The Bulletproof Coffin

The Bulletproof Coffin #1

by David Hine (Writer), Shaky Kane (Artist)

Relive the Golden Age of comics! The Legendary Kane and Hine return to their greatest creations! See! Coffin Fly Vs. Zombie Nam Vets! The Shield of Justice walks the Dead Beat! The Unforgiving Eye sees all, forgives nothing! Red Wraith: He's red! He's dead! Ramona: Buxom, Beautiful and Bound!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Fiction, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Comics Manga

200 pages, Paperback

First published May 10, 2011

Reviews

[catnipthief · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amióta elkezdtem kicsit komolyabban belemászni a képregények világába, azóta kerestem valami ilyesmit. Most végre igazi gyöngyszemre bukkantam.
Shaky Kane nevére nem is olyan régen, a Weird Work című graphic novel megjelenése kapcsán figyeltem fel. A borító azonnal megragadta a figyelmem, és vakon megvettem a teljesen friss kötetet, ami egy nagyon klasszikus, James Ellroy-féle krimi volt, kiégett, visszavonult zsaruval, kétséges halálokkal, új, veszélyesen potens kábítószerek várható cunamijával, meg a szokásos kellékekkel. Nem is igazán a sztori volt a lényeges, bár egyébként kurva jó volt, hanem a hihetetlenül ismerős, mégis végtelenül szokatlan képi világ. A képregény hátoldalán a Futurama vizualitását emlegetik, és van is benne valami, de volt ott még valami megfoghatatlan kísértetiesség is, ami a kilencvenes évek közepén, az Emtíví „Oddities” című rajzfilmantológiájában feltűnt The Head című őrültséget juttatta eszembe, elkutyulva az ezüstkor képregényeinek totálisan elrugaszkodott vizualitásával, lásd Jack Kirby. És aztán ez az egész rikító katyvasz még nyakon lett borítva egy felespohárnyi liquid LSD-vel, és voilá: Shaky Kane!
Mivel megvan ez a kevésbé pénztárca-barát szokásom, hogy ha valamire rácsavarodok, akkor elkezdem rohamtempóban felvásárolni, amit csak tudok a legfrissebb kattanástól, nem tartott sokáig, hogy rábukkanjak a The Bulletproof Coffin című miniszériára, ahol Shaky elmeroggyant képei végre David Hine hozzájuk hasonlóan szefós történetét közvetíthetik.
A végtelenül meta sztori nagy vonalakban: Steve, amolyan kultúrkeselyű, frissen elhunyt emberek házaiból emeli el az arra érdemes dolgokat még a halottkémek halálbeálltát hivatalossá tétele előtt. Az egyik ilyen kedélyes hullarablás alkalmával pedig egy egész köteg képregényre bukkan, amiknek nem szabadna létezniük. Rég eltemetett, évtizedekkel ezelőtt befejezett/félbemaradt szériák sosem publikált számai, még nyomdamelegen, amiket Steve hazavisz, elkezdi őket lapozgatni, és hirtelen marha különös dolgok veszik kezdetüket, a Steve által ismert valóság pedig nagyon lendületesen repedezni kezd, ahogy egyre inkább magába zárja ez a protohorrort, harmincas-negyvenes évek filléres noirkrimijeit meg ponyvazombikat és az ötvenes évek elnagyolt szörnyeposzait szeretettel kifigurázó, egyben rajongással vegyes tisztelettel újrainterpretáló, személyes Jumanji-történet. A végzet elkerülése érdekében Steve-nek, gyerekkora kedvenc ponyvahőseinek segítségével meg kell találni az alkotókat, tehát Kane-t és Hine-t, hogy írják újra a befejezést, mert különben…na, szóval érted.
Nyilván az elfogultság mondatja, de nekem ez maga a tökéletesség, triplafenekű csavarokkal elmesélt, nagy, bamba, eszetlen, de egyben marha agyas móka. Természetesen, mint az ilyen szemtelenül eredeti dolgok általában, ez sem való mindenkinek, de számomra ez köbö minden, amit egy képregényben valaha látni akartam. De én már csak egy ilyen furcsa fiú vagyok.
Alig várom a Disinterred című, második „évadot”, ami, remélem, nem lesz kevésbé agyahagyott, mint az eredeti széria volt. Sokszor el fogom még olvasni.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as it was coming out and jumped at the chance to get it collected when I saw it existed. One of my favorite comic series I've read in a long time.

A comic for comic readers to be sure, as its protagonist’s life becomes inextricably entwined with an in-comic comic. Weird, hilarious, and creepy simultaneously, the plot leaves you wondering until the very end what will happen, if you can figure out exactly what IS happening long enough to think ahead.

The artwork adds to the feeling of fantastic unease...there always seems to be something slightly off, a little wrong. It's a little disturbing and I can't put my finger on why. All the fake mail-in offers and pretend comic industry history are just icing on the cake.

This comic is perfect.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Neuman cleans houses of the recently dead. When he uncovers a collection of freshly printed Golden Nugget comics, Steve knows something is not right. Nearly 50 years ago in the early 60s, Big 2 Publishing acquired the rights to all Golden Nugget publications, promptly canceling all the titles. Things get even weirder when elderly versions of the Golden Nugget heroes appear, telling him that he must help them find the Creators -- David Hine and Shaky Kane -- to save the future and their existence. In this clever bit of metafiction, Hine and Kane introduce an entire comic book publisher and heroes, complete with prose historical articles and letters pages. The contemporary tales of Steve's adventures intertwine seamlessly with the freshly created, previously unknown Golden Nugget stories. These new tales reveal key elements of Steve's story and a possible dark future. Kane's graphic stylings nearly perfectly mimic the comics of the late 50s and early 60s, while maintaining a unique vision. Same goes for the prolific writer Hine. The action-filled, thought-provoking Bulletproof Coffin barrels along at quick pace, culminating in a creative and satisfying conclusion.

[João · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sort of Morrisonian tale that stands for the rights of comic book stories to write themselves. Shaky Kane does a mix of Kirby, Geof Darrow, and Mike Allred, which sets the tone for a pop mishmash that might actually be just a self-promotion device. As I understand it, both Hine and Kane have missed their mainstream spotlight, but they're acting as if they've always been in the picture. A preview of Hine's Strange Embrace is actually disguised as a story inside the story, which makes sense since we're talking about a shared universe. "Properties" and "trademarks" keep flowing into each other without end, characters reading about themselves and trying to make sense of a mythology that time forgot: what can we do with the past that becomes museological treasure and thus cannot be relived anymore? We enter the realm of the undead.

[Billie Tyrell · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was teetering on giving this two stars because I quite liked the artwork... but the story itself was pretty crap. It's going for a self aware pastiche of old comic books, which is fine in itself I suppose, but when doing this kind of post modern pisstake you kind of have to better than the bad material you're being inspired by. Making up fake vintage adverts for "become a shrunken head salesman" or "buy your own radio controlled monkey slave" was probably more fun for the creators of this, but it's basically just a word mash with no real depth, and it's not even funny. Kind of reminds me of when Terry Pratchett said that the last thing he wanted his work to be called was "wacky"... because I feel that wackiness is something that is inherently superficial and ultimately empty, and generally gives me feelings of "so what?"

[Stately Elms Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this one falling apart at work. Weeded it from the collection and decided to take it home to read. A colourful, bizarre 90s style comic with a satisfying end.

[S.S. Julian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bizarre! Meta narrative within meta narrative. I am still processing it, probably took it a little fast. Reminds me of Moore’s work, or Rick Veitch’s Greyshirt, or Morrison’s Multiversity... it had a bit of a Clowes / Hernandez aesthetic, but without the finesse. Generally I feel like comics about comics are a little played out, and the self-referential aspect of the narrative felt self-aggrandizing, so I had a hard time really feeling invested in this, especially since the surrealism prevented the plot from cohering. The end was funny but thematically I didn’t get much closure. All the pulp characters were fascist revenge fantasies or wish fulfillment camp tropes. What are they trying to say with all this?

[Riccardo Caputi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly inventive, and very entertaining if you are just a little bit patient. It's probably made for people who know a lot about the history of the comics medium, but I'm not an expert and I still enjoyed it quite a bit.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure what to make of this book looking at it on the shelf. I asked one of the library staff whom I had seen at a comic convention and she wasn't sure either. I took a chance. I'm glad a did.

This meta take on 50s comics is a twisty, windy, path through awesomesauce. I can't really find things to describe it... if you've liked comics from the 'Big 2' for a long time, read it and weep.

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, what a crazy, awesome comic. A guy named Steve cleans up garbage, then finds some old comics, and...ends up becoming a superhero? And then having to save the other superheroes from the comics he just read by talking their creators into rewriting their future? Something like that. It makes sense while you read it. And really, it's amazing. Definitely worth it.

[Curtis · Rating 1 out of 5]

--1.5 stars rounded down--

I requested this as a Christmas present because I loved David Hine's Strange Embrace.

I liked the artwork, especially the colours, but didn't really get it overall. I found the ads/letters pages to not be worth the time they took to read, and the story itself too meta to make a coherent whole, or at least too meta for me. The result was that I didn't care what happened and if it had been longer, I probably wouldn't have finished it.

I did like the idea of the fictional background the creators gave themselves and the imagined turmoil in their relationship, but I felt like that device could've been put to better use, and the introduction of the characters from their fictional back-catalogue felt more distracting than anything else. I could make a generic statement like 'I get what they were trying to do but it didn't work for me', but I'm not even totally sure I can say that.

I was tempted to give it 2-stars because I didn't hate it but there wasn't really anything I enjoyed about it either, so on balance it's leaning more towards 1-star.

[Digi M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a zany meta comic, filled with noir-ish characters, zombies, secret spies, insane family members and hero’s.

Went into this one with no research or knowledge about it, and enjoyed it quite a lot.

[ZJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brings to mind the pop art style of Mike and Laura Allred mixed with the mundane grotesqueries of Daniel Clowes and a meta-ness of Grant Morrison all while managing to be entirely its own thing. Won't pretend I understood 100% of what was going on but it was a wild ride.

[Koen Clijsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hine is a superb writer. This is his lovesong to Silver age comics, I guess. It's well executed, but I prefer his more 'modern' work.

[M.i. · Rating 4 out of 5]

By the time I finished reading, I had a better appreciation of this book. Really fun read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a while for me to get into the groove of the narrative structure but when I did, I really started to enjoy the absurdity of the story and had fun with it.

[fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb.

Is it intellectually stimulating? Definitely, though not in an academic sense.

Is it fun and entertaining? OMG YES.

I read it on the Kindle app on my phone, and the experience was great.

I found myself intrigued, inspired, and pleasantly surprised by the consistently great writing wrapped in absolutely gorgeous art.

[EDIT: I've just finished reading the follow-up collection, Disinterred, and in my opinion the original collection is essential reading if you're going to dive into it]

[E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange metafictional story-in-story-in-story fare; feels like a more comprehensible The Wrenchies; really interesting even if it didn't 'grab' me; although I imagine the necessary eventual reread will do just that.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is so much better than I anticipated. The concept of the book is pretty complex, and the authors pull it off well, and there are tiny details to make it look like old comics in places that make me happy. It's the most meta book I've ever read. Good for David Hine.

[Jordan West · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5; I liked it, and the art was consistently impressive, but it just seems that this same basic story has already been written at least several times (and with more verve and imagination) by Grant Morrison, most notably as The Filth.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year. A complicated, weird story, with art to match. Highly recommended to anyone who likes comics, even just a little.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonkers and quite wonderfully brilliant!

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really can't put into words how amazing, wonderful, creative and sharp this books is. But it is. It's all of those things and more. Highly recommended.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually only buy comics if they look good...real good. This looks like I could have drawn it in my sleep. But having said that, it was cool.

[Damon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I can't believe I heard so little about this. Great art and crazy story, a spastic creepy violent funny meta homage spoof of something, maybe. Really entertaining stuff.

[Rich Wyman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like pop art ala Warhol and Lichtenstein and absurdism...you'll love this book!

[Alex Sarll]

Bonkers metafictional spin on that old story of the swindled comics creator, brought to lurid life by the inimitable Shaky Kane. Very good.

[Greg Trosclair · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird, weird weird book. I liked the art it was unique. I thought that the idea was pretty unique. I was confused a couple of times but they worked it out pretty well.

[J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Partly an homage to pre-Comics Code comics, partly postmodern stories-within-stories meta-weirdness, this is bizarrely engrossing, and best of all: it pulls it all off in the end!