Todd Klein's Blog, page 157

And Then I Read: ASTRO CITY 48

Image © Juke Box Productions.

I love animals, and clearly Kurt Busiek does too. I can certainly buy into the “dog as hero” idea, and have since Lassie, Rin-Tin-Tin, Krypto and Rex the Wonder-Dog. Kurt’s choice of a small, cute Corgi is all the more endearing.

The conclusion of this two-parter has Hank the corgi’s owner and super-partner Andy reveling in their merged abilities to fight crime, but facing some other tough issues. First, he returns to the scene of his own crime; where he stole the magic talisman that gave them powers, and the woman he stole it from. Next, he faces the question of where his relationship with Esmé is going. Do they have a future together? Then he’s invited to join a super-pet hero group. Is that a place he will fit in? Finally, toughest of all, he must face the fact that his dog Hank is getting older and won’t live nearly as long as he will.

Great writing and art, as usual. Recommended!

And Then I Read: ANIMOSITY VOL. 1

image © Marguerite Bennett, art by Rafael De LaTorre.

This series imagines that one day all the world’s animals suddenly gained human-like intelligence and language, an event called “The Wake” because it’s led to the death of human society. There are a lot of animals out there who want payback, and many humans pay the price. Not all the animals are of that attitude, some human-animal bonds are strong enough to survive, like that between the bloodhound Sandor and his lifelong friend Jesse. When Jesse’s parents are killed in the turmoil, Sandor and Jesse set out on a mission to cross the now chaotic country from New York to San Francisco, where Jesse hopes to find her brother. Imagine Animal Farm on a global scale, and you have the germ of it, and of course the animals are acting out human roles as much as animal ones. It’s a gripping take on the post-apocalypse theme, and Jesse and Sandor find friends as well as enemies among the animals they encounter. The humans they meet are even more of an enigma. Well written and beautifully drawn.

Recommended.

Pulled From My Files #67: COUNTERPARTS, DREDD FILES, DREAMSPINNERS

In 1992 I was asked by Tundra to submit designs for a somewhat humorous horror title, COUNTERPARTS. I have only this one marker sketch remaining. They liked it, as did I, and I drew up and sent them a final version that looked exactly like this.

When I looked up the printed comic today, I found a very different logo on it. This also looks like something I might have done, but I can’t be sure, and I have no sketches or record of it. Perhaps this was another sketch and they decided to go with it instead of the first one they okayed.

I have no idea who this was done for or exactly when, but probably some time around 1986-87. I have a vague memory that it was for a small American publisher who had rights to reprint Judge Dredd stories originally in 2000 AD in Britain. That sounds like Quality Publications, but if I did this for them, they went another way with the logo. Looking at it now, this is hard to read, and the original Judge Dredd logo is much better.

Another one I have no idea about. I have only two hand-drawn marker sketches. This one has a note: “This could be heavier for better reproduction.” Ya think?

This one is at least a little easier to read, but not much. In any case, as far as I can tell, there was never a comic published with this name, though it’s not a bad one.

More articles like this can be found in the PULLED FROM MY FILES topic in the right banner of my blog.

And Then I Read: WONDER WOMAN #23

Image © DC Entertainment.

The conclusion of “The Truth” storyline finds Diana in the realm of Ares, god of war. He has some explaining to do. Meanwhile, Themyscira is about to do battle with is sons, Phobos and Deimos. Dr. Cale is also with Diana in Ares’ realm, as is her daughter, apparently restored to health, but there are some strings attached to that. And, even though Diana cannot return to Themyscira, as she longs to, there is one thing she can do to help her people, if she is clever and brave enough.

Fine writing by Greg Rucka, fine art by Liam Sharp. Getting near the end of this Rucka run, just a few more to go.

Recommended.

Rereading: JACK OF SHADOWS by Roger Zelazny

Cover illustration by Judith Loeser.

There was a time in my twenties and thirties when my two favorite authors—Tolkien and Heinlein—became a triumverate with the inclusion of Zelazny. I adored his writing, first found in the science fiction magazines I was then reading, soon followed to his many novels. While I no longer put him at the very top of my favorites, I still love his writing. This is one I don’t think I’ve reread since it came out in 1971.

Zelazny posits a world where one side always faces the sun and the other is always sunless, like Mercury in our own solar system, but powerful forces keep the weather from becoming as extreme as Mercury’s. The light side is ruled by science, the dark side by magic, and in the twilight lands between the two are ever at odds. On one twilight peak sits the giant being Lucifer, fallen angel doomed to imprisonment there until he finally sees the sun. We learn little of the sunny side in this book, but the dark side is not unlike Hell in many ways, broken up into kingdoms ruled by those dark beings with the most power, and ever in conflict.

Jack, the protagonist of this story, lives and thrives in shadows, and is part of neither side. Like denizens of the dark side, he has many lives, and as the story opens, some of his enemies and rivals kill him, sending his essence to the darkest, most horrible part of the dark side. There Jack will have to try to find his way back to the twilight lands, where his power lies. Without shadows, he has none. During this long, difficult journey he vows revenge on those who have put him there, and perhaps on his entire warped world. Lucifer, his only true friend, offers advice: the answers and power he seeks might be on the sunlit side if he can make his way there.

Rereading this now, I found it seemed more like the fantasy version of a film noir crime thriller than a more typical fantasy. Jack is constantly abused, troubled, beaten down, but his singular will keeps finding a way forward. Friends and lovers are means to an end, even a dire curse-beast put on his trail can’t stop him. It’s a fine read with a surprisingly dark ending that somehow seems right all the same. Like Sampson, Jack is quite willing to pull his world down to destruction around him to gain his revenge.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: MISTER MIRACLE #1

Image © DC Entertainment.

This new twelve-issue series is…interesting. What it’s definitely NOT is a continuation of the character in the spirit of his creator Jack Kirby’s original run or any later versions that tried to follow his lead. In fact, if you’re a fan of the original series, you might want to skip this one, but…maybe not.

Yes, we have Scott Free and Big Barda, as well as appearances by Orion and Highfather of New Genesis, and Scott’s performance partner Oberon, but all handled quite differently than I’ve seen before. As a sample, the opening sequence has Scott attempting suicide. We’re not quite sure why. He gives a sort of explanation that he’s bored with all his previous escapes and wanted to try to escape Death. But running through the book are a number of black panels that simply say “Darkseid is.” And visitors from New Genesis (if they are really there and not hallucinations) speak of a new threat from that quarter. In a nutshell, this is Kirby’s MM run through a filter of modern angst  in the way that Vertigo has done in the past with other Bronze Age characters, though the Vertigo brand does not appear on the book.

The art by Mitch Gerads is an interesting mix of photographic realism sometimes hidden behind various kinds of distortion, other times not. Original costumes appear at times. When the characters are not in costume, they wear modern casual clothes that add realism.

Not a lot is offered so far in the way of what’s actually going on in Scott Free’s head unless some of the story is taking place there rather than the real world.  I have to say I’m intrigued, and will read more. Can’t give this a rave, but I did enjoy it.

Recommended.

Incoming: FABLES DELUXE EDITION BOOK 15

Image © Bill Willingham & DC Comics, cover art by Daniel Dos Santos.

The final volume! Now my FABLES collection is complete in what is the best version by far. Best printing, paper, ink, format. The art, coloring and lettering look much better in these volumes than either the original comics or the trade paperbacks. I’ve already sold all those, I’ll be keeping these. Should be available in November.

And Then I Read: DOOM PATROL BOOK TWO

Image © DC Entertainment.

Grant Morrison’s long and celebrated run on DOOM PATROL has been collected in these thick volumes, this one covering issues 35 to 50 (Morrison wrote it from 18 to 63). I know I read some of them when they came out, but lost interest at some point. Storylines in this collection become ever more strange and surreal to the point where I was losing interest again, but soldiered on to the end. I generally like Grant’s writing, what I’ve read of it. This book seems very experimental, and I’m all for that, but sometimes the storytelling is hard to follow and the characters too odd to relate to, in my opinion. I think Grant was more successful going in this direction with THE INVISIBLES.

The art is a mixed bag. I like the issues by Richard Case, following on from Book One, which is mostly pencilled by him. There are many other artists used here, lots of good ones, but I don’t think Morrison always plays to their strengths. The worst example of this, for me, is issue #42, the origin story of Flex Mentallo drawn by Mike Dringenberg. Mike was great on SANDMAN, but his depiction of Flex, supposedly the ultimate muscle-bound hero, is anything but, and kept pulling me out of the otherwise entertaining story, my favorite in the book.

Morrison’s DOOM PATROL certainly fit into the weird pantheon of early Vertigo, which it would join right after Morrison’s run, but I can’t help thinking a little more editorial direction might have made many of these issues more fun to read. Or perhaps that’s just me. There are many nice moments, but also a lot that left me shaking my head. Great lettering by John Workman (and briefly Gaspar Saladino), and plenty of fine art, too.

Mildly recommended.

And Then I Read: RAVEN GIRL by Audrey Niffenegger

Though published by Abrams Comicarts, this is a book, not a comic. Pages of text often opposite full page illustrations, all by the author. The illustrations are appealing, but I actually liked the text better.

“Once there was a Postman who fell in love with a Raven,” the story begins. The postman is sent to deliver a letter to an odd address, and there he finds no humans, only a raven’s nest with young birds in it. On the ground is a young female raven who has fallen out of the nest. The postman brings it home and cares for it, and in time he and the raven fall in love. Somehow the raven lays an egg that hatches a human girl who is also part raven on the inside. She feels all wrong and out of place in her family and world. When she goes to school, it’s even more so. Eventually she sees a doctor who thinks it might be possible to create wings for her. This idea makes the Raven Girl very happy. She longs to fly.

A gentle fable with lots of illogical ideas, but plenty of charming characters and emotional warmth.

Recommended.

And Then I Read: HAL JORDAN & THE GL CORPS #16

Image © DC Entertainment.

Most of this issue is a fight between Guy Gardner and Arkillo of the Yellow Lanterns. Yellow and Green have joined forces, but some Yellows went off on their own instead, and both teams are hunting them down and offering them a tough choice: join us or be locked up. Arkillo is one of the biggest, baddest Yellows, and Gardner decides to take him on alone, without his ring. Why, exactly, other than to prove how tough he is, eludes me, but it has to do with Daddy issues, apparently. Meanwhile, Saint Walker of the Blues has been brought back to Mogo, GL headquarters, where the two remaining Guardians have a plan for him. We don’t learn what that is yet.

I’m not a fan of fistfights, so this was not an appealing issue for me. Your mileage may vary. And, I’m way behind on this title again, or still, so anyone wanting to read it probably already has, but there you go.

Not recommended.