Review: SWEETS: A New Orleans Crime Story

"Murder, my sweet?"

SWEETS: A NEW ORLEANS CRIME STORY
IMAGE COMICS

CARTOONIST: Kody Chamberlain
INTRODUCTION: Duncan Fegredo
ISBN: 978-1-60706-413-8; paperback
120pp, Color, $14.99 U.S.

Kody Chamberlain is a Lafayette, Louisiana-based graphic designer turned comic book artist. He drew a backup feature for IDW’s 30 Days of Night and was the artist on two issues of BOOM Studio’s three-issue horror miniseries, Tag. He also received critical acclaim for his creator-owned comic, Punks (with writer Joshua Hale Fialkov).

Sweets was a five-issue comic book miniseries written and drawn by Kody Chamberlain and published by Image Comics beginning in 2010. The series was recently collected in the trade paperback, Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story. Set in the days before the arrival of Hurricane Katrina, Sweets follows a grieving detective as he tries to uncover the identity of a spree killer terrorizing New Orleans.

In the story there is a killer on the loose in New Orleans, one who sometimes leaves pecan pralines at the crime scene, so he is called “Sweets.” The investigation is dropped in the lap of New Orleans Police Detective Curt Delatte, who is still grieving the loss of his daughter, Katie (Kaitlin M. Delatte) in a car crash. His boss, Lt. Palmer is not really sympathetic; he just wants Sweets found, especially with the mayor becoming exceedingly insistent that the police catch Sweets after he kills one of the mayor’s pals.

Delatte and his partner Jeff Matthews, who protects Delatte’s job and acts as a sort of filter between Delatte and Palmer, navigate the exotic streets and neighborhoods of the Big Easy. Along the way, they meet an eccentric cast of characters and discover that Sweets may act as spree killer or even a serial killer, but there is more to his game than anyone realizes.

I have to say that Sweets’ basic story will be recognizable to anyone familiar with detective fiction, films, television, or even comic books. The troubled detective, his ass of a police superior, the destined-for-tragedy partner, the absolutely nuts and/or ruthless mass killer, and the gritty setting: this all has a very loud ring of familiarity. Also, I am not as enamored with the dialogue in this series as Duncan Fegredo, who provides an introduction to this volume, is. Then, there is that crazy ending that recalls Polanski’s Chinatown and Antonioni’s Blowup.

Because the detective story is so common and well worn, a storyteller must find a unique angle upon which to execute the story, and Kody Chamberlain does. This unique angle is New Orleans. Sweets is not just another Film-Noir pretense. Chamberlain presents a fictional New Orleans that is colorful and exotic even while it is gritty. It is a city of striking eccentricities, but in places it resembles both cookie-cutter bland and decaying urban landscape. This New Orleans’ sweetness can be candy or poison.

Chamberlain also offers interesting juxtapositions of characters and of character relationships. For instance, Curt Delatte works kind of a razor’s edge. On one side is a city bureaucracy that demands justice after a favored son gets snuffed, and on the other side is an aspect of the city that doesn’t really index death by social status. Death comes for all.

Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story is truly unique in crime fiction. New Orleans, however, has been done to death. I would like to see Kody do more crime comics, and I’m sure that between Thibodaux and Lafayette, he can find characters and settings to set the world of crime comics on fire.

A-

Sweets: A New Orleans Crime Story also reprints an interview of Kody conducted by the comic book website, Newsarama and a sketchbook section of preliminary art and thumbnails, among other things. There is also a script-to-art section, showing how the comic book went from script to breakdowns to pencil art to finished art.

Review: STAN LEE’S HOW TO WRITE COMICS

STAN LEE’S HOW TO WRITE COMICS
WATSON-GUPTILL PUBLICATIONS

WRITERS: Stan Lee with Bob Greenberger
COVER: Jonathan Lau
ISBN: 978-0-8230-0084-5; hardcover
224pp, Color, $45.00 U.S. ($24.99 paperback), $53.00 CAN

Born way back in 1922, Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber) has been a writer, editor, and publisher of comic books. He is most famously associated with Marvel Comics; Lee began with the company back in 1939 when it was Timely Comics. For Marvel Comics, Lee co-created such characters as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, and the Hulk, among many others

Stan Lee is an American comic book legend, but he is also known internationally and is the co-creator of a Japanese comic book series, a manga entitled Karakauri Dôji Ultimo. In addition to writing comic books, Lee has also authored several books. Perhaps, Lee’s best known non-comic is How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way (1978), co-authored with artist, John Buscema.

Stan Lee’s latest how-to book is Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics, which is available in both hardcover ($45.00 U.S.) and paperback ($24.99 U.S.) editions. Apparently, the purpose of the book is for Lee “to teach everything he knows about writing and creating comic book characters.” Lee offers tips, advice, and even a few secrets (or at least what he thinks are secrets).

Truthfully, this book has a misleading title. Yes, it does offer some how-to advice, and yes, it is rather interesting. However, this probably should be titled “Stan Lee’s About Writing Comics,” because the book is really about writing comics rather than being a how-to, guide to, or advice book, although this tome does all three things at different sections of the book.

Unless you open this book, you won’t know that Lee has a co-writer, Bob Greenberger. I wouldn’t be surprised if Greenberger did much of the writing in this book based upon interviews he conducted with Lee. Reading Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics, I got the sense of a collaborative process in which Lee strolled down memory lane recalling how he wrote, how he created, and how he collaborated with different artists, such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.

Much of this book includes quotes from current comic book creators and editors like Alan Moore, Kurt Busiek, Bryan Hitch, Doug Moench, Jerry Ordway Richard Pini, and Mark Waid, among others. There is even a script sample by Neil Gaiman. That’s why I say that Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is about writing comics rather than a pure how-to book.

Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is lavishly illustrated by pages, covers, and details from a wide assortment of comic books. There are also reproductions of original art, pencil art, and preliminary art of various kinds. To me, this book is worth purchasing because there is an entire chapter devoted to the benefits and shortcomings of using the full script or “Marvel Style” script, which is a plot-first way of telling the artist what to draw.

Upon first glance, I honestly didn’t expect much of this book, but Stan Lee’s How to Write Comics is a book that beginning and novice comic book writers should have. Even if they keep it for simple reference, they will like having this book because it has a lot to say about writing comic books.

B

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS - work by the following artists appears in this book:
Neal Adams, Ross Andru, Erica Awano
Mark Bagley, Diego Bernard, John Byrne
Aaron Campbell, J. Scott Campbell, Chris Caniano, Milton Caniff, John Cassaday, Cliff Chiang, Gene Colan
Steve Dillon, Steve Ditko
Glenn Fabry, Francesco Francavilla, Frank Frazetta,, Frank Kelly Freas
Dick Giordano
George Herriman, Bill Hughes, Bryan Hitch
Dan Jurgens
Gil Kane, Jack Kirby
David Lafuente, Jonathan Lau, Bob Layton, Sr., Larry Lieber
Mike Mayhew, Bob McLeod, Frank Miller, Tom Morgan
Katsuhiro Otomo, Richard Outcault
Carlos Paul, Frank Paul, George Perez, Windy Pini
Joe Quesada, Frank Quitely
Carlos Rafael, Caesar Razek, Wagner Reis, Paul Renaud, John Romita, John Romita, Jr., Alex Ross, Mel Rubi
Edgar Salazar, Manuel Clemente Sanjulian, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Shuster, Bill Sienkiewicz, Dave Sim, Vin Sullivan
Rodolphe Topffer, Michael Turner,
Mike Zeck

I Reads You Review: ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #2

"Part Two"

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #2
MARVEL COMICS

WRITER: Brian Michael Bendis
ARTIST: Sara Pichelli
COLORS: Justin Ponsor
LETTERS: VC’s Cory Petit
COVER: Kaare Andrews
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S.
Rated T+

The result of the “Death of Spider-Man” Ultimate Comics storyline was that Peter Parker was killed. Miles Morales, a teenager of African-American and Latino heritage, is the new Spider-Man (or Ultimate Spider-Man II).

As Ultimate Spider-Man #2 (AKA Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #2) begins, Miles is testing his new powers, but he needs answers. What is happening to him? Can his pal Ganke help him? Meanwhile, Miles’ father reveals his and his brother’s (Miles’ uncle) troubled past.

Perhaps, I over-praised writer Brian Michael Bendis in my review of the first issue of Ultimate Spider-Man #1, and did so at the expense of artist Sara Pichelli. Bendis is good in this series, but so is Pichelli. First of all, she draws some of the most convincing looking Black people I’ve ever seen in American comic books. Secondly, she is perfect for Bendis’ character-heavy stories with their sometimes exceeding sense verisimilitude and realism.

Pichelli is also a master of drawing facial expressions and subtle gestures. The way she can shift, from panel to panel, the emotion or tone via a look, expression, or gesture from a character is uncanny. During Miles’ conversation with his father, the reader will understand exactly when Miles is shocked, confused, hurt, or when he wants to exclaim, “Say what?!” to his father.

Sara Pichelli is as important as Bendis in making Ultimate Spider-Man one of the top five superhero comic books currently being published (in my estimation, of course).

A

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 includes a backup feature that reprints pages from “A Moment of Silence” and “Heroes,” two of Marvel Comics’ 9/11 publications. These are pin-ups from Sam Keith, Richard Corben, Adam Kubert with Richard Isanove, Michael Avon Oeming, and Tom Raney and Scott Hanna with Hi-Fi

Dark Horse Makes Brian Wood a Regular

BRIAN WOOD AND KRISTIAN DONALDSON’S THE MASSIVE CONTINUES IN ALL NEW COMIC SERIES FROM DARK HORSE!

Following up on the news that Brian Wood (DEMO, DMZ, NORTHLANDERS) and Kristian Donaldson (Supermarket) would be bringing their upcoming collaboration to Dark Horse’s premier anthology, Dark Horse Presents, comes news that the three-part storyline will be continued in an all-new series in June of 2012!

The Massive follows a group of direct-action environmentalists after the world has experienced a crippling ecological disaster. With society grinding to a halt and the planet itself in a state of rebellion, this group sails the world’s oceans looking not only for its lost sister ship, the titular Massive, but for some sense of logic in all the chaos. What does it mean to be an environmentalist after the world’s already ended?

“The Massive is the next logical step in my creative output: the world-building and politics of DMZ with the humanity of Northlanders, amped up and truly global in scope” said writer, Brian Wood. “No one is pulling any punches here; Kristian Donaldson is turning in his best work I’ve seen in all our years of collaboration, and the crew at Dark Horse is giving this the five-star treatment.”

As previously announced, The Massive will debut in Dark Horse Presents #8 in January of 2012, and will run in three installments through March. The Massive comic series debuts in June!

New "Knight Errant" and "Blood Ties" Star Wars Comics Coming

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES NEW KNIGHT ERRANT & BLOOD TIES SERIES!

Fresh from the panel at New York Comic Con, Dark Horse Comics is back with new series arcs from two of their most popular Star Wars books!

Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead

Established Star Wars writer Tom Taylor is back with another stunning Blood Ties series to be released in April 2012.

"Boba Fett is dead. The most infamous hunter in the galaxy has been hunted. He's lying, broken, on the desert floor. He's more blaster-holes than man. It's the ultimate ending. However, this is just the start of our story. With the fall of Fett broadcast across the galaxy, someone rises to avenge him. But who would care about the death of a man like Fett? Bounty hunters aren't exactly known for their enduring, close friendships but even a man like Boba Fett has family... and now a Blood Tie demands blood." -Tom Taylor

Star Wars: Knight Errant - Escape

The next installment of the sunning Knight Errant series was announced today. Star Wars: Knight Errant – Escapewill launch in June 2012 for a 5-issue arc.

Fan favorite John Jackson Miller is writing the series, with artwork from penciller, Marco Castiello, inking by Vincenzo Acunzo, colors by Michael Atiyeh and lettering by Michael Heiser.

John Jackson Miller’s Knight Errant novel for Del Rey was a New York Times Bestseller.

Jedi Knight Kerra Holt continues her one woman crusade against the Sith from behind enemy lines on her most dangerous mission yet!

Darth Vader Headlines Upcoming Star Wars Miniseries

DARK HORSE ANNOUNCES STAR WARS: DARTH VADER AND THE GHOST PRISON!

DARK HORSE COMICS ANNOUNCES STAR WARS™: DARTH VADER & THE GHOST PRISON

Darth Vader is back and kicking ass in the brand new series announced today at New York Comic Con by Dark Horse Comics.

The upcoming 5-issue series is slated to be released next May and will be written by Haden Blackman, with artwork by Agustin Alessio.

Ghost Prison takes place a year after Revenge of the Sith and will showcase Darth Vader’s impact on the galaxy in ways fans have never seen. Darth Vader will serve the Emperor to the best of his abilities, after all – Darth Vader makes no mistakes.

Ghost Prison also marks the return of Star Wars character Moff Trachta who will be vital to how the series unfolds.

Star Wars: Darth Vader and The Ghost Prison is in stores May 2012.

Afterschool Charisma: Attack of the Clones Continues

I read Afterschool Charisma, Vol. 4

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin.