Tagged: Oxford Comics

The Weekly Haul: Reviews for June 19, 2008

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  • June 19, 2008

Let’s get this out of the way up front: Not a great week for comics. A few good eggs, but a whole lot of blah hit the shelves this week. So it goes.

In other news, I’ll be in Charlotte at Heroes Con this weekend, so if you make it there, give me a shout. Or, if you’re the creator of one of the books I just called "blah," you can punch me in the face.

Book of the Week: RASL #2 — As usual, the only complaint with Jeff Smith is that he and deadlines are like oil and fire. And yes, oil and fire is worse than oil and water. Trust me.

This issue was supposed to come out last month, but it’s here now and it’s a dandy of an issue. I’m a fan of Bone and Shazam!, but without pause I’d call RASL his best work yet.

The dimension-hopping lead’s troubles continue as he learns an organization of some sort has caught onto his little exploits and is in hot pursuit. Smith throws in a lot of sci fi, but with his unwavering command of the medium he never lets the story out of noir territory.

This is the most serious and adult story Smith has done, which is certainly of note, but I find more interesting his experimentations with story structure. He’s pushing himself to new levels, and we get to enjoy the ride (stop-and-go as it is).

Runner Up:

X-Factor #32 — This issue doesn’t have that usual snap-crackle-and-pop of Peter David’s dialogues and monologues, but that’s by design as we see the fallout of Arcade’s near-complete destruction of Mutant Town.

It’s one big exhalation of an issue, with Madrox crumbling mentally (as ever) and the team rallying (sort of). David uses the moment to make a big paradigm shift with the team and the series, set up brilliantly with a series of reverses involving government stooge Val Cooper.

Really, though, the big draw is David’s intro update on his family. Those always kill me. Someone pay him to write a third person memoir, please!

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Review: ‘The Joker: The Greatest Stories Ever Told’

This summer is a big one for Batman’s deadliest foe, the Joker, with the deceased Heath Ledger giving an apparently mesmerizing take on the clown prince of crime in [[[The Dark Knight]]].

And just in time comes the latest printing from DC of The Joker: The Greatest Stories Ever Told ($19.99), which offers some of the character’s legendary moments from his debut in 1940 in Batman #1 to last year’s macabre Christmas tale from Paul Dini.

First, lets dispense with the hyperbole of the title. There are some great Joker moments here, but several of the character’s biggest aren’t included. There’s nothing from [[[The Killing Joke]]],[[[ A Death in the Family]]] or [[[Dark Knight Returns]]], for example.

More than anything, this is a great primer on the Joker, charting his characterizations over his six-plus decades of existence as he became quite likely the most recognizable evil-doer in comics.

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Review: This Week in ‘Trinity’ – Part 2

Two weeks down, and things are already heating up in DC’s weekly series Trinity.

We left off last week with [[[Superman]]], [[[Wonder Woman]]] and [[[Batman]]] all under the gun from mysterious forces: A dwarf solar system appears in Metropolis, giant robots attack Washington D.C., and Gotham… becomes Olde Timey?

The main point of interest is the nature of the attacks, and the way in which each hero handles the threat. Superman saves civilians and acts tactically. Batman wills Gotham back to normal by refusing the vision. And Wonder Woman smacks the crap out of some robots.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, the central notion of this series lies in exploring the identity of these three main heroes (in the first issue, this came up in how each saw variations of the same dream). Clark is a protector, Diana is a fighter and Bruce is…

So far, writer Kurt Busiek is leaving that one open, as the bizarre transformation of Gotham could imply a lot of things about Batman. It’s also interesting that Bruce is the only one of the three to remark on the strangeness around him.

Why would Busiek only hang a lampshade with Batman? Maybe it has to do with him being the lone human of the Trinity, and thus a stand in for readers. Food for thought.

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Review: ‘Popeye’ on DVD

Next January, E.C. Segar’s cartoon creation Popeye turns 80. That’s a good run, especially for a character who still wasn’t showing many signs of his age in the 2004 TV special Popeye’s Voyage: The Quest for Pappy.

While Popeye might not have aged over the years, he certainly has changed, which is clearly evident in the contrast between two new DVD collections of [[[Popeye]]] cartoons recently released from Warner Bros. Video.

The first, as mentioned in Michael H. Price’s latest column here at ComicMix is Popeye the Sailor 1938-1940 Vol. 2 ($34.98), which contains 31 remastered theater shorts. Created by the Fleischer family’s studio, these are some of the earliest animated Popeye adventures.

One can quickly see why the shorts became a phenomenon, as big or bigger than Disney’s toons (pointed out in an excellent documentary on the Fleischers that’s included). Popeye and the gang are essentially Vaudevillians, pinwheeling through one pratfall after another.

While that means there’s not much narrative richness and little language-based humor (most the characters are unintelligible), the Fleischers were masters of the gags, setting them up as curvaceous rows of dominoes, one slapping down another in orchestrated patterns.

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Review: ‘Water Baby’ by Ross Campbell

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in a series of reviews of the five books coming out from DC’s Minx imprint this year. Previously, Van Jensen reviewed Rebecca Donner’s Burnout, Cecil Castellucci’s Janes in Love and Brian Wood‘s The New York Four. -RM]

Ah, ambiguity. It can be the driving force of great fiction, powering along mysteries, character dramas and horror stories.

And, when wielded irresponsibly, ambiguity can sink a promising book straight into the murky depths of… somewhere or other.

Take Water Baby ($9.99), a new Minx book written and drawn by Ross Campbell. At the book’s start, surfer girl Brody loses a leg to a hungry shark. She sorta tries to get over it with the help of her sorta friend Louisa, but then things kinda get crazy when Brody’s old flame Jake shows up (he’s somewhat cool but a bit of a jerk).

The girls (who have a relationship that meanders toward lesbianism, but never conclusively) decide to drive Jake back home to get rid of him, and things kinda sorta get even crazier when they pick up Chrissie, a girl who’s either cool or a slut or just crazy. Maybe.

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The Weekly Haul: Reviews for June 5, 2008

Quite a top-notch week in comics, all in all. We had another Secret Invasion entry and the debut of DC’s Trinity (I’ll be doing separate weekly reviews of that one), as well as strong outings from other series.

There seemed to be a viral outbreak of silliness, though, as a handful of comics pushed the goofy too far and suffered for it. Only a couple of outright stink bombs, which are helping me kick off a new section for these reviews: The Dregs. Now, the reviews…

Book of the Week: Secret Invasion #3 — First, let me say there continue to be some serious problems with Skrullapalooza ’08. The series is not even remotely self contained, so any casual fan is probably going to be quite lost, there are a few too many unclear moments (lost either in script or art), and the Skrull invasion force still looks like they were designed by Toys R’ Us.

That out of the way, this issue merits top billing for a few big reasons.

First, the story actually moves ahead after stagnating in the Savage Land. Second, there are some huh-yuge fights, and Leinil Yu takes a bellows and pumps them full of hot air. Third…

We need a big SPOILER WARNING for this. Third, we learn the biggest reveal in modern comics memory, that this colossal, inconsistent prick of Tony Stark who has embroiled the Marvel Universe isn’t really Tony Stark. Gasp. He’s a Skrull.

Runners Up:

Abe Sapien: The Drowning #5 — This series ends with a graceful if unsatisfying issue, filled with more sparsely worded craziness (giant flying eel?!?) and Abe continuing to wonder how he stacks up. "You aren’t Hellboy and you never will be," he tells himself. But, like Hellboy, he learns the crucial lesson that guns usually don’t stop supernatural forces.

The shining light of this series is artist Jason Alexander, who lends everything a perfect ephemeral, abstract air. The good news is he’s going to be doing more BPRD work.

Omega the Unknown #9 — Jonathan Lethem and Farel Dalrymple’s bizarre cerebral odyssey is nearly at an end, and this penultimate issue brings the Omega and robot forces to a head in a big way, with the world at stake. Still, things are never too heavy, and despite a dramatic death it ends up being the most rambunctious issue yet.

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Review: ‘Starman Omnibus Vol. 1’ by James Robinson and Tony Harris

starman-8359527The true measure of James Robinson’s Starman is how, 14 years later, the series remains fresh and invigorating. The story of Jack Knight reluctantly taking his father’s mantle as Starman and protecting Opal City is endlessly inventive, an odd and challenging riff on the superhero.

Now is a perfect time to appreciate the series again, as DC is somewhat surprisingly collecting the entire [[[Starman]]] run into six omnibuses ($49.99 each). The first holds 17 issues, each filled with Robinson’s elaborately labyrinthine narration and plotting.

The first three issues are a perfect example of Robinson’s creative approach. In one night, Jack’s brother, who had assumed the Starman mantle, is killed amid a massive attack launched by an old Starman foe. While it’s a flurried and violent opening, Robinson stretches the story, mining each angle of the fight for richness.

Through that gradual unfolding of Jack taking up the cosmic rod, his character becomes immediately rich and deep. That, no doubt, helped the book to become such a lasting success.

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Review: ‘Drawing Words and Writing Pictures’ by Jessica Abel and Matt Madden

drawingwords420-1404654If you pay much attention to news about comic books, you know that the industry is seeing a boost in popularity that’s translated into comics becoming an accepted field of study at venerated institutions like Stanford and elsewhere.

As comics make the transition into classrooms it only makes sense that a formal textbook would soon follow. Fittingly enough, it’s a pair of comics creators and instructors — Jessica Abel and Matt Madden, who are also married — that created the first textbook, Drawing Words and Writing Pictures (First Second, $29.95).

The 280 pages of advice on creating your own comic is largely an introduction to comics newcomers, with explainers on basic concepts and terms. From there it progresses into fundamental skills, from page layouts to creating characters to creating finished quality art.

There’s a world of information the book never gets to, but then it’s essentially a course book for Comics 101. It does have tons of references to more advanced learning materials, though, which comes in handy.

While the book is designed to be used in the classroom, Abel and Madden have crafted it so that anyone getting into comics can gain a lot from it. Just on my own, I had a lot of fun going through their exercises and picked up more than a few new tricks. It’s also very well designed and exceptionally visual-friendly.

I wouldn’t call Drawing Words the Holy Grail of comics, but it’s an excellent place to start, a great primer on a terribly complex medium.

Van Jensen is a former crime reporter turned comic book journalist. Every Wednesday, he braves Atlanta traffic to visit Oxford Comics, where he reads a whole mess of books for his weekly reviews. Van’s blog can be found at graphicfiction.wordpress.com.

Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Van Jensen directly at van (dot) jensen (at) gmail (dot) com.

Review: ‘The New York Four’ by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly

ny4-5124195[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of reviews of the five books coming out from DC’s Minx imprint this year. Previously, Van Jensen reviewed Rebecca Donner’s Burnout and Cecil Castellucci’s Janes in Love. -RM]

Brian Wood is a very good writer. Ryan Kelly is a very good artist.  That makes the failure of the duo’s new book from Minx, The New York Four ($9.99) all the more disappointing.

Wood, who has shown a masterful understanding of NYC in his series [[[DMZ]]], shifts his focus here to NYU and a quartet of freshmen, each with their quota of baggage. At the center is Riley, who had a sheltered childhood and finally experiences some freedom.

Not a bad premise, but Wood doesn’t really do much with it. The girls sort of bounce off each other in one low-key scene after another, and their problems are never substantial or interesting enough to invest in the plot.

The characters come alive (one triumph of the talented creators), but even they seem underwhelmed by the mundanity of their lives.

There’s also an air of forced hip-ness to the book, which tosses in little elements like character bio-boxes, New York factoids and half-baked Real World-style confessional moments. And the lesson, as always, is that you can’t fake the funk.

Van Jensen is a former crime reporter turned comic book journalist. Every Wednesday, he braves Atlanta traffic to visit Oxford Comics, where he reads a whole mess of books for his weekly reviews. Van’s blog can be found at graphicfiction.wordpress.com.

Publishers who would like their books to be reviewed at ComicMix should contact ComicMix through the usual channels or email Van Jensen directly at van (dot) jensen (at) gmail (dot) com.

Review: ‘Jack Kirby’s OMAC: One Man Army Corps Omnibus’

omac-2752411In the four volumes of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World omnibuses DC recently released, there’s a not-so-coincidental trend of the introductions being more thought-provoking than the comics themselves.

During this latest run of Kirby nostalgia, most recently marked by this week’s release of his OMAC omnibus ($24.99), some of the smartest folks in comics have jumped at the chance to write at length about the King’s deep philosophical messages and revolutionary narrative approaches.

Thank God there’s none of that on hand in the OMAC collection (Mark Evanier’s introduction is more behind-the-scenes insight than anything). OMAC was a simple enough creation, a mutation of Kirby’s unrealized story of Captain America in the future.

Buddy Blank is an average Joe in The Future who has the fortune of being randomly picked by a super satellite to be zapped and turned into a heroic brute with a mohawk. Why the mohawk? We may never know.

OMAC never really trucks in the existentialism or social mirroring of Fourth World, which too often became jumbled and rambling when it strived for deep and contemplative. OMAC was, as Evanier writes, a creation born of the necessity of Kirby’s contract, which demanded a whopping 15 pages a week! (And you wondered why some of his stories feel rushed.)

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