastic Four #500
By Mark Waid, Mike Wieringo and others
Published by Marvel Comics
It's deliciously ironic that the best Waid and Wieringo issue of their run comes just weeks after their wrongheaded dismissal from Marvel's oldest title. Here we have a truly engaging, surprising and exciting battle between Reed Richards and Doctor Doom, whose struggles lost my interest decades ago, but who seem fresh and vital in the hands of these talented creators.
Waid's amusing "magic word" revelation that allows Reed to finally believe in magic gives him the upper hand over Doom after many issues of setbacks and defeats that had seen his child literally sent to Hell. Waid and Wieringo's depiction of Reed's victory over these awful circumstances is fast-paced, gorgeous to look at and perhaps one of the most memorable issues of this title ever produced.
That makes the twist ending all the more shocking and horrific, as Waid unexpectedly finds yet another way to play on the long history of the characters and craft an ending that will have all but the most cynical reader looking forward to more of what this creative team has to offer. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, Bill Jemas has instead chosen to send the title where Franklin has spent the past few issues...straight to hell. I suspect we'll see one of the most precipitous fall-offs in readership ever after Waid and Wieringo's last issue. But at least they're going out at the top of their game. Grade: 4/5
Kingpin #2
By Bruce Jones, Sean Phillips and Klaus Janson
Published by Marvel Comics
Unlike Playboy, I really am buying this mainly for the pictures. Phillips and Janson and colourist Lee Loughridge are crafting one of the prettiest superhero books on the stands these days, with great visual pacing and a terrific sense of place no matter what the setting.
These are the early days of the Kingpin, documenting his violent and bloody rise to power, and if it comes off as Sopranos-lite, well, there's worse sources to be inspired by. Jones sticks to the Miller end of the Kingpin neighbourhood by sticking primarily to dirty streets and dirtier sewer tunnels, both of which Phillips and Janson excel at depicting. Artistically my only wish is that the Phillips pencils were a little more finished than I'm guessing they are. I love Janson's inkwork here, but some faces could be a little more focused; for example, one of the main characters looks for all the world like Peter Parker here, which is a little confusing given that Spider-Man is a prominent guest-star.
Violent, dark and action-packed, Kingpin isn't innovative in any particular way, but it's quality storytelling and I personally love the look of the title. If they'd ditch the ass-ugly painted covers this would be a top-notch sooperhero read. Grade: 4/5
Not Floppy
Battle Royale Vol. 2
By Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi
English adaptation by Keith Giffen
Published by Tokyopop
Between reading and reviewing the first volume of this series and the second, I've seen the controversial (and unreleased in the U.S.) movie version of Battle Royale, so I know how the story ends. Despite this, I find myself addicted to the comic book version of the tale.
The main reason is that Battle Royale is visceral, unusual entertainment. Definitely not for children, this is a violent and complex story involving a high school class taken by the Japanese government and forced to battle each other until only one remains alive.
Both the film and the comic contain a large and diverse cast, but the approach to the story and its characters feels different between the two. The movie is faster paced than the comic, and it doesn't focus as much on the sexuality of the girls. The comic version of the tale allows for more development of the characters and their motivations, and we learn a lot here in Vol. 2 that wasn't in the movie.
For example, when Yukiko and Yumiko decide to go to the top of a hill and call out to their classmates to join them in refusing to play the game, the scene plays out much the same in both the movie and the comic. They make a lot of noise, and Kawada, Nanahara and Noriko, having just met, hear them and debate what to do about it.
The two girls meet the same fate in both scenarios, but we learn much more here in the comic about why they did what they did. In the film, much is left to the viewer to interpret. Both are valid and entertaining in their way, but as a committed fan of this story, I really think you need to experience both to get the full impact.
I'm also aware there's a novel that preceeded both the movie and the comic, and the more I experience Battle Royale the more I want to explore the dramatic implications of its story. It is violent, yes, but the creators are doing more than finding new and interesting ways for teenagers to murder each other -- they're commenting on how society looks at its young people and how the media profits from (and propagates) everyday human horror. It's hard to look, but you'd be worse off if you chose to look away. Grade: 5/5