the years best comics (in my opinion) part 6

For the final instalment of my 2011 round up i am talking about Our Love Is Real by Sam Humphries and Steve Sanders.

yes, that fella is doing what you think he is doing to that dog...

Our Love Is Real is a sick little one shot comic book that after a few limited runs, which Humphries self published, finally came out in comic shops worldwide in November via Image.

It is a tale of sex, sexuality and love (but mainly sex) set in a future where AIDS has been successfully vaccinated. There are Zoosexuals (who have relations with animals), Mineralsexuals (who have sex with crystals) and Vegisexuals (who are always rioting)

Zoosexual riot police officer Jok relishes violence and enjoys smashing the jaws off of Vegisexuals. He runs into Brin, an elfin Mineralsexual who he begins to fall for immediately. 

I don't want to elaborate any more of the finer points of the plot as it is only a short one shot comic, i will say that the story whilst lewd and not for the faint of heart is also very sweet. It's a tract on acceptance and tolerance. Who cares how you get your freak on as long as you are getting your freak on!

hot

The buzz on the internet drew me to this comic but it delivered in spades. 

Sanders' pencils have an almost Quietly/Chaykin appeal and reminded me of 2000AD art in places. 

Reading this comic is like being flashed by a randy trans-sexual......and i mean that as a compliment and highest praise!

Humphries next (infuriatingly limited) comic is called Sacrifice, a tale of an epileptic Joy Division fan being hurled back thru time to the Aztec era. Our Love Is Real has hooked me.....

the years best comics (in my opinion) part 5

For this instalment i'm going to be talking about Everything We Miss by Luke Pearson.

I'm an unashamed fan of all things spandex and super-powered when it comes to comics but every so often something else pops up on my radar, usually thanks to the fine boys at Page 45, that is not the tradition superhero fare. 

I came by Luke Pearson, who i believe now resides in Sherwood which is about five mins away from where i am typing this, thanks to Page 45 recommending his shorter comic Some People and his kinda sketchbook collection Dull Ache. I poked around online and found Nobrow Press had published Everything We Miss, a longer story presented in a beautiful hard back edition.

i should mention how this book looks and feels before i get to the content.

full disclosure: these aren't my hands

A fraction smaller than a normal 'floppy' comic, hardback bound like an old childrens story book. It makes the story within it seem even more precious.....

about that story....

Everything We Miss is a sad, sad story. So sad. 

The title sets the tone for the book. Everything We Miss is about everything we miss. a good example of this is this page that appears early on in the book..

this is just a beautiful sequence 

Our protagonist (the dude in the car who is crying) misses the tree dancing on the hill in the background. He is so focussed on his emotional turmoil he doesn't see the magical sight of a tree uprooting itself and dancing. Pearson uses this trick through-out the story, unnamed characters (the chap in the car and his girlfriend, primarily) going through the emotional wringer whilst fantastic and otherworldly things happen all around them. I think this illustrates the all consuming hold that break-up's or other emotionally intense events have on people, your focus is drawn to yourself and your emotional state, you develop a sort of tunnel vision, a tree really could dance a few feet away from you and you wouldn't notice. 

powerful stuff...

The way Pearson mixes these moments of emotional intensity and these ghoulish, creepy, otherworldy fantasy elements is seamless AND powerful (oh yeah!) 

The colour palate; orange, white, brown, grey and a thoroughly Mignola-esque deep, inky black, is deployed so expertly. Take the sequence above this inky wraith in all its inky ink black blackness reaching into the muted, soft fleshy humans. Its a perfect example of Pearson's deft touch, the fantastic elements are, at the same time, part of the world being created, blending in and striking. 

For me Pearson mixes elements of Ron Rege Jr's detailed, wiggly pencils, John Porcellino's simplicity and a bit of Charles Burns-esque weirdness (in particular the conjoined baby skeletons that appears at the begining and end of this graphic novel)

As i said before Everything We Miss is sad. One particularly devastating part of this story comes when our recently dumped male protagonist is sat in front of his email inbox, refreshing the page, hoping for an email from his ex that never comes. if only he had checked his junkmail folder. Its small things like this that Pearson excels in. Tiny but devestating things we see but the people in the story miss.

Its sad like a sad Scott Walker song, or a really sad Smiths song ('i know its over' or something like that) its stings. The only other thing that nearly made me cry this year was Daytripper, which in itself is a great recommendation.

Everything We Miss is a sweet, sad, weird, beautiful little story. you owe it to yourself to read it.

the years best comics (in my opinion) part 4

Batman Incorporated by Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham, Yannick Paquette and some other dudes..

Quite simply Batman Inc is N U T S 

How nuts? Catwoman rescuing a teenge girl from an octopus nut, THATS HOW NUTS!!

I have a lot of time for Grant Morrison. He is responsible for a whole cornucopia of amazing comics, graphic novels and a huge prose book detailing the history of comics (you should buy it!!) 

A bunch of years ago Morrison started to write Batman. His whole run is incredible. Morrison posited that everything that had happen to Batman, in any comic, had ACTUALLY had happened to Batman. From his early noir crime busting capers to the psychedelic excess of the 60s through to his ascent to A league, top shelf bonafide superhero!

That's right: EVERYTHING

For me his whole run on Batman revolves around one fact; Batman (and, SPOILER ALERT, Bruce Wayne) is a man. A highly trained, millionaire, super detective man but still a man like you or me (or a woman...whatever you know what i mean) Over the years, especially in the 60s and 70s, Batman has been exposed to his fair share of mental torture, emotional trauma and mind altering psychedelics. He has been physically and mentally (especially mentally) push to the threshold. Morrison's run explores how much Batman/Bruce Wayne's mind can actually take. We are taken to some pretty trippy zones by Morrison......

sure why not..

 With the above in mind we approach this years Batman Incorporated. 

Towards the end of last year Bruce Wayne held a press conference to announce he was backing Batman financially allowing the formation of the worldwide Batman Incorporated  organisation. Batman then visited various countries to elect suitable representatives for Batman inc. 

Its essentially a team-up comic, albeit a team-up comic drenched in Morrison's signature psychedelia. The first couple of issues see Batman and Catwoman, his on-again off-again lover/ally/enemy, travelling to Japan to anoint the inaugural member of Batman Inc. They run into Lord Death Man and shit gets trippy.

Lord Death Man, the most metal villain ever?

  

Now then, Lord Death Man first appeared in a Japanese Batman comic in the 60s or something. This is how far back Morrison is prepared to go. It immediately makes the comic exciting because there is a genuine feeling that anything could happen. A queasy psychedelic feeling already creeps in. A giant octopus is also amongst the treats from the first issue of this comic.  

As the series progresses we visit Argentina, where the crazy is upped significantly thanks to flashbacks to just after the Falklands conflict where a team of heroes is on the trail of the crazed Doctor Daedalus, we journey to Africa and Native American reserves in the U.S.  

Morrison is weaving one huge story across the issues of this title. A shadowy organisation called Leviathan is orchestrating simultaneous crimes around the world, causing chaos and turmoil. They basically call out Batman, making it very clear he is a target and will be powerless to stop their ring of crime that chokes the world. They are brainwashing kids and turning them into killers, attempting to steal huge priceless gems and generally causing mayhem. In this respect the story is simple, its a huge, complex game of Mousetrap. We ride shotgun with Batman and his colleagues trying to get to the bottom of WHO Leviathan is. 

But the story is not simple. Its like a labyrinth. Batman (and buy extension, us) is led by a trail of clues, all over the world. He encounters Doctor Daedalus, an associate of Leviathan, who has an actual GOD DAMN LABYRINTH!! I heard Batman Inc described as a simple story told in a complicated way. Morrison has a very fertile imagination and a precise grasp on aspects of Batman's past...at a few points when i was reading this comic i thought to myself 'holy shit, maybe Grant Morrison is Doctor Daedalus!' such is his deft weaving and interlocking of storylines.

I can't really talk about the story too much as i wouldn't want to spoil the story. It is so well constructed and paced so well. Each issue reads like a drug soaked episode of the old Batman TV show with Adam West etc....its what comics should be about; The unexpected, the fantastic, the absurd.

THIS ABSURD ENOUGH FOR YA?!?

 A few different pencillers join Morrison on Batman Inc, the excellent Yannick Paquette who i mentioned in the breakdown of Swamp Thing is one. The guy i want to talk about is Chris Burnham. I had never heard of the guy before but he fuckin' smashed it this year with Batman Inc.

too badass

His style is almost Frank Quitely-esque in its detail. His figures have a gritty but rounded and human style. Some of his layouts had me speechless and moisted eyed, detailed and complex but easy enough to read.

*THUD* that was the sound of me getting a boner, folks...

To summarize Batman Incorporated is a comic fans comic. It has suspense, enough retro references and conventions without being cheesy, amazing art and sprawling yet focussed writing (yeah, a paradox DEAL WITH IT) 

It is pure grade, class A comics.  

the years best comics (in my opinion) part 3

Uncanny X-Force by Rick Remender and various artists (but mainly Jerome Opena)

AAAH...the 90s. we all have fond memories of the 90s. Saved By The Bell, Baywatch...erm there was other stuff......but for me the 90s where when i really started to read comics. Jim Lee and Chris Claremont's X-Men was what got me hooked and i've never looked back.

But the 90s were notorious for ridiculous plots and even more ridiculous characters:

yeah....

Mojo, Onslaught, Guido, Maggott to name just a few main offenders (and anything Rob Liefeld drew immediately LOOKED stupid)

But why even bring the 90s into it if you are just gonna bash them, homes?

Well ill tell you. Uncanny X-Force is fuelled by pure 90s nostalgia.......and i L O V E it.....

The titular X-Force is a clandestine hit squad put together by Wolverine to 'deal with' threats against mutant kind. And by 'deal with' i mean kill/maim (but mainly kill).

Wolverine is joined by Archangel, Psylocke, Deadpool and French psychic sleaze bag Fantomex.

and for an extra 90s vibe, a line up drawn by J Scott Campbell...forgive me..

Their first mission is to follow up a lead Wolverine had found, that Apocalypse (major X-Men bad guy, evil geneticist and all round bad egg) is being resurrected. So the first mission is to stop the Akkaba Society (Apocalypse's homies) and kill Apocalypse. Only problem being Apocalypse is a currently a small boy of around 8 years old.....wait, what!?!

I had never read anything by Remender prior to this. Now i can honestly say that he is up there for me with Jonathan Hickman as Marvel's top two writers. Uncanny X-Force is, quite simple, the best comic coming out of Marvel each month.

Remender writes long form stories (much like Hickman) the first four issues, The Apocalypse Solution, deal with the teams infiltration of Akkaba's moon base and subsequent 'taking out' of tiny Apocalypse. This arc finished right at the beginning of the year but its ramifications have echoed ever louder thru the year. With Apocalypse now dead, Archangel (once Apocalypse's right hand man) begins to under go changes, he begins to 'ascend'. He is becoming Apocalypse. Thus begins the Dark Angel Saga.

The tone of this funny book is DARK. The team is essentially an assassination squad. Not all members of the team are pleased with what they have to do. Remender writes these moments of intra-team turmoil masterfully. Too often in comics people die and hard decisions are made and the consequences are all but brushed under the carpet but in Uncanny X-Force we are forced to witness the arguments that arise from the actions being taken for 'the greater good'. Its refreshing. 

Also Remender is gifted with giving each character a unique voice and personality. It doesn't feel like you are reading how a guy thinks Deadpool would talk, you are reading Deadpool actually talking.

In fact one of my favourite things about this comic is Deadpool. If you are unaware, Deadpool was a creation of Rob Liefeld an is quintessentially 90s

ok, so his thighs are thicker than his waist...erm..you know what? FORGET IT

Remender uses Deadpool as a comedy foil, which is how Deadpool is always written but in Uncanny X-Force Deadpool also becomes the moral voice. How worrying that Deadpool, mentally disturbed, killing machine Deadpool is the one dissenting moral voice within the team. This is what i'm talking about when i say Remender is masterful at writing. Wolverine is the staunch 'do what needs to be done' leader, Archangel is the money guy and defacto second in command riddled with dark psychological problems, Psylocke is the focussed ninja assasin and Archangel's lover, Fantomex is the irreverent, mysterious wild card (who is French).........

The most striking thing for me is how Remender folds in 90s characters and plot points into his story without turning it into a cringey, testostorone fuelled crap-fest. Deadpool (obviously) Apocalypse and The Shadow King appear early on. As Remende'rs opus progresses we are re-introduced to Dark Beast and we visit the Age Of Apocalypse demension (an alternate time line in which Prof X dies leaving Apocalypse unchecked and with nothing to stand in his way)

Its so engaging. i would even recommend this series to people who are unfamiliar with the myriad Marvel back stories. its engagingly written, exposition is deft and unnoticeable and the story is dark, gripping and action packed.

Remender also writes dialogue between characters so well. The little interactions between each member of the squad really draw you in and involve you in the story:

tastes like chicken

Uncanny X-Force has had a few artists on board. Two mainstays of the series have been Esad Ribic (who also provides covers for most of the issues) and Jerome Opena.

Esad Ribic, everybody!

Ribic is one of my fave artists right now. Primarily because he makes Psylocke actually look Asian (which she is, she is Japanese) and doesn't have her look like a stripper. He is currently illustrating Hickman's The Ultimates, he is awesome....

But my favourite is Jerome Opena. His detailed European style is perfect for the dark, dangerous and dirty world of X-Force. Detailed and fluid and supremely coloured by Dean White's almost painterly style:

you can almost feel the blood splashing you in the face

Uncanny X-Force is my favourite comic right now, certainly from Marvel possibly my fave in the world. its just so engaging. You have literally no idea what could happen from issue to issue and it is written in an adult fashion with a real consideration for the larger over-arching storyline that Remender is forging. As we leave 2011 X-Force are having to answer for their actions of the last years worth of issues. I can't wait. Its nice to read a comic that throws curve balls and morality, action and philosophy, blood and science to such a degree that you don't even feel it going in...it picks you up and carries you along. There is a genuine sense that every character in the comic is in very real danger all the time (something that is missing from alot of mainstream funny books) 

also: its very violent! GO WOLVERINE!

Uncanny X-Force is a prime example that comics aren't just for kids and can be as engaging and intelligent as any medium. And i will fight to the death with anyone that says other wise!

the years best comics (in my opinion) part 2

so, this September DC decide to reset all their monthly comics and relaunch 52 new #1 issues.
The Flash centric mini series/maxi series multi titles crossover event Flashpoint led up to the big reset....im not gonna talk about it, it was boring (i only read the main title; Flashpoint. im informed some of the spin off titles were of merit) 


Some cosmic event happened and the DC universe, some elements of the Vertigo universe and the Wildstorm universe (wikipedia them if you have no idea what im talking about) merged into a brand new DC continuity,  with revised origin stories and some pretty big changes to established DC lore.


so 52 new titles starting from scratch. pretty exciting. there was a lot of moaning (on the internet obviously) about the New 52 as they have been dubbed but i was really into it. i love comics and i heard some pretty classy writers were getting a chance to write certain characters..........LETS HAVE A LOOK SHALL WE!!!!!!!!


sorry for shouting.


ok first up:


Justice League by Geoff Johns and Jim Lee


i dont have a lot to say about this title. Johns essentially writes Michael Bay quality scripts for his comics. fairly pedestrian stuff. i enjoyed some of his Green Lantern stuff but Justice League was just ploddy and boring. a guy with concussion could write a more engaging story. 


for me it was all about Jim Lee. 
chances are if you are around the same age as me and ever read X Men in the 90s you have seen Jim Lee's classy mutha' fuckin' pencils.

.................just, wow..............

he is a damn good penciller, the figures look muscular with out looking ridiculous (*ahemrobliefeldahemahem*) so its always a joy to look at his line work. but the story was just weak. so i abandoned it after issue #3.

goodnight my sweet prince....

Animal Man by Jeff Lemire and Travel Foreman AND Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder and Yannick Paquette


These two titles i was really excited about. 


Animal Man had been one of Grant Morrison's early successes and i was about half way through reading Alan Moore's amazing, ground breaking run on Swamp Thing, so i was curious to see what Lemire and Snyder would pull out of the bag.


What i got was two separate stories by separate writers that, subtly and gradually begin to dovetail together to form a broader story. Each writer enriches the sauce of their story with the delicious juices from the others comic.

and, you know, chicks on motorbikes shooting Swamp Thing with a shotgun...

Swamp Thing, written (expertly) by Snyder, is a knight of The Green., the life for ever all plant matter on the planet. Alec Holland woke up a month prior to the start of issue #1 with no memory of his own life but memories of people and incidents the Swamp Thing had experienced. is Holland Swamp Thing? why do the  elder knights of The Green need him to defend all living things against an approaching darkness? ....im not telling...read it!


Through out the first four issues Holland meets Abby Arcane, a woman from his inherited memories and the stage is set for a battle with the Rot, the rotten, dark force of death and disease. A Scott Snyder comic is always a meaty read, he doesn't scrimp on dialogue but his stories always have a great pace. it's sorta-gritty almost conversational style is perfect, winding and writhing like a tendril of an ivy plant climbing up a thick tree trunk. 


Yannick Paquette compliments Snyder's writing so perfectly. His pencils for the human characters have a chunky, Jack Kirby-esque heft...

do what the big green plant guy says, dude....

But it's Paquette's double page spreads that really get my juices flowing (just picture that for a second, ok...) they are intricate, psychedelic tapestries....BEHOLD:

its not big, but its all i could find, soz!

so yeah, perfectly written and illustrated. go read it.......


Animal Man, or Buddy Baker to his wife and two children, is a low level superhero. He did a bit of acting, an indie film and now is returning to semi sorta full time super heroing.


He defuses a hostage situation using various animal attributes he borrows from near-by fauna via his powers! so he barks like a dog and uses the proportionate speed of a fly and saves the day.


Then he gets home and find his young daughter playing in his backyard with recently deceased animals. So begins Buddy and Maxine Bakers journey into The Red, the source of the life blood over every living thing on the planet. Buddy's wife and his son Cliff are then stalked by agents of the Rot in the form of three John Carpenter's The Thing-esque Hunters Three, twisted metamorphing monsters. 


Lemire writes in a loose, spindly style. Like arranging strands of thick red wool on a plain surface, strands of story intertwine, some of the strands even make their way into Snyder's Swamp Thing....loose but engaging.


Travel Foreman (great name) illustrates in a...hang on. Just look at this shit, man....

sweet jesus!

oh yeah, thats right!

new underpants please!

so yeah, this is great, great pencilling. Quirky but really precise.


Swamp Thing and Animal Man are both really awesome comics. i look forward to these two titles probably the most out of my usual pull list from month to month. I look forward to seeing where Snyder and Lemire take the stories.


that all for now, im gonna do another New 52 post soon so stay tuned.....

wild card: week one: Ronin Dogs by Mark Pearce

I just read Ronin Dogs book 1 by Mark Pearce.


Tom in Page 45 pointed at it and said 'have you read that?' with a mischievous look on his face so i picked it up straight away.


So, as you can see above, our protagonists are Derek (24, skeleton for a head, false beard) and Jennifer (24, likes fighting, drinking, and shoes). skeleton head = check false beard = check hard drinkin' sword wielding badass lady = check. i'm already 100% behind this comic!

also: BOOBS

it is essentially a set up issue, Derek and Jennifer got into trouble one time and now every body wants to punch and kick them. simple.


after this is explained, someone turns up to punch and kick them (or rather try and snipe them from a different planet) 


the first thing that jumps out at me is the art in this comic. it reminds me of Brandon Graham, Jamie Hewlett, Akira Toriyama, Yasuhiro Nightow and James Stokoe. Its far from being derivative,  the panels ooze and bristle and slap you DIRECTLY IN THE EYES!  its like having LSD laced treacle poured into your eyes! (i actually keep picking up the comic and just looking at the pages...its addictive)

if this doesn't scream Akira Toryama then i'm a monkeys fuckin' uncle

a special mention must be made of the two hapless assassins that try and off our heroes. A mysterious flask wielding monk and what i assume is some sort of sentient bush that talks about  wanting to be a chef:


'I always wanted to be a chef. I would cook all day. I'd make....brucgy sticks, cereal, chumpy wongers....roast bugger' 


BLESS!


Ronin Dogs book 1 is a like a shot of whisky. Tasty and i want more of it! 


i heartily recommend this for fans of Trigun, Wonton Soup or looking at and reading things that are awesome.

exactly!

the years best comics (in my opinion) part 1

right out of the gate with a caveat: where possible i will be talking about the best comics i've read that have come out this year. there might be a few collections or graphic novels that came out last year but im gonna include them anyway as this is MY BLOG TOUGH GUYS! now hit the showers.....

done?

good. right, secondly i apologise for spelling mistakes and long rambly passages.

ok lets do this:

Casanova : Avaritia

Casanova is a story about everything. 

Love, betrayal, sex, being an asshole, death, morality, trying not to be so much of an asshole....

and in a broader sense it is about capital 'E' Everything...the Multiverse type of everything.

The titular Casanova, Casanova Quinn, is kind of an asshole, serial womaniser, James Bond mixed with Mick Jagger. He has a twin sister, Zephyr, apple of their fathers eye (the same father that is director of the supersecret spy organisation they work for. think a fat Nick Fury) and pretty much the exact opposite of Casanova. obviously ill try and avoid spoiling the finer points of the story but in the first volume Casanova (from here on; Cass) is stolen from his universe By Newman Zeno, bandaged face leader of W.A.S.T.E and super crazy evil scientist type. also he looks like this:

Cass is then forced into a double agent type scenario, working for his father and Xeno. i know right! you are gripped already!

Avaritia is the third volume of Casanova written by Matt Fraction and drawn alternately by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba (who are also twins). The story is too hard to explain and too much fun to read without some asshat like me spoiling it for you so i wont bother, what i will do is tell you why Casanova : Avaritia is good comics. its quite simple:

1) Matt Fraction clearly loves writing this comic. Its sexy, sexual, cool, horrifying, funny...it comes off like a more pop culture version of Grant Morrison's The Invisibles.

ok, i chose the above page because it has one Cass hitting an alternate universes version of his nemesis, Newman Xeno whilt shouting 'GIVE ME THE THINGY!' 

Fraction is a former alcoholic. He talks about his recovery a lot in the back matter of the monthly issues at times. He writes the nihilistic side of the characters in Casanova so well, obviously channelling the despair he felt. Casanova is also a very funny comics. The two examples i have posted above both illustrate the wise guy humour that Fraction weaves into all his work but its most prominent in Casanova. Their are moments of great emotional heft (Cass discovering his mother is still alive and their subsequent reunion) and silent beauty (there is a funeral in Vol 2 of this series that genuinely moves me every time i read it). What im saying is Fraction pours himself into this comic. Every page has something cool on it; a witty line, a cool action scene. Only two issues of this came out this year but they were both AMAZING examples of why i love comics so much.

Gabriel Ba illustrates this volume of Casanova. he is amazing as you can see:

Fuck me, i don't even know where to start on this. just look at it again for a bit.

we have some Kirby-esque crackle going on, simple but devastatingly effective line work. A dash of Mike Mignola here a bit of Chris Bachalo there. It suits Fraction's writing perfectly...it bright, arresting and really fucking cool. still not convinced. look at this and weep:

I KNOW!!!!!!

This is the third volume of Casanova of a proposed seven volumes (one for each of the deadly sins) and i cant get enough. 

what are you doing??!?! go and buy the first collection and thank me later because Casanova : Avaritia is good comics!!!!!

....SUDDENLY!

right, i've finally bowed to intense public pressure and decided to start my own blog about my intense passionate love of C O M I C S

initially i'm going to just be commenting on comics or graphic novels I have read and why i like them or don't like them.

so if you dont like that you are gonna need to point your internets elsewhere.

that is all.

....SUDDENLY!

right, i've finally bowed to intense public pressure and decided to start my own blog about my intense passionate love of C O M I C S

initially i'm going to just be commenting on comics or graphic novels I have read and why i like them or don't like them.

so if you dont like that you are gonna need to point your internets elsewhere.

that is all.