Alan: About the most fun I ever had writing was when Rob Vollmar and I accidentally created a little column called Tilting. It is with great joy and only a little arousal that I welcome you, the home reader, to our first Tilting column of 2002. I want to make sure I mention that Rob's excellent debut as a comics writer is currently appearing in Absence of Ink Theatre, published by Absence of Ink Comic Press.
Rob: It's certainly my pleasure to be back at the old stomping grounds. Unfortunately, our choice of review material is pretty far from the whimsical adventures of Odin and Aquaman are Dead. Today, we are going to review two books for the folks at home, Moment of Silence from Marvel Publishing and 9-11: Emergency Relief from Alternative Comics, the proceeds from both of which go to relief funds and the Red Cross.
Alan: I think it's interesting to note that enough time has passed since September 11th that I am personally comfortable reviewing books like this. When Marvel's Heroes came out, and later their Spider-Man issue, I had an opinion on both, but couldn't really find the desire to review them or even much comment on them. I'm not sure what it says exactly that things are different now, but somehow, they are. I also think that it's worthy mentioning that Alternative Comics's 9-11 Emergency Relief trade is chock full, not of stories of heroism and sacrifice, but of the personal stories of the cartoonists and how they perceived and reacted to the terrorist attacks.
Rob: I think that Marvel hit on something when they published Heroes in the poster/pin-up format because as I was reading both of these collections, I still felt that for all the drama presented, little was discussed or considered that was new to me in some way. Particularly with the 9-11 book, I was mostly disappointed with the repitition from story to story. In some way, it seemed to me that the event itself was somehow too large to capture in sequential narrative. The most powerful piece in Emergency Relief for me was Will Eisner's one-page shot of the television bleeding from the footage because it evoked without sullying the experience with words.
Alan: I don't know that I was looking for anything new or different from 9-11 Emergency Relief. Much like on the day itself, I think I was looking for confirmation and validation of the things I experienced, thought and felt, and I got that. I also appreciate the book for its more personal, intimate tone. Marvel's original Heroes book barely scratched the surface in that regard, but when it was created, the emotions were raw and new and alien, to a degree. Their more recent Moment of Silence, I think, is the better of their two efforts, although I would have appreciated some words to accompany the artwork. Silent stories can be effective, but the poetry and rhythm of words on a page really cannot be duplicated by standalone visual imagery, and when you're dealing with Brian Michael Bendis and Kevin Smith, I think it ultimately would have been more valuable to let them loose with their full set of tools to see what other emotions they could evoke and engage.
Rob: There are elements of both books that I really dug. I agree that A Moment of Silence would have benefitted from allowing the creators involved to utilize their full palette of skills for making comics and I can't help but think that SOMEONE could have written a better story than Jemas. It seemed like a cheap way to get his name into print on the merits of someone else's real sacrifice. With 9-11, I found that those creators whose work I already admired turned in the pieces I enjoyed with few of the fringe contributors sticking out very far with the exception of strong pieces from Chris Knowle and K. Thor Jensen ("Citadel of the Night") and Laurenn McCubbin. I guess I was hoping that this more vital branch of comics might have more insights to offer in addition to the vital experiences.
Alan: I agree with you about 9-11 Emergency Relief's Will Eisner contribution. I'd gladly pay through the nose for a full-size lithograph of that image. It's true that the book suffers a bit from some of the lesser-known contributors. I thought two of the strongest pieces were by Jeff Smith and especially Dean Haspiel. The Haspiel piece was pretty visceral to me, because I heard the exact same story on September 12th, over the phone, from a friend who watched the WTC collapse from his rooftop. I imagine the horror of that moment will haunt them forever. I know that just having experienced it through their descriptions, it's something that I will come back to again and again when I consider September 11th.
One thing I was disappointed in with 9-11 was the uniformity of the computer lettering in many of the stories. It seemed like the same font was used for a lot of the pieces, and it came off as a crutch. Probably much more so than it would have in individual issues by a single creator. I'll take the (apparent) hand-lettering of a Haspiel or Kochalka any day.
Rob: As far as comic stories go, my favorite from 9-11 was probably the Hutch Owen piece from Tom Hart. I found it much easier to let my emotions run unchecked when it was hooked into this larger continuity, which I probably share in principle with the superhero fans who can probably identify with Captain America's pain more readily than their own. I also thought Haspiel's piece was maybe the best of his I had ever read.
In addition, James Kochalka's contribution came off as the least forced, as it was part of his natural diary process and provided me with the only real laugh of the read with the line, "Osama Bin Laden burnt my tongue!" From among the Marvel stories, I probably would have to pick the Quesada/Kordey piece as the best, though they are all (with exception of the occasionally confusing Jemas piece) well-constructed both visually and narratively.
Alan: As essential a contribution as the Kochalka piece was, I would have liked to see a bit more from him, perhaps a longer narrative piece rather than the diary strips. I agree that hot coffee gag was charming and funny, but Kochalka is such a keen observer of what is is to be human that I hope he'll someday soon be able to more fully explore his thoughts and feelings about the attacks. Frankly, though, I spend much of the average day hoping he'll more fully explore his thoughts and feelings about just about anything, so this is nothing new.
Rob: One additional observation to offer here. Sales on these books have been very light in comparison to what we saw at the local on Heroes. The sentiment that I got from a lot of people was that they just weren't ready to revisit a day that seemed it would never end in such detail. Whether this is a reflection of American sentiment on the ongoing "war" effort or just the apathy of a fickle comic buying audience is hard for me to say but Heroes certainly benefitted from whatever the difference was. It makes me wonder what sales will be like on the volumes recently unveiled from the Dark Horse, DC, Chaos coalition.
Alan: I think the short-term sales of these books is nothing compared to their historical value. Imagine the insight and information, say, my six year old son will be able to get from the 9-11 book if he turns to it ten years from now. He'll vaguely remember September 11th as the day the airplanes hit the skyscraper, but I'll be able to give him this handsome volume from Alternative Comics and say "Here's how a lot of people experienced that day first hand." 9-11 Emergency Relief is my favourite of these efforts so far, not only for the wonderful contributions of folks like Haspiel, Kochalka, Eisner, and Harvey Pekar and Tony Millionaire, but because it's well-produced, sturdy, beautiful to look at and touch, and it's a permanent record of how some gifted creators experienced one of the worst days in human history.
Rob: Production value I won't argue with, neither the value of having this day recorded for posterity to appreciate by a bevy of talented creators. For the painful task it set out to accomplish, I think 9-11 is undoubtedly the most succesful of this spate of relief books. As a stand-alone read, I did not find it as engaging as even an SPXpo anthology due to the severe limitation on the subject material. It is entirely possible that I will be sorting out the proper emotional reaction to this book and material for years and so my reponse after one read is a little flattened.
Alan: I don't think your initial reaction is going to prove far from wrong. But the very nature of anthologies is that some pieces will strike you, and others won't. Perhaps the subject heightens this effect. For me, the pieces that succeeded more than justified the purchase, and I can forgive or ignore other pieces as my reaction merits.
Rob: And, being a book of some heft, I will be rewarded with additional re-reads to give some pieces (especially towards the end) to have their real chance at my attention. It was a nice, long read and for $14.95, it offers a good value that should be of interest to a wide-range of folks, provided you can get them to sit down and read a comic.
Alan: Oh, I think this one, from the striking Frank Cho cover alone, is bound to be irresistible to at least some none-comics readers. But again, I think its main value will be long term. With that in mind, I strongly urge anyone with the desire to spread the comics meme to consider purchasing 9-11 either for a friend or for your local library. Either will be a kindness that will be much appreciated.
Rob: Unless they are a curmudgeon or a Spider-Man fan and then you better either a) buy them a copy of Marvel Must Haves #2 or b) let sleeping dogs lie.
Alan: Thanks for joining us for the first Tilting of the new year. Rob and I hope to have another one for you soon. Right, Rob?
Rob: You got it, Alan. I can't wait for Origin #4! See you all in March!