Todd Klein's Blog, page 293

And Then I Read: THE FLASH #0, AQUAMAN #0

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

These are two Zero issues which are by the regular creative team, unlike some of the others I’m reading. THE FLASH has more of that wonderful Francis Manapul art. I almost don’t care what the story is about if he’s drawing/painting it. This one by Buccellato and Manapul is quite good, though, looking back into Barry Allen’s childhood as well as his Flash origin, giving both some new angles and interesting expansions. Sorry, I still can’t buy the Flash suit inside the ring, I never could, but Manapul’s cool art makes me not care a whit.

AQUAMAN likewise explores both Arthur Curry’s childhood (teenhood?), his connections to Atlantis, and his origins. Geoff Johns has done more with less on this title than anything I’ve read in a long time. Even when I was lettering AQUAMAN it never appealed to me as much as it does now. It feels fresh, it hits the right emotional levels, it’s full of mysteries and action. Great stuff! The art by Reis and Prado is excellent, as always.

Both are highly recommended.

 

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The Christmas Card Conundrum

I’ve never been very religious, but I do have a fondness of some of the traditions of Christmas. I think I began sending cards to friends and family in 1972, the first Christmas I was not living at home with my parents. Above is the cover of the hand-made card I sent that year, or actually a recreation of it from a black and white photocopy. It was made from two layers of colored paper, a light color cut to show the white interior, and a dark color cut more extensively. Pretty crude, but lots of work. For years the recipients asked if I was going to do more like that, but I was never that ambitious (or had the time) to do hand-made cards again. Thereafter they were store-bought cards.

I’ve send cards out every year since, with a list that fluctuates but is usually around 30 recipients, and since we’ve been married (1989) Ellen and I have both sent cards, adding another 20 or so for her friends and family. Some years I had time for lengthy personal notes in each one, but I think that was only in the early years. Generally I write a short note, a sentence or two. Ellen likes lengthy notes, and most years is still writing cards the week of Christmas. A few times we tried the “printed group letter insert” method of telling everyone what we were up to in the past year, but most years there isn’t a lot to write about. Our lives are fairly similar from year to year, except perhaps for a vacation trip and a few events like weddings or funerals attended, which do not make for gripping reading.

Today I asked Ellen, “Do you want to send Christmas cards this year?” and she answered, “Not really.” So I think we’re giving up the tradition. We may be late to that trend, the cards we receive have dwindled. Ellen’s sister Ann hasn’t sent any out for at least 10 years. Older relations are dwindling, too. We get some cards from our generation, but most everyone we get them from has our phone number and emails, and that goes for people we work with as well. My blog covers most of the more interesting things we do with pictures and commentary (at least interesting to us). So I guess my plan going forward is, if I receive a card from someone with a personal note, I’ll reply in kind, but explaining we’re not sending cards anymore. Cards with just signatures or printed names will probably not be replied to, except perhaps for an email thanks. I’m not a fan of e-cards, so I don’t plan to go that route.

It’s not easy giving up a 40-year tradition, but as you get older, you yearn to simplify your life, and this is one small way to do it. If you’re reading this, and you usually get a card from us, be sure we wish you the happiest of holidays!

Thanksgiving Bounty

Some of the things we’re thankful for, in addition to being with family to celebrate: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, stuffed mushrooms, cranberry sauce, cranberry relish, green beans, biscuits, and gravy!

Celebrating with Zach, Ann, David, Ellen and Ina. Is there room for pie? Silly question, there’s always room for pie: pumpkin, apple and chocolate!

And Then I Read: SWAMP THING 0, WORLD’S FINEST 0

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

For SWAMP THING 0, writer Scott Snyder has chosen to focus on Anton Arcane in his role as a champion of The Rot, extending his story back into the past in Canada, and also inserting him into Swamp Thing’s origin story. I thought the former idea worked, but didn’t like the latter one. This kind of reworking of a character origin, adding new elements and shedding a different light on events we think we know all about, can be successful if the original story is weak or sketchy, but I’ve always thought Swampy’s origin was already quite effective. This new version adds complications and horror but misses the emotional impact of the original.

The art by Kano (one name only) is quite excellent, drawing inspiration from the regular series artists, but very strong on its own. The layouts, figure work and storytelling are all terrific. I’ll keep an eye out for more work from Kano.

With WORLD’S FINEST 0, writer Paul Levitz has chosen to tell the Earth 2 tale of the characters in their original heroic personas of Robin and Supergirl, how they met there early in each of their careers and how they became friends and worked together. It’s well written and a great read, with lots of charm, wit and emotional warmth, aided by the fine art of Kevin Maguire, one of the regular artists on the series. Paul knows how to write to Kevin’s strengths, and we the readers and art fans benefit. A win all around!

SWAMP THING 0 is mildly recommended, mostly for the art. WORLD’S FINEST 0 is highly recommended on all counts.

Incoming: ALBUM COVER ART BY J.H. WILLIAMS III

Images © Razor & Tie Recordings, LLC.

Artist J.H. Williams III asked me to help out with this album cover art for “The Sword” by the group Apocryphon. I did type design for the covers and interiors of the album’s folded double sleeve, including the song lyrics (but not the logo, J.H. did that), and put everything together in InDesign. There was a smaller version for the CD, with a separate booklet for the lyrics. The music is not to my taste — head-banging heavy metal — but J.H. likes it and says he’s had lots of great feedback on the art. There are apparently lots of versions of the album available, look for it if you’re interested.

And Then I Read: GREEN LANTERN 0, GL NEW GUARDIANS 0

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

Here we go with some of the Zero issues that DC put out across the “New 52″ for November cover dates. The theme of the Zeros is “New characters introduced, secret origins unveiled, mysteries revealed.” So let’s see how they did.

GREEN LANTERN 0 features a new Lantern. As you might guess from the cover, he’s ethnic, and if you look closely at his arm, with its glowing Arabic inscription, that ethnicity is at least partly Middle Eastern. Writer Geoff Johns does a nice job of telling the character’s story briefly: raised in poverty under the shadow of 9-11, taking up crime out of desperation, being essentially framed as a terrorist. In the police station, in the midst of his interrogation, something Green Lanternish happens, but it’s more complicated than that. We DON’T see the character in costume as on the cover, but things are clearly headed that way.

The art is by the usual penciller, Doug Mahnke with three inkers, and looks great, as always. The end of the issue is a bit confusing visually, but overall it’s fine work.

GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS also strays far from the usual team. They’re on the cover, but only Kyle Rayner and a Star Sapphire are inside. Kind of a cheat, but in fact, I really enjoyed this issue. Tony Bedard has taken a breather from the epic space stories to tell what’s been going on in Coast City with GL associates Carol Ferris and Thomas Kamalku, both worried about Hal Jordan, who they haven’t seen in a long time. Kyle shows up to enlist the help of Carol in her Star Sapphire persona, and then the story takes on some elements from the GREEN LANTERN ANNUAL, namely the zombies created by Black Hand. Much as I like some of the epic space stories, this down-to-Earth one is a refreshing change. And at the end we see the Guardians in a surprising teaser scene. I guess this would kind of qualify as an origin explored and a few secrets revealed.

Several artists I don’t recall seeing on any GL book have done the art, and done it well: Aaron Kuder and Andrei Bressan, each on separate sections. There are some discrepancies in the character faces and physiques between the two, which is a little distracting, but in general I liked the result, but didn’t love it.

Both books are recommended.

Tommy’s Train

Ellen’s cousin Tommy passed away recently of a heart attack, too young at 48. Tommy had a lifelong passion for trains that began in his childhood, both with model trains and the real thing passing along the tracks near his home. As an adult he worked for that railroad, and in his spare time helped out as a volunteer with the Black River and Western steam train, a small tourist line running between Ringoes, Flemington and Three Rivers in west central New Jersey. Sunday there was a memorial run of Tommy’s favorite engine, #60, on the line, and friends and family were invited to gather there, remember him, and ride the train he loved.

It was a pretty nice day for mid-November; cool but mostly sunny. We were able to gather outside the train first and talk. Here’s Ellen with some of the family, including her Aunt Rita and Tommy’s sister Marian at right. Marian is the one who gathered everyone, though Tommy’s friends on the railroad ran the event.

Hard to see, but there were some enlarged photos of Tommy taped to the engine. That’s him as an adult at left, and as a child at right.

After about an hour the train was getting up steam and it was time to climb aboard.

The first car was a club car, and that’s where family and friends gathered for refreshments and the ride, which took us slowly from Flemington to Ringoes. Regular passengers rode in the following cars. The children enjoyed seeing some deer along the way, but it was mostly about talking and remembering. Tommy’s ashes were put into the train’s firebox at several places along the way.

Some of the family and friends enjoying the ride.

At the Ringoes station some of us got off to look around the yard at the other train cars there. Here’s another Tom getting his photo taken.

It took about 15 minutes for the engine to uncouple from the passenger cars and move around to the other end for the return trip. The engine itself was not turned, but ran backwards to Flemington, with the coal car in front, as seen here.

Then it was time to reboard and take the trip back as the afternoon sun descended. It was a long drive for us to get to this event, but Ellen and I enjoyed it, and thought it was the perfect way to remember Tommy.

Jazzy 1920s Lettering by Paul Fung

Artist George Freeman pointed me in the direction of an article about cartoonist Paul Fung and his Jazz Age lettering on the strip “Gus and Gussie” by artist Joakim Gunnarsson. This is a sample of a large display lettering collage Gunnarsson put together from the strip. Joakim writes, “Not only was he a talented cartoonist, he was also a really good letterer.” I agree! the article and more lettering is HERE. Click on the collage for a larger view. There’s also a link to another image, but it’s reversed white on black for some reason.

And Then I Read: THE FLASH ANNUAL 1

Images © DC Comics, Inc.

The extra length in an Annual gives a creative team room to get deeper into the story, and Manapul and Buccellato have chosen to explore the background and origin of Flash’s Rogues Gallery, as they’ve recreated it for this “New 52″ revamp. For me it succeeded in some ways, though I still felt some of the Rogues were explored more than others. Fortunately my new favorite, Golden Glider, gets the lion’s share of the storyline, and I thought that part worked quite well. Meanwhile, in the present, Flash is still battling the Rogues and finding it tough going. Though none of them impress me that much individually (except Glider), as a group they’re a tough challenge. Meanwhile, Patty Spivot from Barry Allen’s crime lab has a short but interesting plot moment, and at the end of the book lots more trouble arrives. I kind of wanted some sort of resolution of the Rogues storyline before that happened, and I didn’t get it, so as often happens this Annual ends up being just a longer chapter of a bigger story.

The art is an interesting mix, with Manapul doing layouts that are finished by a different artist on each of five chapters. Some try to go the watercolor route of Manapul himself, some head into more traditional inks, but each is well done overall, if not as good as Francis alone.

Recommended.