Darick Robertson's Blog, page 6

It’s the Little Things

“Transmetropolitan” got a shout out last night on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” by the lovely and talented Anna Chlumsky who is just killing it on HBO’s “VEEP”.

But thanks to the wonderful world of Twitter, I was able to say thank you , and this was the reply.:

It’s nice to know who enjoys your work, and even nicer when they tell the world.

The Double Standard

By Darick Robertson

On May 8, 2014 I was contacted by a producer from BBC radio’s “The JVS Show” in England. The producer and the host, Jonathan Vernon-Smith were friendly as they invited me to discuss what turned out to be a piece regarding a woman in Herefordshire who unfortunately discovered my Garth Ennis Co-Created comic “The Boys” in the children’s section of her local library.  

I was contacted to represent the comic, essentially, but I was a bit surprised by the tone of the questions, as the host off air was cordial, and when recording our interview, he took a bit more aggressive tone, as if I needed to be shamed for creating a comic that wasn’t for kids. The host described “The Boys” saying that ”The characters are Super-heroes living in a brutal world, and the stories often depict rape, sexual assault, violent attacks, and a large number of highly offensive sexual swear words.” He asked me “Do people really want those kind of images in a comic?” as if all people are in agreement about what is good and what isn’t. “The Boys” has been on the New York Times bestsellers list multiple times, and has won and has been nominated for many awards, including Best Series by the Eisner Awards, so someone must be enjoying it. 

This lead to a discussion with me where I needed to point out that these comics were never intended for children, and that comics enjoy a hearty audience of adult readers, but despite that, they read excerpted scenes from the dialogue out of context, and they reacted as if they had never seen or heard anything so vile. The offended woman had misread and misunderstood scenes of freaky and rough but consensual sex between Butcher and Rayner as “rape”, and Starlight’s induction into “the Seven” in issue three as if nothing like that ever happened before, when in fact, Ennis based that on true stories of the old Hollywood casting couches of yesteryear. That was his satire. But out of context, that element was lost. 

Anyone can take things out of a context and make it sound pointless and vulgar for vulgarity’s sake. For example:

“INT. REMEMBERED CAR – NIGHT

Joe’s thumbnail flares a match, exposing Anastasia on the car

seat with Joe, both nearly naked. Anastasia butterfly-kisses

Joe’s chest as he lights a cigarette.

ANASTASIA

Say you love me. Just say it.

JOE

Okay. I love you.

Anastasia purrs as her lips find Joe’s breast, trying to

nurse. A flashlight flares suddenly through the car window.

NIGHTMARE – MULTIPLE SPLIT SCREEN

Low angle Ratso bending over Joe, into camera…

… Sally Buck shocked, hand still on switch…

… Joe blinded by halation…

… Anastasia’s mouth screaming soundlessly…

… flashlights multiplying on car window…

Full frame — Anastasia catatonic in hospital gown — a

woman’s voice “What’d he do to you, Annie?”…

… gang-bang ratpack surrounding car with flashlights…

… Jackie shrieking “He loves her he loves her”…

… hands closing on Joe’s buttocks…

… hand closing on Joe’s naked left foot…

… hand on naked right foot…

… dentist leaning over Joe’s mouth…

… hands pulling Joe’s legs apart…

Zoom close-up — Anastasia screaming soundlessly…

… thermometer under Little Joe’s tongue…

… Sally Buck shoves chocolate in her mouth…

… bewigged poodle licks her fingers…

… Sally Buck hangs enema can on bedpost…

… Ratso leads ratpack chasing naked Anastasia…

… corona of flashlights…

Anastasia screaming soundlessly — flashlight shoved into her

mouth — electronic rock blasting…

… blank-eyed go-go girl in dance hall window…

… Joe held naked by ratpack…

… Ratso breaking beer bottle on Everett’s bar…

… dwarf laughing on television…

… Ratso aims broken bottle at Joe’s crotch…

… shooting gallery cowboys riddle Joe’s pelvis…

Anastasia catatonic in courtroom — between gaunt parents -

whining singsong “Raped her raped her Joe Buck raped her”…

… Fat Boy’s mouth finds Joe’s breast, tries to nurse…

… Sally Buck kisses him open-mouthed…

… slug crawls up Joe’s stomach, trailing mucus…

… Cass’s poodle laps at his toes…

… butterflies settle on his eyes…

Anastasia catatonic in courtroom between parents — who are

now O’Daniel and Sally Buck…

… drawling voice “evidence of repeated violations”…

… Bill Bonner in flag-cloth judge’s robe…

… police advancing, swinging night sticks…

… Joe running into Times Square, suddenly naked…

… Anastasia sitting in all-night cafeteria…

… freaky child running toy mouse over her naked body…

Siren screaming — Anastasia staring catatonic from rear

window of ambulance…

… ambulance racing away…

… Joe chasing naked after ambulance…

… running into the arms of the police…

… Ratso laughing as police beat Joe…”

Sounds terrible when you read it, but that ‘s an excerpt from Waldo Salt’s 1969 academy award winning screenplay “Midnight Cowboy” and if necessary, one could describe it as such:  ”The characters are a thief and a male prostitute living in a brutal world, and the story depicts rape, sexual assault, violent attacks, and a large number of highly offensive sexual swear words.” 

But that film won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay; and “It is the only X-rated film to win an Oscar in any category, and one of three X-rated films nominated for an Oscar.” It was a X-rated movie in 1969, an “R” rated movie as of 1971 and is a critically acclaimed, Academy award-winning film. 

Graphic Novels have an undue burden of being presumed that they are made exclusively for children the way that Spider-man and Batman have been in the past. But no other creative medium is held to that standard, that if something is made for children in a certain format, then all content in that format must be made safe for children to recognize and consume, lest they be exposed to something awful that they shouldn’t see. ”The Boys” graphic novels are indicated on the cover as being for mature readers, but somehow if something is illustrated, it’s implied that we’ve crossed an invisible line. The material is not for children, but that it might be confused as being for children somehow means those writers and artists creating adult stories for adult audiences should cease and desist; For the sake of the children that MIGHT see it. 

 Even though there are live action films about Spider-man and Batman, no one raises alarm when a film or television show has adult content for an adult audience, even if it includes superheroes (“Kick-Ass” and James Gunn’s “Super” for example have superheroes in them, but they weren’t made or rated for kids).

Actors and special effects can portray brutal scenes in 3-D realism and that is worthy of million dollar budgets and worldwide audiences, but if I sit in my studio and illustrate something comparable, I’ve crossed a line and such material should be banned from libraries and hidden away. That seems strange to me. I’d bet that the original novel for “Midnight Cowboy” and in all likelihood the DVD of the film is in that Herefordshire library for rent, somewhere. “The Sopranos” and “Game Of Thrones” have explicit scenes with actual people performing them on television, and those are two of the highest rated, award winning shows from the last 10 years. However, those shows aren’t dismissed for having extreme adult content, they are celebrated. 

All rock music is not without suggestive themes and lyrics, but kids might hear it. All movies are not made for a general audience, and are easily accessible. Not all television shows are for all audiences. Somehow, though, comics get relegated to a standard that if they are not made clearly for children, they are a bigger offender. The real world is far worse than anything I’ve drawn. I hear all day in the news, far more real and awful things than anything in our fictional comic about people with costumes and super powers that they abuse. The actual world and real headlines, such as the tragic story of the Nigerian schoolgirls who have been kidnapped by terrorists, raped and sold into slavery are far more disturbing. At least in our stories, such terrorists meet a fitting justice. I draw the stuff that horrifies and disgusts me as a way of turning my fears into art.  

There are consequences to the terrible stuff that happens in our stories, because it’s fiction, there’s an order to it. But it’s not just there to shock and titillate, but it was described as such. I felt our material was treated with prejudice and bias, because it was in graphic novel format, but was not actually read and clearly misunderstood. 

 The reality is that no one actually gets hurt when I draw a picture of something terrible. No actual woman is degraded in the real world, and no actual person dies or bleeds. Horrible things exist in everyday reality, but somehow if we illustrate them in a fictional story, because our medium is words and pictures, we’ve somehow gone too far. Just because we are depicting evil and brutality in illustrated, sequential art doesn’t mean that we’re condoning the actions or celebrating evil. Evil sometimes needs to be depicted for the sake of story. It’s all just make believe! And no, children shouldn’t read it, but clearly the adult, rational person in the segment didn’t read it either. She just reacted to what she saw and assumed that it was aimed at her children. But it wasn’t. Somebody made a mistake. “Game of Thrones” has dragons and Kings, Queens and Princesses; but I wouldn’t show it to children. Opening the comic and reading it would have prevented that mistake. One glance tells you what you’re in for, and that’s where this segment began. But the segment attacks the material first and takes the library to task secondly. 

If you only saw the violent bits of “Kill Bill” “Django Unchained” or “Goodfellas”, you would miss the context. Even the opening scenes of “Saving Private Ryan” and “Lincoln” are full of gut wrenching blood and violence.

So there’s a double standard there. It’s absolutely reasonable to look at something that offends you and say “This is not for me” but I don’t think it’s reasonable to decide that for everybody else. So perhaps the dilemma isn’t our content, perhaps it’s the publisher’s rating system and that library’s reaction to a lack of a clear rating system.

This issue has been debated for decades, going back to the 50′s when Dr.Frederic Wertham wrote a book called “Seduction Of The Innocent” and it lead to comics being censored by the Federal Government in the USA. You can see the full story in a brilliant documentary called “Comic Book Confidential”. It all seems funny until you realize that in 1955, attitudes about comics lead to a Federal Government mandated censorship and practically drove William Gaines’ EC Comics out of business. 

This is a segment from 1955’s “Confidential Report” A report by Paul Coates. (Directed by “Empire Strikes Back” director Irvin Kershner!) http://tinyurl.com/p7mt5ll 

Amazing how the conversation hasn’t changed very much. 

(In all fairness, I want to be clear the the JVS show brought on a Graphic Novel aficionado who defended “The BOYS” and it’s better qualities, as well as being considerate enough to include me in their conversation, and I thank them.)

OLIVER By Gary Whitta and Darick Robertson coming from IMAGE Comics 2014

Tools ‹ Darick Robertson — WordPress.

Upcoming Appearances

WORDS AND PICTURES

Every comic book has one thing in common. It starts with a blank space. Somewhere between a blank sheet of paper or a blank screen, creative labor manifests into a comic book. The difference is made by who the people are that fill in those blank spaces and what you have when it’s all done.

I’ve been a comic book fan longer than I’ve been a professional comic book artist. I grew up reading comics in an era where creative teams on comic books weren’t a selling point, but the characters themselves were. You’d read Batman or Spider-man and a variety of teams might be bringing you said characters and each comic had a look that you could distinguish from others.

Many of those incredible talents have passed away in relative obscurity while their art lives on and their designs are evolved into current successful reworks. Artists like Joe Kubert and Carmine Infantino, who pass away with little fanfare but yet their creative work is still being used today.

Some artists from that era were better than others. A Neal Adams or a George Perez book would leap off the stand at you. Jose Garcia Lopez’s artwork on a cover was striking. And writers at the time were handling a number of books at once, and therefore you’d see familiar names like Roy Thomas, Len Wein and Marv Wolfman also in a number of titles.

Somewhere in the 80’s, I became very aware of great artists and great writers. John Byrne and Frank Miller were of that era that what they could produce, could be both great story and great art, like Will Eisner before them. When the glory days of Marvel comics were discussed, it was the magic of teams like Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, John Byrne and Chris Claremont.

Publishers slowly began to put the creator’s names on the front covers with the artwork, despite whatever cover artist might be creating the work. What began to happen was a marketing of creative teams as a means of selling a comic, not just the characters themselves.

In the 90’s this fervor over certain creators reached a fever pitch when Marvel and DC started selling comics in the millions. This lead to the rise of creators like Jim Lee, Todd MacFarlane and Rob Liefeld. As artists, it was their names fueling the sales, and when they branched off to create Image Comics, their audiences followed them. But at DC comics, something else was happening in the early 90’s: Vertigo comics.

Vertigo comics ushered in an era where there was a certain dedication to great story. Art rather than story seemed to dominate the time when mainstream super-hero books had to maintain a certain status quo. My good friend Fabian Nicieza was simultaneously an editor at Marvel as well as a writer of many of Marvel’s top titles, including X-men and X-Force. Fabian was juggling a number of hit titles at once. Much of what dictated the storylines then were cross-overs and promotions of such. Sales over art was king, and an extreme splashy look to everything superseded the plots and dialogue. They just wanted numbers to be high. 

Meanwhile At Vertigo, creators such as Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis, Grant Morrison, Warren Ellis and Alan Moore were making a name for themselves taking characters like Swamp Thing, Sandman, Animal Man and John Constantine:Hellblazer to new heights, and this was based on an incredible devotion to story. Intricate, challenging stories, aimed at more sophisticated readers who could handle a comic about something other than muscle men in super-suits angrily seeking justice. This style would end up inspiring and dominating the mainstream books and writers of today. But these writers weren’t doing this alone.

With each of these writers, at the time, there were also breakout artists working in different styles that absolutely created the atmosphere and worlds these great stories appeared within. Think of what a screenplay is compared to the film you watch. Think of going to a play with no sets or costumes, no lighting or music, and how different that experience would be. At the same time imagine all the great sets and costumes, music and lighting and all the fine actors are reading the backs of cereal boxes…. not so great. When the two are working in unison, it creates sequential art magic.

An artist’s job is different than the writers. But both creators have the same job: To tell the reader a story. I’ve heard it argued that a bad script can hide in good art. I have witnessed brilliant stories diminished by mediocre or bad artwork. It’s a team game. It’s not: either the story is great or the art is great; or one is bad and the other isn’t. What it comes down to is that when a team succeeds, then the team should get credit. Yes, this can get convoluted. What about the inker? What about the colorist? Everyone bringing their A-game creates the magic… but two parts of the team start with the blank page. But what I see happening more and more, bothers me. What I see recently, often looks like this:

Despite the huge splash panel of an amazing drawing by one of my favorite artists ever, the great Alan Davis, who drew much of that original run, followed by the brilliant work of Garry Leach, this comic is being promoted and sold as Alan Moore’s singular achievement. Taking nothing away from Alan Moore, that’s not Alan Moore’s drawing or a photograph of Alan Moore. That’s artwork excellently rendered by Alan Davis.

This art form is a see-saw. One end down pushes the other end up. If only one player is doing their job, it’s no fun. It just sits there. Alan Davis had to start with that blank sheet of paper and had to take what Alan Moore described, and the result of Davis’ layout, years of studying anatomy, shading, light and dark, proportion, foreshortening, clothing folds, facial expression, body motion… all that creates the image that is worthy of using to bait the reader into buying the comic, but the comic is somehow only “Alan Moore’s classic drama”. That’s what the promoter here feels only is important. This isn’t cover art to a novel, this is a graphic, sequential art masterpiece that two equal heavyweight talents created together to make it a classic. 

Not everyone can draw like Alan Davis. The work that a particular artist brings to a team makes all the difference in how you experience and understand that story. Fiona Staples is as essential to ‘Saga’ as Brian K. Vaughan. Frank Quietly distinguishes everything he that he illustrates, as does Brian Bolland. The images that we associate with these stories that move us aren’t random images from a clip-art book, and they don’t just appear. They are images crafted to fit the words, the pacing, the drama that the writer is conveying only with words.  A finished comic art page is the a hard work of talented, people who do it mostly for the love of the craft. They at least deserve equal credit with the writer for what they have created together.

It’s not that much effort to overcome a little bit of intellectual laziness to include both creators names when using their work to promote a purchase. It doesn’t diminish the writer to also celebrate and promote the artwork that is being presented to the audience. No one is saying that a writer who creates a great body of work had it easy, anymore than I’m saying it’s better to play a guitar than it is a piano. They’re different instruments, but together can form a band. Lennon AND McCartney wrote the song, and they share the credit.

Rarely anymore do you see an artist getting sole credit for a long run on a series. With Ultimate Spider-man, a 100 issue run was created and completed with Mark Bagley, having drawn every issue, but often it’s referred to as “Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-man”. Bendis didn’t create Spider-man, anymore than Mark Bagley designed him. But despite the two of them creating every issue, it’s often discussed as being the writer’s singular achievement.  Bendis is brilliant, but so is Bagley.  Is it so difficult to include Mark’s name and write “Bendis and Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-man”? Often times, the first person to rave about how great the artist on said book is will be the writer themselves. This dilemma is not on the writers. 

This may be easy to dismiss, I know. But keep in mind that there was a time in comics when they didn’t credit anybody who worked on the stories and created the characters we’ve grown to love. Right now, artwork is being used and by slowly, taking away the artist’s names from the art that is being used, or neglecting to credit that artist’s work that is presented, it then leaves a less knowledgeable audience to believe that the writer created the art as well as the story. That perception takes away a person from their creation. 

It would be equally wrong to take a writer’s name off their story and promote only the artist’s work as if the artist dreamed up those sequences and twists, plots and pacing all by themselves. But I don’t see that being the problem lately.

When you reduce a credit to one creator, then somehow it’s implied that all these brilliant ideas have been created by one person on a team, but between the two stages of blank paper, there is the writer, and there is the artist.

If you can take an artist’s name away from their work, they become invisible.

Ballistic #4 Review “Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson Routinely Make Other Comics Look Bad.”

“Issue four of “Ballistic” proves to be no different than the three that preceded it. Butch’s haphazard inquest through the heart of Repo City State pushes forward and the secret of Bang-Bang is finally revealed. Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson routinely make other comics look bad. This is a book that taps into modern social issues with wild imagination under the guise of biological science fiction and body horror. It’s totally exciting and thought provoking.

WRITTEN BY: Adam Egypt Mortimer

ART BY: Darick Robertson

PUBLISHER: Black Mask Studios

PRICE: $3.50

RELEASE: February 26, 2013

If you’ve been routinely checking out “Ballistic” then you may remember the last issue of this series dropped in November. It’s been quite some time, so let’s recap. Butch wants to be a criminal. Gennie is blown to bits. Gennie 2 has joined the this casual criminal force and Bang-Bang Butch’s talking gun has a sensitive secret that seemingly every badass in Repo City State wants.

This month Mortimer further submerges his book in the dep

ths of his insane research. His already deep world gets deeper and the backstory of his most interesting concept and character is explored in a tragic and exciting way. We’re finally given the backstory of the talking gun. It’s surprisingly heartfelt and goes a long way to explain the nature of just what Butch fell into.

It’s funny because through no efforts of his own Butch has fulfilled his goal. He is the most sought after criminal in Repo City State but his rise to fame was accidental in all the right ways. With his newfound status all sorts of terrifying threats emerge. They range for disgusting bio-creatures to deadly assassins.

Yet the real star of the show is the Cronenbergian body-horror at play here. Mortimer really delves into the fear of the living and breathing organisms that we share the world with and holds a lens to the relationship. The experience will make you cringe in revelation as you receive a startling look at the future.

Robertson’s art is a thing of sheer beauty. No task seems too large for the talented artist. As he brings his charm and wit to every page, the BigDick Gangster panel returns in full form, his flashback is action packed, and the fallout is somber. The finale of the issue is all around insanity that shows off both his paneling ability and his haunting character work.

“Ballistic” is easily the best and most polished comic book you’re not reading. It magnifies certain aspects of the human condition with such brilliance that it may make you feel uncomfortable. It is ripe with horror, self-reflection, and provides a totally unique take on science fiction while still finding the time to craft compelling characters. It’s a breath of fresh air in the all to cluttered science fiction arena that isn’t afraid to shock and educate you. It’s an invaluable reading experience that I urge you to read.

Rating 4.5/5 Skulls.” http://tinyurl.com/kt5ab3u

COMIC OF THE YEAR Goes To BALLISTIC!

Comic of the Year

Ballistic - Adam Egypt Mortimer, Darick Robertson, Diego Rodriguez

“Normally this is a really difficult one to call, and 2013 was full of brilliant comics, both limited series and ongoings, and yet the choice for me was made easy. Saga was (and is) still thrilling me, Grant Morrison’s Action Comics run is one that I firmly believe will be regarded as a classic in the future, and The Wake absolutely blew me away and yet…

There was Ballistic. I read the advance copy of the first issue and was dumbstruck with joy. I sat there grinning before thrusting it into the hands of my partner and commanding him to read. I’ve told everyone to read it. Everyone. I can’t wait for the first trade collection so I can give it to everyone I know. I was left after just one issue absolutely bursting with excitement and enthusiasm at such a level I had not felt since I first read Transmetropolitan many years ago – the comic that set me on the path to being a writer myself.

Don’t be too fooled by that comparison. Yes Darick Robertson is here, and yes we’re in a future punk-ass world with a rather fucked up anti-hero, but no, this is not Transmetropolitantake two. Where Transmet was cyber, Ballistic is organic; where Transmet was political, Ballistic is noir; where Transmet was sci-fi, Ballistic is horror. Both are magnificent.

There are strains of China Mieville and David Cronenberg here, but a much bigger flavour of something that is purely Adam Egypt Mortimer. The amount of world building that has been done for this comic is truly extraordinary, with notes filling the back of every issue further explaining and expanding the unique bio-tech world. Three issues in and the comic continues to get even better with every issue, the characters solidifying and the plots diverging – please, please, please let this be the beginning of a long and healthy series!

As I said in my advance review of #1: //tinyurl.com/ny8kjxd ”

Bloody Disgusting Picks Ballistic #1 As Best Debut Comic Of 2013!

“Adam Egypt Mortimer and Darick Robertson’s Ballistic blew me away this year. I’ve read the debut issue too many times to count, and I learn new things with every read. This is a deep book, which has an overwhelming amount to offer. It’s also filled with razor sharp dialogue. The story is insanely original and well thought out. Robertson’s art is unparalleled in its mastery. If you missed this book, do yourself a favor and get it immediately. It’s a Cronenbergian love letter to the intellectual science fiction of the past and its damn near perfect.”

http://tinyurl.com/lovwxv9

“What’s really stunning though is the art of Darick Robertson,..”

“The archetype existed before Hunter S. Thompson, but he fit it so perfectly that he basically defined it: the wild, drug-taking, gun-firing, opinionated and dangerous writer who provides unique, valuable insights when they focus their insanity upon a subject. He was a counterculture journalist, at his most successful in the late 60s and 70s, and he’s played by Johnny Depp in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. There are a lot of characters, both real and fictional, based on his personality. That’s where Spider Jerusalem comes in, starring in Transmetropolitan.”



“In the year cough-cough-sometime-in-the-future-cough, the world is obliviously self-centred and insane. Imagine that, right? Life in The City is so fast and chaotic that nobody even cares enough to know what year it is. It’s written by Warren Ellis and published by Vertigo Comics, which is like the UK arm of DC. Ellis’s writing is inspiring, rich with swearing and imagery, and really quotable. What’s really stunning though is the art of Darick Robertson, the penciller, who created a city so busy and vibrant that you really can believe they would forget what year it is.”

Read More

http://www.thelondonvandal.com/2013/11/graphic-content-volume-11-transmetropolitan/

“HAPPY! Is a perennial Christmas tale for adults to read every holiday season.”

Vicious violence. Malicious murder. Witty, foul language. A talking imaginary friend named Happy the horse who is on a mission. These elements and more make up a book that will either cause revulsion or move the reader in ways they wouldn’t expect. Grime, constant bombardment of profanity, hideous imagery, and graphic violence may not seem like a pleasurable reading time for some, but once you enter the world of “Happy!” and realize what Grant Morrison and Darrick Robertson have created, you’ll get an appreciation of their masterful miniseries. This is a Christmas story containing the power of hope wrapped in a veneer of filth. Morrison has crafted a story of deep meaning in the most over the top way imaginable. “Happy!” is an allegory of redemption and the power of hope that first requires the reader to experience evil and injustice on the grandest of scales. If one suspends disbelief, then the reason for the heightened, cartoony feel of the book is understood and appreciated. This is an operatic Christmas tale of the power of light over darkness, but for adults only.

Mr. Blue, a Fratelli family mob boss, believes disgraced ex-detective Nick Sax has in his possession the password to one of the family’s bank accounts that Blue can’t access. Sax, once a happily married New York police department detective, is now alone and must become a hitman for hire and, according to him, “kill people for money to buy booze, sex, and eczema medication.” Life has brought him low and now his moral and physical self has transformed into something grotesque and against all he once held dear to his heart. As the flashback scene so beautifully rendered by Robertson progresses, the reader sees Sax becoming physically and spiritually darker, grizzled, and haunted. He didn’t always have eczema, leading one to believe the stress and burden of life has begun to affect even his physical appearance.

The first thing one notices, right from the first page, is the dialogue. Although it seems every other word in the book is the f-word or some other vulgarity, the language is witty, snappy, and especially poetic. At times it can be downright moving. Mr. Smoothie, a man who tortures information out of people for Mr. Blue, is an especially over the top character. Before going in a hospital room intending to do unspeakable acts against Sax, Smoothie says, “I feel the ghost of a hard-on that will not die.” In another scene, the card shark named LeDic (a name that is easily ridiculed by Sax) says he is “in the mood for fuckery” when Sax enters a card game. Other, more coarse dialogue is said throughout the book, but when Happy the horse says things like, “I’m hope”, the reader can see beauty in the story. Happy is driving Nick toward a mission that will redeem him in this ugly world and the flying horse even says he will turn Nick’s harrowing downward spiral of a life into a “heartwarming tale of redemption.” Happy is the only character in the book who does not utter any profanity or hateful language, proving himself to be that shining light of hope that maybe is possible in a world so dank and dark. Happy, for example, uses playful language in one panel when calling the bad guys “Yerks!” Morrison’s uses dialogue for a reason, not just to shock and pander to the teenage boy looking for a cheap giggle. One can see the heart through this exaggerated world of “Happy!”

Darick Robertson’s artwork is detailed and, in unison with the exaggerated language of Morrison, elicits strong emotions from the reader. The over the top violence along with the sensational dialogue make the marriage of these two artists one that works on every level. On the very first page of issue one, a homeless man is seen throwing up while a dog is peeing on him. Two men are on their way to kill Nick Sax, cursing up a storm. From the beginning of this story, the reader can see that the focus of this tale is the seedy underbelly of life. The only glimpse of light is the voluminous amounts of snowflakes that fall throughout the entire miniseries, contrasting against the dark. When someone’s head is shot at point blank, detailed bits of brain and blood fly outward from the panel toward the reader. Teeth fly out of people’s mouths as they’re being hit. Touches of humor are brought to the violence when Robertson adds stars appearing when Sax’s hand meets Smoothie’s stomach with a punch. Morrison and Robertson mean to bombard the reader and elicit emotional reactions, and they succeed handsomely.

The train ride in issue three is a masterfully executed scene, once again creating a dichotomy between writer and artist. As the train is chugging along in the night, various types of passengers and their conversations can be seen and heard. The talk and actions are of the holidays and frivolity. When the train is abruptly stopped, the tone and content of their language drastically changes for the worse. The passengers become angry and highly irritated and they take that anger out on the people with them or the loved ones they are talking with on their phones. A wife accuses her husband of infidelity, a mother becomes frustrated with her complaining child, and so on, until the escalation of anger and hatred can be felt through the art as well as the writing. As Happy experiences the pandemonium in the train, all his feathers begin to fall off and he physically droops and wears a face of resignation and despair. It’s heartbreaking to see his response to the passengers and Nick Sax’s malicious words. Happy then disappears into a small burst of blue light, leaving our hero, Sax, on his own. Then, once Nick realizes what he must do and why he must do it, he is a man on a mission to save innocence, just as his “friend” Happy was pushing him toward all along. The train starts up again and the passengers’ conversations revert to ones of apology and love.

What’s seen and what’s concealed is key to this story. Mr. Blue, the face of ultimate evil in this operatic miniseries, never reveals his physical face in the book. It only resides, fittingly, in the shadows. Happy is only visible to children and to Sax. Mr. Blue never reveals his face because the cause of evil can be many shapes, sizes, or actions, according to Morrison and Robertson. Happy, though, is seen by those who are innocent and those who are capable of redemption. By showcasing a heightened sense of vulgarity and violence, the power of those concepts of hope and redemption can be felt more powerfully than if they were expressed in a saccharine or simplistic way. The reader is horrified and enlightened at the same time, and simply needs to embrace the power of light over dark and believe that, yes, an imaginary friend can really exist. “Happy” is a twisted take on “It’s a Wonderful Life” and should become a perennial Christmas tale for adults to read every holiday season.

Grade: A

http://comicsauthority.com/2013/11/13/review-happy/

HAPPY! Special Edition Hardcover is available in Stores December 11th, 2013! It includes 10 new pages of story and art.