The Best of 2009: Original Graphic Novels and Collections

Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuchelli (Pantheon Books) Yeah, it's made every single "Best Of Comics" list this year, and a few "Best Of Fiction" lists besides, but so what? It totally deserves it. Legendary Batman and Daredevil artist David Mazzuchelli disappeared for a decade, only to emerge with this hefty tome about a heartbroken professor of architecture who loses everything and decides to reconstruct himself from nothing, while examining the wreckage of his life to find out where it all went wrong. At a glance, the symbolic colour schemes and unconventional page layouts seem challenging and maybe even a bit pretentious, but Polyp's approach is shockingly digestible. Funny, truthful, poignant, and very easy on the eyes, Asterios Polyp is an instant classic. -DH

Masterpiece Comics, by R. Sikoryak (Fantagraphics Books) Every English Literature Professor's worst nightmare, R. Sikoryak's Masterpiece Comics retells several classic tales in the form of classic comics. Originally appearing in the Drawn & Quarterly anthology, Sikoryak gives us Bible stories re-enacted by newspaper strip characters (Blondie and Dagwood act out the story of Adam and Eve), a take on Crime and Punishment that stars a Dick Sprang-era Batman as Raskolnikov, and reimagines Wuthering Heights as a lurid Tales From The Crypt offering. Sikoryak plays it so straight that you can easily forget it's supposed to be a joke--a hallmark of classic subversion. -DH

The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures by Dave Stevens (IDW Publishing) Dave Stevens' lost pulp adventure classic, out of print for years, returns in two handsome hardcover editions--an affordable, regular-sized hardcover that collects the two previous Rocketeer graphic novels, and a deluxe, oversized, slipcased volume that is overflowing with all the bonus material a fan could ever want. Ace colourist Laura Martin provides vibrant new hues that ably support Stevens' lush linework without overpowering it. Story notes at the back of the Deluxe Edition hint at a planned third Rocketeer volume that would have seen Cliff Secord swept up in the Martian hysteria of Orson Welles' 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast; sadly, Stevens succumbed to Leukemia in 2006, which makes this gorgeous collection the final, definitive word on his jet-packed hero. -DH

Blazing Combat by Archie Goodwin and Various Artists (Fantagraphics Books) It's always interesting to read literature that was banned at the time of its original publication. It's even more satisfying when the material happens to be an outstanding representation of a medium's potential. Blazing Combat collects the entire short-lived 1960s anti-war comic of the same name. The black-and-white comics were originally published by Warren Publishing in 1965-66, before American popular sentiment had turned against the war efforts in Vietnam. Sadly, very few of the four published issues reached the public; they were quickly pulled from newsstands and rejected by wholesalers. The issues, each containing several short war stories ranging from the War of Independence to the Vietnam War, were written almost entirely by Archie Goodwin and were illustrated by master cartoonists such as Alex Toth, Joe Orlando, Gene Colan, and Wally Wood. Much like the controversial EC Comics of the 1950s, each story in Blazing Combat uses shock endings and raw character emotion to evoke a reaction from the readers. Through this technique the creators were able to slip political and social opinions on unpopular topics such as racism, sexism, government oppression, or, in the case of Blazing Combat, the futility of war, into the comics. Each panel of Blazing Combat is a stunning work of art, and they are beautifully preserved on heavy paper in this hardcover book. Just as relevant now as when they were first published, these stories should still draw an emotional reaction from anyone who reads them. - RG

Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 by David Petersen (Archaia) The wait for this book, the second volume of Mouse Guard, was agonizing. David Petersen's epic fantasy starring a small band of brave Guardmice is remarkably captivating and full of emotion. It's also full of gorgeous art, and Archaia does a great job with these hardcover editions. Reading the first volume two years ago made me feel a lot better about my mouse-infested apartment that winter. I pictured them scurrying around with little swords and little capes and I couldn't hate them. Eventually I did have to poison them, though, because seriously. Those things multiply like crazy. - RG

Johnny Hiro by Fred Chao (AdHouse Books) Not only was this one of the most exciting things to be collected into a trade this year, for me anyway, it ended up being one of the best looking trades of the year. Fred Chao's comic about a struggling young busboy in New York City is hilarious and charming. I particularly love Johnny's girlfriend, Mayumi, who is one of the most adorable love interests in the history of fiction. Also, this comic is peppered with hip hop references, and I like that in anything. And...I met Fred Chao at HeroesCon this year and he was super nice and drew me this awesome sketch. - RG

Parker: The Hunter by Darwyn Cooke (IDW Publishing) I had the pleasure of being part of a small crowd at a local writers festival this year to hear Darwyn Cooke read the first chapter of Richard Stark's novel, The Hunter. As he read the chapter, he ran a slide show of the pages in his comic adaptation of the novel so we could see exactly how it was adapted. It was really neat, and it made me appreciate even further how excellent Cooke's adaptation is. It's definitely a case of a perfect project paired with the perfect creator, with a lot of love thrown in. The two-tone pages are beautiful and moody and full of that Darwyn Cooke charm we all know and love. I can't wait for the next one! - RG

Tales From the Beanworld by Larry Marder (Dark Horse) Larry Marder stepped away from Tales From the Beanworld for more than a decade, but then he came back. Now all of  the original run of the Beanworld comics have been collected in fantastic-looking hardcovers from Dark Horse and the first of a series of books that will continue the saga has been released. You may have heard this story from me before, but let me reiterate: I first encountered the Beanworld when I bought Eclipse Comics first Marder collection in a used bookstore sometime in the late Nineties. I fell in love with the setting and characters and started looking around for more, but that was it. I never found the other trades, nor any of the single issues, not even a morally suspect electronic document from the World Wide Computernet. The amount of joy that these trades and the subsequent original material has generated in my life is difficult to calculate but is not insubstantial. Personal anecdotes aside, the Beanworld is a setting all its own, with rules and laws that emerge as the story does. Marder has certainly planned a lot of this out ahead of time, judging by how effectively events slot together as the plot advances, and as a result this is a marvelous example of long-form comic storytelling. It is, as has been observed, weird as hell, but for sheer entertainment value it is very hard to beat. - JM

The Imposter's Daughter by Laurie Sandell (Little, Brown and Company) While I think that these days, literature and movies put too much stock in the phrase "based on a true story," The Imposter's Daughter is an absolutely mind-blowing true story. Journalist and cartoonist, Laurie Sandell, grew up idolizing her amazing dad. And he wasn't just the type of amazing dad who makes good meatballs or coaches your hockey team; he was off-the-hook amazing. Her dad was a decorated war hero. He had several degrees from many prestigious universities. He had owned a boa constrictor. The pope was his BFF. When, in her early twenties, Sandell starts to research her pop for an article she was writing about him, it becomes evident that these stories just don't add up. With the help of a private investigator, she discovers that her dad didn't just drop a fib here and there—he was a pathological liar and a con-man. On top that, he was hundreds of thousands dollars in debt, and had wracked up much of that debt under Sandell and her sister's names. When she confronts her dad, her discoveries tear her family apart, send her on a self-destructive spree of confusion and guilt. This story is incredible, and while heavy and brutally honest, Sandell injects a dose of humour as well. The art is clean and simple. You might find it too simple if you're the type who drools over Alex Ross, but really, a stern-looking Wonder Woman wouldn't really fit the bill here. If you're recovering from post-holiday family drama, this book might put things in perspective. Sure your Aunt implied that you've gained a few pounds, but at least she was telling the truth. -TJ

This American Drive by Mike Holmes (Invisible Publishing) While not a comic per se, Mike Holmes' book expertly blends prose, illustrations and comic strips into a cross-genre bonanza of fun. Follow Canadian Mike, and his Texan girlfriend, Jodi, as they road trip it from Nova Scotia to the deep American south. Like me, Mike has warm feelings towards our southern neighbours, so expect more good-natured ribbing than biting social commentary. Actually, expect a lot of ribs, and burgers and biscuits and gravy, because Mike describes the many drool-worthy meals he and Jodi have as they eat their way down the eastern seaboard and into Texas. Mike's story-telling ability is surpassed only by his brilliant art. Plus, he's a cool dude—a real triple threat in the comics industry.  I recommend This American Drive for anyone who likes travel stories, mild culture shock, fatty food, smiling, eating, laughing, living or comics. -TJ (Check out some images here!)

3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man by Matt Kindt (Dark Horse) God damn, this book looks great! Absolutely gorgeous interiors and brilliant book design, with a peep-hole hard cover! Great washed-out, moody colours, and beautiful letters! Somebody stop me before I make out with this book! On the heels of 2008's thrilling, noir-ish Superspy, Matt Kindt delivers another moving and imaginative graphic novel. The giant man, Craig Pressgang, is depicted through the eyes of three important women in his life, as he grows from an over-sized boy to a 3-story-high giant, from someone who's a little strange to a god or a monster. As Craig grows, the story slips from something you'd see in Ripley's Believe It Or Not, into a surreal, and at times terrifying story, as Craig grows too big for his house, his family, and the world. I loved last year's Swallow Me Whole by Nate Powell, and 3 Story is in a similar vein: an deeply emotional story told with supernatural-eqsue overtones. Kindt reaches new heights with this book and 3 Story towers above the volumes on the shelf (you heard me). -TJ

Pixu: The Mark of Evil by Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon (Dark Horse) This original graphic novel from Dark Horse largely flew under the radar despite the rock-star creative team of Cloonan/Vasilis and Ba/Moon, all of whom are in a full awesome form. Pixu is a horror story, and boy did it scared the crap out of me. Although, I got freaked out just watching the trailer for Paranormal Activity, so this might read like Archie's wedding to tougher folks. Come to think of it, Archie's wedding was horrifying in its own way. All that Robert Frost. Anyway, Pixu follows the interweaving stories of five tenants in an apartment building, which is kinda depressing to begin with, but turns into a terrifying shit-storm of horror after an evil mark appears on the building. The story has some well-executed suspense, with over-the-top disturbing pay-offs. The creative team (which is almost a full hockey line) employ some cool story-telling techniques when the separate story threads start to bump up against one another. I also enjoyed the spiffy little hard-cover format. I'm hoping that 2010 brings more Becky Cloonan—preferably something I can read before bed and not have to sleep with the light on. -TJ

A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge by Josh Neufeld (Pantheon) Josh Neufeld, of American Splendor fame, gave us one the most moving graphic novels of the year. A.D. is a comic book documentary that's part social history and part personal narrative, based on true accounts of a handful of people who suffered through hurricane Katrina. We're privy to the range of motivations and circumstances that led to why some folks evacuated early, others tried to leave but couldn't, and some weathered the whole storm in their homes. Hurricane Katrina was a catastrophic disaster that affected so many people in so many ways, and Neufeld shows us a diversity of loss. One story follows a young couple who evacuate their apartment and expect to return in a few days. They watch the news in horror to see that their entire block is under water, and everything they own is destroyed. The man was a comic book collector, whose entire collection is gone. While this loss could seem insignificant, Neufeld expertly portrays what it feels like for someone to lose their whole history, their whole sense of who they are. Most of us have seen photos of the Katrina aftermath, so you can imagine that this book is filled with astounding and heart-breaking images, from the squalor of the Superdome to thousands of destroyed homes. The A.D. website has supplementary material, including video and audio interviews with the people featured in the book. So Neufeld's book serves as an excellent teaching tool, as well as an amazing story. -TJ

Achewood Volume 2: Worst Song, Played on Ugliest Guitar by Chris Onstad (Dark Horse) Achewood is pretty much my favourite webcomic. It's full of Slavic robots and anthropomorphic cats and less anthropomorphic squirrels and set in a secret underground world of human-like animals, but really it could be about any collection of people that you know - everyone is individually interesting and messed-up and mired in the everyday, even as strange and fantastic things happen around them, and everyone's story is heavily intertwined with everyone else's.

I am very much in favour of collections of wonderful Internet phenomena in the first place (just in case, for example, Google explodes), plus, you know, money for Onstad. this collection really goes above and beyond, featuring not only all of the original comics and alt-text jokes but commentary on virtually every strip, bonus text pieces that set up the premise for the comic (basically, that a lot of anthropomorphic animals live in the author's house, for a variety of reasons) and incredibly stylish Art Deco stripes on the cover.

Volume 2 starts at the very beginning of the strip (Volume 1 was an experimental printing of the "Great Outdoor Fight" storyline) and though the strip only starts to take on its current form after the introduction of dirty-talking trio Ray, Pat and Roast Beef, having the early, more unfocused strips in there just plain makes me happy. If you have a Luddite who you love, give them this book so that they aren't missing out on one of the things that makes the Internet great. - JM

Tales Designed to Thrizzle: Volume 1 by Michael Kupperman

Thank God Fantagraphics decided to collect  Kupperman's hilarious comic into a hardcover book because I had a hell of a time trying to explain the damn thing to people who missed the issues. It's just something that you have to sit down and read, and when you do you'll laugh your ass off. I also love that the book presents the comics in full colour, though the two-tone printing in the original issues was also great. Having this book out there has made gift giving easy. I also highly recommend following Kupperman on Twitter. - RG

Grandville by Bryan Talbot (Dark Horse) - I came this close to not even picking this book up, but then I saw that the subtitle was "A Detective-Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard Scientific-Romance Thriller" and my path became clear. What reasonable man could resist thaat combination of words, I ask you? And once I got it home, every part of that sentence paid off.

Here's the skinny: Grandville is set on an alternate Earth where a) Napoleon managed to conquer all of Europe, and possibly much of the rest of the world and b) everyone is anthropomorphic animals. The sub-titular DI LeBrock follows the trail of a murderer from recently-independent and fairly insignificant Socialist Republic of Britain to the French capital, finding romance, action and ultra-violence along the way to solving his case.

Why is this comic great? Well, for a start it's beautiful. Talbot's art is incredibly detailed without ever being cluttered or difficult to interpret. Grandville/Paris basically looks magnificent from all angles, cityscape to opium den. The fight scenes, of which there are many, are glorious and easily-interpreted - no scratching your head for five minutes trying to figure out exactly who has just punched who, even when seven or eight characters are all scrapping at once.

Secondly, this is a proper mystery story. LeBrock and his assistant Roderick track down clues, question witnesses, and solve a case. With the requisite number of shoot-outs, hard-bitten dames and chase scenes, of course. I read it all in one go, and then my girlfriend read it, and then i read it again. It's fantastic, and that's aside from the fact that it's also filled with references to European comics like Rupert and Tintin and the like, which I devoured when I was a kid. I really can't talk this one up enough. - JM

Rex Libris: Book of Monsters by James Turner - (Note: this one will be briefer than I'd intended, as I am incredibly disorganized and left my copy at home) The second volume collecting the adventures of Rex Libris, member of the Ordo Bibliotecha, and defender of reality, as he, well, fights monsters, first inside the pages of an index of creatures that has gone mysteriously awry and later in a heated battle to prevent Cthulhu from rising and devouring all of out brains.

Turner's vector graphics-rendered hero always looks fantastic, of course, whether fighting Nazi zombies or fighting regular Nazis or just walking through his oft-troubled library. This is a wonderful-looking book, and in a way that you'll find nowhere else. Also: lots of terrific monsters.

Oh, and there's a segment at the back that details some of the multitude of alien creatures that inhabit our solar system in the Rex Libris universe, and it's astonishingly entertaining. If James Turner's next book was just this sort of thing for two or three hundred pages then he would have at least one guaranteed sale, because I eat that sort of thing up, giant space molluscs and all. - JM

Honourable Mentions

Scott Pilgrim vol. 5: Scott Pilgrim vs the Universe by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni Press) A darker and moodier installment of an always great series. I was stoked to see the updated fashion sported by the SP kids. If you've never read this stuff, get on it now, because this time next year, even your mom will know who Scott Pilgrim is. -TJ

Beast by Marian Churchland (Image Comics) I talked up this re-imaging Beauty and the Beast when it came out and I feel it's worth another mention. Lovely art, and story-telling that leaves space, rather than laying it all out for you. Keep this stuff coming, Image! -TJ

Essex County Trilogy by Jeff Lemire (Top Shelf) I really can't say enough how much I love this comic. It's one of my favourite things I have ever read. And now it is collected into one beautiful book, available in either hardcover or paperback. - RG

Solomon Kane by Various (Dark Horse) I'll be talking about the series Castle of the Devil in the next post, but I'd just like to mention the two trades that Dark Horse put out this year collecting Solomon Kane's Marvel solo series and his appearances in the black and white Conan magazines back in the day. Also, the Castle of the Devil trade looks magnificent. - JM

Far Arden by Kevin Cannon Colleccts the series of 24-hour comics that chronicle the search for a mythical land among the piracy, betrayal and bears of the Canadian Arctic. Great fun, with some of the best sound-effects in human history. - JM

Old Man John Buys Comics

Man, I seem to have lost all of my ability to write, so brevity may be the order of the day. Also lateness, because of that durned Canada Day that we have up here.

Also, I had a birthday party last night. Rachelle gave me the Eric Powell "Smokers of the Marvel Universe" poster (edit: sorry, that should be "the Eric Powell sketchbook and the Chris Schweizer poster"), my old friend Boudreau gave me a ceramic coffee cup that looks like a paper coffee cup and girlfriend Erica got me the entire Annotated Sherlock Holmes! Because she is the best girlfriend ever!

Batman and Robin No. 2

Whew. Good, good. There was no horrific second-issue drop in quality, just the Morrison/Quitely comic fun that most of us love. All of the players are on-stage and acting true-to-character: Dick Grayson is agonizing about maybe not being able to step up as the Bat, Damian is being insufferable and violent, Alfred is making with the heart-to-heart talks and the villains are being extra Morrison-creepy. The GCPD is proving themselves a bit less brain-dead than the rest of Gotham by noticing that Batman and Robin have both lost some size (and more than a few years). My only real beef is that it's occasionally tough to figure out what's happening in some of the more action-packed panels, though the fact that the big fight is between Robin and a set of cojoined triplets probably contributes to this. Eh, no matter - even if I have to squint at a panel now and again this is such a satisfying comic.

Run! No. 3 - This chapter is entitled "Step Three: Betray Your Only Allies" and the Human Flame does not disappoint. Last issue he fell in with a group of super-lamers headed up by General Immortus and including old favourites like Condiment King, Sportsmaster and Mr. Polka Dot and newbies such as Phoney Baloney and Miss Army Knife. He gets taken in, fitted with integral flame throwers and welcomed into the fold. This issue, he does his very best to screw things up. Lots and lots of good villain dialogue, from Condiment King's running stream of battle-puns to Sportsmaster's bravado to Phoney Baloney's generically broken English. I think that at this point the question might be not *whether* the Human Flame dies at the end but *how*.

Strange Eggs Jumps the Shark

I have no idea if this is an ongoing thing or not - I've certainly never heard of it before but there seems to be some sort of basic scenario - a deliveryman named Roger Rodgers gives an egg to two kids and a creature and then something hatches out of it - that a whole slew of comic-making folks play with and subvert. Jhonen Vasquez is present, as well as James Turner.

Okay, now I see. Strange Eggs was an all-ages comic with the above plot that I totally missed out on and now it's being savaged by various folks. So there's the potential for a child to witness the horrific vision of Jhonen Vasquez! Fun! The quality is all over the place here but it's worth it for Turner's contribution, as well as the phrase "Maliki and Llama, Creationist boy detectives".

Chew No. 2 - I like this comic. I like the setup, the main character, the art. Psychic adventures in the service of the FDA, yeah! Plus, the mystery that was introduced in this issue wasn't solved by the end! Hurrah! Actual detecting in a detective comic? Plus occasional acts of cannibalism? Oh my duckies, this could be a good one. Also, this issue reveals that there are three cibopaths in the world: Tony Chu, his partner and a Russian agent who I'll bet a dollar will turn up for a fistfight sooner or later.

Greek Street No. 1

Oh, bleah. I'm going to have to disagree with Grant Morrison on this one. This is not a good comic. Hey, but at least Vertigo's new first issue pricing means that I only paid a dollar to find that out, right?

The idea behind Greek Street seems to be that stories happen over and over and hey, here are some modern retellings of the Greek myths. Now, about half an hour ago you could have gotten me pretty excited with that little summary - heck, I was a Classics minor - but then half an hour ago I hadn't read this thing. It's just so... poorly executed. Oh hey, Cassandra is a crazy Goth chick, yeah! The Furies are a gang who are big on retribution, okay! There goes a guy, sleeping with his mother! Not that I object to a little darkness in my comics, but ramp up to it a bit. Greek myths are full of murder and patri- fratri- matri- and infanticide but on the other hand they aren't generally told seven at a time. Maybe if all of the stories going on here were told individually instead of at the same time I'd like the new sping better.

No, I probably wouldn't, because the dialogue is terrible. Bah!

The Muppet Show No. 4 (of 4) - All done... So sad. Hope that there's more, because this was a great series. Highlight of the issue: Fozzie and Gonzo imitating chickens.

Irredeemable No. 4 - I'm liking this one as much as ever, though I really hope that the eventual revelation re: why the Plutonian went bad is a good one. Going from Superman-clone to these supreme levels of dickishness is going to have to have a pretty good trigger. I think that Waid can step up, probably. We'll see. Anyway, this issue is all about enjoying Qubit, the eccentric genius machine empath cheese lover. He's very enjoyable!

Rex Libris Book 2

This came out last week and I put it on my "longer than twenty pages" pile and promptly forgot to write about it. As a former and hopefully future library worker I love me some Rex Libris, and as a fan of big guys who solve problems with their fists I love him again. And then a third time because James Turner's art is great and unique and uniquely great. I've had a busier-than-usual week and so haven't gotten to finish it, but I'd have bought even if it were just a two-page pamphlet containing the scene where Rex attempts to classify the zombie that is about to attack him. Dammit, I wanted to quote the scene but I am evidently the least-organized man on Earth. Trust me, it's great.

Speaking of James Turner, the next issue of Warlord of Io, that very fun comic was supposed to come out around now but was scuttled by Diamond's brain-enraging new distribution requirements (i.e., they won't distribute anything without a certain number of pre-orders). But! Mr. Turner is planning on bringing out the full Warlord of Io story as a graphic novel some time in the future, and currently has the unreleased issue available online here.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle Volume One

This book works out very well for me, as I somehow missed this series until it hit issue five and hey! this collects issues one through four, in glorious colour! I'm about halfway through and I've already busted a gut at least twice, with one gleeful cry of "with a bitter whore!", if that tells you anything. As my compatriots pointed out at the comic shoppe yesterday, this is probably the best book in a while to give as a gift, for basically anyone with a decent sense of humour.

Far Arden - As I said, I've had a lot to read this week, so Kevin Cannon's new book hasn't even been opened since I bought it. I'm mentioning it anyway, because I read one page in the store and was sold. On this page, a man was eaten by a bear, with the sound effect HUMAN-SIZED BITE! How could I resist? HOW? I'll be reading it this week - let's see if I can muster up the neurons to remember to tell you how it is (I'm guessing that it's going to be great). Update: I read the first chapter this morning and it is great.

"You'll Have To Hire A Lot Of New People." Special Advance Review of Darwyn Cooke's Parker: The Hunter!

It seems as though writer/artist Darwyn Cooke has been a fixture of the comic industry a lot longer than he has. Consider this—his breakthrough graphic novel, Batman: Ego, was released a mere nine years ago, showcasing a creative sensibility already finely honed by years spent in design and animation. Since then, Cooke has increased his profile with his work on Catwoman (first with the original graphic novel Selina’s Big Score, and followed by penciling duties on the most recent run of the ongoing series), his epic re-imagining of the Justice League’s origin in the New Frontier miniseries, and his relaunch of Will Eisner’s The Spirit. Cooke entered the comics field with a clear idea of what he wanted to do and how he wanted it done, and that straightforwardness of purpose has never been more clear than in his latest graphic novel, an adaptation of Richard Stark’s (AKA Donald Westlake) first Parker novel, The Hunter, available at finer comic and book stores everywhere July 22.

The Hunter formed the basis for the 1967 film Point Blank, starring Lee Marvin, and 1999’s Payback with Mel Gibson. However, unlike its cinematic ancestors, Cooke’s graphic novel sticks to the book’s plotline exactly, following tough-as-nails professional thief Parker as he punches, chokes, stabs, and shoots his way to the top of a criminal organization known alternately as the Outfit, the Syndicate, or the Organization. We learn through various flashbacks that Parker was betrayed and left for dead on his last job by both his wife and his fellow thieves, and after a stint on a work farm for vagrancy, Parker hits the mean streets of New York looking for satisfaction (and the $45,000 that constitutes his end of the job’s take). As Parker works his way up the food chain, he learns that the money from the heist was used to pay off an outstanding mob loan, which means that the only way for him to get it back is to shake down the Organization for it. Outnumbered and outgunned, Parker nonetheless meets the criminal conspiracy head on, bumping off various lieutenants and assorted underlings in order to instigate a final showdown.

In the first of four proposed hardcover Parker graphic novels for IDW publishing, Cooke has stripped his style down to the bare essentials, in a way that matches Stark’s famously blunt prose. The only colour that appears is a gunmetal blue tone, and even the panel borders have disappeared. The result is a sparse, high-contrast look that resembles images glimpsed in the muzzle flash of a pistol. The book’s 1962 setting allows Cooke to run wild with the kind of settings and fashions that clearly grip his imagination. The confident, no-nonsense storytelling doesn’t lead you by the hand—for instance, at one point Parker uses a pocket knife to disfigure a corpse before hiding it, and we don’t learn why for several more pages. However, there’s never any doubt that we will learn why, and that the answer will make perfect sense. As a character, Parker is wholly unsympathetic; at one point, he accidentally kills an innocent woman while attempting to subdue her. He doesn’t even really register remorse over this, but instead finds a way to use her death to create a distraction that brings him closer to his prey. Stark and Cooke never ask us to empathize with Parker, though—we’re merely witnesses to his relentless pursuit of what he sees as fair retribution. Readers seeking morally upright, or at least morally conflicted, protagonists might want to look elsewhere. The Hunter feels exactly like the book Darwyn Cooke was born to do, in terms of setting, characters, and subject matter. Reading it, you can tell he had the time of his life creating it, and that kind of enthusiasm is always infectious.

John Buys Comics, Wants Nachos.

 The Brave and the Bold No. 24

Aha! This is why I have kept buying this comic! Aside from glimpses of Icon and the Shield in a couple of places over the last month or so I haven’t seen any of this integration of the Milestone and Red Circle characters into the DCU and this is going to be one of the places I watch. Because it’s easy. 

When I heard about the merging of worlds I started reading some books from the Milestone and Impact lines – both imprints had their heydays during the least John Buys Comics portion of the Nineties – but haven’t really gotten a sense of either of them yet. Not too big a deal in the case of Impact, as it looks like they’re going back to the original Red Circle characters and re-re-re-reinventing them as new to the DCU, but it’s kind of tough to judge how well they’re handling the Homage characters without actually knowing anything about them. Luckily, this issue teams up Black Lightning and Static and has them teaming up against Holocaust, and I have read enough to get a sense of them. 

I don’t know whether Static was given all kinds of supporting cast drama and secret turmoil and so forth in his own comic but I reckon that it’s likely. Doesn’t really matter here, though, in what is essentially one big fire-and-lightning-drenched fight scene with father-and-son-esque moments between electrically-powered black super-heroes. Static cracks wise Spider-Man-style whilst cracking heads. Easy. Meanwhile, Holocaust is a colossal ass, jibing with what I’ve read in my Blood Syndicate researches. 

Of course, that brings me around to the subject of race, which is a bit of a given when talking about Milestone characters, who were created as and by members of minority groups specifically because the comics industry tends not to adequately represent them in either. Given DC’s recent track record re: Vixen looking about as black as me after a week in the sun (note: I am very not black), how did they do? Eh. Not bad. They still seem to be scared of giving anyone a skin tone darker than “really good tan” but at least Static and Black Lightning’s facial features don’t look like they were lifted from Whitey McCaucasianoid wholesale. Holocaust, on the other hand, sports a biker ‘stache that makes him look like he just emerged from a Midwestern trailer park. Call it a C for minimal effort. 

It’s a standard comic when you get right down to it: hero, hero, villain, teamup, fight, nachos. It *is* successful in its mission to place the city of Dakota in relation to the rest of the DCU. I’ll do some more reading and get back to you on how well they manage the rest of the Milestone merge. 

DC Comics House Ads 

Just a quick look at the house ads for the Red Circle comics. First: hooray for good house ads. This isn’t quite up to the quality of the ads from the late Eighties – the Golden Age of house ads, as far as I’m concerned – but they are engaging, what with their faux newspaper article aesthetic. Rachelle keeps making fun of me for being excited about these comics, but I grew up reading Archie Comics and 60s/70s Red Circle stuff and by damn, I have a lot of affection for ‘em. I was kind of hoping that they’d be treated a bit like the characters in The Twelve – heroes out of time from a simpler age, a Silver Age version of what the Justice Society is, kinda. Instead, it looks like they’re introducing them as new heroes, kind of like when the Charlton guys got absorbed into the DCU after the Crisis. 

So who have we got? 1) The Hangman, cast as some sort of eternal vengeance spirit or regular guy posing as the same instead of a regular guy who was the Comet’s brother. No loss there, and I like the costume – I never could resist that style of jacket.

2) Inferno. I have no idea. They’ve either used a really obscure guy that I’ve ever heard of or renamed someone else. Regardless, he seems to be a villain or antihero sort, which is interesting, as the one-shot is out in August, meaning that for one month, DC will be publishing two comic books featuring fire-themed, mustachioed villains.

3) The Web. In the Sixties, the Web was a Batman-style vigilante who was known as “the Henpecked Hero” because his wife gave him a hard time about being a middle-aged crimefighter. In the Nineties, the Impact Web was a SHIELD-ish organization concerned with policing superhumans. *This* Web is a guy in an atrocious costume who advertises for clients via the Internet. His personality looks to be somewhere between Booster Gold and Crackerjack from Astro City. Aside from the terrible costume (and maybe that’s on purpose, I don’t know) this could be pretty good.

4) The Shield. The Shield, always and forever, is a strong guy in a Stars-and-Stripes union suit. This one is wearing a “profoundly experimental suit based on nanotechnology”. I like that “profoundly” in there. 

Verdict: cautious optimism. 

Invincible No. 63 – Let me tell you a story. Wait, some context first. My girlfriend isn’t a comics person. She is a reading person and an art-loving person, so she will read things that I recommend based on her tastes. That said, it’s pretty unlikely that she’ll ever start buying dozens of comics per week like me. She does, however, get me to show her what I buy each week so she can look at the art and occasionally make fun of me for reading something with such lovingly-rendered boobies. She’s also a doctor and is going to be a pathologist someday, meaning that she has performed autopsies. Okay, so this week I was showing her my comics and this one came up and she made a little grossed-out noise. This is a gory-ass comic, folks. If you’re kind of upset about how bloody Green Lantern is getting, avoid this one. Good news is, it looks like they’re going to be getting back into more of that juicy Invincible plot per issue soon, hooray! 

Action Comics Annual No. 12 – Was I complaining about how there aren’t annuals any more recently? It’s true, I miss those crazy guys. Mostly, I miss the opportunity that it gives the creative team to turn away from the ongoing story for an issue and tell an imaginary tale or highlight a minor character or, as here, tell an origin story. This issue is the tale of how Thara Ak-Var and Christopher Kent became Nightwing and Flamebird, reverse respectively. Nothing too fancy, but it fills in all of the missing parts of their story and some of the untold particulars of Kandor’s society to boot. Good times. 

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance No. 2 – Issue 2 is holding up to Issue 1’s promises: the Super Young Team, dissatisfied with the remoteness of their satellite headquarters, are moved to a building in what I assume to be Las Vegas but is called “Las Vulgar” throughout. There are a couple of interesting encounters with super-villains – interestingly, this comic seems to be doing the “tour the corners of the DCU” thing that I was hoping that Red Robin would – but the emerging plot is that Something Happened to Japan during Final Crisis and a mysterious group doesn’t want either the Team or the world to find out. Also: Most Excellent Super Bat’s constant pseudo-profundities on “Twitteratti” remain amusing, as does Shy Crazy Lolita Canary’s focused drunkenness.

Groom Lake No. 4 - Karl Baur and the aliens have escaped from Groom Lake! Lotsa air-planing and sexual tension here. Not so much plot, but every series needs an action issue now and again. Next issue looks to have a lot of the excellent giant robot Barada-2, so count me in.

Mysterius the Unfathomable No. 6 - Well, out of six issues, there have been intrusive ads in the middle of two covers. At least this "North 40" book looks reasonably interesting. As for Mysterius? Let's just say that I own the series and I'll likely be buying the trade. If you have any interest in a well-plotted story with great art and lots of ladies with big bums and you haven't been getting this as it's bcome out, well, you should do the same.

Life is happening. Maybe more reviews later if it's not too demanding. Good night!

John Buys Comics

I’m a bit out of sorts today, so forgive any lameness in the ol’ writing.

Chew No. 1

They had me at the house ad. A couple of weeks ago, Image slapped an ad for Chew on the back of… something, probably Invincible, and I knew that I’d be buying it. Standard detective fare doesn’t generally turn my crank, but show me a book where the investigative role is filled by something oddball (a dinosaur in a human suit, a fictional character who has emerged from a historical novel, a gang of computer nerds in a camper van, etc.) and I’m a pretty easy sell. There’s something about the mystery genre that benefits from the addition of strangeness. This is probably why I like Detective Chimp so much.

In Chew, the oddball investigator is one Tony Chu, who is ‘cibopathic’, meaning that he receives psychic impressions from virtually anything that he eats and therefore that he doesn’t eat much of anything at all. Tony’s world is slightly different from our own (outside of the psychic power thing) in that the US government’s response to the non-starting bird flu epidemic was to ban chicken. So: the story opens with hungry vice cop Tony Chu staking out a chicken speakeasy. I would be sold on this book already, so if you’re not, I don’t know what else to say.

This is another one of those terrific creator-owned books from Image that I’ve been loving so much recently. John Layman’s written a pretty great intro to the setting and characters here, with a throwaway mystery to showcase the amazing gustatory detection of Mr. Chu. Nice pacing, good characterization - heck, you really get a sense for the plight of a justice-seeking, eternally-hungry grump. Rob Guillory’s the guy on art and colour and is extremely well-suited to the book, particularly in his command of facial expression and body language. Likewise, he lays down some highly appropriate and super evocative colours. See? This is the lame writing thing kicking in. It was great: the art was great, the colours were great. The story was great. The premise is great.

Great!

Secret Six No. 10

Woo! Now this is what I am talking about. The past nine issues of Secret Six have been great and all but have featured the Six in what is basically a heroic role - they’re after the Get Out of Hell Free Card but so are a lot of much less savory people, or they’re killing potential child-killers or whatever. The point is that they weren’t doing anything that, say, the Outsiders wouldn’t get up to but the methods and dynamics that came into play were different because the people that were doing it were amoral villain types. Now, not that I had anything wrong with that setup - I’d be pleased to read more adventures of the Semi-heroic Six - but it’s really quite refreshing that this storyline revolves around the team signing up with what are very clearly some bad bad dudes and that the choice is not how they will go about achieving their reasonably good ends but exactly how evil they are prepared to be; how compromised they are going to allow themselves to become for the sake of a job. Moral ambiguity, yeah!

Superman: World of New Krypton No. 4

Heh, I just noticed that this sucker doesn’t have an “of 8” or what have you after the issue number. Clever ploy to obfuscate the exact length of this “World Without a Superman” dooflappy? Don’t worry: even if it is, Dan Didio will spill the beans on Superman’s return to Earth well in advance (if he hasn’t already, that is). As with Jersey Gods, I’m really enjoying this ongoing look at the workings of an alien society, all stitched together out of the Kryptonian history that’s built up over the last seventy years (“Ooo, a Byrne-style Kryptonian! And an allusion to the old story about all of the black people on Krypton living on an island!”). Seeing the Green Lanterns interacting with this new society was a good time, though I’m a bit confused - over in Strange Adventures folks are having a hard time raising Oa on the space radio due to all of the craziness happening with “Prelude to Blackest Night” stuff. Is this happening before that? After? I’m normally pretty willing to look the other way on minor continuity gaffes but if this book synchs up with that crossover just in time for a bunch of Black Lanterns to show up I may slowly raise one eyebrow.

You know, just this week I was talking about Mon-El’s space-explorin’ Daxam vs. Sodam Yat’s xenophobic Daxam and wondering which one Mon-El came from in current continuity. Like, is he a sociological anomaly or did someone forget to recon him? Judging by Yat’s reaction to hearing about him, my questions may soon be answered. Yay, closure!

Batman and Robin No. 1

Terrific! New Batman! Basic Batman! Fighting guys, detecting, gadgets! Sure the team is Dick Grayson and Damien but so what? Batman and Robin chase down a guy named Mr. Toad in their flying Batmobile - this is enough for me.

Morrison’s doing a helluva job here: he’s unleashing some of his trademark weirdness but it’s focused and channeled into making the bad guys suitably freakishly weird for a Batman yarn. Meanwhile, Dick Grayson is easing into the Bat-role and Damien is happily not just a one-note spoiled brat. He’s a good addition to the Bat-team, that Damien. I’m sure that Tim Drake would have fit quite snugly into the role of Robin in this series but there have been a veritable legion of stories featuring Nightwing and Robin palling around. I certainly hope that Tim has some role in the Bat-books but this Damien thing is definitely pregnant with story potential.

Good job, DC. I was extraordinarily skeptical at first but it looks like you pulled it off: you broke down Batman and then killed him off in a very heroic manner while still leaving open the possibility of his return, you churned up Gotham and established the status quo with the whole Battle for the Cowl brouhaha and you started fresh with a new Batman and Robin without having to resort to retcon or reboot. I mean, if any character needed some sort of massive change and was more resistant to it thanks to the baggage surrounding him then I can’t name ‘em, and only one really shitty series in the bunch!

Oh, and Quitely’s art is both great and very much contributing to the fresh feeling of the whole thing. I’m foregoing my normal cautious optimism for the full-blown, rose-coloured, glass-half-full, uncut real stuff. Don’t break my heart, guys.

Jersey Gods No. 5 - I like this comic so much - I wish I had new good things to say about it. It’s still astonishingly fun epic/cosmic Kirby-esque but not Kirby-derivative stuff, full of action and fun. Much like the best Kirby stuff, I want to find out more of the history of the gods of Neboron, so I’m happy to see that the historical backup story is returning next issue, especially as the story looks to be moving to Earth for a time. Important Question: when Fusion and Union join… what the heck do they call themself?

Strange Adventures No. 4 (of 8) - Nothing new to say, really. Still a fun comic; still all spacey. The most impressive thing about this issue was the backup story, which supplied Lady Styx with an origin and thus made it possible for me to give two craps about her. Seriously, she was almost painfully generic before. Is there hope for her now? Possibly.

Irredeemable No. 3 - We get a little closer to the reasons for The Plutonian’s breakdown and turn to wicked evil. There’s no sign of this comic losing momentum, folks. Now: can I figure out what’s going on before it’s explicitly spelled out for me?

Final Crisis Aftermath: Run! No 2 (of 6) - Well well well… I was liking this before and I like it even more now. I was expecting a steady slide into desperation and hardship for old Mr. Human Flame but it looks like he’s in for more a roller coaster ride, which is great! ZOOM! The depths of degradation! ZOOM! The heights of joy! ZOOM! Back down again! Plus (and he’s on the cover so it’s only a semi-spoiler) General Immortus, who doesn’t get used enough, and Condiment King, who definitely doesn’t get used enough. It absolutely makes sense for a world full of superhumans to have super-losers, and Condiment King is possibly my fav’rit.

Okay, I have company so this is it. I might write more about this stuff later so I'll list what else I bought this week. If you really care what I think, come back in a day or so. Maybe.

I did it! Compulsive behavior, yay!

Captain Blood No. 1

It’s a good sign when an adaptation makes me want to read the original work. Okay, I guess sometimes it’s because the adaptation is so bad - Postman the movie, I’m looking at you - but in this case I just want to check out the aspects of the story that had to be left out in order to fit the comic book format.

If you have an irrational fear of black and white comics, I guess that you should avoid this one, but I also thumb my nose at you. Michael Shoyket is the man on art here and his style is looking goooooood sans colour. Actually, this might be one of those “sketch variants” that I hear so much about nowadays (uh, that Tiina mentioned that one time last week, rather), as the art is uninked as well, so don’t blame me if you buy a copy and it’s all colourful and stuff.

Issue numba one deals with the rise of Captain Blood, from soldier to doctor to slave to pirate. Blood is an interesting figure, a learned and complex man who doesn’t look like he’ll be ravishing wenches any time soon. Matthew Shepherd does a fine job on the writing/adapting front - another reason that I want to check out the original: to check out which of those two arts he is practicing more. Neal Stephenson fans take note that the events of Captain Blood take place at about the same time as the Baroque Trilogy. Look, it’s Jefferys, the hanging judge! Anyone? Am I the only one who’s read that damn series?

Werewolves on the Moon (versus Vampires) No. 1 (of 3) - I passed up a zombie western genre-mash comic this week because it didn’t look entertaining enough to justify the six dollar price tag, so how could I pass up a comic about Werewolves vs. Vampires on the Moon for only three-fifty?

This is a pretty great comic. The jokes are good, the drawings are suitably amusing without being flat-out goofy and everyone involved is absolutely unapologetic about the premise. Of course werewolves want to get to the moon. Of course the vampires that are already up there aren't too happy about it. Yay!

Dead Run No. 1 (of 4) - Not that this isn’t a tremendously lazy way to describe things, but this is like Transporter plus Mad Max. You’ve got a tough-as-nails, cool-as-ice courier saddled with an unwanted female companion and attempting a nigh-impossible task in a post-apocalyptic wasteland while being stalked by deformed thugs in jury-rigged vehicles. It’s exactly as good as it sounds. Uh, which is pretty darn good, if you’re me. And I am.

Astro City: the Dark Age Book Three No. 2

Man, Astro City. I didn’t really get to say too much about this when the last issue came out due to, you know, life (my girlfriend is wonderful and tolerant and never gives me grief about my hobby or the time I spend on the blog, but there’s only so much reading and writing about comics that I can do in an evening without feeling like a big dumb neglector. Someday I will get a big grant and spend all day doing this stuff, if I can finally catch that dang leprechaun). I love Astro City, unconditionally. I love the Alex Ross covers (Alex Ross plus new characters equals great) and the extensive and eternally-unfolding history and all that. The only time that I was ever glad to hear about someone getting mercury poisoning was in the context of that being the reason for the long hiatus in this comic. Man, that sounds bad. Okay, I wasn’t glad that Kurt Busiek was poisoned so much as that there was an external reason for the disappearance of Astro City and that it would return. Maybe I should edit out the poison part of this review.

Astro City: The Dark Age has been a damn good time - as I mentioned last week, it’s both a trip through a portion of the history of Astro City and an examination of themes and trends in the comics industry itself, as the innocence of the Silver Age(nt) gives way to the darker, more violent days of the late Seventies/early Eighties. Busiek’s been focusing on the people on the street rather than the heroes and villains for a while now, so you get to piece together the histories of fascinating characters like the Apollo Eleven bits and pieces at a time while following the perilous history of brothers Charles and Royal as they seek vengeance for their parents’ deaths. Blah blah blah. It's good! I want to convey that it's good and I'm just running my mouth (fingers) off. Rah rah rah!

Atomic Robo: the Shadow from Beyond Time No. 2 (of 5) - Remember how happy I was about this comic the last time? It’s still just as great as I said in every way, except that HP Lovecraft’s head is now a giant monster, so he’s not babbling so much. IN ADDITION: these great things occur: a) since Lovecraft’s head is now a giant monster there is a giant monster running around wearing a human body like a little hat. b) While fighting the Lovecraft-beast, Robo has a highly entertaining father/son-style phone call with Nicola Tesla. c) Lightning guns. d) A backup feature that takes the form of a fairly hostile article about Robo and that I hope continues in a future issue. May Atomic Robo have a long and glorious life.

The Muppet Show No. 3 (of 4) - Man, this just keeps on being great. A Gonzo-centric issue, with a couple of decent songs and the usual high joke quality. This is the issue that really underlines the love that Roger Langridge has for these durned puppets, which is probably a big contributing factor to the quality of this series. Also: there’s a Generic Pig Muppet on the cover, near Gonzo’s cape on the left. I have an irrational fondness for Generic Pig Muppets, so hooray.

Seaguy No. 3 (of 3) - This is where Grant Morrison is putting all of the weirdness that he’s not using in Batman and Robin. Is it confirmed that he planned Seaguy as a three-part tale? I mean, it could easily end here but I can definitely stand to have more of this. What the heck is going on? What’s with Mickey Eye? Wait and see, I guess.

Never Trust Ladies Who Live Down A Well!

    Continuing last week’s Pluto tradition of me writing about stuff long after everybody else has discovered and blogged about it, I’m going to talk today about IDW’s Locke & Key. This horror/fantasy series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez debuted last year with a six-issue miniseries, Welcome To Lovecraft, and is available in a slick hardcover volume. That first miniseries is up for this year’s Eisner award for Best Miniseries, and Joe Hill received a nod for Best Writer, so I guess this review isn’t entirely un-timely.
    Locke & Key is one of those occasional series from relative newcomers that somehow reads as though it was crafted by seasoned old professionals who know their way around every trick in the funnybook business. That’s not to say that Hill and Rodriguez are complete novices—after all, Hill is a bona-fide New York Times bestselling novelist, and Rodriguez has done a few IDW projects before this, but this series announces the both of them as comics talents to be reckoned with. I read the first issue of Welcome To Lovecraft when it was released in single issue form, and was intrigued by the capable, confident storytelling and the supernatural premise, but by the time issue two rolled around, our store was swamped with demands for the series and I sold every copy before I could get a look at it. After that, the series just kinda got away from me, but after my pal Eric (check out his amazing illustrations at http://www.ericorchard.blogspot.com/) lent me Hill’s awesome short story collection, 20th Century Ghosts (if you’ve got a hankering for some very Bradburyesque horror/fantasy, you owe it to yourself to check this out), I resolved to have another crack at Locke & Key.

    The first series, Welcome To Lovecraft, introduces readers to the Locke family as tragedy engulfs them. When guidance counselor dad Rendell is murdered by a disturbed student named Sam Lesser, the remaining family members—Ty, Kinsey, Gabe, and their mother—head to the town of Lovecraft, Massachusetts to live with uncle Duncan in the ominously-named family estate Keyhouse. Once there, plucky youngster Gabe is the first to discover the house’s mysterious properties—such as a certain door that renders your body lifeless but frees up your ghost to float around, as well as a sinister phantom named Echo who lives in a well. Turns out Echo is also in contact with psycho Sam Lesser up in the correctional facility, and she recruits him to bevil the Locke clan once more—this time, to find her a very special set of keys that Rendell may have hidden in the house years ago.   

    Often, when writers from other media try their hand at comics, there is a pretty steep learning curve. However, Hill has managed, in true Dr. Frankenstein fashion, to stitch together what he has learned from writing prose fiction with what he has loved about the comic form his whole life. The result is an engaging and readable narrative that glides effortlessly back and forth between past and present, and is filled with chilling reveals and cleverly seamless transitions. Each issue spotlights a different character, giving us their perspective on the awful events that brought them to Keyhouse and gradually revealing different facets of their personalities; for instance, we know that Ty is particularly haunted by his father’s murder, but it’s not until issue four that we learn exactly why. Gabriel Rodriguez’s highly detailed and expressive art looks like a weird hybrid between Rick Geary and Bob Fingerman, of all people. He gives all of the characters their own unique look and sets of expressions, while still managing to make the members of the Locke family look related to one another. Rodriguez also give the location of Keyhouse loads of personality, with its sinister gables and turrets and ominously-illustrated doors.
    If I have a complaint about Welcome to Lovecraft, it’s that it doesn’t really stand all that well on its own—a sequel, Head Games, is on its fourth issue as I write this, and it presumably delves more into the mystery of Keyhouse (which apparently “chose” Duncan, not Rendell, to live there—why? And how?), the connection between Rendell Locke and the gender-swapping ghost Echo (look for some well-placed foreshadowing of this in issue three), and the purpose of the key Bode fishes out of the lake at the end of issue six. That isn’t much of a complaint, though, since I enjoyed the first series enough that the lack of closure is more of an enticement than a put-off. Locke & Key: Welcome To Lovecraft is a creepy good time, a macabre mixture of supernatural horror and family drama that hints at a much more intricate and generational tapestry of terror.