Prophet #21 by Brandon Graham and Simon Roy

Today we are having a look at Prophet #21 by Brandon Graham and Simon Roy.

Firstly an explaination: Prophet (along with a bunch of other soon to be ressurected titles) started life as one of Rob Liefeld's Extreme Studio titles. If you are familiar with comics of the 90's or a comics nut like myself you will be painfully aware of Liefeld's work.

For the uninitiated:

just let your brain try and deal with the shit-storm it is seeing......

(I could post bad Liefeld pics for hours and hours....maybe another time)

In the dying months of 2011 Image announced that it would be bringing back some of these Extreme Studio titles. The first title I heard about was Prophet, what piqued my interest was that it would be written by Brandon Graham and, crucially, Liefeld would have NO INVOLVEMENT WHAT-SO-EVER!!!!!!

So instead of this:

..........sigh.........

We now get this:

Javier Bardem on the toilet beats a Liefeld muscle-man any day of the week...

Now, Brandon Graham is the writer/artist of King City and Multiple Warheads (neither of which I have read, i'm awaiting the reprint of King City with baited breath) and he is extremely talented, the only thing of his i own is an eight page short story in one of the recent issues of Dark Horse Presents (i'll post about that at some point) and it was a beautiful, quirky and touching story that was illustrated perfectly. So when i heard he was writing this sci-fi comic i was very much on board. 


So John Prophet emerges from the ground in a hyper sleep pod into a seemingly alien world and we emerge with him. Right off the bat we are immersed into Graham's narrative style, simple, terse text peppered with beautifully descriptive and inventive sci-fi terms. It really feels as though we have woken bleary eyed and fuzzy headed from stasis and are bombarded with alien creatures, far-future technologies and new systems and strata of life.

good doggy, good doggyOHSWEETFUCKINGJESUS!

The opening few pages are brilliantly paced, Prophet awakens from his hyper-sleep, emerges into a new world, takes various pills to kick start his body and mind after hibernation and is attacked by a tulnaka (imagine a cross between a wolf and the creature from The Thing). He kills, butchers and preserves the meat from the tulnaka and we are off! mission start! Prophet is full of little things and touches here and there that really get my sci-fi juices flowing; there is a amazing panel early on where Prophet lays out the contents of his survival pack on the ground (including his bloodied knife he used to dispatch the meanie) each item is labelled.  


There are some amazing gizmos, like Prophet's DolMantle (a sort of luminous, sentient slug/poncho/flak jacket) and the G.O.D satellite that he is tasked with re-starting. Graham populates every single inch and corner of this world with alien and freakishly familiar aspects that make it so refreshing to read. It comes off like a sci-fi Conan or something like that. Its a hard sci-fi approach but with a soft gooey centre of awesomeness. 

and by 'live ammunition' he really means live, like alive alive! thats how amazing this comic is!

The story reminds me of Dune in some respects. We are thrust into a story with no spoon-feeding of information or hand to hold and guide you through. It feels like we are in constant peril and Prophet is our guide.

I have to mention the awesome pencils by Simon Roy and the orgasmic colours by Richard Ballermann. Roy's pencils are detailed and beautiful and very European in style. Each panel is a masterpiece and his spreads almost reduced me to tears, look:

that, right there, is a fucking beauty!

Ballermann's colour also moved me greatly. In the underground sequence the rich reds and the little, almost bio-luminescent touches of blue are just so beautiful.

sorry to repeat this pic but just look at the reds and the glowing blue......IM AROUSED!!!!!

Graham, Roy and Ballermann have created a genuinely alien world, full of unknown (to us at least) peril and a story so addictive and intriguing any fan of sci-fi would be foolish to jumo on board with these guys. I've read this comic three times now and i'm so excited about the next issue I just might read it again!!


Special mention: in the back pages of this comic Graham himself pencils a very sexy map of the world Prophet wakes up in:

buy the comic for a better look at it!

Special mention 2: Lil Rob Liefeld draw a variant cover to #1:

(slow clap)

GUEST POST #1 Mark Jansen on Nick Spencer

Something of a first here on my little blog, we have a guest poster in the shape and form of my good friend and cosmic brother Mark Jansen. 


so with out further ado I present to you Mark's post........


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writer Profile: Nick Spencer

Hi. You don't know me, but I like comics. I didn't always. Or rather, I wasn't as 'into' them as I am now. Aside from an affinity for the Marvel UK run of Transformers, which I actually got into a little late (about twenty issues before its cancellation in 1992) and owning the first trade of the original Ninja Turtles comic (which was fucking brutal incidentally) it wasn't until I picked up the first Walking Dead hardcover three years ago that a dormant interest was renewed. I have too much to say about that book here, so I'll skip forward a little.

If The Walking Dead renewed my interest, then Nick Spencer's work made me fall head over heels with comics. Having only a basic knowledge of the Marvel and DC universes, I'm not playing with a 'full deck' but fuck it, I like what I like. And it was a comic that my buddy Andrew (writer of this fine blog) recommended me at the beginning of last year, 'The Infinite Vacation', that I have to thank for what is fast becoming a very expensive pastime. 

'The Infinite Vacation' is an absolute joyous headfuck of a book (and the length of time between issues shows how much planning and consideration each one gets - either that or Spencer is just too busy to finish it - wotevs). In a world where the multiverse is played out like a body swap eBay, our hero Mark (amazing name) is the ultimate tourist, trading his way through various versions of his own life. The art, by Christian Ward, is simultaneously both spectacularly detailed and playfully sketchy

repetition

:

The hook of the story is that someone is hunting Mark down; in every universe, every version of Mark is in danger. Cue some pretty awesome speculative fiction concepts intercut with some of the most depraved scenes imaginable at the hands of one of Mark's demented doppelgangers (see especially issue 3). 

OK, so my interest is piqued. I have to see what else is in this guy's head.

Also published by Image, Existence 2.0 and its sequel Existence 3.0 are two amazing slabs of Philip K. Dickian level sci-fi, married to a multi-layered crime story about the development (and resulting theft and espionage) of body swap technology. The opening of Existence 2.0 is immediately arresting, as our main guy is killed in the first few pages:

Ouch!

But of course he's not dead, he's used the body swap tech to possess his killer's body, and so begins an incredibly original whodunnit where the victim travels deeper into the killer's world, and... well, I won't ruin it. A three issue mini-series, Existence 2.0 was followed by the four-part Existence 3.0 (both are collected in the trade). The sequel marks the first collaboration of Spencer with the awesome Joe Eisma, with whom Spencer co-created the ongoing Morning Glories.

Before we get onto that, let me just say that the hook in Spencer's work is the thematic continuity in his work. Both Existence and Infinite Vacation portray worlds where technology is surpassing humanity - we can't control what we create - resulting in the fragmentation of identity and situations of anarchy. Further, in his miniseries Shuddertown and Forgetless, Spencer foreshadows the serendipitous meetings, dark secrets and often murderous tendencies that characterise Morning Glories.

Forgetless #5 

Morning Glories was a major success story in 2010, with its first issue going on to four printings for Image and rave reviews making Spencer a virtual household name. Envisioned as a 100-issue melting pot of Lost (the TV show, to which the series owes much - more on that in a bit) and teen drama, glued together with some absolutely batshit insane stuff, it follows six teenagers (3 boys, 3 girls) who all start at boarding school on the same day. Things are not what they seem though, and pretty soon Spencer and Eisma are juggling with time travel, doppelgangers, murder, attempted murder, astral projection, suicide, more murder, more attempted murder, and... what the fuck is this?!

Ouch part 2

I said before that the series owes a lot to Lost, which it knows (there are a number of easter eggs for fans of that show). The cryptic nature of the storytelling, for one, coupled with many of the themes, are evocative of that show; there is a heavy use of flashback, which is not always signposted and it's a testament to Eisma's art that he can move us through time and mood so clearly (I should also mention his stellar work with giving each of the characters their own unique appearances and sets of expressions, which compliment Spencer's well-drawn characters perfectly). More than anything, though, it's the way the story is told as pieces of a puzzle, which at issue #15 we are only just starting to find the corners of.

And therein lies the challenge. Reviewers have already criticised the series for being a bit meandering and asking too many questions before it gives us answers. And casual readers are going to get fed up. Just like what happened with Lost. In fact, perhaps asking a reader to invest in a mystery for 100 months is more a commitment than six seasons of a TV show. But, for those who trust Spencer's skills as a writer (like myself) I am certain of a rewarding experience each time I pick up a copy of this book. I can't recommend it enough, especially if you're a fan of serialised mythology-based TV shows. It's very telling that Spencer's next project is collaborating with Robert Kirkman on the TV writers-room influenced Thief of Thieves, which will be another interesting experiment for Image.

What is the secret of Morning Glories Academy?

Let's bring this post back to the beginning where I said I wasn't operating with a full deck. This means I can't talk about Spencer's work on Iron Man 2.0, Action Comics, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, or the Jimmy Olsen one-shot but I can tell you I have picked up the first few issues of Ultimate Comics: X-Men, which he's currently writing for Marvel with pencils by Paco Medina. Characterised by a complete u-turn on the X-mythos where it has been proven that mutants are not the next step in human evolution but are instead the result of a government super soldier experiment gone wrong - the series focuses on Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Iceman, Johnny Storm and Jimmy Hudson, the son of Wolverine. Typically, Spencer infuses the setting with angst and unrest, punctuating with top-notch characterisation and thoughtful moments. The first trade hits in April, but there's a collected edition of #1-3 and the single issues aren't too scarce, so don't be afraid, get on board.

Shadow-LOL-cat

Fatale #1 By Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

oh hi! today we are taking a look at Fatale #1 by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.

that's one smooth Lovecraftian gangster

I've never read anything by Ed Brubaker before, shocking I know! The guy in my local comic shop was slack jawed and bereft of words when I told him this as i forked over the hard earned cash for this, the first issue of Brubaker's new series.

Brubaker is responsible for the Criminal series [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criminal_(comics)] which is really highly regarded and loved by fans and critics alike. Truthfully I haven't considered this as A) I don't have a bottomless supply of money so I can't buy everything and B) crime oriented stories (in any medium) are never my first choice. Thats just my personal preference. 

Brubaker has also been writing Captain America for Marvel, which has also been given lots of positive praise.

So when I heard that Brubaker (and long term collaborator Sean Phillips) had a new series starting I was interested, especially when I found out it would be a horror series.......that is much more my cup of tea.

prolly oughta answer the tentacle guy....just sayin'

Fatale is a crime comic first and foremost, at least it is in this debut issue. Set (after a modern day prologue) in the 1950's, Fatale's world is a noir infused, pulpy world filled with crooked cops and mistresses, plucky reporters trying to expose said bent coppers, a grisly murder with occult leanings.....WAIT, WHAT?!

yeah, you heard me...occult murders! and the weirdness doesn't end there....but more on that shortly.

The title Fatale quite clearly (at this point) refers to the only female lead character we are introduced to; Josephine, a Femme Fatale if you will (boom!)

dude has a noir-boner

We meet Josephine (or Jo) in the modern day prologue to the main story. She seems to have some sort of hold over men (granted she is a looker) and bears a striking resemblance to a raven haired beauty we meet in the 1950s section of the first issue. Right out of the gate I love that there is a female lead that these dudes are all jelly-legged over.....this is in keeping with the noir feel.

But there is more going on here than just grisly murders and a sexy, mysterious woman. There is something positively Lovecraftian afoot. It is only hinted at at this stage but the discovery of a building full of slain cultists, complete with weird rune-esque shapes smeared on the walls and three scary almost identical bowler hat wearing stooges that accost the mean, cancer ridden bent copper really remind me of a classic Lovecraft short updated to a slightly more modern surrounding. 

What Brubaker does in Fatale is bring H.P Lovecraft's cosmic horror to a gritty street level with such subtlety that you hardly notice it. The eerie, gory horror aspects and creepy occult aspects are folded into the pulp infused, smoky crime drama like silky egg white into the yolk of the main body of the story. Its a noir/cosmic horror omelette.

There is a great essay about H.P Lovecraft and his unique brand of horror prose include as back matter in this comic. I'm a huge Lovecraft fan so this was a great read and features a gnarly illustration of Lovecraft with tentacles.

best scan i could find guys....

I have to mention Sean Phillips' pencils, his is a simple but never plain style reminding me alot of Eduardo Rissou.

especially here...

You can practically smell the smoke and whiskey oozing from the panels...and the blood too thanks to the moody colours of Dave Stewart. Dark blues, steely greys and inky blacks streaked with occasionally coppery red smears of blood bring this book to life. Its a sensory experience that melds perfectly with Brubakers slick, clipped delivery. For me this is like a perfect amalgamation of Howard Chaykin's  swagger and Alan Moore's grit. Yeah this comic is good, really fucking good. I'm eager to see how far Brubaker takes us into the world of crime and cosmic horror.  

I'm now a fan of Brubaker and Phillips on the strength of around thirty pages of story and art, this is classy, dark and moody stuff that begs to be read as it jumps off the page.

read it....

Sacrifice #1 by Sam Humphries and Dalton Rose

Firstly apologies for the lack of 'action' on this blog. Real life, as always, gets in the way. 

However i'm back on track now and some sort of regular posting should now resume.

ok.

So, the first review/discussion/rant/whatever of the new year is:

SACRIFICE #1 by Sam Humphries and Dalton Rose

do what he says he has a maquahuitl!!!!

You may remember Humphries name from my bit on his awesome OUR LOVE IS REAL, one of my favourite comics of last year (up there with the reprint of The Incal) and one of the more intriguing and original things i've read in a good while.

Sacrifice is a new self-published, six part series that is well worth your attention (the first issue came out in Dec). 

Hector has just self discharged from a psychiatric ward and been taken for tacos by his friend Violet. Hector has been dodging his medication and as a result experiences some sort of psychedelic seizure/acid trip and ends up confronted by a bunch of Aztec warriors. At first they wish to sacrifice him as an offering to their gods but upon seeing his Aztec tattoo decide to take Hector to their emperor.  

.....woah.....

We learn of Hector's past through flashback panels brought to us via Dalton Rose's beautifully psychedelic spreads and sparse, clean panels. Humphries tells us that Hector is epileptic and is struggling to fit in and as a child was very interested in Aztec culture.

There is a beautiful sequence where a young Hector and his father are talking about the demise of the Aztecs at the hands of the Spanish:

'When the Spanish came, there was a war, and they killed all the Aztecs'

'Why?'

'Sometimes people believe they're doing the right thing, even when it's wrong'

It will be interesting to see how this exchange resonates throughout the rest of the series. Does it apply to Hector's parents and the way they dealt with Hector's epilepsy? Will it reflect the particular period of time Hector has ended up in? Does it refer to Hector dodging his meds leading to his psychedelic time travel?

behold, multiple variant covers and a Joy Division reference. I'm sold.

 I've read and re-read this first issue a few times now and I keep noticing things I didn't notice before, this is the sign of a good comic in my view. 

I also love how Hector is a Joy Division fan and I got a kick out of the little 'easter-eggs' I spotted.

Bizarre Love Triangle by New Order being pumped on the tape deck....nice touch (awesome song too)

This, like OUR LOVE IS REAL, is one of the best things I have read in ages. Refreshing and interesting and FUN! 

There is enough mystery in Sacrifice to hook me but also enough happening within the individual issue to entertain......suddenly Avengers V X-Men seems even more mundane. More power to Humphries and Rose, they are creating something original and fucking awesome......

Sacrifice is available online digitally and as a traditional paper and staples affair.

All the links you need are here:

http://samhumphries.com/sacrifice-comic-book/

I emplore you to check it out if you are reading this its all kind of rad. 

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.