Comics

2008-07-19T22:44:00Z

I am seeking help determining the price on my comics. Does iTaggit offer help?

Thunderbolts by Warren Ellis Vol. 1: Faith in Monsters

2008-07-16T17:10:00Z

I wonder if Marvel was thinking of Warren Ellis's Stormwatch when they chose him to write this particular incarnation of Thunderbolts? The set-up of a group of somewhat unhinged loners trying to cohere together as a team reminds me of Ellis's work on that title for Wildstorm, back when it was still part of Image Comics. Of course, the idiosyncratic members of Stormwatch were mostly well-intentioned, while the new Thunderbolts, formed in the wake of the Civil War, are mostly serial killers and lunatics.

One of the prime movers that contributed to my Fan-Fiction Age of Superhero Comics Theory was the revival of Norman Osborn; he was brought back, believe it or not, as a fix to Spider-Man continuity and as an end to the Spider-Man Clone Saga, a story that threatened to consume the entirety of the 1990s. You see, I saw Norman Osborn die, and to me he'll always be dead, like Uncle Ben and Batman's parents are dead -- but I have to admit that Ellis's Osborn, given a second chance by America's alcoholic war-criminal President (perfect!) and drawn by Mike Deodato to look exactly like Tommy Lee Jones, is something of a guilty pleasure, and probably the most entertaining thing overall about this volume.

The least entertaining is the amount of previous continuity you need to fully understand what's happening. If you haven't read any previous Thunderbolts series, or Civil War, you may feel a little lost. Ellis wastes not a lot of time with the whys and wherefores, but rather just drops us right into Osborn putting his team together and sending them out to wreak havoc. A lot.

The nihilism inherent in characters like Venom, Bullseye and Penance (formerly Speedball) is offset to a degree by the humanity Ellis infuses in the unregistered, rogue superheroes the Thunderbolts are assigned to hunt down. Third-rate also-rans like Jack Flag, The Steel Spider and American Eagle are given enough time and and space to lend a real sense of the injustice, inhumanity and obscenity that is Norman Osborn's Thunderbolts unleashed. I don't know if any or all of the superheroes Ellis and Deodato call up to fight off the Thunderbolts ever even appeared in print before; they have the same patina of believability you'd find in the iconic characters created by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson in Astro City, and that's vital in making these stories more than just an excuse for Venom and Bullseye to murder and maul people.

Actual Thunderbolts like Songbird, who was on the team pre-Osborn (and pre-Ellis), try to temper the damage wrought by her new and horrific teammates, and the effort comes off as noble, but the issues reprinted in this collection (#110-115, plus a bunch of crap at the end that you can skip, which Marvel acknowledges by shoving it all in the back of the book even though it takes place before and during the events of #110-115) represent only the first part of Ellis and Deodato's run on the series, so no one will be surprised to learn that by the end of the book (the good part of the book, that is to say -- the stuff from #110-115) much remains up in the air and Songbird's efforts remain, so far, mostly ineffectual.

I was entertained enough by Faith in Monsters (again, excepting the naff filler after Ellis and Deodato's stories, which the book would be far stronger without) that I will read the rest of Ellis and Deodato's run as it's released in collected form; since Ellis's last issue is #121, I assume that means Vol. 2, to be released later this year, will wrap up the run, collecting #116-121.

Thunderbolts is far from Ellis's very best work, but he clearly takes joy in letting his version of Norman Osborn out to play, the result being something like if Stormwatch's Henry Bendix had always obviously been off his rocker, and it is fun to read.

Deodato brings little to the proceedings other than a workmanlike professionalism, a photo-realistic style that evokes what you might get from a disinterested Alex Ross working in ink instead of paint. He tells the story and doesn't get in the way at all, but there's little of interest for readers who like some art with personality and spark in their superhero comic books. Towards the end of the issues reprinted here, Deodato seems to introduce a bit of an impressionistic Gene Colan approach, which adds some energy, but the real appeal of this volume is watching Warren Ellis play with a group of, as noted above, mostly serial killers and lunatics, with the oppressed humanity of the hunted heroes adding nuance and interest. One of them even gets the book's best line, almost certainly Ellis's reflection on the real-life condition of Los Estados Unidos circa 2008 CE: "Just get me out of this country. There's nothing here I want."

Rediscovering "Happiness is a Warm Puppy"

2008-07-11T09:40:00Z

However many hundreds or thousands of books Charles Schulz was responsible for in one way or another, the inside front cover flap of Happiness is a Warm Puppy informs me that this was his first. Dating from 1962, it's a collection of minimalist aphorisms on the left-side pages and a full-page illustration of each concept on the right.

I remember having a copy of this book when I was a very young child, but like the majority of books I've owned in my life, I'd be damned if I could tell you whatever happened to the original copy. Most likely I outgrew it and some other child, my younger brother or a friend, maybe, ended up with it. I first spotted this reissue, from Cider Mill Press, on the shelves at Borders many months ago. Every time I would look at the section it was in, the one with Calvin and Hobbes collections and books by comedians like Lewis Black, I would pick it up and flip through it. Finally, a week or two back, I decided I should own it once again, now three decades or so on since the last time I had a copy.

It's a slight book -- in fact, its cover price of $5.95 is at least part of the reason I bought it. If I could not stop thinking about it and reflecting on whether I needed to own it or not, six bucks is a cheap price to stop that slight buzzing it was creating in the base of my skull. There are perhaps 40 or so concepts visited by Schulz over the course of its orange, pink, red and brown pages, and of course the reader will agree with some and wonder at others. "Happiness is sleeping in your own bed," is one that rings solidly true for me, and the illustration of a content and smiling Linus lost in the comfort of the deep slumber one can only achieve in the peace of one's bed strikes me as both simple and profoundly true.

"Happiness is some black, orange, yellow, white and pink jelly beans, but no green ones," seems bizarre to me. I'd take the green and gladly ditch the pink or black ones. Was Schulz telling us his own preference? Was it a random assortment of colours? Either way, he knew what he was doing when he drew the picture, which shows both Charlie Brown digging into the bag of candy, and Linus patiently waiting his turn. Friendship and shared pleasure are shown only through the picture, not the words, and I'm struck by Schulz's ability to introduce nuance even in a book seemingly meant for children, seemingly universal to anyone who might read it.

I suppose it's possible that the pictures in this book were harvested from existing strips, but I don't think so. They seem bold and purposeful, Schulz working his magic during the very best decade of his cartooning career to create illustrations filled with charm, loving portraits of our longtime companions at their very best. Even Lucy manages to control her crabbiness throughout, playing nice with her brother at home as she helps him remove a sliver, and with Patty and Violet in the sandbox. It's nice to see Violet and Patty here, although I note with sadness that Shermy wasn't invited to take part anywhere. I'm always sad when Shermy is absent. He had such potential...

"Happiness is one thing to one person and another thing to another person," Schulz finishes up with, showing Linus and Lucy each enjoying their own, separate, things. Filled with gentility, tolerance and wisdom, Happiness is a Warm Puppy is something that will bring happiness to anyone who opens themselves to its simple messages and lovely cartooning. I like this little book a lot, which is funny, because I really don't care much for puppies, warm or otherwise. Allergies, you see.

Jack Kirby's Silver Star

2008-07-09T14:41:00Z

Jack Kirby's latter-day work could be wildly uneven, but Silver Star holds more than a little of the brilliance that informed New Gods and the other Fourth World titles, and his earlier Marvel work.

Silver Star himself is one of a number of members of a new species, Homo Geneticus, specifically designed to live through and beyond a nuclear holocaust. Man's headlong rush toward self-destruction was obviously weighing heavily on Kirby's mind as he developed this idea (which originated in a movie pitch, included at the end of this beautifully-realized Image Comics hardcover, released in 2007), and given the current state of the world, it seems Kirby, as always, was way ahead of his time.

Silver Star's suit is designed to prevent the fantastic energies that he possesses from escaping and destroying his body; his opposite number, a failed, previous experiment in creating Homo Geneticus, is Darius Drumm, who longs to bring about mankind's end a little sooner than on man's own timetable. Norma Richmond is Silver Star's love interest, but also his equal, and an unpredictable firecracker in the Big Barda tradition.

Kirby's story unfolds over the course of the six issues collected in the book, and it has a definite beginning, middle and end, something somewhat rare in Kirby's career. The narrative almost never takes a breath -- things seem to happen between the panels, so much so that when, late in the story, Kirby takes the luxury of three silent panels to depict a military leader making a decision, the sequence is as arresting as Kirby no doubt intended it to be.

The artwork in Silver Star is not the prime Kirby of his latter-day Fantastic Four, but neither is it the unsure and outsider-art look of The Hunger Dogs graphic novel that was Kirby's last word on his Fourth World stories. It reminds me most of Kirby's last go-round on Captain America -- looser and less weighty than his very best work, but still solid and confident with occasional flashes of his glory days.

The closest you can get to new Kirby nowadays is Casey and Scioli's Godland, and a lot about Silver Star, especially the villainy of Darius Drumm, will be pleasingly familiar to Godland readers. Drumm's fate is pleasingly reflective of the thought that Kirby gave to the true nature of man, no simple super-battle to bring things to a close, but a genuine insight into the urge to self-destruction and the ways in which it might be tempered.

At $35.00, the Silver Star hardcover is not for a reader who is unsure of their level of appreciation of Kirby's work. But for those of us who remain entranced by his work and the intellect that propelled it, Silver Star is a pretty wild ride, and one you might wish had continued further, at that.

Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko

2008-07-07T13:39:00Z

There came a point in reading Blake Bell's excellent biography and artbook about Steve Ditko that I had to laugh at the irony; I had come to the first time that Ditko felt disaffected and betrayed by someone in fandom that had gone against his wishes. I laughed because I realized Bell probably fits that description now, and hell, by writing this review, I probably do too. It's almost impossible not to imagine you're displeasing the man if you choose to write about him.

I'm genuinely sorry that Ditko's fame has made him a fair subject for historical, biographical and critical writing. And I mean that, I'm really sorry for him that the course of his career so often has made him unhappy or uncomfortable or angry. It's clear throughout Strange and Stranger that Ditko was, from very early on, an extremely sensitive artist who had trouble coming to grips with the inevitable loss of control an artist must have once his work is out there for the world to see. After reading Bell's book, one is left thinking Ditko could only have been happy if he had created his work in secret, and shared it with no one. And of course, that would have been a sad fate, too. Ditko truly is trapped in a world he never made.

Or, perhaps, he could have been happier if he had worked in an industry that was fair to its writers and artists. If he had been properly remunerated and allowed creative control over his work, perhaps he could have been less frustrated, more able to take joy in the work he created, which, after all, has given millions of people untold joy now for decades.

But A is A, I remember, and I realize that this is the world both Ditko and I live in. "It is what it is," as people like to say when they have nothing to say. Ditko never had a problem finding something to say, but in his comics work, there was a definite sweet spot of expression and form, and Bell hones in on that pretty brilliantly as he talks about the earliest days when Ditko's Ayn Rand/Objectivism fixation influenced but did not consume his work.

It began with an issue of Blue Beetle that focused on art criticism and probably culminated with the early-1970s release of a Mr. A one-shot, independently released and violently iconoclastic in its content and impact. Bell recounts how poorly the book sold, and how West Coast comics retailing innovator Bud Plant bought up the remaining copies. Thank God, that's where I got my copy, by mail order, in the early 1980s.

As a teenager, I knew and loved Ditko's style, but was too young to fully process his single-minded determination and focus on his, and Rand's, beliefs. Mr. A did directly lead me to read Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, and even some biographies of Ayn Rand herself. If half of what most histories of her life contain is true, she was batshit out of her mind, and hardly the type of hero she demanded others be. Ditko would probably dismiss such examination of her life as either lies or irrelevancies, but if you've read much about Rand and Ditko, you kind of think he better met her standards than she herself did. Sadly, it seems to have cost him a far better career than the one he ended up with in this world.

It's hard not to feel sadness and pity for Ditko, as Bell's narrative wears on into the 1980s and 1990s and Ditko ends up illustrating Transformers colouring books and meeting again and again with industry figures like Dick Giordano and Stan Lee and yet is unable to ever again find a place in the corporate comics industry that he had a key role in creating, and that his most well-known creation has had a large part in sustaining. But Ditko doesn't want our pity, and he seems to have navigated even the lowest points of his comics career on his own terms, prideful and determined to meet his own rigid demands, which only occasionally bent, it seems, and hardly ever broke.

Bell's chapters in Strange and Stranger are all discreet packets of important segments of Ditko's life, and they do create as complete a picture of the man as is likely to be created, barring some unlikely latter-day autobiography, which probably would not be be truly self-examining in any case. But what stands out are the weird little twists and decisions Ditko's career was built and then dismantled on; most noteworthy, perhaps, his battles with Stan Lee over the direction and scripting of Amazing Spider-Man. Most telling, perhaps, a scene (reprinted in the book) of Peter Parker angrily dismissing participants in a 1960s college campus protest. Ditko's real self, his real values, came more and more to the surface of his work, and for a few years, as Bell notes, that combination of stoic self-expression and his unbelievably fluid and trippy artwork resulted in some of the most beautiful and memorable comics ever created. Not only late Spider-Man and Dr. Strange, but his bold, innovative black and white Warren work, often done in stunning inkwash, and his truly underrated Blue Beetle, Question and Captain Atom work for Charlton.

I said above that Ditko truly is trapped in a world he never made, and I believe he is. But based on the available evidence -- say, the Jonathon Ross BBC special from a few months back -- he at least lives out his days now in the way he has chosen for himself. Many people -- most people -- don't understand his need for privacy or his desire to be left alone. Blake Bell's Strange and Stranger may or may not be one more violation of his wishes, but for anyone who approaches it with respect for Ditko's art, it's a more or less balanced and even kind look at the transformational life's work of a very difficult, and perhaps very troubled, man.

And it goes without saying that the art on display is mind-blowingly beautiful and complex and almost impossible to fully process. John Romita Sr. admits in the book that he could never draw like Ditko, when he replaced him on Amazing Spider-Man, and no one else ever really could either. Much like his only peer in superhero comics, Jack Kirby, Ditko's mind and thought process and the visual expression of all they contained were a universe all their own. Ditko's art is a wonder to behold in the way very few other visual artists could ever even approach, in or outside of comics. It is at once utterly alien and strangely familiar, and the vast majority of Ditko's work was, whatever the era and whatever the circumstance, uncompromising and utterly arresting. Strange and Stranger captures, in words and pictures, as much of Ditko's world as it is possible for us to understand. It breaks my heart to think how unhappy he might be to hear how much I loved this book about him and his work.

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Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko is published by and available from Fantagraphics Books.

"Trains are...Mint" Reinvents the Graphic Novel

2008-07-03T13:39:00Z

For all those who dismiss autobiographical comics as trite, facile, samey, whatever the complaint -- here's the high concept of Trains are...Mint. The author, Oliver East, goes for walks from train station to train station near his home in Manchester, England. He sketches what he sees. The end.

For anyone with a little more sophisticated understanding of what is possible within the artform of comics, East's debut graphic novel is a modest, monumental achievement, a kind of British version of Jiro Taniguchi's The Walking Man.

The immediate appeal of East's book is the watercolour and pen and ink artwork with which he depicts his environment. The simplicity of his line favourably recalls John Porcellino's King-Cat Comics (as does his overall narrative tone, it should be mentioned), but every once in a while he astounds with a sharply observed brick wall or the perspective he conveys in his drawing of a fence, or a row of townhouses. His watercolour technique is subtle and lovely, with the same quiet brick-to-the-head revelatory power Frank Santoro brought to Storeyville.

Like Santoro, East experiments with the way his words interact with the images on his page. A frequent technique here is the conveyance of information through what at first appears to be a sign, or graffiti, or a poster on a wall. It's an arresting stylistic choice, one that really forces attention to what East is doing, and what he is saying. There's an almost inexplicable effect that arises from the way he utilizes this technique, something that makes an unnameable third element out of the cobination of words and pictures.

Click to enlarge image

Alan Moore believes his hometown of Northampton is the center of the universe, and his belief likely stems from the fact that A) He is a keen observer and B) He turns his observations on his own surroundings. Oliver East does the same thing in Trains are...Mint, delivering a microcosm of the graffiti and detritus that infuse these train stations and their environs, unpacking his observations into a universal map of the land we all make our way through every day of our lives.

Trains are...Mint is the first release from UK publisher Blank Slate Books, which is run by a couple of the owners of the legendary Forbidden Planet chain of comic book stores. As you might expect with that pedigree, the book is a thing of beauty not only in what it contains but in how it is produced. It's a compact, strikingly-well-reproduced hardcover that is a tactile joy to experience. And a perfect delivery system for Oliver East's comics.

East's style evokes Porcellino, as I mentioned above. It also recalls for me a little Kevin Huizenga here, a little Lynda Barry there, and a whole lot of Eddie Cambell Alec-sized whimsy and wonder. I have no idea if he actually is influenced by any of these folks, though -- his style feels sui generis in large part, and Trains are...Mint feels fresh and new, a shot across the bow to anyone thinking whatever can be done in comics form already has been done. This is something new, something you can lose yourself in, something you'll want more of.

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Trains are...Mint is published by Blank Slate Books.

Gødland: The Best Superhero Book You're Not Reading

2008-07-02T12:40:00Z

I recently caught up with Joe Casey and Tom Scioli's Gødland, having read the first three trade paperbacks a few months ago. It was a blast reading through #19-23 in one sitting. It's to Casey and Scioli's credit that I could pick the story up easily (three metacosmic weirdos are destroying Las Vegas while Archer and Crashman are trapped inside the Infinity Tower by General Brigg and the government).

Scioli mentioned in a recent interview with Tom Spurgeon that he's been evolving his style, and that is wildly apparent in this run of issues; the Kirby stylings are all but gone (as even the unnamed letters-page author admits), and I missed them, but I gazed in wide wonder, to quote a phrase, at the wild leaps and bounds his visual style has made. The brutal and bizarre battle of Archer and Maxim the cosmic dog versus the three oddballs -- Ed, Supra and some joke on the word "ego" or another -- is a fantastic blend of Scioli's pop art fundamentals with what looks to me like mid-period Frank Miller Moebius pastiche, right down to what I think is an homage to a scene from Ronin. An homage that shows just how far this title has come in a visual sense.

Casey's writing continues to be a pleasing mix of comic book basics with tossed-off bits evoking Moore/Morrison detours into strange dimensions; an editor really is needed to catch the minor typos here and there, from the misuse of the apostrophe-d version of "its" to small, niggling errors that momentarily took me out of the altogether psychedelic (if not psychoactive) goings-on. But the plot and the dialogue are sterling examples of just how damned good Casey can be at his best, and the most recent issue concludes with a deliciously traditional sci-fi take on the cosmic reset button and the nagging sense that things ain't quite what they used to be.

Don't deny yourself the vast world of comics pleasure that is Gødland; you can probably enjoy any single issue about as much as any other, but taken altogether, to date the series is 23 issues of the most spectacular 21st century (if not 22nd) superhero comics storytelling you can possibly imagine. With a Journey gag that just won't quit in one issue, to boot. "Escape," indeed.

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Gødland is published by Image Comics and is available in most comic book stores.

Farewell, Michael Turner

2008-07-01T00:38:00Z

One of the industries top artists passed away this weekend. His work on Fathom and Witchblade are very recognizable. Turner has been battling cancer for some time now. Wizard.com broke the news this weekend. Information about sending condolences or donations can be found on the site.

These are just a few examples of his work. If you would like to see more check out the Wizard.com web site they are doing a special gallery of his work.

Farewell, Michael Turner your work will be missed.

Comic Books

2008-06-29T19:16:00Z

I have Wolverine, X-men and some spawn comic books from the 1980's and 90s. Anyone who is interested in them contact me at Poke10988

In the Spotlight: Paul Hornschemeier

2008-06-27T10:09:00Z

Paul Hornschemeier 's best work -- that is to say, most of it -- is personal, sharp, funny, and experimental in ways you've never experienced before in comics -- beautiful, gorgeous, meticulous, but thoroughly comics. The short story "The Bad, Bad Man," from Forlorn Funnies #1 is the best example of his peculiar brand of brilliance; a playful, serio-comic tale of the sophistry of evil. The universe conspires to undo a moustache-twirling bad guy in a story that echoes Kurtzman and Ware but surprises with its unusually effective combination of exploration and reader engagement.

Hornschemeier's interest in comics came at a very young age. When I interviewed him in 2004, he told me "The first thing I drew, at age 4, was a cartoon. What spurred my interest in comics as a viable medium to tell something beyond a cliche was reading [Daniel Clowes's] Ghost World one Christmas and realizing that this thing I had done since before I could spell my own name (which is a hell of a name to spell, let's face it) could be something so incredibly significant and stuffed with meaning and beauty."

Sequential was Hornschemeier's first, self-published attempt at a regular comic book series. Over the course of its seven issues, Sequential demonstrated an emerging talent eager to assay the parameters and possibilities of his chosen artform. "Ex Falso Quodlibet," in Sequential #7, was perhaps the first indication of Hornschemeier's ability to fulfill his creative ambitions, and something of a bridge between his two series.

Over the course of the story's 20 pages (all of which may be read online here), Hornschemeier reaches into the depths of despair over lost love using an anthropomorphic fish-man as his lead character. It's a harrowing examination of loss, made somehow more pointed and graphic for the inhumanity of its very human protagonist and his small, familiar moments.

The artistically more mature series Forlorn Funnies stuns with its sheer dedication to its creator's joy of cartooning. Readers will find Hornschemeier's recent works share a passion for design and storytelling with artists like Chris Ware and David Mazzucchelli. Hornschemeier gives us passionate, human comics that push the very limits of what is possible in the medium. When asked what motivates him, Hornschemeier told me comics gives him "Intellectual excitement and some insight into other people's lives and beliefs...I hope [in my work] to give examples of different ways things could take shape, and, the BIG HOPE, a few good stories that escape simple gesturing and experimentation."

His interest in experimentation -- something that fairly suffuses his work -- comes from diverse but complementary sources. Hornschemeier says he has been very influenced by the Beatles animated film Yellow Submarine, as well as Jim Henson, Maurice Sendek and Edward Gorey: He says "There is something in the sad, drooping, floating worlds, sprinkled with explosions of manic color and heat, that seriously colored the ways I expressed things, even at a very young age. I think these people influenced the method by which I translate the world into images, even in my mind, before any paper is brought into the equation."

During 2003, Hornschemeier serialized "Mother, Come Home" in the pages of Forlorn Funnies #2-4. The story focuses on a young boy who has lost both his mother and father in separate but intersecting tragedies, and was Hornschemeier's first longform novel; creatively, he feels did not meet the goals he set for himself in its creation. "I think I succeeded in parts, but I failed to carry certain parts of the story very well. There are many parts in which it fails and is unbelievable as an experience. I wanted to tell a story, and while I did do that, certain parts are distorted by a poor translator (me)." He says he enjoyed working in a longer format, but that he "lacked the skill necessary. I am still only beginning to learn what is required to create a good story."

Hornschemeier may be his own worst critic. Dark Horse Comics editor Diana Schutz thought enough of the story to collect it as a graphic novel, and Fantagraphics Books will be re-releasing it soon in a new, expanded hardcover edition. Hornschemeier believes "every element of a book needs to be analyzed...and I think every element (paper color, paper weight, colors of ink, line quality, page layout, etc.) all serve as ingredients in the larger cognitive experience." This attention to detail is most obvious in the last two issues of Sequential and in all of Forlorn Funnies, where the production quality increasingly plays a tactile role in the reader's experience of the stories within.

On the topic of his extraordinary dedication to high-quality production and presentation, Hornschemeier told me "A cartoonist is a designer, if s/he is anything. A designer is simply taking elements and employing those elements to convey a message, bringing separate components together to form a unified voice, to play upon the mind of the readers in a certain way...Nothing should be ignored out of laziness. If you do not choose to address certain issues, let that be by choice, because it will certainly play a role in the perception of the audience." He is driven to perfection of presentation, but he is generous with what he has learned; a number of his comics have included detailed information on his production methods, which have no doubt proven invaluable to artists inspired by his example.

Hornschemeier's desire to create "a few good stories that escape simple gesturing and experimentation" is well within his grasp, and he has as much potential to transform the perception of the artform as any living cartoonist. He seems eager to continue to grow as a creator even as he struggles with his own creative drives. He told me "I see myself producing the stories to take care of something in myself, which is horribly selfish, and I can't understand why people support these sorts of things, but I thank them profusely for it. I care immensely for people and am very appreciative of any praise or criticism I receive, but I can't stop writing these things down. It's sort of awful, really." He may be blind to the enormous gift his work has been to his readers, but his readers are not. It's virtually impossible to read a Hornschemeier work and not be staggered by the level of craft dedicated to furthering his very singular art.

Forlorn Funnies published five issues through the now-defunct publisher Absence of Ink, and most recent work of Hornschemeier's has been issued by Fantagraphics Books, including the collection Let Us Be Perfectly Clear and the original graphic novel The Three Paradoxes.

Fantagraphics is a larger and more experienced publisher than Hornschemeier previously worked with, and so far seems far better prepared to help him grow as a cartoonist, both in his graphic novels and in the anthology MOME, where Hornschemeier's story "Life with Mister Dangerous" has been serialized.

Unfinished tales from his earlier series Sequential prompted me to ask if he plans to revive that title, but he says "Completing anything that was started there would feel very wrong to me at this point...I did like 'The Suppression of William T. Andrews,' but I would have to redraw the entire thing, and I think I'm far too lazy to actually sit down and do it, particularly when there are so many new, more complicated ideas and problems to solve." Thankfully, although the series won't be continued, it has been collected in hardcover by AdHouse Books, which also published Hornschemeier's Return of the Elephant, later collected in Let Us Be Perfectly Clear from Fantagraphics.

Hornschemeier's ambitions in the near future include three longform graphic novels. A New Decade for Eli Guggenheim is about a young man who has the ability to time travel anywhere within the year 1979. Planet focuses on desire, sexual and otherwise, and weaves in and around the lives of six people whose lives have become desperately interconnected. Finally, Life with Mr. Dangerous continues its serialization in MOME and is likely to be collected under one cover once complete. The story is about a young woman in her early 20s who takes comfort in the surreal animated TV series Mr. Dangerous (first seen in Forlorn Funnies #1).

So while Hornschemeier deals with those "many new, more complicated ideas and problems to solve," watching him solve them promises to be one of the most rewarding and entertaining prospects any comics reader can anticipate in the years ahead.

A History of Underground Comics

2008-06-26T13:02:00Z

A new edition of Rebel Visions: The Underground Comix Revolution 1963-1975 is out now from Fantagraphics Books.

One of my pet peeves is comic book readers of a certain age who dislike the term "comix." If you can't parse the important difference between comics and comix, then you really ought not even be trying to talk about either in public, because you're simply not qualified.

Patrick Rosenkranz, on the other hand, is supremely qualified to write about underground comix, their genesis and significance to the artform, and he does so in the gorgeously illustrated new edition of Rebel Visions. His qualifications come from having lived through the era close to the heart of the action, and in fact many of the revealing photos of key underground creators are credited to Rosenkranz.

The narrative isn't limited by the author's memories and perceptions, though. Much of the prose consists of quotes from creators like R. Crumb, Trina Robbins, and many others who founded and perpetuated the underground comix movement. The narrative occasionally jumps back and forth in time, as it moves from creator to creator in retelling their firsthand experience, oral-history-style.

It's frankly a thrilling story that Rosenkranz recounts; the coming-together of the various houses and factions of underground comix creation was almost an accident of destiny, and the resulting explosion of comix spans the spectrum from the most hackneyed of crap to some of the most sublimely brilliant and mind-expanding stories ever told.

Rosenkranz allows the cartoonists plenty of room to relive their memories and share their theories, and the oversized dimensions of the book allow the reader to be immersed in the amazingly diverse examples of art from the era.

The underground comix are a far clearer antecedent to the artcomix movement of today than most modern-day readers probably realize. Fans of Geoff Johns or Brian Michael Bendis would be hard-pressed to find stories from any underground title that would interest them in the slightest, but readers who follow creators like Joe Matt, Chester Brown, Phoebe Gloeckner, James Kochalka or Roberta Gregory would certainly find lots to love about the undergrounds, and will absolutely find much of interest in Rebel Visions, one of the greatest historical recountings ever dedicated to the artform of comics. I mean, comix.

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Rebel Visions is available from Fantagraphics Books and in better comic shops and bookstores.

ADD's Comics in Review 3

2008-06-23T13:08:00Z

Rex -- Danijel Zezelj's new graphic novel, from Optimum Wound Comics, reminds me of nothing so much as it does the sort of testosterone-fueled, ultra-violent comics for grownups that Richard Corben used to create for what were then called "ground level" comics, in the 1970s and '80s. Ground level was a term created to distinguish titles like Hot Stuf', Star*Reach and others (even Cerebus, Elfquest and The First Kingdom, in their earliest days, if my memory holds true) from underground comix and superhero comics. The ground level was where you might find top-level creators like Corben, who weren't interested much in creating underground comix focused on drugs and sex (although Corben's comics certainly contained at least one, and likely both of those), but whose work was too "mature" for Marvel and DC to ever (at that time) consider publishing.

Danijel Zezelj's Rex has a level of brutality that might not even fit in today at DC's Vertigo imprint, although it might fly with Marvel's MAX or Icon lines. Rex, the character, is a former cop on a mission of revenge in a world where everyone has seemingly done him wrong. Zezelj's artwork is dense, bold and confident in its ability to bring the hyper-reality of the story to life. The style evokes Corben in its photorealistic tendencies, and in places also reminded me of the style Cary Nord utilized on his Conan run for Dark Horse. In fact, if Nord had illustrated a comics version of the Lee Marvin movie Point Blank, we might get something very much like Rex.

Rex creates a dark, violent world for you to spend some time in, and creator Danijel Zezelj proves a surprisingly capable host for your visit. From the work I'd seen in the past for DC, it's no surprise that he draws the story exceptionally well, but it's a pleasing revelation how good a writer he is as well.

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Jumbly Junkery #4 -- This new mini-comic is the creation of cartoonist L. Nichols. The concerns are mostly observational and confessional, which you might glean from strips titled "An Observation" and "Confessions." It's mostly autobiographical, and Nichols is a hell of an artist, so I enjoyed the issue a lot.

As they often are in autobio comics, some of the observations are minor -- the difference between waking to a new day in the winter versus the spring, for example -- the significance of such a strip lies therefore in the execution. Like Roger Ebert says, it's not what it's about that matters, but how it is about it. Nichols uses a button-eyed avatar to fill in for herself, and that took a little adjusting, but it's fair enough in this sort of work. If James Kochalka can be an elf, or Dash Shaw can present one of his characters as a frog, why not a button-eyed ragdoll?

A lot of ground is covered in the 32 pages of Jumbly Junkery #4, ranging from sexism to depression, and from a whimsical gag involving lions to a serious, three-page summation of Nichols life and developing self-image (one of the stronger pieces, it should be noted).

I liked this comic a lot, and would love to read more work by Nichols. Some random things that stand out for me:

* I love the gold overlay on the drops of rain on the minimalist cover; it's a touch you only see in quality mini-comics, and it says something about the intentions of the artist.

* I like the way Nichols draws cats, and sinks, and pens and paper.

* I like the wide variety of subjects, all held together with a single creative vision and point of view.

Jumbly Junkery is the most promising mini-comic I've read in quite some time, the sort of thing that always makes me hungry for more.

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You can purchase comics (and a felt alligator with button eyes!) by L. Nichols by clicking here.

My Desert Island Comics

2008-06-20T18:07:00Z

If I was a character on Lost, in-between keeping Sawyer from killing Jack or vice versa, hopefully I would have time to read some of my favorite comics. I've given a lot of thought to what titles I'd like to have with me in such a situation, and assuming that I don't get eaten by a polar bear or lost in time, here are the five titles that I think would tide me over the best as the months turn into years...

5. THE COMPLETE CRUMB COMICS. The older (and wiser, at least about comics) I get, the more I appreciate Crumb's skill as an artist, and more importantly, his fearless reportage about his own life and the world around him. Few artists have so completely, evocatively and fearlessly chronicled the era in which they lived, and how they lived in it, and I would want to have the Fantagraphics series with me on my desert island because it's literally every comic Crumb has ever done. You'll note that few creators in the history of comics could easily compile such a project due to ownership and rights issues, but Crumb's visionary retaining of all rights to his work have, no doubt, made the legal end of such a massive undertaking as easy as pie.

4. THE COMPLETE PEANUTS. If I'm limited to five series, you can bet that the previous entry and this one are my way of making sure that I have a ton of reading material to wile away the long days and nights with (when I'm not pining away over Kate, obviously). THE COMPLETE PEANUTS will, by the time it's over (around my 50th birthday, egad!), collect a half-century of some of the very best comics ever created, by one of the artform's sublime masters. The Seth-designed hardcovers will look great on the shelves in my hut, too, in-between my coconut-shell bookends.

3. STREET ANGEL. Yeah, it's only five issues and a trade paperback, but STREET ANGEL is among the most inventive and entertaining comics I've read in the past couple of decades; I literally despair at the thought of never being able to read them again, so, I'm bringing them along to the island. Yar!

2. ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY. One thing I will need as the years "ware" on is a challenge; Chris Ware's unique, literary series will provide me with a number of them. The work itself is challenging, requiring close attention in order to fully immerse oneself inside the worlds he creates. But even more challenging will be my years-long effort to build all the paper toys that are a part of almost every issue of ACME. Hopefully there'll be some Elmer's Glue on the island, or at least an old horse I can render down in order to make my delicate, ephemeral playthings.

1. EIGHTBALL. Issue #22 of this series, featuring the story "Ice Haven," is widely regarded (in my house anyway) as the finest single issue of any comic book ever produced. Epic in scope, filled with flawed, endearing and human characters, and encompassing a mystery that re-engages me fully every time I read it, the issue (or the hardcover, published by Pantheon) is absolutely indispensible to anyone who wants to experience the greatest joys comics can contain. But the rest of the series holds wonders, as well, from the Ghost World stories to the snarky short pieces about Christians, the secret gayness of sports and Jim Belushi (!), to such landmark serials as "David Boring" and "Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron." One of the very best comic book series ever created, I absolutely would be lost without a complete set of EIGHTBALLs to keep me company, there on the island.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play chess with Charlie's ghost...

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Have a comics related question for Alan? Send it to alandaviddoane AT gmail.com and he'll answer it in a future post.

Easy Way To Keep Up On The Lastest Comic News

2008-06-19T22:28:00Z

Want to know more about about your favorite comic series, writer or artist. Tune in to comic podcast AroundComics.com.

These guys are so funny! They cover what comes out each week and have interviews with artists and writers from the comic industry. The podcast is usually twice a week. One day is for the new releases and what they liked for the week (Top of the Stack) the next is usually informational and interviews from the big names in comics to online comic creators.

They keep you up to date on the lastest news coming from the comic industry and their opinions which sometimes I agree with and other times wonder WHAT? They have turned me towards more of the comics that are not as well known.

If you are sensitive to language they mark their podcasts listing with explicit, if needed.

I have listened to these guys for just over a year now and I never get tired of them.

So for Fun & Information tune in your computer to AroundComics.com

Until Next Time...

Six Ways to Read Comics for Free!

2008-06-18T09:52:00Z

There are not too many people I know that are not feeling the pinch right now. Gas and food prices are on the upswing, and who knows when or if they'll ever come down? So now is a great time to explore alternative ways of reading comics. Here are six ways you can satisfy your thirst for great comics without cutting into your household budget.

* Your Local Library -- One of the fastest-growing markets for comics and graphic novels is the library. Librarians talk to each other a lot, and for the past few years they've been talking about comics. Now, a visit to your local library may or may not turn up all sorts of graphic novels; mine, for instance, has a sizable manga section as well as great works like The Castaways by Vollmar and Callejo and the entire Sandman collection by Neil Gaiman and company. But they don't have all the graphic novels I would like to read. What can you do in a situation like that? Luckily, your library is very likely not an island.

Many libraries are part of regional networks that trade books, and that interlibrary loan system opens up your choices to a far vaster array of books than is at first obvious on the shelves of your brick and mortar library. Go online and investigate the options your library makes available to you, or stop in and ask them if they have an interlibrary loan program. If they do, ask how you can access its listings to see what's available to you. Search for "comics," "graphic novels," and of course, run a search for the names of authors whose work you'd like to read.

You'll also find prose books on the subject of comics, books on how to create your own comics, and DVDs related to the subject as well. You'll need a library card, of course, but that's one resource no thinking human being should ever be without. Once you start looking into the options at your local library, and the other libraries they allow you access to, you may never have to spend a dime on comics again!

* Online Comics -- Your options for reading comics online are limited only by your tastes and your willingness to experiment with new ways of delivering comics to your brain. Some people will never adjust to reading comics on a computer screen, while others take to the idea like it's the most natural thing in the world.

Newsarama recently posted an article on the subject, and a LiveJournal writer recently posted his gigantic list of free, online comics. That list is far from complete, but it will give you an idea what is out there, and take you months to read all the strips if you choose to do so.

And, I have to mention my favorite online strip, American Elf by James Kochalka; his site has free access to the entire near-decade of his daily diary strips, as well as other features, many of which are free. And if you really dig his stuff and have a couple bucks a month to spare (or 20 bucks a year), it's all yours along with the comfort of knowing you're helping one of the internet's online comics pioneers (and most talented cartoonists, to boot) feed his family.

* Have a Seat -- Many bookstores, from big chains like Borders and Barnes & Noble to your local independent bookstore, provide a comfy chair and a welcoming environment in which you can relax and browse their wares.

This isn't entirely for the sake of charity, of course -- they know a certain percentage of browsers will succumb either to guilt or heightened interest from perusing an interesting book for a while, and those people are more likely to spend some money from time to time. It costs the stores virtually nothing and increases their bottom line.

Now, don't be obnoxious about it -- browse one or two books, keep them clean and salable, and put them back where you found them when you're done. And if you can afford it now and then, definitely spend some money in these stores to show them that offering this sort of service is a wise policy that pays off in the long term.

* The Wimpy Method -- As if my previous suggestion didn't make you feel enough like a freeloader, here I go, suggesting you borrow comics from your friends. Face it, some of your friends have better taste in comics than you do, and if you promise to treat their comics right, they just might let you take home some great reading material once in a while.

Of course, it's only fair that you return the favour and let them borrow a few of your comics. I know the very suggestion fills you with dread and sets a dull buzz going in the base of your skull, but come on, they're only comics. Share, already!

* Torrential Downpour -- Have you explored the comics available through BitTorrent? I don't mean illegal ones, either. Sure, there are plenty of those to be found if you know where to look, but there are also public domain and creator-approved torrents that you can download and enjoy with a clear conscience. Despite what some archaic organizations might like you to believe, BitTorrent is a great way to share files with your fellow internet users. A great program to use is uTorrent, which doesn't use much of your computer's memory and has a boatload of options you can tweak to get your BitTorrent experience the way you want it.

* Sequential Swap -- Finally, a great way to get rid of your old, unloved graphic novels and replace them with fascinating new reading material is Sequential Swap. This site puts comics readers all over the globe together and allows them easy access to the trade lists of all the participating members. I've done scores of swaps on Sequential Swap over the years, and most everyone on the site is friendly and fun to swap with. You'll have to pay shipping costs to get your books to your fellow swappers, but in the US if you send by Media Mail, the average graphic novel costs just two or three bucks to send anywhere in the country, a real savings over the 15-25 dollars you'd otherwise have to pay for the graphic novel you'll receive in return.

Believe me, I'm feeling the pain of this economic paradigm shift, too. I've tried every method on this list, and they all work. See which ones match your temperament, interests and resources, and explore the wide world of free comics. Let me know how you make out, and if you have any other tips for free comics reading, feel free to email them to me and I'll pass them along to my readers.

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Have a comics-related question for Alan? Send it to alandaviddoane AT gmail.com and he will answer it in a future post.