"The Joe Small Saga"
Written and drawn by Dick Troutman
Published by Aweful Books
In discussing how comics should expand its horizons to appeal to a wider variety of readers a few months back, someone mentioned to me that with the popularity of Tiger Woods, there should be a proliferation of golf comics. In the best way possible, this title reminded me of that discussion.
There's not a super-powered metahuman to be found in Outfitters, it's black and white, and the drawing is sometimes not quite as polished as it could be. Nonetheless, it is a riveting comic book.
Outfitters centers on the relationships and petty bickering of a group of employees of a rafting company. The story takes place during the summer, when tourist trade is at its peak, and the squabbling that comes as a result of the presence of Joe Small, a former marine, threatens to destroy the business.
Troutman's story is rife with believable moments of rage and humour, and the reader is drawn into the world of these characters, no matter how much or little is known of the world of rafting. Troutman has an ear for naturalistic dialogue, and the motivations of all the characters seem true to life. The artwork is really the only thing I can criticize, and even that is minor. Troutman draws in a style reminiscent of the Hernandez brothers (of Love and Rockets fame), and despite occasional panels that show his inexperience, others hint at a natural skill and promising potential.
The story begins with a page referencing Pearl Harbor, and that's appropriate. This is a tale of all-out war, a tale well told and holding great promise for the future.
513: a BMX bike story
Written and drawn by John Greiner
This autobiographical mini-comic tells the tale of how the story's creator became handicapped during a biking accident.
Greiner has a strong design sense, which conveys this story well (although the obvious reliance on photographs as part of the artwork makes it difficult to judge his drawing skill). In the 11 pages the lead story takes up, he gives readers a good sense of how big a part of his life BMX biking was, and conveys a sense that he is a survivor and will not let this incident be the end of his life.
The fact of the matter is, though, that it was an accident that could have easily been prevented. What he was doing when he tried a "New jump in the valley everyone was doing good at," was dangerous. Undoubtedly, no one would have been impressed by anyone making the jump if it were not dangerous. In failing to complete the jump, Greiner landed on his head and severed his spinal cord.
Greiner shows no remorse for the incident, saying in the story "I don't regret a single second of my life. It's hard to put into words, (what) means more to me (than) to be a BMX rider." There's a sense that Greiner thinks what happened to him is somehow noble or heroic, and that he didn't learn the lesson that will be obvious to most readers.
I remind myself of my mother's frequent lecturing here, but Greiner was doing something dangerous and unnecessary--it might have seemed fun and cool at the time, but he is now denied a lifetime of opportunity for that few moments in the spotlight with a bunch of neighbourhood kids. So, while I applaud Greiner's honesty and skill at depicting this tale, I don't think he realizes the role this story should really serve. As a warning to young people not to risk their health and well-being to look "cool."
Greiner clearly plans to continue making comic books, and the small taste of his storytelling skill here makes me anxious to see what he can do if he expands beyond this small tale. He solicits collaborators in the back of this issue, and it would be interesting to see what he could turn out with the input of other writers and/or artists contributing to the effort.
Sunburn
Written and drawn by James Kochalka
Published by Alternative Comics
"My body is a weird machine of grinding bone and spurting blood."
-- James Kochalka
One of the great joys in experiencing any piece of art is discovering a piece of the artist. Sunburn provides readers with a look inside the inner workings of James Kochalka Superstar's head in a more complete way than any of his previous works. By that standard, Sunburn is his best work to date.
When I recently traveled to Vermont to interview Kochalka, I was struck by his seemingly paradoxical joy of life and simultaneous inclinations toward almost obsessive neuroses. These are both on display in his many comics, such as in Tiny Bubbles, where he spends page after page agonizing over a bubble on his finger. The quiet, happier moments he displays with his wife, such as in Magic Boy and Girlfriend, though, show Kochalka is capable, in fact quite skilled, at enjoying the subtle moments of just being alive.
He gives us both sides of his personality in better view than ever before in this latest work. The only character is himself, and the only narrative is his thoughts: Sometimes profound, sometimes ludicrous ("It's all so ridiculous"). It is, as I said, a portrait of a human being, a snapshot in time of the way one man's mind works.
Kochalka ruminates on the state of his everyday existence ("Yesterday, my skin was lightly burned...") and deals with his profound sense of mortality ("I'll never escape this body,") all while sitting in his apartment, contemplating reality, both his, and the universe's.
If that all sounds a little trite to you, take a good look around. Most people live their entire lives, they're born, go to school, work, fall in love, have children, grandchildren, and die, without ever really stopping to consider what their place is in existence, or what it all means. In Sunburn, Kochalka does not come off as preachy, insincere or pseudo-metaphysical. He shares with his readers his thoughts on his existence, both subtle and absurd. It's a statement worth making, and a comic book well worth reading. Sunburn gets my highest recommendation, and is, hands down, the best comic book I have read in the year 2000.
Daredevil Visionaries
By Kevin Smith, Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti
Published by Graphitti Designs
There's no question that this storyline, originally published as Daredevil Vol. 2 issues 1-8, re-energized Daredevil as a character, and in large part established the reputation of the Marvel Knights editorial office that allowed Joe Quesada to ascend to the Editor-in-Chief's job at Marvel Comics.
Chances are, you've already read this story. You know that the creative team creates a mystery involving demons, saviours, superheroes and, best of all, the return to form of Bullseye.
Smith's story is a bit verbose early on, but I'd rather read him overwriting than the spare prose of many of the writers that have handled Daredevil in the years since Frank Miller moved on. And the artwork by Quesada and Palmiotti is outstanding, completely in line with the excellent pedigree of this title, which has been illustrated by Bill Everett, Wally Wood, Gil Kane, Frank Miller and Gene Colan, among the finest comics artists in history.
This is not a cheap book, ringing up at $79.95. However, the CD ROM that comes with this handsome volume provides a wealth of material that makes it a true treasure for fans of Daredevil in general, and fans of the Marvel Knights incarnation in particular. Smith leads Quesada and Palmiotti in a frank, occasionally hilarious recounting of their partnership on the storyline, and there are sketches, scripts, notes, and more. It would take hours and hours to pore over everything on the CD, something I plan to do again and again.
So, as I said, it's not a cheap read. But as a fan of this story and these creators, this beautiful volume a real treat and the idea of the CD ROM is a bonus I hope more companies decide to try.
Peanut Butter and Jeremy
By James Kochalka Superstar
Published by Alternative Comics
If you're old enough to vote, you've probably experienced something like this; you meet a new friend who seems utterly cool and charming, everything you want to be.
Then, after a few days or weeks, or maybe even months, you realize something isn't quite...right. And you want out. Now.
So it is with the first of two new offerings from JKS (Sunburn is due out this week, this came out last week). Kochalka indulges in one of his favourite artistic subjects, the inner lives of cats, to show us how a new friend can suddenly prove to have a screw loose, costing us money, pissing us off and endangering our lives.
There's none of the stuff I find most intriguing about Kochalka's work here, the personal, often neurotic look into the inner workings of his own mind. But he manages to say a lot about cats and friendship in this small tale, and he does it with the mastery of the comics artform I've come to expect from James Kochalka, Superstar.
My investigation into the world of America's Best Comics has yielded yet another gem. I found Top 10 not to my taste when I first sampled it months ago, then was shocked by the luminescent wonder and good fun of Tom Strong.
The great strength of the ABC line is that each of the titles is so damned different from the others; it comes now as no surprise to me that others find Top 10 among Moore's best work. With this much diversity, there's room for differences of opinion.
As for Promethea, this hardcover volume (collecting issues 1-6) manages to do what a lifetime of reading about Wonder Woman has not done for me: Moore has created a magical female heroic icon that is consistently interesting and entertaining.
Ironically, he does it by explaining why Wonder Woman has never entertained me for long. I always felt that WW's character was entirely dependant on the creators working on the title at any given moment. Unlike Batman, Superman or Spider-Man, her other closest iconic rivals, Wonder Woman seemed not to exist as a seperate character with an objective personality all her own.
Moore uses that very premise to establish the myth of Promethea, a heroic myth created and recreated throughout history by the very act of belief. As a result, there have been many Prometheas, all with traits and characteristics of their "hosts."
For her current incarnation, Moore picks a thoroughly modern young woman, a college student, who is forced by circumstance to exercise her creativity and create and become Promethea. Moore (and Williams and Gray, who do terrific work bringing this complex, magical world to life) takes his time establishing this new mythology, and it promises to address issues like friendship, love, heroism, and most importantly, the power of the mind to shape the universe. Excellent stuff.
It occurs to me that Fantastic Four may be, more than any other Marvel title, so mired in adolescent ideas of family and adventure, as to be almost impossible to present to an audience looking for more mature storytelling.
I don't mean to imply that every comic book has to aspire to the artistic heights of, say, Promethea or Maus, but for all the talent Pacheco brings to the table here (he's one of Marvel's best artists ever), I found this a bit of a trifle.
It's not for lack of trying. Pacheco and co-writer Marin play with all the usual FF landmarks (not to say cliches), such as the Thing/Torch fued, a classic villain and of course an attack on their headquarters.
The artwork is uniformly excellent, and the story rings true as being about the FF I knew in my childhood. But my overall ambivalence about the title leads me to think it might not be my fault, or even the creative team's, that I didn't enjoy this more.
I am entranced enough by Pacheco's storytelling skills that I am going to give this one a few months and see how it shakes out. Because his work on Avengers Forever was some of the best damn Marvel Comics ever, and I'd like to see a little of that magic here, on a regular basis.
As is his usual wont, Morrison has been taking readers on a roller coaster ride in this title. Every issue seems to be about a completely different subject, this issue taking on adolescent angst and parental disapproval of dating partners (to be polite).
Marvel Boy's war on humanity is once again interrupted as he battles the daughter of Doctor Midas, the villain who tortured him in issue #1, only to find he really likes her and she really likes him. Midas, of course, is a little annoyed at this turn of events.
With one issue left to go, I'm not really quite sure what Morrison is getting at; par for the course and not entirely unexpected from him. The artwork is highly readable eye candy, and if you like roller coasters, Marvel Boy is providing a slick, fast, disorienting ride.
As good as Rising Stars has been, the impact of the story has been greatly diminished by the poor artwork, especially in the early issues. None of that here.
Gary Frank (his work here reproduced in pencil form) brings the latest series by JMS skillfully to life. This is the story of a cop who finds out the world is a whole lot different, and much more dangerous, than most people ever learn.
I don't know where, exactly, this series will go; it promises, though, an examination of some of the author's favourite themes (shadow worlds and knowing mages have been a part of most of his comics and TV work), as seen through the extremely personal vision of a highly involving lead character. All with the eye-catching artwork of Gary Frank, one of the most underrated mainstream comics artists around. As such, Midnight Nation is off to a better start than Rising Stars, right out of the gate.
Young Justice isn't about deep issues, profound thought, or Making a Statement.
It's about a bunch of hormone-soaked teenagers trying to find a heroic identity for themselves in a world where the JLA and Titans pretty much have a lock on being the super teams of the day.
David has a lot of fun with the doofiness of Superboy and Impulse, and poor, straight-laced Robin seems most at home here, where he suddenly is the elder statesman and voice of reason.
Being a teenager is a time of dizzying highs and lows, generally accompanied by unexpected drama and even occasional, profound loss.
David seems to be examining those themes in Young Justice, fairly bringing them to life right on the page. I don't long for a return to my teenage years, but David's clearly having a lot of fun playing with these guys (and girls), and the dynamic work of Nauck and the other artists here ties it all up in a nice, entertaining package.
The plot: 15-year old Peter Parker is bitten by a spider that's been genetically altered by the experiments of Osborn Industries.
It's bound to happen someday. It happens to all hip, hot creators, and someday it will happen to Brian Michael Bendis. Someday, he'll write something that won't be hip, relevant, and of the moment. Someday Bendis will write something that sucks.
But that day is not today.
Ultimate Spider-Man is off to a terrific start, recreating the Spider-Man mythos in a way that is thoroughly modern, accessible to new readers, and fun in a way John Byrne could not even come close to in the atrocious, insultingly wrongheaded Spider-Man: Chapter One.
The package itself is impressive, with a glossy, cardstock cover and an eye-catching cover by Joe Quesada. I would quibble with the 3.00 cover price, and in fact I think if there was any way on earth to do this for 2.00 or even a buck, it would be an astonishingly brilliant marketing move that could serve to get the title into the hands of even more kids. But on this paper stock, they're probably close to taking a loss even at 3.00, so I'll shut up about the price.
As to the story itself, while Byrne's lame retread featured Doc Ock shoehorned into Spidey's origin, Bendis and Bagley (and Jemas--how many company presidents get a writing credit?) manage to find an organic, believable way to merge the business interests of Norman Osborn with the birth of the amazing Spider-Man. Uncle Ben comes off as a real character, and even though he remains alive at the "to be continued" ending, we all know how this is likely to turn out, and I am already feeling a sense of dread and pity for poor Peter.
Bagley turns in some of the most impressive work of his career, creating a believable high school environment for Peter and his classmates, and making me believe that I was seeing genuine teenage versions of Mary Jane Watson, Harry Osborn (brilliant rethinking of his character here) and all the rest.
If you had doubts about this title, but loved the Spider-Man we all used to have, give Ultimate Spider-Man a shot. It's not your grandfather's Spider-Man, but it's hip, modern, relevant, and a lot of fun. That's quite an accomplishment for any comic in the year 2000 with the words "Spider-Man" in the title, and I thank Bendis, Bagley, Jemas and the rest for finally giving us back a Peter Parker whose adventures seem fresh, focused and exciting.