Category: Reviews

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Review: ‘Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter’ by Darwyn Cooke

the-hunter1-6670019Richard Stark’s Parker, Book One: The Hunter
Darwyn Cooke
IDW, July 2009, $24.99

Richard Stark’s Parker novels come out of a particular
period in literary history: the heyday of the disposable paperback for men.
Paperbacks had appeared in their modern form just before WWII, and servicemen
got used to carrying small paperbound books in whatever pockets they could jam
a book into. The boom continued through the postwar years, with a flood of
short thrillers, detective stories, and soft-core porn – all to stave off
boredom for a man waiting for dinner time on a business trip in some hick town,
or hanging out at the PX on his army base, or riding the streetcar home at
night.

[[[The Hunter]]] was
published in 1962, at the height of that boom – a good decade before the ‘70s
taught publishers that women were even more dependable consumers of paperbacks,
and the long shift to romances and their ilk began. At first glance, Stark’s
hero is right out of the mold of the great hardboiled Mikes (Hammer &
Shayne) – tough, violent, single-minded, implacable. But Parker was less
emotional than the usual hardboiled hero – cold where they were hot,
calculating where they were impetuous. Parker could kill when he had to – and he
did it quite a bit – but he never killed for fun, or just because he could. As
the Parker novels went on he avoided killing as much as he could, simply
because deaths attract more attention than he wanted.

Hardboiled heroes came from both sides of the
law – Mike Shayne and Mike Hammer were detectives, but there were plenty of
law-breakers before Parker, from writers like David Goodis and Jim Thompson.
They usually weren’t series characters, though: Parker’s amoralism went beyond
his own actions to his world, and his stories told how a master criminal could get away with it – if he was smart and tough
enough.

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Review: B.P.R.D., Vol. 10: The Warning by Mignola, Arcudi, and Davis

b-p-r-d-10-warning1-9243532

B.P.R.D. Vol. 10: The Warning
Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi; Art by Guy
Davis
Dark Horse Comics, May 2009, $17.95

[[[The Warning]]] is the tenth volume
collecting the adventures of the [[[Hellboy]]]-less Bureau for Paranormal Research
and Defense, and the first in what the creators are calling the “[[[Scorched Earth
Trilogy]]].” The afterword by co-writer John Arcudi claims that events will get
bigger and more dangerous from here – though he does note that this volume
includes, among other thing, “[name withheld] gets kidnapped, … entire fleet of
helicopters gets wiped out, and gigantic robots trample [name withheld] into
rubble.” And previous volumes of this series (and, of course, of the related Hellboy)
have been no slouch in the near-Armageddon sweepstakes – particularly [[[The Black Flame]]]. That’s a lot of promise, but Mignola’s fictional
world does always teeter on the verge of utter supernatural chaos, in his very
Lovecraftian way. It would be wise to take Arcudi at his word.

The Warning begins with the team going
in two directions at once, urgently following up recent events – Abe Sapien
leads an assault squad out into the snowy mountains to try to find and retrieve
the Wendigo-possessed former leader of their team, and the others have a séance
to contact the mysterious ‘30s costumed hero Lobster Johnson, whom they think
will have information about the robed man taunting and manipulating firestarter
Liz Sherman in her mind. But neither one of those leads works out as the
[[[B.P.R.D.]]] hopes, and, before long, they’re face-to-face with another
high-powered menace and seeing another city being assaulted by giant robots.

And yet, remember that note from Arcudi. The plot of The
Warning turns out to be just a warm-up; the antagonists here
are not the true enemies of the B.P.R.D. Near the end, that mysterious man
claims that he isn’t their real antagonist, either. The B.P.R.D. is
fumbling in the dark in The Warning, unsure of what the
real menace is, let alone how to stop it. But they go on, because that’s what
they do.

The Warning is a great installment
of a top-rank adventure series, filled with wonder and terror, eyeball kicks
and quiet character moments. It’s a magnificent brick in a more magnificent
wall, but it’s no place to start. If you haven’t read B.P.R.D.
before, go back to the beginning with [[[Hollow Earth
]]]– or, even better, go back to the beginning of Hellboy
with [[[Seed of Destruction]]]. But, if you enjoy adventure
stories with characters who don’t wear skin-tight outfits,
you should have discovered Mignola’s world by now.

Andrew Wheeler has been a publishing professional
for nearly twenty years, with a long stint as a Senior Editor at the Science
Fiction Book Club and a current position at John Wiley & Sons. He¹s been
reading comics for longer than he cares to mention, and maintains a personal,
mostly book-oriented blog at antickmusings.blogspot.com.

Publishers who would like to submit books
for review should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Andrew
Wheeler directly at acwheele (at) optonline (dot) net.

Review: ‘I Sell the Dead’

Are you looking to round out your Summer with a campy “horror” movie? Look no further than [[[I Sell the Dead]]]. This amusing film, written and directed by Glenn McQuaid, follows the recollections of a young grave robber named Arthur Blake (Dominic Monaghan) on the eve of his execution.

Set in 18th century England (some of our group thought Ireland), the general campy tone of the movie is hinted to early on when Father Duffy (Ron Perlman) is on his way to hear Blake’s confessions and passes what appears to be the skeletal remains of a chihuahua in the dungeon. In recounting how he became a grave robber, we are treated to humorous flashbacks of how Blake became a grave robber and, later, a “ghoul” – one who acquired and sells the undead. We soon discover that Blake and his grave robbing partner, Willie Grimes (Larry Fessenden) are up against a rival gang of brutal ghouls who are happy to use any means necessary to get their hands on the undead.

The film is chock-full of vibrant (and often drunk) characters. It is also well-stocked with monsters and over-abundant artificial fog somewhat reminiscent of classic campy horror films. I Sell the Dead does not fail to deliver the laughs they seem to be aiming for. The film also uses a very stylized method for changing scenes, wherein the end of a scene goes still and is then inked over to have the look of a scene from an old pulp comic. If you are looking for a modern, action-packed horror movie with a lot of shock and gore, this is not the film for you. Fans of Dominic Monaghan will enjoy getting to see him on screen again, and his comic timing is excellent as always. Those who prefer classic horror films or who want a break from the ordinary will find I Sell the Dead clever and amusing. If you are planning to see a fun and different flick with a group of friends, check this one out!

Review: ‘Likewise’

likewise-lg-8171227Likewise: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag

By Ariel Schrag
Touchstone, April 2009, $16

One of the nice things about reviewing for ComicMix is that people send you things that I would otherwise not consider reading or watching. Such is the case with [[[Likewise]]], an autobiographical graphic novel by Ariel Schrag. She began illustrating tales of her life while a ninth grader and had previous published [[[Awkward and Definition]]] and [[[Potential]]], the latter having been nominated for an Eisner Award, and is currently being developed into a major motion picture with Schrag herself handling the screenplay. Her writing about her growing up an active lesbian also led her to be a writer on the third and fourth seasons of Showtime’s [[[The L Word]]].

Likewise, a 360-page work is dedicated entirely to her turbulent senior year in high school. It definitely felt like I was coming in on the middle with the players already established but as the pages turned, everyone came into sharper focus. Ariel was already publishing her comics through Slave Labor Graphics and applying to college while trying to manage life without Sally, her girl friend who is now a college freshman. Her parents have divorced and her mother is apparently enjoying a second childhood, much to Ariel and her sister’s displeasure.

From the start of the term through graduation, Ariel recounts the highs and lows, the anxiety that comes with being a lesbian, a girl, a high schooler and a child of divorce. In graphic detail, we see that she is quite sexually active, seeking love and affection, reaffirmation from others while pining away for Sally, who seems to have discovered sex with men. Sally’s relationship with Ariel forms the spine for the year whether Sally is physically present or not.

Schrag’s simple style is also a detailed one, altering the amount of texture to reflect her state of mind. We go from a few scratchy lines to incredibly vivid panels that put her bedroom and classroom on display.

Given the page count, Schrag invites us into her mind, which is turbulent and very much her own. The teens talk like teens, the adults clearly differentiated without the stereotype that all adults are clueless jerks. In fact, at least one teacher comes through as genuinely helpful and sympathetic. The concerns of October are entirely gone, replaced with new ones by Christmas. There are incredibly embarrassing moments such as the night Mom invites the girls to share a joint with her and other joyous times such as the outing to buy her first dildo.

The book suffers a bit from being a bit too stream-of-consciousness and you lose track of time or decisions she has made, especially the important ones like college. Her lettering reflects the artwork’s mood so can go from typeset to an illegible scrawl and could have paid more attention to clarity. Still, these are minor nits in an overall fascinating examination on one of today’s teens. They all have their own stories, but Schrag chose to document and share her own tale, which proves to be compelling reading.

Review: ‘Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon’

Al Williamsons Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic

Flesk Publications, July 2009, $29.95

While Al Williamson did not create the legendary science fiction character, in many ways he inherited Alex Raymond’s artistic legacy. The artist was born in 1931, three years before [[[Flash Gordon]]]memorably hit the Sunday newspapers.

Raymond is considered one of the finest illustrators to work in syndicated comics, along with Hal Foster, with a photorealistic style that brought his world of Mongo and its varied denizens to life. While Buck Rogers was the first SF strip, Flash Gordon was the best as the stories were epic in scope. The landscape of Mongo was unlike any realm seen in comics before and through the years that special feeling evaporated in the hands of others. Until Williamson.

In 256 pages, we are treated to the three stories produced for King Comics in the 1960s, the short-lived imprint from King Features Syndicate in addition to the his adaptation of the unfortunate 1980 film that looked better than it played. There’s also Williamson’s last major series work, the miniseries produced for Marvel in 1994. The King material is exceptional because it was the first time original material had been produced for comics with the characters actually resembling their strip origins . It’s lush and fast-paced with Williamson actually writing the first story. His long-time collaborator, Archie Goodwin, one of the most respected people in the field…ever, wrote several stories and Larry Ivie also contributed a tale.

Williamson’s style was very much like Raymond’s and his settings and characters felt just right. The deering-do is quick-paced and while the stories tread familiar ground, they are still head and shoulders above much other science fiction in comics. The three stories, brief as they were, earned him the National Cartoonist Society’s Best Comic Book Cartoonist award. His movie adaptation didn’t win awards but earned him a new generation of fans who may have only known his name in association with the legendary EC Comics.

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Review: ‘The Hunter’ by Darwyn Cooke from IDW

Let’s get the disclaimer out of the way first: Yes, ComicMix is publishing lots of stuff with IDW Publishing. Doesn’t matter, The Hunter
would still be on the short list for the best book of the year if it came out from Chick Publications.

I’ve had a preview copy of the entire book for a few months now, and I’ve held off on reviewing it because I didn’t want to tease you, even though previews of the first pages were up and about. You just would have wanted more. I certainly did.

The backstory is simple: it’s an adaptation of The Hunter
by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. It’s the first novel featuring his protaganist Parker. In this book he’s been betrayed by his wife and fellow criminals in the aftermath of a heist, and he hammers his way through New York circa 1962 to get revenge. A lot of it. With guns and fists and… you get the idea.

The book’s been adapted into film a number of times with varying degrees of quality, the two best known adaptions are [[[Point Blank]]] with Lee Marvin:

…and [[[Payback]]] with Mel Gibson:

(And before you ask, [[[The Hunter]]] with Steve McQueen has nothing to do with this book.) But this may be the closest adaptation of the source material, as evidenced by the fact that this is the first adaption that Westlake let use the name Parker.

It’s certainly faithful in (duo) tone. This is the time period Darwyn Cooke was born to draw, in the same way that Dave Stevens was born to draw the era of the Rocketeer. The book feels like 1962, and yet modern at the same time. If you know Cooke’s other projects– New Frontier, Selina’s Big Score, the Batman animated series, you don’t need the sell, if you don’t, picture here a blend of Jack Cole and Bernie Kriegstein, and you’ve almost got it. This book is clean and compact and accessible in ways that no other comic has, and should take the mainstream by storm. The preview almost makes reviewing redundant, let’s just say that Cooke keeps control of the pace all the way through.

I got my review copy early that I was able to call IDW and natter at them about a few production glitches, if the book hadn’t gone to press yet. When they said it hadn’t, I told them to save time in the future and just print “Eisner nominee” on the cover now.

Really. It’s that good. Buy copies for friends.

Review: ‘Dollhouse’ Season One on DVD

There are television creators who are placed under the microscope every time they produce something new, hoping it will generate the same pop buzz and ratings success of their previous series. While a Jerry Bruckheimer can churn out cookie cutter series, the ones with more unique and distinctive voices tend to be more hit or miss. In Joss Whedon’s case, he followed [[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]] and[[[ Angel]]] with [[[Firefly]]]. While a cult favorite, the series and its feature film incarnation failed to win the wide audience required to remain viable. As a result, all eyes were on him to see what his next trick would be and most were cautious given that the new series [[[Dollhouse]]] would appear on Fox, where a previous regime sabotaged Firefly through ineptness.

People cringed when the new show, featuring Whedon-alum Eliza Dushku, was given the dreaded Friday night at 9 slot but were also given fewer commercials allowing more show time allowing Whedon’s characters to come to life.

Dollhouse divided critics and fans and the ratings were iffy at best so the real surprise in May was that the show was renewed at all. Now, during the summer, about two months before the series returns, Fox is releasing a four-disc first season set on Tuesday. They provided the first three discs for review, reserving the fourth disc for consumers to discover on their own. That disc contains the unaired thirteenth episode that could well have been a coda to the series had it been canceled and shone the spotlight on Amy Acker’s Active, codenamed Whiskey. Here’s a clip:

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Review: ‘Pushing Daisies’ Season 2 on DVD

When Pushing Daisies debuted in the fall of 2007, I wrote
on my blog the show “is a delight. With its oversaturated color palette and
Jim Dale narration, this is a fairy tale with a set of off-kilter characters
that you immediately warm to. The leads and supporting cast are equally strong
so it’s up to the writers to make the most of them. I can see why ABC pushed
this so hard; it’s the most original series of the season.”

Somewhat retooled during the writers’ strike, ABC brought it
back this past fall and by Christmas it was gone with three episodes unaired.
Those finally got seen in June and now the entire second season is available as
a four disc box set, being released Tuesday from Warner Home Video.

The second season continued to have the feeling of a fairy
tale and maintained the basic tenants of the series from Jim Dale’s delightful
narration to the everything is slightly over-the-top but you buy it visuals.

Still, the cast probably had a few regulars and recurring
players too many and the storylines reflected that.  We have Olive hiding as a nun, taking away
from the core cast and concocting stories to bring the cast to her. Ned’s daddy
issues continued to flare up along with the improbable introduction of half-brothers
that only bloated the stories for a while. No sooner were they dispatched than
we turned to Chuck’s daddy issues complete with Daddy’s resurrection. The best
part of that was how he reacted and took advantage of the situation, causing fresh
problems for Ned and Chuck. Coupled with Chuck’s story was her aunts and the
arrival of Dwight, a recurring antagonist who got caught up with Vivian.

It felt messy and overdone, and for those trying to sample
the show, it was probably dense and off-putting. For those of us who watched it
regularly, we delighted in the bizarre cases, highlights including the
honey-based cosmetics murder, the death of Colonel Likkin and the case of the dead
window dresser.

Clearly, the writing was on the wall, allowing Bryan Fuller
to try and tidy things up in the final three episodes. The penultimate story,
which possibly had the best script of the season, allowed some closure to
Emerson Cod’s search for his daughter, allowing the finale to wrap up Chuck’s
issues with her Aunts, one of whom turned out to be her natural mother.

The core cast was nothing but superb from beginning to end. They
played everything straight in a wacky world and each appeared as fully-fleshed
out people with surprising quirks and hobbies (Emerson’s knitting for example).
The chemistry between Lee Pace and Anna Friel helped the romantic fairy tale
feel and they were more than ably supported by Kristen Chenoweth and Chi
McBride.  The guest cast was a nice blend
of the familiar and the less familiar but everyone played their parts larger
than life, adding to the unreal feel of the series.

The 13 episodes are complemented by four short featurettes:
The Master Pie Maker which was heavy on clips and not enough interview material
with the cast about the show overall; From Over to Table, which focused on
bringing the scripts to life that could have benefitted with a little more on
the props and set design; Secret Sweet Ingredients, a strong piece on the
wonderful music from composer Jim Dooley; and, Add a Little Magic, which was a
brief look at the visual effects. They, like the pie Ned served, were sweet
morsels leaving you wanting more.

Much like the series, this may be gone from television but
will live on as a maxiseries from WildStorm. For now, though, the second season
comes recommended.

Review: ‘Up’, Pixar and Storytelling

One of the things that I love about Pixar is that they
remember what a lot of filmmakers – and sadly, particularly those working in
the CG medium – have forgotten:


A film needs a story.

So many films today focus on technological dazzle, shock value, making pretty
pictures, or cleverness. None of these are bad things; any and all of them can
add enjoyment, but for me a good story is more important than anything else. I’ll
enjoy the spectacle, the beauty, the wit, but what stays with me is the story.
If story is absent, everything else fades quickly. Pixar’s films have had
consistently strong storytelling, letting the characters carry the viewer along
on their adventures, and this summer’s offering, [[[Up]]], is no exception.

Up doesn’t come near to matching the sheer dazzling brilliance of last
summer’s [[[Wall-E]]], but it is a sweet and charming movie in its own right,
and like Wall-E, it remembered to have a story.
Not only that, but Up takes a startling number of storytelling risks,
particularly for a movie aimed at children.

First there was the absolutely heartbreaking montage of Carl
and Ellie trying to save for their dream trip, and having their dream
constantly derailed by crisis after crisis, only to have Ellie fall ill and die
just as the trip was finally in their reach. This montage is also a rare
instance of a wedding being the beginning of a couple’s story rather than the
“happily ever after.” Seeing Carl lose the legal battle to stay in his home was
also painful.

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Review: ‘Inkheart’ on DVD

After its success with [[[The Lord of the Rings]]], New Line wisely began scouring the bookshelves for other properties that could feed the appetite of a growing public to whom fantasy was no longer reserved for the geeks.  They snatched up several including Cornelia Funke’s German novel, which first saw print in fall 2003.  Inkheart is a well-received novel, first in a trilogy naturally, about a family whose father was a “silvertongue”, who by reading aloud could bring the written word to life.

New Line grabbed the rights and shot the film in fairly quick order but the hoped for December 2007 release got delayed and then the Writers’ Strike forced them to juggle their schedule and then Warner Bros. gobbled up New Line and before you knew it, [[[Inkheart]]] was quietly released in January. And here we are in June with an equally quiet video release, coming Tuesday.

Inkheart was the name of a fantasy book that Mortimer (Brendan Fraser) read one night to his young daughter Meggie. When its characters came to life, his life was changed as his loving wife Resa (Sienna Guillory) vanished at the same time, trapped in the book. Mo never read aloud again and began a quest for a new copy of the book to free his wife. However, Capricorn (Andy Serkis), leader of the foul beings that came through, fled and established a castle in Italy and built up a powerbase, not at all desiring to go home. In fact, the only one who desired a return to print was Dustfinger (Paul Bettany), a fire performer who missed his wife.  For years, Mo sought the rare book, only to have copies vanish from under him as Capricorn also sought the out-of-print tome to destroy.

Now, Meggie (Eliza Bennett) was 12 and Mo finally found a new copy at the same time as Capricorn’s goons. Meggie finally begins to learn the secret her father had been harboring and gets caught up in Capricorn’s machinations to seal his place on Earth.

The movie has tremendous potential for wonderment in addition to a rich relationship between father and daughter. There’s time for moody tension and opportunity for nice character bits and humor. Instead, we get a mashed up film where none of that potential is achieved. There’s little subtlety to the performances, save Bettany, and the story begs for better treatment. Instead, David Lindsay-Abaire’s screenplay misses every opportunity to rise up and be wonderful (and what’s scary for ComicMix readers is that he’s attached to [[[Spider-Man 4]]]). Director Iain Softley robs the film of its magic, delivering everything with the same tone and feel rather than using a full palette.

The Aunt, played by Helen Mirren who must have grandchildren, really has nothing to do and is more of an annoyance than participant. Jim Broadbent is wasted as the novel’s author although he has a sympathetic and briefly sketched character arc.

Watching it, I kept wondering why Mo didn’t just read a [[[Superman]]] comic or a strategically chosen book and bring with him an army to stop Capricorn’s evil plot? Never addressed. And then we get the climax which had the look and feel of the final scenes from [[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]], spoiling a chance to redeem the film.

To see what the film could have been the one and only extra on the DVD is a lovely bit with Bennett reading from a chapter of the novel, a scene not included in the film.

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