Dylan's Sequential Theology 10.24.2012

Dynamite has the bulk of my picks this week, but Dark Horse has the always excellent Dark Horse Presents which is full of content to the point that it's almost sensory overload. So in a way, it's a tie.

Chosen #1
Story by Chuck Dixon & Gotham Chopra, art by Diego Latorre
I tend to be a bit skeptical about books with covers that look like they were left-over art from Hot-Topic t-shirts, but this book worked quite well for me. A teenager in Detroit discovers he is the latest incarnation of the Buddha... well, possibly. An order of monks show up at his house when he is a baby and explain to his parents that he is the chosen one and destined for greatness. The parents send the monks away saying they are crazy bald headed freaks and their kid needs to enjoy the fruits of the Detroit public school education. The monks need their savior and return a few years later to kidnap the child and all goes horribly wrong. Flash forward again to the teenage Chosen One, and he is constantly getting into fights and doing poorly in school. He has the wisdom and steadfastness of the Buddha, but the inner rage of Ananda. He is vicious and does not know how to control his temper.
If this sounds familiar, it probably is. It's kind of like Little Buddha on steroids with a twinge of Fight Club. And to be honest, that's what I would expect from a Western reincarnation of the Buddha. Lots of pent up hostility, and a skepticism of authority. Chuck Dixon & Gotham Chopra actually do a great job of bringing the prophecy of the next Buddha to comics. It's been done before by Jodorowsky in his series White Lama, but this is much more of an urban machismo comic than a contemplative comic discussing the nature of reality. If you want a Punk Rock Lama, this will do nicely in your pull list. It will be interesting if it's somewhat over-the-top storylines ever balance, or if they continue to seem oddly comical, but it's still a fun ride all the same.

Dark Horse Presents #17
 This magazine is excellent. Getting this every month is such a treat. It's 80 pages of varied and excellent content for $8. You get to try out new series from creators before Dark Horse publishes them individually, and it also as reprints of old masters at an affordable price. This time around I wanted to highlight two stories I'm really enjoying.

Aliens: Inhuman Condition
Art by Sam Keith Story by John Layman
I put Sam Keith ahead of John Layman on this one because he is the star of this tale. Layman's story is excellent, and quite terrifying. It might be a little overcomplicated, and certain elements are impossible to resolve, bit it's quite chilling. All of this is amazingly augmented by Sam Keith's art. If you've never read the Maxx, here's a quick way to see the art of one of the greatest artists of "the Image revolution." His work is atmospheric and drippy, scratchy and frenetic. It hits you in young-primal part of your brain and feeds those pieces that barely understand what the human form looks like. And this tale of a woman shaken by a traumatic experience into a state child-like regression is the perfect place for his work. It should be collected in a hardcover sometime next year, and you should take a look at it.

The Deep Sea 
Story by Palmiotti & Gray, Art by Tony Akins, Paul Mounts
Palmiotti and Gray are doing an interesting take on the Fantastic Four in this story... or at least four people have had an accident while testing a bathysphere and wound up traveling fifty years into the future. The character moments in this story are incredibly touching. And the art has a similar look to the sentimental sequences in Creep. A little hazy, pastel pallet, but clean. Definitely a story that's worth your time.

Mind MGMT #6 

Mise en Scene by Matt Kindt

This ends the first arc of Mind MGMT. If you aren't reading this series, you should be. The further down the rabbit hole you go, the more you question everything. Are the Immortals even real? If Lyme can make anyone around him feel anything he wants them to, could they actually be a manifestation of his self-aspect that he doesn't want to deal with? I'm probably reaching, but when your main character has the subconscious drive to influence the thoughts and feelings of those around you to the extent that he doesn't know he's doing it, all bets are off to begin with.

Shadow #6
Story by Garth Ennis, Art by Aaron Campbell
Normally I'm not a fan of Alex Ross covers, but his cover for this issue is excellent. A great riff on the old pulp covers of George Rozen.
Until the past two issues, this series hasn't really done much for me. Margot Lane has been a non-entity, Cranston isn't likable in the slightest, and everyone walks around explaining their plan, and how their plan suddenly won't work because someone has ruined it. But Garth Ennis now seemed to be at a place where he knew what he was trying to do, instead of just paddling out to sea hoping he'd find land eventually. And the beach his boat lands on, is pretty exploitative. Ennis makes The Shadow's visit to the Orient the major turning point that gives the Allies the tools they need to fuel the atomic bomb. It's a clever piece of misdirection on his part. He sells you on the idea that the Japanese have built a hokey death ray a-la a Republic Serial, but in fact, their invention can be used for something more terrifying. Who knew? THE SHADOW KNOWS!!!
But I shouldn't be shocked by this somewhat blunt use of history. It's expected not only of Ennis, but the Shadow as well. Fans of the Helfer series from the 80s may remember the first annual (drawn by the great Joe Orlando) which featured a woman having sex with her radiation poisoned husband, who survived a brush with the atomic bomb, because she thought their child would become the Atomic Jesus. Say it with me, "Atomic Jesus!"
Ennis doesn't shy away from the blood and guts of the pulps either. Instead of being theatrical with his powers as he is often portrayed. The Shadow shows up and mows down everyone, laughing while he does it. A quirk that Ennis pins on his psychopathic distance from humanity, instead of an affectation designed to scare his opponents. There's more going on under the surface in this series, but it's rather decompressed. Considering this is Ennis' last issue before Victor Gischler takes over next month, it's an epic ending, but might have been a lot better if his story had been plotted a little stronger.

That's it this week. Thanks for reading. And as always, if you disagree with me then prove me wrong.

Dylan's Sequential Theology 08.22.2012

This week, I've got quite a few books to recommend and one actual trade that is now available for pre-order because I can't stop talking about it! As always, lots of Dark Horse, and a couple Dynamite. There's a new creative team on Vampirella, Matt Kindt's continually amazing work on Mind MGMT, another giant issue of Dark Horse Presents, and lastly but not leastly, SIGURD DRAGONSBANE!

Dark Horse Presents #15

A lot of people did a lot of stuff.

Dark Horse Presents may be pricey, but there is easily enough content to warrant the $8 price tag. Each month the book is filled to the brim with talented comic artists from past an present playing in just about every genre from comedy to tragedy. Honestly, if I were only able to spend $8 a month on comics, this series is all I would need.

Sadly, there's a lot in here and I have a lot of other books to talk about, so I'll give you the bullet points for why you should pick up this pricey book this time around.

• David Chelsea's stream of consciousness Girl With the Keyhole Eyes is something you can't really be prepared for.
• Rex Mundi.
• More Sam Keith drawing Xenomorphs. And a cold terrifying sadness in the pit of your stomach.
• Nate Cosby and Evan Shaners' Buddy Cops NEEDS have its own monthly series. No, it needs to be twice monthly. It needs to never end. Read the funny pages people! Laugh at the robot! HE DOESN'T THINK LIKE YOU!
• Twisted tales of romance from Kim W. Andersson's Love Hurts
• More Sabertooth Vampire!

This issue is also fantastic because it includes the second chapter of the BEST trade paperback I read this week...

RIVEN
Story by Bo Hampton & Robert Tinnell, Art by Bo Hampton

When most people ask "Vampires or Werewolves" there's an instant gut reaction. It calls out from our very core. Mine, is werewolves. BUT I hate their portrayal in popular culture. There has only been a handful of good werewolf movies American Werewolf in London, Wolf, The Howling & Ginger Snaps. Compare that to the veritable nonstop onslaught of excellent vampire movies. And I'm sorry, but there is no way Twilight can even remotely destroy the greatness of Interview With a Vampire, Nosferatu, Shadow of the Vampire, Dracula, Underworld, 30 Days of Night, Blade, Let the Right One In, The Hunger, The Nightwatch Trilogy, From Dusk Till Dawn, and Francis Ford Coppola's new film Twixt is a fantastic vampire film that needs to be on every vampire fan's must-see list.

As a quite often disappointed werewolf fan, I can't recommend this book enough. This is the best werewolf movie I've never seen. It's available for pre-order on Dark Horse's website and if you are a werewolf fan, I STRONGLY urge you to do so.

Bo Hampton's watercolors lend an incredible atmosphere to this tale of one girl's coming of age under very supernatural circumstances. And for a werewolf story, it succeeds where so many others fail. So many werewolf stories get caught up in the fact that the person can transform, that they forget about the person at the heart of the story. Bo manages to let you into the mind of a girl who is not only displaced due to her linage, but also a very strange condition... Even if the characters are a little simplistic at times and the ending can be seen from a ways off, Bo still tells a fantastic werewolf story that I can't shut up about.

Mind MGMT #4
Mise En Scene by Matt Kindt

As we continue to tumble down the rabbit hole, Matt Kindt shows us the incredible good that mind altering can bring, and the constant questions it presents as its user begins to unravel. Lyme tells the story of his time learning at Mind MGMT and what it's like to be trained from a very early age to control the motives of others. He talks about the first time he used his abilities to stop a kid from bullying him, and the repercussions put most tales of Catholic guilt to shame. He has a desire to do good in the world, and ensure the happiness of the people around him, be he doesn't know if tinkering with them is the right way to get it. Life inside the Mind MGMT compound is a constant struggle between the people who want to use these children's gifts as weapons, and the children whose overwhelming empathy makes them desire to never harm a living thing.  The section where Lyme talks about his involvement in the first Iraq war was just one more lightbulb in this series subtle way of making you reexamine your world. 

Matt Kindt's art continues to impress as the form of this book ads layers to its content. His watercolor brushwork is not complicated over rendering, but his gesture puts a piece of himself onto the page, and that texture plays up the desire for humanity in a world whose aim is to make a world without them.

Vampirella #21
Story by Brandon Jerwa, Illustration by Heubert Khan Michael

Yet another Vampirella issue I feel perfectly justified recommending to anyone that loves seeing strong female characters and vampire themed superheroics. Especially with all of the Buffy reviews I've been doing here. If I were Dynamite, I would be shouting this new creative team to the heavens! This creative team classes this book up a good ten notches from where it has been.

The last storyline was miserable. Terrible murky art, and monsters that looked like seedlings from Little Shop of Horrors. And the artist had serious difficulties rendering her costume in motion (ahem). But Heubert Khan Michael has given this book a much more Marvel house style akin to Leonard Kirk or Stewart Immonen. Which subconsciously tones down that she's running around wearing implausible fabric (one can only assume it's made of unstable molecules). 

But I digress. I'm not well versed with the Vampirella universe so if the people they reference, aside from Vampirella herself, are supposed to mean something to me, I can honestly say they don't. But Heubert Khan Michael does a great job of using contemporary comic book language to at least sell the moment as something interesting.

Brandon Jerwa has Vampirella facing off against the Inquisition with cosmic deities cheering her on from the side lines. Think Dan Brown's DaVinci Code if Vampirella were the main character. It's just a heck of a lot of fun watching her beating up cardinals and trying to save her friend who is possessed by an evil spirit who may or may not have been a Nazi. Why wouldn't you want to buy that?

Okay, so the costume's a little off-putting. My feminist ideologies continue to do battle with Vampirella's costume, but the fact that the overtly sexist costume was designed by none other than Indie Comix legend Trina Robbins, and that Vampirella is a strong female character that more often that not doesn't feel like a "dude with boobs" tends to win out. 

I have a bigger difficulty with the men that are choosing how to promote the character. Three of the variant covers for this book are just absurd and solely exist to titillate in the most childish way. With a character like this it can be a difficult tightrope to walk between disgusting chauvinism, and female empowerment.

Seriously, it's a great read and I hope this team stays on the book for a long time.

Kirby: Genesis-Dragonsbane #3
Story Robert Rodi, Illustrated by Fritz Casas

Did you ever want to read a team-up with Thor and Hercules but without the Marvel Universe attached? I give you Sigurd Dragonsbane, the Mighty Ulysses and the NORSE GOD SQUAD! It really is a Thor book without Thor. As I was reading this issue I became more and more fascinated with Kirby's interest in creating these characters to begin with. Why would he feel the need to revisit Asgard? They aren't entirely the same, but the Kirby designs make it impossible to overlook. 

The plot of this series revolves around the worlds of myth beginning to merge and all of the gods are entwining into each others legends. So a Turkish goddess is being rescued and returned to her homeland by Sigurd and Ulysses, along the way they meet a terrible demon and mad monk. It's simple fantasy stuff, but the scale of their powers and their deity status makes their interactions preposterously awesome, especially with Kirby's technicolor yawn suits. Definitely worth a look if you are in the mood for superheroics next to godliness. 

As always, do you disagree with me? Prove me wrong.

Dylan's Sequential Theology 07.25.2012

It's a big week for humor this time around. I'm reviewing an issue of Eric Powell's the Goon, and the first issue of Axe Cop: President of the World by Malachai Nicolle (age 8) and Ethan Nicolle (age 31). There's Angel & Faith, BPRD, and Matt Kindt as well. Plenty of fun for your lunchtime tablet reading, or one more thing to check out before you leave your local comic book store.

Angel & Faith #12

Story by Christos Gage, art by Rebekah Isaacs

As big of a Buffy fan as I am, I never really got that far into Angel. Especially when his time-torn son showed up to take revenge against his neglectful father. As "comicbooky" as that concept is, I don't always want that from my television (Michelle Trachtenberg's addition to the Buffy cast was hard enough). So when I read this issue and saw who the focal character was, I can't say I wasn't hesitant. Connor returns to the Buffy-verse, as Angel, Faith & Willow visit the hell dimension where he was raised in order to find a way to bring magic back to our world after its ties were severed in an earlier story. Hweew. Christo Gage has a lot of fun with this book and does what the Buffy-verse does best, plays with expectations. When they arrive in this hell dimension, they soon realize that Connor is scorned as the antichrist to these demons, and his very presence has them scared senseless. While waiting for another portal to open so they can jump, Sliders style, to another dimension that is a touch more friendly, they chance upon a tribe of demons that worship Connor as a god for giving them "the gift of love." I couldn't stop laughing. 

Apparently, when Connor was growing up under the care of his tenacious human guardian, he said that love would always protect him. One of these demons happened to be present at that moment, latched onto that concept, and they have been living as a community instead of a rabble of demons bent on eating and crushing for the sake of slaughter. I'm sure it's been done before, but it still managed to make me more interested in the character than I had been before.

Rebekah Isaacs art gets the job done, and the characters look like their real-life counterparts without seeming photo-traced. Everything is readable and nothing gets lost, and while I'm not paying her any terrific compliments so far, her flying bisected-arm lamprey eels were frightening.

Axe Cop: President of the World #1

Story by Malachai Nicolle (age 8), art by Ethan Nicolle (age 31)

Axe Cop has been a web comic for the past three years, and Dark Horse has recently stepped in and graciously started publishing self-contained mini-series of this incredible oddity. If your not familiar with the conceit, the writer is 8 years old and his much older brother is an amazing cartoonist. Ethan Nicolle does an incredible job of taking his younger brother Malachai's ideas and "crafting them into a coherent story." If you ever made your own comics when you were a kid, imagine if you could have a professional illustrator draw them for you. It's a really great series full of unending imagination, and is one of the best things to help reignite that creative spark.

One of the best parts about this series, is the subtle layers of additional context Ethan adds to his brother's ravings. In this story Goo Cop wants to seek revenge against the aliens that abducted his family and turned him into goo. But the world needs saving, and President Axe Cop has other things on his mind! So while they are defeating the evil penguins that plague the planet of talking gorillas that stand on their tippy-toes, Goo Cop looks constantly miffed and constantly inquires when they will "get back to saving his family." I love this series, and I really encourage you to pick it up.

BPRD: Hell on Earth: Exorcism #2

Story by Mike Mignola, art by Cameron Stewart

Whenever a series has more than one subtitle, you tend to be in over your head as a new reader. Expect lots of characters you've never read before, talking about things you've never seen. They tend to happen when a line of comics get caught up in a story too big for a single series, so they plaster a second title on it to show it's part of said event (see: DC's Blackest Night or Marvel's Dark Reign). In this case, the Hellboy/Mignola-verse is wrapped up in the event Hell on Earth, and this particular miniseries is all about (you guessed it) an exorcism.

This series is missing the "what is going on?" to a large degree. Yes they talk about things you've never seen, yes there are plenty of characters you haven't read before, but the story is simple enough. Travel to a demon realm, release a demon from his fiery prison, and then kill its inevitable earthly host. Everything else is like sprinkles (or jimmies if you prefer) on your hot fudge sundae. And Cameron Stewart's art is pure whipped cream (or the ice cream itself if you're not into that). When he was working at DC during the mid-oughts, I always thought his characters were somehow wooden and unrelatable even if they were impeccably drawn. Here, his art is expressive, much more cartoony and his figures seem to be ever-moving. I was so shocked that it was Cameron Stewart, I had to go back an reread it looking for some artistic tick that reminded me of his work. I love this shift and hope he continues down this road a while.

The Goon #40

by Eric Powell

I always wanted to have a drunken fever dream about drag-racing Franken-greasers during prohibition... what?! This comic was hysterical. A great done-in-one of non-stop thrills in what feels like a MAD parody of an EC horror comic. (wonder if Harvey Kurtzman ever got the chance to do that?) From the opening monologue of our kindly drunken narrator abut the horrors of our disposable culture, to the ever increasing absurdity of the Goon peddling moonshine during prohibition, I just kept thinking, "Why aren't more people talking about this title?" 

It's a series that has been going on for 13 years, and it seems like it's only ever mentioned when Eric Powell is outspoken, and preaches about the necessity for a diverse comic book landscape (something we strive for ourselves). He can't turn off the sarcasm switch, and when he talks about "the big two" he has a tendency to spew a bit of bile about comics he wouldn't want to create anyway. Yeah, his methods probably will divide more than unite, but luckily, the series isn't just his musings on the myopic comic marketplace. THERE'S DRAG-RACING FRANKEN-GREASERS!

Mind MGMT #3

by Matt Kindt

This is my first time reading Matt Kindt, and I'm already jonesin' for more. Looking back, and trying to remember what happened in the book just makes me think about the design of the pages themselves and what it brings to the story. It seems as though Dark Horse did direct color scans of his original art boards, because you can see the photo-blue guidelines for the printer, and the white gutters are anything but. Matt Kindt uses ink and watercolor with digital lettering for the bulk of the work, and it only adds to the texture and warmth of the issue. All of the accidental hand smudges of every person that touched the boards before getting scanned are visible, and it gives a tactile feel to the story. It's not about immersing you with its polish, but immersing you with its craft. Some may find it distracting, or gimmicky, but I'd rather see the brushstrokes and the effort of the artist, than a simple flat scan of their work. But enough about the  art, lets talk a bit about the story before I invariably get sidetracked back to the presentation.

Meru & her recent ally Bill Falls are searching for a man named Henry Lyme, a man who seems to bring danger wherever he goes. The story finds them in China where they talk to dolphins, get in adventures on a riverboat, get separated, and Meru meets up with an old man with a skewed perception of reality. All the while the small print on the left hand side of the page gives the reader a running commentary from the Mind MGMT field guide. Supposedly this group is out to control the populous with advertising. Clean crisp Mondrian-esque simplicity which removes humanity and injects an idea into your brain directly. And Matt Kindt attempts to contrast these harsh typefaces with the hand of its creator. It's a wonderful book and if you're into comics that have quite a bit bubbling under the surface, this is definitely one to try.

Disagree with my reviews? Prove me wrong.