What Are You Reading?

Tweet Athos in America

Welcome to another edition of , where every week we talk about the comics, books and other stuff we’ve been reading lately. Today our special guest is Kim Thompson, co-publisher, editor, translator and AutoChatter at Fantagraphics … and world traveler, as you’ll see below.

To see what Kim and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click the link …

Chris Mautner

The Horror, The Horror

The best thing about The Horror, The Horror: Comic Books the Government Didn’t Want You to Read by Jim Trombetta is the accompanying DVD containing a 1955 episode of the TV show Confidential File, directed by none other than Irving Kershner of Empire Strikes Back fame. The show is all about the evils of comic book publishing (despite the fact that the comics code had by this point already been established) and panders in the most frothy, exploitative way imaginable, with a lengthy scene of young boys reading a batch of horror and crime comics and then tying up and torturing one of their younger playmates. A Current Affair never tried anything like this.

As for the book, it’s a bit of a mess. Trombetta seems more interested in psychoanalyzing the themes and subtext of most of these comics than exploring their history and worth (or unworth as the case may be) as literature, and he does so in a rather agonized, tortured manner. More to the point, he seems content to discuss mainly the covers of these comics and doesn’t spend much time talking about the stories found within. All in all, it’s a bit of a frustrating read, all the more so for the occasional appearances of genuine insight and spot-on analysis.

Tom Bondurant

Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown

Appropriately enough, Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown (written by Jeff Lemire, drawn by Ibraim Roberson) continues a concept which refuses to die. Successfully reproducing the fusion of horror and giddy mayhem which characterized the Grant Morrison/Doug Mahnke Seven Soldiers miniseries, this Flashpoint spinoff casts the monster as a Superman-style inspirational archetype, heading up the WWII-era Creature Commandos. In this case, though, after single-handedly defeating Hitler, he runs afoul of the military’s next supernatural-soldier project, and … well, it’s just the first issue; it’s mostly prologue. Very entertaining stuff, though, as you might expect from the high concept of “monsters fighting Nazis.” Now carry that into the present, add a healthy dose of paranoia, and you’ve got the makings not just of a diverting three-issue miniseries, but most likely of a promising ongoing series come September.

As it happens, another monsters-fighting-Nazis miniseries started this week, the American Vampire spinoff Survival of the Fittest. Written by the busy Scott Snyder and drawn by the fabulous Sean Murphy, it too is a good introduction to what should be a fine four issues. Our protagonist is Felicia Book, able literally to sniff out vampires (among other things) thanks to her late father’s encounter with AV‘s head villain, Skinner Sweet. Her back story is contrasted against that of Cash McCogan, himself the father of a vampire-infected child who wasn’t as lucky as Felicia. In turn, they’re both part of a secret anti-vampire society that’s uncovered some potentially game-changing information. Anyway, this first issue lays out the world of American Vampire pretty efficiently, mostly through Felicia’s encounter with a newspaper editor who’s been unwittingly drawn into the vampires’ plans. AV:SOTF is therefore reliant on its own paranoid perspective, and that almost spoils the plot before it even gets started. (If Felicia and Cash succeed, the series pretty much loses its reason for being.) However, Snyder and Murphy combine for a no-nonsense, tight-lipped, unflinching mood which makes the reader want to saddle up with Felicia and Cash regardless of the outcome.

Finally, I know Birds Of Prey will continue after Gail Simone leaves, and with current regular artist Jesus Saiz to boot, but this week’s issue #13 (drawn by Diego Olmos) is solid evidence it won’t be the same. This time it’s Black Canary and Dove versus Junior, with the rest of the Birds taking on various henchmen, just to get out of Junior’s headquarters alive. Like Saiz, Olmos’ work is clear but moody, and he has good layout and pacing skills. Naturally, Simone knows these characters so well by now, they spring pretty much fully-formed from her scripts. Whether it’s Black Canary trying to figure out how to hold off Junior while still ministering to Dove, or Huntress and the Question playfully renewing their partnership, the dialogue rings true and the plot proceeds from their motivations. If these are the last few issues of Birds Of Prey I read for a while, it’ll be because they can’t get much better.

Brigid Alverson

Black Butler

I was really disappointed when I read the first volume of Black Butler. I liked the idea of combining an action story, an attractive hero with superpowers, and a Victorian England setting with touches of refinement. I didn’t care at all for the execution, though—I thought the art was sloppy, the story was nearly incoherent, and the side characters, three clumsy servants, were so terrible that they really marred the book. Despite what I think, Black Butler has consistently made the New York Times manga best-seller list—this week there are two volumes on the list, vol. 1 and vol. 5. So, thinking maybe I was missing something, I went back and read the last four volumes, which include a Jack the Ripper story arc that is… incoherent and overacted. I guess there’s no accounting for taste, but the extreme popularity of this series continues to elude me.

Much more pleasing was Kevin Keller #1, the first issue of Archie Comics’ Kevin Keller mini-series. Kevin is re-introduced to the readers, and the fact that he is gay continues to be treated in a matter-of-fact way. This first issue includes his account of how he came out to his parents and his desire to pursue a career in the military. All this is handled in a very idealized way, but that’s Riverdale for you. And there’s a goofy segment about a pie-eating contest gone wrong as well.

Kim Thompson

My reading this past few weeks has been heavily influenced by a trip to Scandinavia to attend a Norwegian comics convention.

The Devil's Star

(1) Jo Nesbø’s latest thriller, The Devil’s Star, which I picked up in Copenhagen (in Danish; I thought it would be more faithful to the Norwegian original than the American translation) and which succeeded in making the endless flight back (three stopovers) much, much shorter. Creep-out bonus: Two of the characters meet in the Edvard Munch Museum in Oslo in front of the same painting my wife and I had just stopped at just three days earlier.

(2) The first book of the complete works of Jan Lööf, a Swedish cartoonist whose Felix is a great classic, sort of like a cross between V.T. Hamlin and Kim Deitch, which I’d never had a chance to check out before and which is genuinely amazing.

(3) Xeroxes of the entire upcoming volume of new short stories by the Norwegian cartoonist Jason, Athos in America, which he handed me in Oslo and I am now pretty much the only person in the world to have read—the perks of being a publisher.

(4) An amazing book of illustrated memoirs by the great Norwegian cartoonist Olaf Gulbransson (whose life was chronicled in the graphic novel Olaf G., easily one of the best new European graphic novels of the new millennium), given to me by its Norwegian publisher.

(5) Geniet (“The Genius”), a fascinating new biography of Lars Von Trier which I was reading even as that Cannes controversy erupted, and which shows that he is one genuinely fucked-up dude in addition to being my favorite living (although apparently barely) movie director. Skaal!

June 12, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK ParkinTagged: American Vampire, Archie Comics, Athos in America, birds of prey, books, comic books, Creature Commandos, Eurocomics, flashpoint, Frankenstein, Jan Lööf, Jason, Jo Nesbø, Kevin keller, Kim Thompson, Lars Von Trier, manga, Olaf Gulbransson, what are you reading Leave a CommentYour Name: *

Email Address: (not published) *

Website:

 
 Robot 6About Robot 6Submit a Link / Contact Robot 6  ECHOES-->SubscribeEmailFacebookTwitterSearch Robot 6




-->

comics (10)strangeways (2)Uncategorized (7441) -->Robot 6 Links Can’t Wait for WednesdayComics A.M.Comics CollegeEveryone’s a CriticFood or ComicsGorillas Riding DinosaursGrumpy Old FanRobot ReviewsShelf PornSix by 6Slash PrintStrangewaysTalking Comics with TimThe Fifth ColorThe Middle GroundTrinity AnnotationsUnboundYour Mileage May VaryYour Wednesday Sequence Browse the Robot 6 Archives Select Month June 2011  (86) May 2011  (215) April 2011  (234) March 2011  (230) February 2011  (211) January 2011  (238) December 2010  (199) November 2010  (203) October 2010  (271) September 2010  (235) August 2010  (232) July 2010  (321) June 2010  (221) May 2010  (241) April 2010  (328) March 2010  (330) February 2010  (246) January 2010  (273) December 2009  (297) November 2009  (235) October 2009  (269) September 2009  (228) August 2009  (230) July 2009  (339) June 2009  (253) May 2009  (239) April 2009  (251) March 2009  (279) February 2009  (248) January 2009  (261)

Home | News | Columns | Reviews | Find A Comic Shop | CBR Forums

© 1995 - 2011 Comic Book Resources. All Rights Reserved.

RSS | Privacy Policy

Report a Bug | Advertising | Contact

What Are You Reading?

Tweet Mysterius the Unfathomable

Welcome to , our weekly look at the comics and other stuff we’ve been enjoying lately. Our special guests this week are Aaron Alexovich (Invader Zim, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Serenity Rose, Fables) and Drew Rausch (Sullengrey, The Dark Goodbye, Cthulhu Tales), the creative team behind the horror/comedy comic Eldritch!

To see what Aaron, Drew and the Robot 6 crew are reading, click below …

*****

Carla Hoffman

The Mighty Thor

Of course I read Mighty Thor #2! I nearly loved it as much as I loved Mighty Thor #1; the first issue had an amazing balance of the incredible and those who try and understand what credible is to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, as long as Mr. Fraction continues to add nouns to Colossuses (Colossi?), I will be there and ready with cash, but there was just something missing, some spark of life that the first issue captured so well that the second issue lacked. My guess? This was the bridge that get us to the chorus of issue #3.

I also read FF #3, and I fully admit to having a hard time calling the book “eff-eff” rather than the Fantastic Four. The contents of the issue are well aware of the HUGE name change and its impact on the characters within and the universe without. Everyone in that book is important, no one goes without a piece of dialogue or business that is essential to the overall arc of what Mr. Hickman is doing. We’re talking Brubakerian levels of wheels within wheels storytelling that is fantastic to see unfold with every page. Maybe that’s why I keep calling it the Fantastic Four….

Because there was some catastrophically disordered back issues, I read Batman #614 rather by accident. In this issue, Batman thinks long and hard about himself and the Joker and makes a hard decision about his responsibility as a the better man. Holy crap does Jim Lee draw the ever-loving heck out of this issue. Every panel is just gorgeous and jaw-dropping in weight and stature as Batman fights himself more than the Clown Prince of Crime on why he just doesn’t off this guy by right of vengeance. Sure, Mr. Loeb is a little wordy at times but the pacing and tone is pitch perfect on modern day Batman theme. This is great issue on its own merit and while the Hush storyline may have had a sour note to end on for some fans, you have to admit the artwork is a symphony of expression.

Brigid Alverson

It’s hot, it’s a Saturday, and I felt like just vegging out, so I pulled out IDW’s collection Felix the Cat: The Great Comic Book Tails, edited by Craig Yoe. It’s a very nice lazy-summer book, with just enough background on the cartoon to make you feel like an expert on Felix the Cat, who really had his heyday as an animated cartoon in the 1920s. Charles Lindbergh had a Felix decal on the side of The Spirit of St. Louis, and when NBC wanted to test the first television camera, in 1928, they focused it on a Felix statue rotating on a turntable. There! Feel smarter? The bulk of the book is given over to Felix comics from the 1940s and 1950s, drawn by Felix creator Otto Messmer and his follower Joe Oriolo. The comics aren’t particularly eye-catching in terms of the art, but the stories have a hallucinatory quality that makes them entertaining reading for kids of all ages, as vegetables seek their revenge on humans for eating them, or Felix’s rocket comes to rest on the crescent moon—and drops away when the moon wanes to a sliver. It was certainly a pleasant way to while away a Saturday afternoon.

And hey, what’s summer without Archie? The Archie folks have been publishing a lot of collected editions lately, and Jughead: Crowning Achievements is notable because it includes “Something Ventured, Something Gained,” by Robot Chicken creator Tom Root. Chris Reilly called it “the best Archie comic I have read in decades,” and it certainly is a great story. There’s also a story on the origins of Jughead’s hat. Again, not rocket science, but a good read for the first weekend of summer.

Michael May

Western Classics

I finished Eureka’s Western Classics anthology this week. It’s the 20th volume in their excellent Graphic Classics series and a worthy heir to the others. Though I love Western movies and TV shows, I’m not well read at all in Western novels and short stories except for some O Henry, so these were all new stories for me. In fact, except for Zane Grey and Robert E. Howard, I wasn’t even familiar with any of the authors.

I especially enjoyed Tim Lasiuta and Dan Spiegle’s adaptation of Clarence E. Mulfurd’s Hopalong Cassidy story, “The Holdup.” Thanks to some vague, childhood impressions of the character, I’d always dismissed Hopalong as a comedic sidekick, not a leading man. “The Holdup” corrected that notion.

Wila Cather’s “El Dorado” -– adapted by Rich Rainey and gorgeously illustrated by John Findley -– was another treat. It’s the story of an Eastern businessman who’s swindled into coming West, but refuses to leave until he gets back the money he invested in the ghost town he now calls home. Findley’s precisely detailed artwork is incredibly eye-catching, but it’s the emotional ride of wondering whether Colonel Bywaters is a stubborn fool or a hero to root for that makes the story special.

The book highlights the diversity of Western stories. There’s a horror story (Bret Harte’s “The Right Eye of the Commander,” adapted by David Hontiveros and Reno Maniquis), a romance (Gertrude Atherton’s “La Perdida,” adapted by Trina Robbins and Arnold Arre), and even an interesting treatise on faith (John G Neihardt’s “The Last Thundersong,” adapted by Rod Lott and Ryan Huna Smith). Even Zane Grey’s classic Riders of the Purple Sage (adapted by Tom Pomplun and Cynthia Martin) is a fantastic combination of romantic opera and Western pulps.

And for those who prefer their cowboys to be tough guys with six-guns, in addition to Hopalong Cassidy and some of Grey’s characters, Robert E. Howard’s “Knife River Prodigal” (adapted by Ben Avery and George Sellas) is exactly what the sheriff ordered.

I also started reading Charles Fulp and Craig Rousseau’s Uncouth Sleuth this week. I expected it to be an irreverent take on classic adventure pulp, but I wasn’t prepared for how irreverent. The main character is named Harry Johnson, so it’s my own fault for not realizing how far Fulp’s willing to take the sex gags, but “uncouth” doesn’t scratch the surface of Johnson’s behavior. It’s strong enough to be off-putting.

Still…Craig Rousseau. I’m a fan, so I’m going to let this sit for a couple of days and then come back to it better prepared.

Tom Bondurant

Green Lantern

Although its scheduling wasn’t optimal, I did enjoy reading this month’s three installments of “War of the Green Lanterns” in one sitting. (Green Lantern #66 was written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Doug Mahnke, GL Corps #60 was written by Tony Bedard and penciled by Tyler Kirkham, and GL: Emerald Warriors was written by Peter Tomasi and penciled by Fernando Pasarin.) It’s been a pretty decent crossover all around — Krona has captured all the various Lantern Corps’ patron entities and taken control of the Green Lantern Corps by putting Parallax into the Central Power Battery. Naturally, our four Earthling Lanterns are able to oppose him, mostly by donning the rings of other Corps. Thus, they get to do ring-slinging with a little bit of a twist, which is nice. What’s more, this arc gives everyone a turn in the spotlight, not just Hal. In fact (spoiler alert), Hal and Guy have to be rescued at one point by Kyle and John. Guy then plays an integral part in fixing the Central Battery, and Kyle gets to repair some lingering damage from when Guy was previously a Red Lantern.

Probably the most dramatic moment goes to John, though, who finds himself having to make an impossible choice. I’m not sure how I feel about this turn of events, but I have to say it didn’t feel as egregious or as gratuitous as I thought it would. On the other hand, having read John’s adventures off and on for a couple of decades now, I’m having a hard time reconciling these events with his past history. In the context of the story, it works, even if it’s by a slim margin. It’s also the kind of thing that I could see being reversed — maybe not soon, but eventually.

I have decided that this summer I will try to go through all of Jonathan Hickman’s Fantastic Four, in order to capture all the nuances and subplots which escaped me during the month-to-month experience. Accordingly, this week’s FF #4 (written by Jonathan Hickman, penciled by Barry Kitson) was both a good way to bring together two of Hickman’s plots (the Reeds and the Four Cities) while moving the overall story forward. I also appreciated Kitson’s work on this issue — obviously his storytelling skills are clear and precise, and he’s good with characters too — although I did have to work a little to follow his Spider-Man choreography. The issue ended on a clever cliffhanger, to boot.

Otherwise I still have a couple of books to read from this week, including the Strange Adventures special and Xombi #3, so I’d better get to those….

Tim O’Shea

Ruse

I was hoping for more out of Mark Waid’s Ruse (this week saw the release of issue #3 out of 4). I treasured his initial run on the original CrossGen series and was greatly enthused when Marvel tapped Waid on this for the miniseries revival. The appeal of the series to me was always Simon Archard’s assistant in name only/ partner in reality, Emma Bishop. Hell, the slogan for the miniseries is: “He’s the World’s Greatest Detective. She’s even better.” This miniseries has proven to me that she’s better at finding ways to sport her heaving bosoms in multiple scenes. While Emma is given moments where she is clearly a person of action, it is always beyond her control, frequently being set up by Simon. I guess in a sense, Bishop is Watson (always having to bail out her partner), but with a great pair of legs, as the reader is frequently reminded in some odd layout choices by artist Minck Oosterveer. Bishop is often left to react to plot events and have lines like “Who else could hide a trail this thoroughly?” I went in expecting too much of the miniseries, in the final analyses. But Waid has one more issue to surprise me and make the “She’s even better.” line accurate.

With the latest installments of Secret Warriors (#27) and FF (#4), I have come to the (already obvious to many) realization that Jonathan Hickman’s complex machinations are best read as collected trades, as opposed to individual issues. This issue of FF sports art by Barry Kitson–with his art looking like the Kitson I adore. It would appear that Kitson is inking himself, which is critical for him to look his best. In recent years while working at Marvel, there have been times he’s been inked by others and his art has suffered for it. I throw this question out to the readers (as our great readers always know more than me): “Is Kitson’s work pace/quality that he can only do arcs these days? Is that why he’s not got a permanent assignment on any series?”

As a person who considers Avengers Academy to be the best Avengers book that Marvel currently publishes, I was pleased to see series writer Christos Gage writing the two-issue guest arc on the Amazing Spider-Man (featuring his Avengers cast). For Spidey fans not reading AA, Gage concisely built a tale that capitalized on Peter’s love of teaching and meshed the series’ lead character effectively with the guest stars. One hopes he converted a few Spidey fans to check out AA. Extra points to Gage for writing a funny Spider-Man (essential when writing him, but some writers give the character lines that they think are funny, but often miss the mark)–writing comedy is hard.

Venom #3: Remender had my interest with the first two issues, but he (or the dictates of Marvel editorial) has brought Peter Parker/Spidey into the mix a little too early for my tastes. Also, the revelation of his identity to a villain is being played out too quickly as well. Then again, after weeks of harping about books with glacial pacing, I am grateful for the impressive amount of narrative ground that Remender has covered in three issues. But the aspect that really caught my attention was a letter run in this month’s letter column. The reader explains that as a kid he never read comics, but decided to pick up some for he and his girlfriend after seeing AMC’s Walking Dead. In a market of seemingly decreasing numbers, it’s good to see at least two folks picking up comics for the first time.

The Incredible Hulks #629: For a longtime reader like me, who has always been partial to the soap opera lives of Betty and Bruce Banner, this issue delivered exactly what I wanted. Plus I love any comic that sports Tom Grummett’s clean line art.

Aaron Alexovich

I seem to be reading mostly history books these days… Fatal Purity is a good one. It’s about Robespierre and the French Revolution, but the thing reads almost like a slasher movie. “Who will be The Terror’s next victim?” You can almost FEEL the Guillotine stalking all these characters, waiting for them to slip up and fall under the blade. Which every one of them does… No “Final Girl” in Fatal Purity. Age of Wonder is pretty interesting, too. It’s about science during the Romantic Era, and has a section on all the strange people and bizarre public experiments that inspired Frankenstein. This one guy named Aldini used to plug corpses up to voltaic batteries and make them do tricks for spectators. One corpse “laughed and walked,” it says. Good stuff!

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

As far as comics go, I’ve recently read Fantagraphics’ gorgeous new printing of The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, which absolutely blew me away. I’m always impressed by people like Jacques Tardi, who can build these deep, rich worlds out of really loose, simple linework. It’s definitely not a skill I have. The book also has pterodactyls menacing early-1900′s Paris, so it’s pretty much required that I love it.

One of my favorite RECENT comics is Shadoweyes by Ross Campbell. The second volume just came out recently. It’s a superhero story, but not like any superhero story I’ve ever read. It’s dark and creepy and oddly emotional, fantastically well-drawn. Ross has this way of making bizarre things seem so down-to-earth and REAL, which of course just underlines their strangeness. Really recommend those books.

The last one I’ll mention is The Weird World of Eerie Publications. It’s a big, fat non-fiction hardcover about this fairly low-rent magazine publisher in the late 60′s/early 70′s that would redraw old pre-code horror comics with extra gore. (Warren Publishing’s cheapskate, disreputable cousin, in other words.) But what’s incredible about this book are the COVER reproductions… Every one of these Eerie pubs had a bold, garish, almost DELIRIOUSLY over-the-top cover. They’d have, like, robot Dracula and his hunchbacked Wolfman assistant surgically removing a fish-lady’s brain while, say, Mummy Devil kicks in the laboratory door in the background, bloody severed body parts in each hand. You feel INSANE just looking at these things. You’ve got to see this stuff to believe it.

Drew Rausch

I don’t get to go to the comic shop as often as I like, and when I do I end up grabbing trades, which then sit in a large pile (“no human being would stack books like this”) or a shelf ’til a moment in between drawing pages comes up. Still playing catch up, but here’s a couple recent ones:

Mysterius The Unfathomable by Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler: I have a soft spot for modern sorcerer tales. This one’s like taking the best things about Doctor Strange and Doctor Who and then have them illustrated in a Jack Davis-esque style. I really wish there more of these, sadly with Wildstorm going away, my hopes and dreams are once again extinguished.

Locke & Key

Locke & Key Vol 1 by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez: Was recommended this one a lot. I’m hoping it gets better in future installments. Either that or I missed something because I couldn’t get into it. It did a fine job of introducing the world and its rules, but I personally wanted it to be moodier. Gabriel Rodriguez can draw the heck out of some houses though, let me tell you.

Strange Science Fantasy by Scott Morse: Basically a collection of off the wall one shot stories that really capture the hey days of comics, the Jack Kirby pre-Stan Lee days. No frills, no mess, just FUN. I really dig Morse’s bold line art and color palette.

Secret Six: Unhinged by Gail Simone and Nicola Scott: My wife actually brought this one to my attention. Physically handing it to me after she was done, screaming “READ IT!” at me. I admit to it being a bit different than what I’m used to reading, but I was pleasantly surprised. The arc follows a group of DC bad guys (some of which I had to Google) on a mission to get a card forged by the devil, but the plot is almost secondary to Simone’s dialogue which was engaging, without being bogged down with tons of historical back story.

May 29, 2011 @ 01:00 PM by JK ParkinTagged: Aaron Alexovich, amazing spider-man, Archie Comics, avengers academy, Barry Kitson, batman, books, christos gage, comic books, Craig Rousseau, craig yoe, Doug Mahnke, Drew Rausch, Eerie, Felix the Cat, FF, Gabriel Rodriguez, Gail Simone, geoff johns, green lantern, history, incredible hulks, Jacques Tardi, jeff parker, jeph loeb, jim lee, Joe Hill, Joe Oriolo, Jonathan Hickman, Locke & Key, mark waid, matt fraction, Mysterius, Otto Messmer, rick remender, robert e. howard, Ross Campbell, Ruse, scott morse, secret six, secret warriors, Shadoweyes, The Mighty Thor, Tom Fowler, Tom Grummett, Tom Root, Venom, War of the Green Lanterns, western, what are you reading Leave a CommentYour Name: *

Email Address: (not published) *

Website:

 
 Robot 6About Robot 6Submit a Link / Contact Robot 6  ECHOES-->SubscribeEmailFacebookTwitterSearch Robot 6




-->

comics (10)strangeways (2)Uncategorized (7342) -->Robot 6 Links Can’t Wait for WednesdayComics A.M.Comics CollegeEveryone’s a CriticFood or ComicsGorillas Riding DinosaursGrumpy Old FanRobot ReviewsShelf PornSix by 6Slash PrintStrangewaysTalking Comics with TimThe Fifth ColorThe Middle GroundTrinity AnnotationsUnboundYour Mileage May VaryYour Wednesday Sequence Browse the Robot 6 Archives Select Month May 2011  (202) April 2011  (234) March 2011  (230) February 2011  (211) January 2011  (238) December 2010  (199) November 2010  (203) October 2010  (271) September 2010  (235) August 2010  (232) July 2010  (321) June 2010  (221) May 2010  (241) April 2010  (328) March 2010  (330) February 2010  (246) January 2010  (273) December 2009  (297) November 2009  (235) October 2009  (269) September 2009  (228) August 2009  (230) July 2009  (339) June 2009  (253) May 2009  (239) April 2009  (251) March 2009  (279) February 2009  (248) January 2009  (261)

Home | News | Columns | Reviews | Find A Comic Shop | CBR Forums

© 1995 - 2011 Comic Book Resources. All Rights Reserved.

RSS | Privacy Policy

Report a Bug | Advertising | Contact

What Are You Reading?

Tweet Lost Girls

Hello and welcome to Wha Are You Reading? Today our special guest is illustrator, photographer, writer, filmmaker and jazz musician Dave McKean, whose works include Cages, Mr. Punch, Signal to Noise, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth, Violent Cases, Coraline and many, many more. He has a new book with writer Richard Dawkins, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True, coming out in October, as well as a graphic novel called Celluloid coming out from Fantagraphics in June. Special thanks to Chris Mautner for asking him to participate this week.

To see what Dave and the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …

*****

Michael May

Alpha Flight

It’s rare that I read a periodical issue anymore, but as I said in this week’s Food or Comics? I’m making an exception for Alpha Flight. As much as I hate the nonsensical 0.1 numbering, the introductory issue to Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak’s series was mostly what I hoped for. Guardian is worrying, Vindicator’s mothering, Aurora’s heart-breaking, Northstar’s scowling, and Sasquatch is having a grand old time (though he’s drawn slightly off-model by Ben Oliver). Snowbird is suitably alien (and has added some cool animals to her usual menagerie of shape-changing forms) and Shaman is calmly confident.

The only characters I didn’t recognize as being themselves were Purple Girl (Woman, now) and Marrina. I’m sure that there are reasons for both of those changes though. Purple Woman’s violent protest of an election could be an act of desperation motivated by knowledge of the fascist political party that’s about to take over Canada. Whatever it is, she’s certainly found a cool, new way of using her mind-control power.

We’ll have to wait and see what’s happened to Marrina, though I’m certain that being murdered by her husband a couple of times and genetically manipulated by the Green Goblin has something to do with it. I miss the innocence of Marrina as John Byrne introduced her, but maybe Van Lente and Pak have a journey they want to take her on and I’ll be happy with the end result.

I also recently read the first Secret Avengers collection, Mission to Mars. I’ve been interested in this team because some of my favorite Marvel characters are on it: Black Widow, Valkyrie, and (not appearing until the next collection) Shang Chi. Ed Brubaker takes them on an enjoyable, high-concept adventure to Mars to fight an evil organization set on getting its hands on the Serpent Crown (a serendipitous objective since I’m also currently working my way through the Atlantis Attacks Omnibus). My complaint is that the plot moves too fast to spend any time on the characters, most of whom could be switched out for any other, similarly-powered hero without affecting the story. That’s forgivable in an introductory tale, but I’m hoping that it changes in future installments.

Finally, I read Vera Brosgol’s Anya’s Ghost from First Second. I might should have led with this one, because it was easily the most enjoyable, surprising comic I’ve read lately. I expected sort of a First Second spin on the classic manga plot of a plucky, but unpopular girl who learns the true meaning of friendship thanks to a supernatural companion. That’s nothing like Anya’s Ghost though. For one thing, Anya isn’t plucky. She isn’t even very likable at the beginning of the story. She resents her Russian heritage to the point of being mean to the one other Russian kid in her school (it brought American Born Chinese to mind, but it’s done in a very different way) and her only friend is a smoke-buddy who’s just as mean-spirited as Anya is.

Anya’s relationship with her ghost is as dysfunctional as the rest of her life. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t go into detail, but it’s darker than similar stories in the genre. Not that the entire novel is dark. Characters change and grow in positive ways, but any positivity at the end is felt more keenly because of what they had to go through to get there. Highly recommended.

Carla Hoffman

Batman & Robin #23

So, I read Batman & Robin #23, which is weird because I had promised myself I’d stay away from the Batman books until they’ve all calmed down a little. But there was something about the variant cover with Jason Todd’s clever little smirk and a quick flip through that got me hooked in for some reason. And I’m glad it did, because this issue made sense and my mediocre knowledge of current Bat-Dramas allowed me to enjoy the start of a murderous tale. The Red Hood in his entirety is kind of ridiculous, and there’s a nod to that there, Mr. Winick admitting all of this “metaphysical bullcrap” is kind of silly and then delivering on a tale anyways. Comics, be ridiculous, just understand that you are and I’ll follow you anywhere.

Speaking of ridiculous, I bought and gleefully took home the X-Men: Age of Apocalypse Prelude trade, which collects the Legion Quest story and several others that end in a big messy crystalline To Be Continued. Man, this story is ridiculously melodramatic, but moves the story quickly when you just understand that people are going to stand arms akimbo or just outright declare expository dialogue, but hey! All of this is going somewhere super-fast so maybe we need to explain somethings on the run? The extras in the back are fun as the house ads for the Age of Apocalypse were pretty compelling. It’s old and rough around the edges, but there is totally something to old ’90s X-Men comics that I’m just not sure can be replicated in this day and age.

Lastly but certainly not least…ly, I kept having to check the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #661 because it read like an issue of Avengers Academy. Not surprising, thanks to Christos Gage’s handiwork, but I also kept having to check my room for listening devices because this is an issue of Spider-Man that might have been stolen from my brain. The first clue was the Peter Parker’s longing to return to his teaching days, a plot point I always felt should have had more time in the comics. Next, he’s talking with the kids at Avengers Academy, an interaction that is expertly timed for comedy and experience. Yeah, this is Spidey’s book but these kids are trained by Avengers. The last was the heartfelt explanation behind Spider-Man’s mask that, no matter how scared you are, no matter how many of your fears pile up in front of you, you should always keep fighting. If not for yourself, then you fight for the memory of your loved ones who carry you through the hard times. With a couple of punch-up pages, Christos Gage is my personal hero once more as he has written just the Amazing Spider-Man comic I had been longing to read.

Also, he just ended the idea of Fear Itself, so go home, everyone! And I was so looking forward to that Thing-Hulk-Thor dust-up…

Tim O’Shea

Alpha Flight #0.1: I gave special event comics a pretty hard knock last week, no doubt. So our readers might be confused to see me praise a book spawning out of the current Fear Itself series. The return of Alpha Flight (the original line-up) is only feasible thanks to the last Marvel special event (Chaos War). This point one issue is a prelude to an eight-issue miniseries that launches in early June (CBR previewed the first issue last week). Looking at the history of Aurora, the characters go-to aspect in past writers’ approach was to portray her as suffering from dissociative identity disorder. I am pleased to see the current writers (Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente) seem to be moving away from using her as a mental health foil, having sought therapy. It’s also pleasing to see Northstar’s homosexual life not being ignored in this issue.

Spirit #14

The Spirit #14: A solid done-in-one story that indirectly pays tribute to Kirby, Gil Kane and Wally Wood, written by Matt Sturges with art by Victor Ibanez. This is one of those issues where, while I don’t normally read The Spirit, I was glad I bought it. Namely, Sturges writes a scene that allows the characters into the sewers of Central City. This mere transition scene allows Ibanez to do a very Eisner-influenced layout.

Thunderbolts #157: Writer Jeff Parker fooled me with the last issue’s cliffhanger in many ways. And that’s revealed quickly as this issue opens. Normally I don’t like being fooled, but the surprises he throws into the mix were entertaining. I am particularly intrigued by the seeds he is planting with Ghost and Juggernaut’s character paths.

Zatanna #13: Thirteen seems to be a lucky number for the creative team of Paul Dini and Jamal Igle. As a writer, Dini has struck a great balance of entertainment and adventure for Zatanna. As Dini gears up to take Zatanna up against Brother Night again, Igle is the perfect artist to render this issue’s guest star, Spectre. The key to striking Spectre scenes (where he is typically meting out punishment) is an artist with an active imagination, Igle fits that bill. For readers wondering what larger role Detective Dale Colton has in this series, this issue provides a surprising answer.

Heroes for Hire #7: This issue was a tad uneven for me, which surprised me as I usually enjoy the book. It’s a shame, as a great deal of elements laid out in past issues came together quite nicely in this issue. The uneven nature is squarely on the odd insecure tendencies that the writers give Paladin in this issue. Hopefully it’s a temporary crisis of confidence due to his injuries (and working with someone like Spider-Man). Despite this quirk, I really am happy to see how the creators continue to evolve the role and actions of Misty Knight, who is the backbone of this book on many levels. I hope this series is around for the long haul, because ultimately I think Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning is giving readers another unique strong female lead.

Chris Mautner

Koyama Press debuted a number of books at TCAF the other week. While I didn’t get to attend the festival, Anne Koyama was nice enough to send me a couple of review copies.

Lose #3: The latest issue in Michael DeForge’s ongoing series that will catapult him to greatness. This issue features a flying squirrel/dog thing that has very poor social skills and makes horrible faux pas and just generally embarrasses himself in front of his co-workers, ex-wife and children. It’s wonderful in that sort of cringe-y, off-kilter sort of vein that DeForge mines so well This sort of one-man anthology series is the sort of thing every aspiring cartoonist did back in the 90s in order to get a foothold in the alt-comix world. Now it’s all graphic novels and book deals, so kudos to DeForge for keeping it old-school.

Root Rot

Root Rot: This is a rather interesting anthology of Koyama-funded artists and like-minded souls. DeForge did the cover. The most well known name here is probably Dan Zettwoch. The interesting thing about this booklet is each artist is only given two pages to work with, so the book almost takes on the feel of a college-type portfolio/sampler at times. Still, quite a few contributors are able to cram a lot of great work in their two pages, like Zettwoch, Hellen Jo, Joseph Lambert, Angie Wang, T. Edward Bak and Chris Eliopoulos. Enough to make for a worthwhile purchase.

Monster Party by Chris Eliopoulos: A bunch of monsters are hiding in the basement of a little boy’s house because he never cleans it up. Then they come out of hiding and a rather gleeful bit of mayhem ensues, but it’s all in good fun. A good comic to share with your kids, especially the messy ones.

Cat Rackham Loses It by Steve Wolfhard: An amusing little tale about a cat who loses his woodland home (such as it is) when another cat, with a gun strapped to his back, seizes it by force. No, I didn’t mistype that last sentence. Wolfhard draws in a cute, appealing style and has a knack for quiet, wordless humor that makes the comic appealing, even though it is a rather quick read. Recommended.

Color Me Busy by Keith Jones: This is the only comic in the bunch that left me cold. Like the title suggests, it’s basically designed as a coloring book, only of nattily dressed, anthropomorphic dogs (or dog-headed humans, whichever you prefer) and various lumpy, cylindrical or phallic objects that litter the page. That’s really all there is to it. There’s just pages and pages of this … stuff with no narrative or structure or seeming forethought put into it other than a seemingly obsessive compulsion to draw lumpy bread dough again and again. If this were a little cheaper or printed on actual coloring book paper I could possibly grok it a bit more, but for now I’m just kind of scratching my head and moving on.

Brigid Alverson

Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maiden

It seems like I’m reading a lot of manga lately, and despite the demise of Tokyopop, there’s plenty of good stuff coming out. At the top of my stack at the moment is the first volume of Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maiden, from Bandai. It’s like Oh My Goddess lite: A high school student releases a goddess from her host tree (which has been cut down) and gently humorous complications ensue. I’m not finished with the volume yet, but so far the dynamic seems to be that the human male gets bossed around a lot, rather than having his every wish catered to. It’s simple, sweet, and funny, and the art has a nice linear style that makes it easy to read.

I also picked up the first volume of Dark Horse’s Archie archives and was pleased to see that it starts with the very first Archie comic, which features Betty and Jughead, but no Veronica. This is a really nice way to read these early comics‹the book is the same size as the originals, and the color quality is good. Unlike a lot of archives books, it lacks a scholarly essay to put the comics in context — there’s just a cheery note from Archie CEO Jon Goldwater — but that leaves room for more comics. And it’s fun to see how much, and how little, has changed — Jughead’s “Girls! Ick!” attitude is there from the very first episode, but Archie prefers to be called Chick rather than his given name, and the characters’ faces are very different from the modern versions.

Dave McKean

The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins

I tend to read non-fiction most of the time. At the moment I’m reading The Ancestor’s Tale by Richard Dawkins and The Hemlock Cup: Socrates, Athens and the Search for the Good Life by Bettany Hughes.

The last comic I read was, appropriately, the Lost Girls by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie. I was really drawn into the story, a completely different, and much wordier, view of pornography than my book. The effect was interesting. By the third book, much like the malaise of the times, and the dread of war in the background, I’d really had enough of the sex scenes. I felt over-sated. I’m sure this is what Alan wanted. Very effective.

May 22, 2011 @ 12:00 PM by JK ParkinTagged: Age of Apocalypse, Alan Moore, alpha flight, amazing spider-man, Anya's Ghost, Archie Comics, Batman & Robin, Ben Oliver, books, Chris Eliopoulos, christos gage, comic books, dave mckean, Ed Brubaker, erotica, Fred Van Lente, graphic novels, Greg Pak, heroes for hire, Judd Winick, Keith Jones, Koyama Press, Lost Girls, manga, Michael DeForge, Secret Avengers, Steve Wolfhard, The Spirit, thunderbolts, what are you reading, x-men, zatanna Leave a CommentYour Name: *

Email Address: (not published) *

Website:

 
 Robot 6About Robot 6Submit a Link / Contact Robot 6  ECHOES-->SubscribeEmailFacebookTwitterSearch Robot 6




-->

comics (10)strangeways (2)Uncategorized (7294) -->Robot 6 Links Can’t Wait for WednesdayComics A.M.Comics CollegeEveryone’s a CriticFood or ComicsGorillas Riding DinosaursGrumpy Old FanRobot ReviewsShelf PornSix by 6Slash PrintStrangewaysTalking Comics with TimThe Fifth ColorThe Middle GroundTrinity AnnotationsUnboundYour Mileage May VaryYour Wednesday Sequence Browse the Robot 6 Archives Select Month May 2011  (154) April 2011  (234) March 2011  (230) February 2011  (211) January 2011  (238) December 2010  (199) November 2010  (203) October 2010  (271) September 2010  (235) August 2010  (232) July 2010  (321) June 2010  (221) May 2010  (241) April 2010  (328) March 2010  (330) February 2010  (246) January 2010  (273) December 2009  (297) November 2009  (235) October 2009  (269) September 2009  (228) August 2009  (230) July 2009  (339) June 2009  (253) May 2009  (239) April 2009  (251) March 2009  (279) February 2009  (248) January 2009  (261)

Home | News | Columns | Reviews | Find A Comic Shop | CBR Forums

© 1995 - 2011 Comic Book Resources. All Rights Reserved.

RSS | Privacy Policy

Report a Bug | Advertising | Contact

What Are You Reading?

Tweet The Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 3

Welcome once again to Today our special guest is John Jackson Miller, writer of Star Wars: Knight Errant and Mass Effect comics for Dark Horse and various Star Wars prose novels. He’s also the curator of The Comics Chronicles research website. His next comics series, Star Wars: Knight Errant, Deluge, starts in August.

To see what John and the Robot 6 crew are reading, click below.

*****

Tim O’Shea

Marvel Adventures #14

Marvel Adventures #14: This story by writer Todd Dezago and the art team of Ron Lim and Scott Koblish reminds me why I love all ages books. A standalone story rarely occurs in monthly comics these days (unless a filler issue is required)–and the set-up needed for multiple issue arcs (and ultimately TPBs) prevents stories from being all-out action like this one. I mean, in Journey Into Mystery #623 (also released this week), I literally had to read one page 4/6 of a page devoted to a bird waiting for the next plot point to occur. I imagine there will be a great deal of padding like this as long as the Fear Itself event plays out. Anyways back to Lim’s art, it’s far simpler (for the younger audience), but I found it refreshing in this Spidey/Thor team-up (a quirky combo in and of itself). At the outset of the story, the creators credited Gerry Conway and Ross Andru for inspiring the story. I may be mistaken but Lim’s layout even seems to carry an extra level of kineticism (much in the vein of Andru’s style).

Free Comic Book Day: Captain America/Thor: It breaks my heart to read this Roger Langridge/Chris Samnee tale..,because it’s so straightforward and delightful. And I’m still wondering why the hell the Langridge/Samnee series underperformed so badly–because it was just as solid as this tale. Extra points to Langridge for working in a Fighting American joke (as well as avoiding the whole “heroes meet/heroes fight/heroes clear up the confusion” cliche. I’ve praised Samnee’s art enough in the past, but this issue it really struck me how great he is at distinctive facial reactions.

Flashpoint #1: This was more enjoyable when it was called Elseworlds. One highlight in this rather uninspired read: Barry Allen drives a car. Extra bonus, he has to borrow his mom’s car, because apparently he’s paid so poorly in this alternate universe he does not own one.

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #4: How accurate is the 1985 flashback in this month’s issue? A character is wearing an unstructured jacket (thanks to Miami Vice, a 1985 mainstay), so my hat’s off to artist Shawn McManus. Later in the story, there’s a 1986 flashback in which writer Chris Roberson has a chance to work with Snow White and Cinderella’s character dynamics (and how frustrating Cinderella’s cover story could prove). In that same scene, Roberson makes Vertigo history (I am fairly certain) and works in a 1980s Cheers sitcom reference.

Superman #711: Such is the way of media trends: all the outlets that covered that odd “Superman considers renouncing his US citizenship” in Action 900 seem to have missed out on Superman’s speech in tribute to the American Way at the end of Superman #711. (Sidebar: DC and 7-Eleven missed out on some sort of Slurpee cross-promotion giveaway with this issue’s number). Roberson’s run (which he has confirmed on Twitter ends with 714) will only turn out to be seven issues, but it has benefited by being graced with the overall JMS isolated storyline mandate. What I mean is that the story has not had to work in Blackest Day, Doomsday or Flashpoint. It’s just Superman on this Grounded quest. Much was made of Nick Spencer’s recent writing of Jimmy Olsen, but Roberson in essence writes a damn fine Olsen/Superman team-up in this one. And while the overall tale is tied to the Grounded arc, this issue has a slight done-in-one vibe.

Chris Mautner

Flashpoint #1

Flashpoint #1 — I had promised myself I would never delve into another mega-superhero crossover again after going through the drudgery that was Secret Invasion, but having read the first issue of Flashpoint (provided to me by the good people at DC) I may have to rethink my vow. I’m a sucker for the alternate universe/”what if” type stories anyway, but I thought it was a pretty solid introduction. You can see where a good number of the pieces are going to fit in the narrative — The Flash is clearly going to have to make a choice between setting things right and living in a world where his mother is still alive — but I really liked the way Kubert and Johns set this up. I liked that I didn’t have to work too hard to remember who The Outsider was or Shade, just simple, broad introductions that let you know as briefly as possible where everyone stood. I thought Batman’s narration was a bit too purple, and the expository dialogue was stilted at times (especially among the Captain Thunder crew). Also, wouldn’t be this Batman be … really old? At least too old to do the things he’s doing? Those are relatively minor caveats though. I’ve been wooed by solid first issues before only to be swiftly let down, but for now I’m tentatively anticipating the second issue, albeit with crossed fingers.

The Heavy Hand by C. Cilla — A deeply off-kilter graphic novel about a middle-aged schlub who leaves his podunk town to try to get a job with an eccentric professor who is doing something unseemly in a cave. Surreal, nonsensical things happen in between and during his adventures. Then they all go to a party and things really get weird. The likely comparison would be Jim Woodring I suppose, but Cilla seems to be dealing with different demons. Not bad, but the pacing feels slack in parts and just a wee bit too random at times.

JK Parkin

Invincible #70

I recently got caught up on Invincible; I’ve always been a trade or two behind on it, but since it’s being released day-and-date on Image’s iPad app, I figured why not download everything I was missing. I’ve read through the two recent “wars” — the alternate reality Invincible attack, and the Viltrumite war. You can tell the creators are just having a ton of fun with this one, from the big world-altering plots to the character development between Mark, his dad, Eve and my favorite character, his little brother Oliver.

I mentioned earlier this week how much I liked Flashpoint #1. A little background: Barry Allen was never my Flash, not really. I was never a fan or reader of the comic until Wally West took up the mantle. I thought Barry’s death was handled well in Crisis, and he became, to me, one of those characters whose death brought out the best in another character — kind of like an Uncle Ben or a Bucky.

But looking at Flashpoint #1, the Barry Allen plot line was actually my favorite part of the book. I mean, yeah, it’s the main plot line, as we’re introduced to this alternate universe , from his initial discovery that everything is wonky to the parts with his mom and Iris, to the absolutely wonderful traffic jam scene to his confrontation with Batman at the end of the comic. That last page was obviously going for the Big! Shocking! Moment!, but I think it worked in the context of the story, as it really nailed down the “Everything is messed up and I gotta fix this” plot involving Barry. Like Chris, I’m hoping subsequent issues live up to this one.

Finally, I also recently finished the novel The Passage by Justin Cronin. It’s an epic, decade-spanning novel about the vampire apocalypse — with the vampires here being a far cry from what you’d find in Twilight or even American Vampire. They’re monstrous, barely human creatures created in a lab by the government, with mind control powers that lead to things going horribly wrong. The novel is basically broken into two halves, with the first taking place a few years in the future as we learn the back story of this world and the second taking place about 100 years later, as the last remnants of humanity struggles to survive in a vampire world. Excellent, excellent novel that really draws you into the lives of the characters in both time periods.

Tom Bondurant

Batman Inc. #6

Batman Incorporated #6 (written by Grant Morrison, drawn by Chris Burnham) was great fun from start to finish, showing off the “Incorporated” concept in all its versatile forms. I’m hoping Chris Burnham stays on the title for a good long time. His work has echoes of recent Morrison collaborators (and Bat-artists) Frank Quitely and
Cameron Stewart, plus a little Kevin Maguire and Linda Medley to boot; but with an energy all its own. As Justice League International revitalized DC’s signature super-team, so this book is transforming “Batman” from a singular avenging figure into something much more pernicious: an idea. “We’d have to invent him,” indeed.

Speaking of ideas, part of the reason I enjoy the Fantastic Four is their honored spot in the Marvel U’s hierarchy. As such, I always looked forward to their team-ups with other heroes — but especially with Spider-Man, since he has unique relationships with each of them. He’s Johnny’s contemporary (which makes Sue something of a big sister), he shares Reed’s intellectual curiosity, and he and Ben have both felt like outsiders, monstrous or not. Nevertheless, I haven’t really warmed to the Future Foundation’s role in these past couple of issues of Amazing Spider-Man. They’re not bad stories, but I found myself drawn more to the subplot with Carlie than to the FF’s switched-around powers or the secrets of the Sinister Six. Meanwhile, I don’t mind Spidey’s role in FF, because he’s supposed to be part of that book; and I liked when the Avengers showed up earlier in “Big Time.” I guess it’s similar to what Carla talked about a couple of weeks back — my idea of Spidey hasn’t quite expanded to include his being a regular part of Marvel’s first family.

Jesus Saiz picked a heck of a story for his debut as Birds Of Prey‘s regular artist (in this week’s #12, expertly written as always by Gail Simone). While Huntress and the Question team up, the rest of the team goes undercover in what seems like perfunctory caper style. By the end of the issue, however, things have gotten extremely bad, and the worst part is, the Birds have no clue. It reminded me of the end of The Blair Witch Project, in that same it’s-too-late-BANG!-it’s-over sense. (It helps that the setting’s almost the same.) Saiz is a good fit for the book — closer to Nicola Scott’s style than Ed Benes’, but more earthy, and with a good eye for storytelling. It’s more of a subdued feel, which suits this book better than something over-the-top like Secret Six. Ironically, though, this particular issue has a very Secret Six-ish vibe, and I suspect the next one will too….

Brigid Alverson

Bat Boy

I’m a Weekly World News fan from way back‹back when space aliens were endorsing Bill Clinton’s run for president, some guy was frying an egg on his bald head, and the talking carp was telling us to read our Bibles (there were actually two talking carps, and the second one only told us to read our Old Testaments, because he was Jewish … but I digress). So I was tickled pink by IDW’s collection of Peter Bagge’s Bat Boy comics. Based on an actual character that was regularly covered in the paper, Bat Boy was a four-panel strip that picked up on the paper’s obsessions and ran amok with them. In the first sequence, prophetically, Bat Boy kills Osama Bin Laden, but not quite the way it happened in real life. Columnist Ed Anger (“I’m madder than a canary in a blender!”) pops up in these strips, which makes me very happy. I can’t say I exactly miss the WWN — the quality deteriorated quite a bit toward the end‹but these strips bring back some good times.

Still following up on creators I met at Boston Comic Con two weeks ago, this week I checked out Gabriel Dunston’s A Funny Thing Happened Today. It’s a slice-of-life webcomic that follows Dunston’s personal life pretty closely, from big events like having a baby and putting his dog to sleep to little things like losing his toothpaste or the baby farting. The art is competent, and the format is all over the place–strips, pages, photo comics–but the writing makes it a lot of fun to read. By the time I had read all the strips I felt like I really knew Gabriel and his whole family, and that they were the kind of people I would enjoy knowing. One criticism, though: It seems like every blog entry is an apology for posting late or missing a post. While this adds a certain verisimilitude, given the events of his life in the past year and a half, it also gets tiresome, and it’s not very relevant if you are reading through the archives. Other than that, though, it’s a fun read, and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next.

John Jackson Miller

Star Trek

My “new” comics reading stack is so tall it’s no longer able to defy gravity, so a lot of what read right when it comes in is limited to the other Dark Horse Star Wars comics that I need for my own writing. But consistent with my work on The Comics Chronicles website I do enjoy digging through older comics — reading some for the first time, and others with new eyes.

For example, I just finished the first several years of Marvel’s Doctor Strange title (the one that came after Strange Tales) as it appeared in The Essential Doctor Strange Vol. 3. I’d read some of this before but it was fascinating as a writer to watch four greats of the game, Steve Englehart, Marv Wolfman, Jim Starlin, and Roger Stern writing the same storyline in succession. Strange, by its nature, was a relatively title to make course-corrections to; it was amusing, for example, to watch Englehart send Clea into a love affair with Benjamin Franklin (!) and to see Wolfman make sure that it never happened. Also, reading it now and knowing it was one of Marvel’s few bimonthlies at the time, the back burner was truly the back burner, plotwise. Doctor Strange invites some house guests one issue, goes off on an interdimensional fandango, and we suddenly remember the guests are still in the Sanctum something like a year later in real time!

I also picked up at C2E2 the complete Marvel run of Star Trek — the first one, right after The Motion Picture. Having adapted a movie for comics myself, I did not envy Wolfman and Dave Cockrum their job of cramming the movie adapt into three issues, but it was interesting to see moments in the comics version that were cut from the script, such as Kirk saving Spock from being mummified in crystal by V’Ger.

In prose, I recently read Then Everything Changed, the new book by Jeff Greenfield, late of CBS — in-depth counterfactual histories of what would have happened if John F. Kennedy had been assassinated before taking office, if Robert F. Kennedy hadn’t been killed, and if Gerald Ford had won reelection. It differs from a lot of “What If” histories in that Greenfield was part of RFK’s campaign, so there’s a “you are there” feel to it. Greenfield wrote an interesting novel some years back, The People’s Choice, that used as its springboard some of the really crazy outcomes that are possible in presidential elections because of the rules embedded in the electoral college. I enjoy stories where strange-but-true minutiae like that can have an outsize bearing on events — I tried to insert some of those moments during my Iron Man as Secretary of Defense storyline a few years ago.

Hoping to get started on the to-read stack before it buries another piece of furniture!

May 15, 2011 @ 01:17 PM by JK ParkinTagged: amazing spider-man, Andy Kubert, batman incorporated, birds of prey, books, captain america, Chris Burnham, Chris Roberson, Chris Samnee, Cinderella: Fables Are Forever, comic books, Dave Cockrum, dr. strange, FF, flashpoint, geoff johns, gerry conway, grant morrison, graphic novels, Invincible, Jim Starlin, John Jackson Miller, Justin Cronin, Marv Wolfman, Marvel Adventures, Peter Bagge, Roger Langridge, roger stern, Ron Lim, Ross Andru, Shawn McManus, steve englehart, superman, thor, Todd Dezago, webcomics, weekly world news, what are you reading Leave a CommentYour Name: *

Email Address: (not published) *

Website:

 
 Robot 6About Robot 6Submit a Link / Contact Robot 6  ECHOES-->SubscribeEmailFacebookTwitterSearch Robot 6




-->

comics (9)strangeways (2)Uncategorized (7243) -->Robot 6 Links Can’t Wait for WednesdayComics A.M.Comics CollegeEveryone’s a CriticFood or ComicsGorillas Riding DinosaursGrumpy Old FanRobot ReviewsShelf PornSix by 6Slash PrintStrangewaysTalking Comics with TimThe Fifth ColorThe Middle GroundTrinity AnnotationsUnboundYour Mileage May VaryYour Wednesday Sequence Browse the Robot 6 Archives Select Month May 2011  (103) April 2011  (234) March 2011  (230) February 2011  (211) January 2011  (238) December 2010  (199) November 2010  (203) October 2010  (271) September 2010  (235) August 2010  (232) July 2010  (321) June 2010  (221) May 2010  (241) April 2010  (328) March 2010  (330) February 2010  (246) January 2010  (273) December 2009  (297) November 2009  (235) October 2009  (269) September 2009  (228) August 2009  (230) July 2009  (339) June 2009  (253) May 2009  (239) April 2009  (251) March 2009  (279) February 2009  (248) January 2009  (261)

Home | News | Columns | Reviews | Find A Comic Shop | CBR Forums

© 1995 - 2011 Comic Book Resources. All Rights Reserved.

RSS | Privacy Policy

Report a Bug | Advertising | Contact