#IReadsYou Review: MUJIRUSHI: The Sign of Dreams

MUJIRUSHI: THE SIGN OF DREAMS
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Naoki Urasawa
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: John Werry
LETTERS: Steve Dutro
EDITOR: Karla Clark
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1523-7; paperback with French flaps (July 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
272pp, B&W with some color, $19.99 U.S., $26.99 CAN, £15.99 U.K.

Located in Paris, the Louvre is the world's largest art museum (and perhaps it most famous).  Did you know, dear reader, that the Louvre also publishes comics?  Yes, the most famous art museum in the world has been commissioning French and international comics artists to write their own original stories inspired by the Louvre and its collection for about a decade.  The comics are published via a joint venture between the Louvre (under the imprint, “Louvre éditions”) and the French publisher known as “Futuropolis.”

One of the comics creators approached to produce a Louvre-inspired comic book is legendary “mangaka” (creator of manga), Naoki Urasawa, who is known for variety of titles, including Pineapple ARMY, Monster, and 20th Century Boys.  For the Louvre, Urasawa produced the manga, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams, known in French as Mujirushi – Le signe des rêves.

Mujirushi was serialized in the Japanese seinen manga magazine, Big Comic Original, from October 20, 2017 to February 20, 2018.  The nine-chapter serial was eventually collected in a single volume (in both a standard and a deluxe edition) by Japanese publisher, Shogakukan.  Louvre éditions and Futuropolis first published Mujirushi in French in a single paperback volume in June 2018; then, as a two-volume manga set in August and October 2018, and finally, in a slipcase edition in November 2018.  VIZ Media published an English-language edition of Mujirushi as single-volume, paperback graphic novel under its “VIZ Signature” imprint in July 2020.

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams features an ensemble cast of characters.  The first is Takashi Kamoda, a failed businessman and tax cheat, who finds himself abandoned by his wife, hounded by creditors, and facing incarceration.  All Kamoda has left is his daughter, Kasumi, and now, he is considering suicide.

Fate brings Kamoda and Kasumi to the France Institute for Research (also known as the “La France Institute for Research”) and its odd director.  “The Director” wears a bow tie and his top front teeth are large and stick out his mouth, making his look like 1960s Japanese pop culture figure, “Iyami.”  A francophone, the Director tells Kamoda that he has a plan that will free him of his debts.  All Kamoda has to do is travel to France and abscond with “The Lacemaker,” a 17th century painting by the Dutch “Old Master” painter, Johannes Vermeer!

The plot also involves several other players.  Their is Michel, a French firefighter, and his singing grandmother, Madame Bardot.  “Kyoko” is the name of a mysterious Japanese woman from Michel and his grandmother's past.  There are French and Japanese police detectives.  Finally, there is Beverly Duncan, a billionaire businesswoman and celebrity who is running for President of the United States.  Oh, Beverly looks like a female Donald Trump!

THE LOWDOWN:  The Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams manga is the first work by Naoki Urasawa that I have read since I read the last volume of VIZ Media's edition of Master Keaton back in September 2017.  Urasawa is one of my favorite manga writer-artists, and I consider him to be one of the very best creators working in the comics medium over the last three decades.

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams Graphic Novel is my least favorite work of his to date.  A very short work compared to Urasawa's best known manga, Mujirushi is basically a handy graphic novel package composed of Urasawa's familiar storytelling tropes.  First, it is a conspiracy wrapped inside a mystery that begins with a very important or pivotal origin story or back story that occurs decades earlier.

Second, the cast is a collection of odd and eccentric characters who are menacing or are at least behaving suspiciously.  The difference is that none of Mujirushi's characters have the depth and richness of the characters in Urasawa's best work.  Third, the art is trademark Urasawa, but there is nothing to really distinguish it from any other Urasawa graphical storytelling.

Still, even standard Naoki Urasawa is superior to most other mangaka and comics creators' best work.  John Werry's translation and English adaptation result in a story that is hard to stop reading.  Werry has fashioned something that your imagination can't stop chasing until it finds some kind of resolution... any kind of resolution.  Letterer Steve Dutro offers lettering, fonts, and effects that deftly capture the spirit of an Urasawa manga.  So while Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams isn't perfect, it is, to quote singer Grace Jones, perfect for you, dear Urasawa fans.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Naoki Urasawa will want the VIZ Signature graphic novel, Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams.

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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#IReadsYou Review: PORTRAIT OF A DRUNK

PORTRAIT OF A DRUNK
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS – @fantagraphics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONISTS: Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert & Mulot
TRANSLATION: Jenna Allen
EDITOR: Eric Reynolds
ISBN: 978-1-68396-289-2; 8.75 x 11 – trim size (April 2020)
188pp, Color, $29.99 U.S.

Portrait d'un buveur is a French graphic novel created by Belgian comics creator, Olivier Schrauwen, and the French comics duo of Ruppert and Mulot (Florent Ruppert and Jérôme Mulot).  It was published in France by Dupuis in 2019.  Fantagraphics Books recently published an English-language edition of Portrait d'un buveur as a hardcover graphic novel entitled Portrait of a Drunk, which is the subject of this review.

Portrait of a Drunk is the story of an 18th century guy named Guy Fleming.  A sailor, he is no master mariner.  A drunk, he manages to pass himself off as a carpenter aboard sailing vessels.  It would be just fine if he were an ordinary member of a sailing crew, but he is lazy, a liar, a coward, a thief, a drunkard, and, on special occasions, a killer.  He is not a swashbuckler, but he will unbuckle his pants to urinate wherever he can, including on bar counters and on people.  His story could be a grand tale of the sea with great battles, treasure-hunting adventures, and some gallows humor, but this is simply the portrait of a drunk.

The editor of the American edition of Portrait of a Drunk recommended the book to me, which under normal circumstances could be considered a conflict of interest.  But Portrait of a Drunk is such a joy to read and to experience.  It's fucking great, and you gotta say that shit like “Tony the Tiger,” growling and letting that growl roll over the word “great.”

First, I have to say that some have referred to the pairing of Olivier Schrauwen and the French duo of Ruppert and Mulot as a “supergroup.”  The term is often associated with rock music.  A supergroup comes together when members of two or more established rock bands unite to form an all-star band.  One of the earliest and most famous supergroups was “Cream,” which featured the pairing of Eric Clapton (formerly of The Yardbirds) with Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker (formerly of John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers).  I grew up on such 1980s supergroups as “Asia,” “The Firm,” “The Power Station,” and “Traveling Wilburys.”

I cannot say that the union of Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot is a comic book supergroup based on their past work, of which I am not familiar.  However, I am willing to call them a union made in comic book heaven after reading this one fantastic graphic novel, Portrait of a Drunk.

I did not read Portrait of a Drunk as a narrative told in two allegorical parts, “The Blowout” and “The Hangover,” which is apparently what it is.  Of course, it is obvious that multiple artists and storytellers worked on Portrait of a Drunk.  That can be seen simply in the mixture of color, black and white, and two-color art.  If there are two story lines or two parallel narrative threads, then, one of them is a stream of conscious-like, drunken adventure in which the reader tags along with Guy.  The other is like a side-story set in surreal shadow land or afterlife dimension where Guy's victims, accidental and otherwise, gather to observe him and also to plot against him.

Portrait of a Drunk is a great high-seas adventure.  It might seem dark, but quite the opposite.  It is a black comedy that takes many of the familiar literary elements and Hollywood ingredients of the high-seas adventure and strips away the glamour.  What is left is a bumbling, rough-and-tumble, violent, piss-laden adventure with someone who is such a drunkard that he needs professional help, the kind of which I assume did not exist in the 18th century.

Often in this graphical narrative, Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot don't even bother with panels.  They draw Guy bumbling from one side of the page to the other – row by row until he gets to the next page and starts all over again.  While Guy might be a drunk and a killer, but he is a comic book star, no less so that Spider-Man and Batman.  His adventure here is so... well, adventurous.  Colorful and exotic, we follow Guy from one port town to another, with stops at vibrant locales and in alien lands.

There is something so alluring in Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot fantastic bandes dessinées.  Perhaps, it is that they experiment with the medium and with comics and push past the boundaries of the expected.  Yes, Fantagraphics Books publishes comics for thinking readers, but it is just fine that high-falutin' comics, like Portrait of a Drunk, are as fun to read as say... Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

I can say with confidence that in this awful year of 2020, Olivier Schrauwen and Ruppert and Mulot's Portrait of a Drunk is one of the few truly magnificent graphic novels I have have come across.  And it is a fun summer read for me today, just as a Marvel comic book was for me decades ago.

10 out of 10

https://www.fantagraphics.com/
https://twitter.com/fantagraphics
https://www.facebook.com/fantagraphics
https://www.youtube.com/user/fantagraphics

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.


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#IReadsYou Review: THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS

THE RUNAWAY PRINCESS
RANDOM HOUSE/Random House Graphic – @RHKidsGraphic

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Johan Troĩanowski
TRANSLATION: Anne Smith and Owen Smith
ISBN: 978-0-593-11840-5; paperback (January 21, 2020)
272pp, Color, $12.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN

Demographic: Middle-Grade

The Runaway Princess is a new, full-color, paperback graphic novel from Random House Graphic (or RH Graphic).  This is Random House's new imprint that publishes picture books, graphic novels, and other books that use graphics to tell a story.  [For the record, I use the term “graphical storytelling” to describe stories that use graphics (like lettering and sound effects), pictures, drawings, and illustrations (sometimes in sequence) to drive the narrative.  That includes the stories found in comics, comic books, comic strips, graphic novels, manga, etc.]

The Runaway Princess is comprised of three stories.  The first is “The Princess Runs Away (And Makes Some Friends).”  It stars Robin, the princess of the kingdom of Seddenga.  The story opens with the Queen and Elias, a royal household member, searching the royal castle for Robin.  After all, it is time for the princess' etiquette lesson with Elias.  They can't find her, but they are sure that she is nearby.

However, Robin is not a princess who will stay quietly and obediently at home.  This fiery red-haired girl is the kind of princess who will run away to have her own adventures, and this princess can’t resist the lure of adventure.  So Robin leaves the royal city of “Renoir” and heads out for adventure.  In “the Ogre's Forest,” she meets four brothers:  Paul, Matt, Lee, and Omar, and after avoiding the ogre, Robin leads her new friends to the city of “Noor,” where “the Aquatic Festival” is in full swing.  But can this adventurous princess and these lost boys handle all the (mis)adventure and strange beings that will come their way?

In the second story, “The Princess Runs Away Again (By Accident This Time),” Robin, Paul, Matt, Lee, and Omar are frolicking in the castle gardens when Robin falls into a secret passage.  The brothers are determined to find and rescue their friend, but Robin has already made a new friend, Plum, a curious girl with a thing for pumpkins.  But neither Robin nor the brothers realize that they are in “the Kingdom of Darkness” and that there is more to Plum than she has revealed.

In the third story, “The Princess Tries to Stay in One Place (But the Weather Doesn't Cooperate),” Robin finds Paul, Matt, Lee, and Omar playing aboard a small, sea-worthy boat that is land-ridden in a grassy meadow, so she joins them for some play.  When a sudden storm lifts the boat and carries it to an unknown land, the children have to find their way home.  In this adventure, the quintet encounters the eccentric scientist, inventor, and collector, Professor Dandelion; giant trees; the “Doodlers;” and a group of treasure-obsessed pirates that sail aboard a ship-in-a-bottle.

I can unequivocally say that RH Graphic's The Runaway Princess is one of the best kids' graphic novels that I have ever read.  I would probably have to go way out of my way and way overboard to find something wrong with it.  But first some background:

RH Graphic's The Runaway Princess is an English language collection of the French graphic novel series, Rouge.  Rouge is a comics series that began in 2009 and was written and illustrated by Johan Troĩanowski, a French comics and graphic novel creator.  In 2015, French publishing house, Makaka Éditions, published the first book collection (or graphic novel) of Rouge comics, entitled Rouge – Petite princesse punk.  That was followed by Rouge et la sorcière d’automne (2016), and Rouge - Lîle des Gribouilleurs (2017).  In the original comics, The “runaway princess'” name is “Rouge.”

RH Graphic's The Runaway Princess collects all three Rouge books in one handy, gorgeous paperback volume at the very reasonable cover prince of $12.99.  If you, dear readers, are considering purchasing The Runaway Princess, know that it shares characteristics with classic children's literature such The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and The Wind in the Willows, to name a few.  The three stories contained in this book also recall the stories of the Brothers Grimm and other classic fairy tales, especially the ones that Walt Disney turned into beloved animated feature films.

Johan Troĩanowski is a hugely imaginative and inventive storyteller.  I remember a writer once saying that The Wizard of Oz is such a perfect children's tale because things just happen without explanation, as if children were imagining the story.  The Runaway Princess works that way.  Troĩanowski imagines so many wonderful things and places and characters, and they do not seem frivolous or like throwaway characters.  Each thing and every person seems to have some back story – his, hers, or its own tale outside of Robin, Paul, Matt, Lee, and Omar's story.

The illustrations are doused in bright, vivid colors that make the art and story almost seem to leap off the page, as if the story contents of The Runaway Princess are coming to life.  There are also a few times in each of these three adventures when Troĩanowski asks the readers to help move the adventure forward.

The Runaway Princess is aimed at “middle-grade” readers, which I guess means readers ages 8 to 12, but over the decades, children have learned to read by reading comic books.  I think a child younger than eight who wants to tackle The Runaway Princess can handle it.  So yeah, The Runaway Princess might be the first great children's graphic novel of 2020.  I highly recommend it to readers young, older, and young at heart.

[This book also includes a back section featuring Johan Troĩanowski's preliminary art for the series, such as character sketches and story page sketches.]

10 out of 10

Website: https://www.rhkidsgraphic.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RHKidsGraphic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rhkidsgraphic/

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.


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Review: CATS OF THE LOUVRE

CATS OF THE LOUVRE
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Taiyo Matsumoto (with Saho Tono)
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Michael Arias
LETTERS: Deron Bennett
EDITOR: Mike Montessa
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0708-9; hardcover (September 2019)
432pp, B&W with some color, $29.99 US, $39.99 CAN, £20.00 UK

Located in Paris, the Louvre is the world's largest art museum (and perhaps it most famous).  Did you know, dear reader, that the Louvre also publishes comics?  Yes, the most famous art museum in the world has been commissioning various legendary comic artists to write their own original stories inspired by the Louvre and its collection for the last decade.  These comics are published via a joint venture between the Louvre and French publisher, Futuropolis.

Most of these artists are French, but increasingly the Louvre has been working with Japanese manga artists (mangaka).  One of those mangaka is Taiyo Matsumoto, who is best known for his manga, Tekkonkinkreet.  Matsumoto won one of American comics' most prestigious honors, an Eisner Award (“Best U.S. Edition of International Material,” 2008), for Tekkonkinkreet: Black and White, VIZ Media's English-language edition of Tekkonkinkreet.

Matsumoto's contribution to Louvre comics is Les Chats du Louvre (Cats of the Louvre), which Futuropolis published in two books, one in February 2017 and the second in August 2018.  VIZ Media recently published an English-language edition of both volumes of Les Chats du Louvre in a single, hardcover, omnibus book under the title, Cats of the Louvre.

Cats of the Louvre, Part One (Chapters 1 to 10) and Part Two (Chapters 11 to 17 to Final Chapter) focuses on a group of human characters that works at the Louvre and a small family of cats that lives in the museum's attic.  Cécile Gagnier, a recent hire, is a tour guide.  Through Marcel, an elderly nightwatchman, Cécile learns that the paintings speak.  Although Cécile and, Marcel's new assistant, Patrick Nasri, initially doubt the old nightwatchman stories, they gradually become believers, especially Cécile.

For the world-renowned Louvre museum contains more than just the most famous works of art in history.  At night, within the Louvre's darkened galleries, an unseen and surreal world comes alive.  It is a world witnessed only by the cats that live in the attic, until now…  The cats, who change appearance at night into anthropomorphic forms, will end up sharing that magic with the humans.  Long ago, Marcel's sister, Arrieta, disappeared in the Louvre when the two were children.  Now, Cécile and a precocious white kitten named “Snowbébé” will solve a mystery that unites the world of the humans that work at the Louvre, the world of the cats, and the magical world a mysterious painting.

It is difficult to describe Cats of the Louvre.  It is surreal and partly exists in the real world and in the world of magical realism; then, some of it is entirely magical and fantastical.

Taiyo Matsumoto fashions an interesting and endearing group of human characters.  Marcel is mysterious, but he is the kind of old man who has a lot to say.  I found that I could not get enough of him.  Patrick Nasri is a nice spin on the skeptical youth type.  Cécile Gagnier is our doorway into the entire world of the museum and its employees and the world of the family of cats in the attic.  Her curiosity and determination and her willingness to listen and to believe make her an excellent focus and doorway into the narrative for readers.

The cats are something else entirely.  Even as cats, they seem slightly supernatural, so when they become human-like at night, everything about them turns magical and exciting.  I could follow their lives and adventures forever.  Most of the cat characters are quite interesting, but the star is, of course, Snowbébé.  This little white cat is the one who crosses the barriers, visiting the galleries during the day when the tourists and museum visitors can plainly see him.  It is his adventure into the mystery painting that creates the most magical and surreal sections of Cats of the Louvre.

Matsumoto's art is as lyrical, as poetic, and as personal as his story.  His odd, eccentric drawing style is perfect for comics; in fact, Cats of the Louvre looks like Eurocomics, American comics, and manga.  The art and story are hypnotic and alluring.  I found myself being pulled into the comic by the irresistible force of Matsumoto's graphical storytelling.

Michael Arias, the noted visual effects artist who directed the anime adaptation of Tekkonkinkreet, provides the translation and English adaptation for VIZ Media's edition of Cats of the Louvre.  Arias captures the magic and brilliance of Matsumoto's tale of the Louvre and its cats, its humans, and its charmed works of art.  Letter Deron Bennett turns in the best work of his career, providing the English lettering and sound effects and also, with his lettering, matching the beautiful spirit of Matsumoto's art.

I highly recommend Cats of the Louvre.  No admirer of the medium of comics can ignore Matsumoto's stunning manga.

10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: RADIANT Volume 1

RADIANT, VOL. 1
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

MANGAKA: Tony Valente
TRANSLATION: Anne Ishii
LETTERS: Erika Terriquez
EDITOR: Marlene First
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0381-4; paperback (September 2018); Rated “T” for “Teen”
184pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Tony Valente is a French comics artist, and he is one of a growing number of foreign-born manga artists whose work is being published in Japan (according to Anime News Network).  VIZ Media is publishing his manga, Radiant, in North America as a series of graphic novels.

Radiant, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 4) introduces Seth.  He is an apprentice Wizard, and is one of the “Infected.”  Under the guidance of his cruel tutor, Alma, Seth is learning how to use magic (called “fantasia”) to stop evil creatures known as “Nemeses” that plague humanity.

However, Seth is special, and it will take a special place to train him so that he can reach his ultimate goal, to find and to destroy the mythical Nemesis nest, called “Radiant.”  So now, he has to start, but The Artemis Institute seems like a helluva place to learn.

[This volume includes bonus manga, “Doc's Lesson,” “The Nemeses!”, “The Wizards,” and “Some Basic Tools.”]

I was surprised to learn (via some Google searches) that the Radiant manga was originally a French manga.  I thought that “Tony Valente” was an odd name for a Japanese manga creator, and I thought that Valente might be one of those foreign artists working in Japan as manga artists.  However, Radiant is good enough to get published in Japan as manga.

Radiant Graphic Novel Volume 1 introduces a narrative that could indeed be a Japanese-born and bred manga, published in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump or another Japanese shonen manga magazine.  Radiant reminds me of and has the freewheeling spirit of Hiro Mashima's wildly popular manga, Fairy Tail.  Seth is also similar to the plucky and stubborn Uzumaki Naruto, especially the young ninja of the early volumes of Masashi Kishimoto's beloved manga, Naruto.

One thing I did have to get used to about Radiant is that writer-artist Tony Valente packs almost every page with visual and graphical elements.  Sometimes everything is so squeezed into a page or into an individual panel that it is difficult to read the dialogue and also takes considerable effort to interpret the story.  Still, it is worth it.  Radiant has a fascinating, Harry Potter-like quality that makes me want to read more.  I think Radiant has a lot of potential.

8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint syndication rights and fees.

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Review: THE MAN FROM THE GREAT NORTH

THE MAN FROM THE GREAT NORTH
IDW PUBLISHING/EuroComics – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Hugo Pratt
TRANSLATION: Dean Mullaney, Simone Castaldi, and Ariane Levesque Looker
COLORS: Annie Frognier and Patrizia Zanotti
EDITOR: Dean Mullaney
ISBN:  978-1-68405-058-1; hardcover – 8 1/2” x 11” (October 2017)
104pp, Color, $24.99 U.S., $33.99 CAN (November 21, 2017)

Hugo Pratt (1927 to 1995) was an Italian comic book creator and artist.  Some consider him to be among the first literary and artistic comic book creators, and his best known work is his Corto Maltese series, which he produced from 1967 to 1988.

IDW Publishing is currently publishing new English-language editions of Pratt's graphic albums and comics.  One of those is a full-color graphic novel, The Man From the Great North.  It was initially entitled Jésuite Joe and was serialized in the French comics magazines, Pilote.  Jésuite Joe was then collected as a graphic album in 1980 in France (by Dargaud).  In Italy, it was published as L'uomo del grande nord (The Man From the Great North) and was one of four graphic novels that Hugo Pratt contributed to Italian publisher Edizioni Cepim's “One Man, One Adventure” series.

IDW's The Man From the Great North is the first English-language version of Jésuite Joe (according to the publisher).  IDW's edition includes Pratt's original 48-page version of Jésuite Joe and also 21 pages of storyboard material that Pratt produced for a 1991 French film based on the graphic novel and directed by Olivier Austen.  The storyboards are integrated into the original graphic novel to produce an expanded version of the Jésuite Joe graphic novel.

IDW's The Man From the Great North also has five pages of watercolors studies and five spot illustrations that Pratt produced for Jésuite Joe.  Pratt also produced 19 pages of a second Jésuite Joe story that he never finished, and that is reprinted in this book.

The story focuses on Jesuit Joe, who is a “Métis,” an ethnic group in Canada and part of the United States that is descended from indigenous North Americans (Native Americans) and European settlers.  In Joe's case, he is of French-Canadian (father) and Mohawk (mother) descent.

The Man From the Great North's story takes place in 1912 in Canada (the “Great North”), and for most of the story, Joe is dressed in the uniform of a Royal North West Mounted Police (RNWMP), specifically a corporal's uniform.  Joe finds the uniform in a cabin shortly before he kills two men who hat shot into the cabin.  Next, he encounters a Cree medicine man in the middle of some kind of ceremony involving a baby stolen from white settlers, and Joe kills him.

Thus, begins Jesuit Joe's spree of killing and violence that includes a Catholic priest, family, Indians, and the man who is tracking him, Sergeant Fox, among others.  All the while, Jesuit Joe is looking for something... something ephemeral... or absolute.

In his essay, “Whatever became of Jesuit Joe?”, Gianni Brunoro writes that Hugo Pratt “...was interested in telling stories about ideas.”  Brunoro writes that Jesuit Joe may have been “an ideologically completed story,” so for Pratt, there was nothing to which he should return.  Something else worth noting:  in his forward to Jésuite Joe, written in 1991, Pratt talks about writers who influenced this creation, including Jack London and Zane Gray.

For me, Jesuit Joe seems like an idea, a story about a guy going through the wilderness of the “Great North,” killing people at just about every stop because that is what he does.  His motivation is inscrutable, unless a reader wants to admit that Joe does things simply because he wants to do those things.  He is simultaneously ephemeral, a force of nature, and a personification of death.  One can see that this story and character seem like ideas inspired by the works of Jack London.

The story in The Man From the Great North is impressionistic and is told in illustrations that are abstract when they are not treading the ground of realist art.  The influence of the great American cartoonist, Milton Caniff, is evident on The Man From the Great North, as it is on Pratt's Corto Maltese series.  The storyboard pages are loose and seem immediate and relevant, but do not show the influence of any particular artist or writer.  They seem like pure Pratt.

This story, with its wraith-like character who wanders a sometimes dream-like wilderness landscape, seems to me to be about inspiring the reader's imagination.  Pratt seems to tell us to follow Joe and make of it what our imaginations will.  I find that this story does indeed arouse my imagination, and I cannot help but be intrigued and emotionally involved in it.  The violence (murder, kidnapping, assault, rape, etc.) moves me.  I feel something... and some things I should not admit...

There will be no more Jesuit Joe by Hugo Pratt.  I want more because this story moves me.  There is no beginning, middle, and end in a traditional way; in fact, The Man From the Great North seems like a small section of a larger story.  Like Pratt's other work, this is a work of graphic fiction and graphic storytelling that grabs the reader in ways that larger, more developed comics do not.  That is the reason why Pratt is always worth reading, but concerning Jesuit Joe, this is the end.

9 out of 10

[This book includes a forward by Hugo Pratt, and an essay, “Whatever became of Jesuit Joe?” by Gianni Brunoro.]

EuroComics.us

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: LOVECRAFT: The Myth of Cthulhu

LOVECRAFT: THE MYTH OF CTHULHU
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

SCRIPT: Esteban Maroto – adapted from stories by H.P. Lovecraft
ART: Esteban Maroto
TRANSLATION: Anna Rosenwong
EDITORS:  Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon
COVER: Esteban Maroto with Santi Casas
ISBN:  978-1-68405-125-0; hardcover (February 2018)
80pp, B&W, $19.99 U.S., $25.99 CAN (February 14, 2018)

Introduction to the Cthulhu Mythos by José Villarrubìa

Prologue and Preface by Esteban Maroto

Estaban Maroto is a Spanish comic book artist.  Maroto was the second most prolific contributor to Warren Publishing's line of horror comic book magazines (Creepy, Eerie, and Vampirella) and worked for the publisher from 1971 to 1983.  Many fans may remember Maroto as the artist on DC Comics' seven-issue miniseries, Atlantis Chronicles, or perhaps for designing the “metal bikini” worn by Marvel Comics' Conan the Barbarian character, Red Sonja.

Howard Phillips Lovecraft, better known as H.P. Lovecraft (1890 – 1937) was an American writer of horror fiction.  After his death, Lovecraft's writing became hugely influential and some critics, historians, and writers now regard him as one of the most significant 20th-century authors not only in the horror genre, but also in literature in general.

Back in the early 1980s, a Spanish publisher (Editorial Bruguera) planned a series of comic book adaptations of classic short stories from the science fiction, fantasy, and horror genres.  Asked to contribute, Estaban Maroto decided to adapt three of H.P. Lovecraft stories that were part of a story cycle now known as “the Cthulhu Mythos.”  Those stories were “The Nameless City” (first published in the November 1921 issue of the amateur press journal, The Wolverine); “The Festival” (initially published in the January 1925 issue of seminal pulp magazine, Weird Tales); and “The Call of Cthulhu” (first published in Weird Tales, February 1928).

Bruguera went bankrupt before publishing Maroto's three Lovecraft tales.  According to Spanish comic book artist and colorist, José Villarrubìa, the stories were eventually published in a Spanish children's comics magazine (Capitán Trueno).  In 2000, defunct American publisher, Cross Plains, published Maroto's stories with a new script written by legendary comic book writer and editor, Roy Thomas.  In 2016, Spanish media company, Editorial Planeta, SA, published Maroto's Lovecraft stories in an edition that satisfied Maroto and was entitled, Los Mitos de Cthulhu de Lovecraft.

Now, IDW Publishing is releasing an American edition of Los Mitos de Cthulhu de Lovecraft as a hardcover book under the title, Lovecraft: The Myth of Cthulhu.  It sports a full-color cover with the interior art reproducing Esteban Maroto's comics art in its original black and white.

Esteban Maroto!  H.P. Lovecraft!  I'm all in!  Lovecraft: The Myth of Cthulhu is the latest entry in IDW Publishing's catalog of gorgeous hardcover original graphic novels, comics art books, and trade collections.  These books are so fine that they are worthy of being sexed-up.  Seriously, Lovecraft: The Myth of Cthulhu is a gorgeous book, and I cannot stop looking through it.

As for the contents, Maroto's adaptations of Lovecraft are... well... lovingly crafted.  Almost decades after their creation, these comics are like treasures from comics days of yore, but they are also still vibrant in their design and conception and unsettling in the narratives they hold.

“The Nameless City” is a travelogue that I can best describe as blending Lovecraft with director Paolo Sorrentino's 2013 film, The Great Beauty.  It is as if the protagonist is traveling through the hideous beauty of the declining elder gods bourgeoisie.  In this story, Maroto's art is highly detailed, but the subject matter is impressionistic rather than literal.  Some observers have argued that the horror of Lovecraft’s fiction is that the reader visualizes the horror in his mind, rather than have an artist show them what that “Lovecraftian” horror looks like.

That observation is evident in the shadowy, misty, dream world of “The Festival.”  Here, Maroto art is sparse and elaborate at the same time.  It is as if the artist is creating a realist portrait of a surrealistic and nightmarish shadow land.  Crosshatching and line work emanate from buildings and walls like aurora borealis from a shimmery world that could just as easily be Hell or an other-dimensional Hades.

Maroto's blend of the literal and the impressionistic, of the dreamlike and of the waking nightmares culminates in “The Call of Cthulhu,” a masterpiece of a story within a story within a story.  In Maroto's graphical storytelling, the high art of Hugo Pratt meets the madness of Graham Ingels in a story that gave me chills by the time the last ten pages slithered before me.  The story's dark, inescapable destiny is visualized, so, yes, the graphics of the comics mediums can match the horrors that the reader's mind might fashion out of the end of “The Call of Cthulhu.”

I can only imagine what might have been if the original solicitor of this work had not gone bankrupt so early in the process of its project to adapt classic genre short stories into comics.  What Esteban Maroto did give us, however, is a graphics masterpiece of horror storytelling, so I appreciate what we do have all these years later.  Thank you, IDW.

9 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: CORTO MALTESE: Fable of Venice

CORTO MALTESE: FABLE OF VENICE
IDW PUBLISHING/EuroComics – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally published on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Hugo Pratt
TRANSLATION: Dean Mullaney and Simone Castaldi
EDITOR: Dean Mullaney
ISBN:  978-1-63140-926-4; paperback with French flaps – 9 1/4” x 10 5/8” (August 2017)
64pp, B&W, $19.99 U.S., $25.99 CAN (September 26, 2017)

Hugo Pratt (1927 to 1995) was an Italian comic book creator and artist.  Some consider him to be among the first literary and artistic comic book creators, and his best known work is his Corto Maltese series, which he produced from 1967 to 1988.  Beginning with Ballad of the Salt Sea in 1976, the series was collected in 12 books (or graphic novels).

Back in July 2014, IDW Publishing announced that it was going to publish the complete Corto Maltese in a series of twelve trade paperbacks, using Hugo Pratt’s original over-sized black and white format.  These trade paperbacks (which can also be called “graphic albums”) are published under IDW's “EuroComics” imprint.  They feature new translations into English from Hugo Pratt’s original Italian scripts by Simone Castaldi, Associate Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures at Hofstra, and Dean Mullaney, the longtime comics publisher, editor, and translator who is also the creative director of the IDW's imprints, “The Library of American Comics” and EuroComics.

In September 2017, IDW published Corto Maltese: Fable of Venice.  It was originally published in 1976 as Favola di Venezia, the eighth book in the series.  The story takes place in Venice (Pratt's hometown) in 1921 and is a mystery thriller set during the rise of Fascism in Italy.

Fable of Venice finds the enigmatic sea captain, Corto Maltese, returning to Venice, Italy.  He has been brought to the city by the riddle of an old acquaintance, Baron Corvo, and now, he needs to find Corvo's diary.  In that diary are inscriptions related to the whereabouts of the “Clavicle of Solomon,” a legendary emerald and magical talisman.

Corto is not the only one after this magical object that is steeped in history and mysticism.  There are his friends, Bepi Faliero and Böeke, and the young Blackshirts (Fascists), Stevani and Boselli.  There is mystery woman, Hipazia, who believes that she is the reincarnation of a prominent figure in the School of Alexandria.  Corto also finds that the Freemasons and their masonic lodge, R L Hermes, frequently pop up during his search.  Freemasons, Vikings, Teutonic Knights, King Solomon, Jewish mysticism, the Queen of Sheba, Biblical figures, mysterious Arabs, and the genie of the lamp:  are they all part of a quest that will unravel time and space or are they all chasing a fantasy?

I first heard of Hugo Pratt and Corto Maltese when Frank Miller mentioned them as influences on his work leading up to his then-new comic book, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.  Pratt's own influences include 19th and 20th century adventure storytellers like novelist Robert Louis Stevens (Treasure Island) and cartoonist Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates).

Fable of Venice specifically is influenced by the magical realist literature of South American writers like Jose Luis Borges (whose work Pratt would have encountered during his years living and working in Argentina) and American novelist Dashiell Hammett.  In fact, while reading Fable of Venice I could not stop thinking about Hammett's most famous novel, The Maltese Falcon (1930), which was twice adapted into film, with the 1941 John Huston-Humphrey Bogart film being more famous.

So I think of Fable of Venice as a magical realist take on The Maltese Falcon set in Venice during the rise of Fascism.  This is the first time that I have read a Corto Maltese graphic novel (thanks to a review copy provided to me by IDW), so I really do not know this character.  What attracts me to this novel are two things.

The first thing are the characters.  I cannot choose a favorite, because each one is like a delightful flavor in a wondrous hoodoo gumbo.  They are simultaneously weird and recognizable and sinister and attractive.  Each of these character is so eccentric and colorful that he or she makes this black and white comic seem like a spinning kaleidoscope throwing off sparklers.

The second great thing about Fable of Venice is Hugo Pratt's gorgeous black and white art and sumptuous graphical storytelling.  This is simply some of the most beautiful black and white comic book art that I have ever seen.  This book is like a slim, paperback version of one of editor Scott Dunbier's “Artist Editions” (also from IDW).  I think that this story is so rich and complicated because Pratt maximized his over-sized pages with nine to 12 panels to page.  Whereas so many American artists draw big panels and half-splash and full-splash pages, Pratt uses the 9 to 12-panel grid to delve into the details of the characters, moods, situations, and his wonderfully magical Venetian setting.

From the opening pages' Masonic gathering and Corto's arrival to the final pages' gathering of players and magical realist and surrealist ending, Pratt pushes past any imaginary boundary lines forced on the graphical and comics medium.  Over 40 years after Fables of Venice was first published, Hugo Pratt's work is still ahead of most comics being published today.

A+
10 out of 10

EuroComics.us

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

-----------------------------

Review: STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE Graphic Novel Adaptation

STAR WARS: ROGUE ONE GRAPHIC NOVEL ADAPTATION
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon. and please, visit the "Star Wars Central" review page here.]

WRITER: Alessandro Ferrari (Manuscript Adaptation)
ART: Igor Chimisso (character studies); Matteo Piana (layout)
INKS: Igor Chimisso, Stefano Simeone
PAINT: Davide Turotti (background and settings); Kawaii Creative Studio (characters)
COVER: Eric Jones
ISBN: 978-1-68405-220-2; paperback, 6 3/4” x 9” (December 2017)
80pp, Color, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN (December 12, 2017)

IDW Publishing is currently publishing an all-ages Star Wars comic book, entitled Star Wars Adventures.  Announced at Star Wars Celebration (April 2017) in Orlando, Florida, Star Wars Adventures is geared toward readers ages 7 to 10 and features one and two part stories that are not steeped in Star Wars continuity.

In addition, IDW Publishing is also publishing U.S. editions of Star Wars graphic novels drawn by a group of Disney artists, apparently based in Italy.  This group's art is intended to bridge the gap between Star Wars and traditional Disney animation, making these Star Wars comics more attractive for younger audiences that are probably familiar with Disney style art in Disney comic books and illustrated books.

This group also produced an adaption of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the eighth live-action Star Wars film.  Released in 2016, Rogue One is a stand-alone film, meaning it is not part of the original, prequel, or sequel trilogies.  Rogue One's story is set immediately before the events depicted in the original Star Wars (1977).  IDW is now releasing that Rogue One graphic novel as Star Wars: Rogue One Graphic Novel Adaptation.  It is written by Alessandro Ferrari, who has adapted numerous Walt Disney and Pixar films into the graphic novel format and has also written many comics for Disney Worldwide Publishing.

In Star Wars: Rogue One Graphic Novel Adaptation, the Death Star, the Galactic Empire’s ultimate weapon, looms large.  Its near-completion means doom for the Rebel Alliance.  Enter Jyn Erso, daughter of the Death Star’s reluctant creator, Galen Erso; she desperately seeks to save her father from Imperial control.  For this quest, Jyn will join forces with Rebel spy, Cassian Andor; his reprogrammed Imperial droid, K-2SO, and a small band of rebels.  Aboard a ship one of them dubs “Rogue One,” they will attempt to steal the Death Star’s plans and keep hope for the Rebellion alive.

At 64 pages of actual comics, IDW's Star Wars: Rogue One Graphic Novel Adaptation is half the size of Marvel Comics' six-issue miniseries, Star Wars: Rogue One Adaptation.  Writer Alessandro Ferrari has to excise chunks out of many scenes and sequences, yet he makes the most of the narrative space he has.  Ferrari's Rogue One adaptation runs hot and the dialogue is passionate.  The threat that looms above the Rebel Alliance, the Death Star, seem genuine and larger than life.  It reads as if it were a behemoth bearing down upon the rebels even when it is nowhere near them.

The art is gorgeous.  The character drawings convey the dark personalities of the characters and the intensity of their emotions and the grittiness of their determination.  The backgrounds and settings are wonderfully painted.  You would think the painters were doing this high-quality work for an animated film project, but no, they are turning out this sumptuous painting for a kids' comic book!

The screenplay for the Rogue One film was written by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy (from a story by John Knoll and Gary Whitta), and Alessandro Ferrari and the artists of Star Wars: Rogue One Graphic Novel Adaptation have done these writers proud.  I hope this creative team gets the chance to do a graphic novel adaptation of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I am sure I am not the only one waiting to see what they can do with this new Star Wars film.

A
8 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: ELENORA MANDRAGORA: Daughter of Merlin

ELENORA MANDRAGORA: DAUGHTER OF MERLIN
IDW PUBLISHING/EuroComics – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Severine Gauthier
ART: Thomas Labourot
TRANSLATION: Edward Gauvin
COLORS: Grelin & Thomas Labourot
LETTERS: Ron Estevez
COVER: Thomas Labourot
EDITORS: Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon
ISBN:  978-1-68405-008-6; hardcover – 8¼”  x 10¾” (November 8, 2017)
60pp, Color, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN

Age 10-17; Grades 5-12

Elenora Mandragora: Daughter of Merlin is a full color, hardcover graphic novel recently published by IDW Publishing.  Written by Severine Gauthier and drawn by Thomas Labourot, Elenora Mandragora: Daughter of Merlin is French comic book originally published as a graphic album, entitled Aliénor Mandragore – Merlin est mort, vive Merlin! by Paris-based publisher, Rue de Sèvres.  The IDW edition has a trim size of 8¼”  x 10¾” and comes in at 60-pages long.

Elenora Mandragora: Daughter of Merlin focuses on Elenora, the daughter of Merlin the wizard.  Merlin is the greatest druid in the forest of Broceliande, and he spends most of his time in his “Mushroomery,” a dank and dark place in the woods where a variety of mushrooms grow.  Elenora lives with her father, but the impish and undisciplined girl has no interest in “druiding,” which her father insists on teaching her.  Elanora has no talent for magic.

That all changes one day when Elenora does something that kills her father.  However, Merlin's ghost is determined not to stay dead, and it falls on Elenora to befriend the one person who may have the ability to revive Merlin.  That would be her father's greatest rival, Morgana the fairy magician and sorceress.

IDW's press materials for Elenora Mandragora: Daughter of Merlin compares this graphic novel to the work of legendary creators of stories for children:  author Roald Dahl; animated filmmaker, Hayao Miyazki; and American legend and mogul, Walt Disney.  I am quite versed in Miyazaki and Disney, but I have only read two Dahl books (that I remember), and with that experience, I can still say that IDW is not far off with such comparisons.

Elenora Mandragora: Daughter of Merlin is a fantastic comic book and original graphic novel.  I think middle school students who read fantasy literary will likely enjoy this.  I think older teens and high school students familiar with comic books will also enjoy this graphic novel.

It is not perfect; there are some oddly extraneous characters in the story, characters I am assuming will be important in later Elenora Mandragora adventures.  However, the three core characters:  Elenora, Merlin, and Morgana form a solid trinity of motivations, desires, conflicts, rivalries, back story, and endearment.  They are the powerful engine that drive this engaging and magical story of fathers and daughters and mentors and students.  This is a love triangle, of sorts, that propels this wonderfully inventive comic book.

Elenora Mandragora: Daughter of Merlin is infused with a sense of magic, and the setting is a place to which you will want to return, even if only in your dreams.  And the characters – you will want to visit with them again... and again.

9 out of 10
A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for October 4, 2017

IDW PUBLISHING

JUL170652    DOC MACABRE TREASURY EDITION    $9.99
JUL170027    HCF 2017 GHOSTBUSTERS DIA DE LOS MUERTOS (NET)    $PI
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JUN170544    PRINCESS BRIDE AS YOU WISH MEMORABLE QUOTES TO COLOR TP    $16.99
MAR170626    SAMARIS TP    $19.99
MAY170529    SPACEBAT & THE FUGITIVES GN BOOK 01    $14.99
APR170663    SPOOKY & STRANGE TALES MONSTER INN HC    $19.99
DEC160449    WILLIAM GIBSON ARCHANGEL HC    $24.99

Review: CINEGEEK

CINEGEEK
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

CARTOONIST: Pluttark
TRANSLATION: Brandon Kander
EDITOR: Justin Eisinger
ISBN:  978-1-63140-900-4; hardcover – 7 7/8” x 10 1/3” (August 1, 2017)
96pp, Color, $14.99 U.S., $19.99 CAN

Cinegeek is a collection of single-page cartoons created by the French cartoonist, illustrator, and graphic designer, Rudy Spiessert, using the name “Pluttark.”  Cinegeek was originally published as Cinégeek in 2014 by Editions Delcourt (France).

Each cartoon take as its subject Hollywood films, especially genre films like superhero, science fiction, fantasy, horror, and action movies and also big budget event films of multiple genres from the major studios.  These cartoons also reference famous, infamous, and cult actors and directors.  Filmmakers and performers referenced here are people that would be well-known to film buffs and fanatics and movie lovers.

Each cartoon is centered around some kind of movie trivia, but most of the cartoons use trivia to comment, mock, spoof, make fun of the films, filmmakers, and movie stars.  An example of commentary would include “Pop Stars Miscast in Unsuitable Movie Roles” (like Rihanna in Battleship and Mick Jagger in Freejack).

An example of mocking would be “Michael Bay Movie Kits” and “Actors Who Always Play the Same Role.”  I think the best example of Pluttark spoofing is “Marlon Brando's Flowchart.”  In the “making fun of” category is “Movies It's Hard to Believe Ever Saw the Light of Day.”  Pluttark includes Super Mario Bros., which is indeed horrible, but he also mentions the live-action Thunderbirds movie from 2004 (with the late Bill Paxton as the Thunder papa), which I really liked.

Some of the trivia yields good-natured ribbing:  “Evolution of the Batman Costume,” and “Superhero Film Adaptations We Could Perhaps Have Done Without” (Catwoman; the 1979 Captain America TV series).  “Proof That Obi-Wan Kenobi Is Completely Crazy” might be gentle ribbing, but it makes me think that the “prequel trilogy” did more to hurt the original Star Wars films than to help.

Some of the cartoons also offer some really good and interesting trivia:  “Bizarre Japanese Film Genres,” “The Real Name of Those Animal Stars,” and “The Coolest Cars.”  The nicest bonus is the two-page “'Alien, as told by Ethel (6½ years old).”

I am including links to some images from the book in this review because I want to encourage movie fans to buy Cinegeek.  No movie fan should go without reading Cinegeek at least once.

A
9 out of 10

See Pluttark cartoons at
Outright Geekery: http://www.outrightgeekery.com/2017/08/01/get-cinegeek-review/
Google: https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1684062284

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2017 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for September 27, 2017

IDW PUBLISHING

JUN170577    ANIMAL NOIR TP    $15.99
JUN170540    BLOOM COUNTY BRAND SPANKING NEW DAY TP    $19.99
FEB170525    COMPLETE VOODOO HC VOL 03    $29.99
MAY170539    CORTO MALTESE GN FABLE OF VENICE    $19.99
JUL170621    DIABLO HOUSE #2 CVR A SANTIPEREZ    $3.99
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JUN170527    DONALD & MICKEY QUEST FOR FACEPLANT TP    $12.99
JUL170522    DUCKTALES #1 CVR A GHIGLIONE    $3.99
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JUL170560    FIRST STRIKE #4 CVR A WILLIAMS II    $3.99
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JUL170567    MICRONAUTS FIRST STRIKE #1 CVR A DANIEL    $3.99
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JUL170530    MY LITTLE PONY LEGENDS OF MAGIC #6 CVR B STERLING    $3.99
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MAY170417    REVOLUTIONARIES #8 CVR C SANTIPEREZ    $4.99
MAY170514    RICHARD STARKS PARKER THE SCORE TP    $17.99
MAY170399    ROM #13 CVR A LAFUENTE    $3.99
MAY170400    ROM #13 CVR B PANDA    $3.99
MAY170401    ROM #13 CVR C WENTWORTH    $3.99
MAY170402    ROM #13 CVR D WHALEN    $3.99
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JUL170603    X-FILES ORIGINS II DOG DAYS OF SUMMER #4 (OF 4) CVR B    $3.99

2017 Eisner Award Nominations Announced - Complete List of Nominees

The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, also simply know as the “Eisner Awards,” are awards annually given for creative achievement in American comic books.  The awards are named for pioneering comic book writer, artist, and publisher, Will Eisner.  Some consider the Eisner Awards to be the preeminent awards that honor American comic books, even referring to the awards as “the Oscars of comic books” (which is so obviously ridiculous).

The Eisner Awards also include the Comic Industry's Hall of Fame.  The Eisner Awards are associated with the annual Comic-Con International convention held in San Diego, California, in July.  The Eisner Awards have been given annually since 1988, with the exception of 1990.

The 2017 Eisner Award nominations were announced Tuesday, May 2, 2017.  The winners will be announced Friday, July 21, 2017 at a gala ceremony held during Comic-Con International 2017.

The 2017 Eisner Awards judging panel consists of Alan Campbell, Rob Clough, Jamie Newbold, Robert Moses Peaslee, Dawn Rutherford, and Martha Thomases.

2017 Eisner Award Nominees:

Best Short Story

•    “The Comics Wedding of the Century,” by Simon Hanselmann, in We Told You So: Comics as Art (Fantagraphics)
•     “The Dark Nothing,” by Jordan Crane, in Uptight #5 (Fantagraphics)
•     “Good Boy,” by Tom King and David Finch, in Batman Annual #1 (DC)
•     “Monday,” by W. Maxwell Prince and John Amor, in One Week in the Library (Image) 
•     “Mostly Saturn,” by Michael DeForge, in Island Magazine #8 (Image)
•     “Shrine of the Monkey God!” by Kim Deitch, in Kramers Ergot 9 (Fantagraphics)

Best Single Issue/One-Shot

•     Babybel Wax Bodysuit, by Eric Kostiuk Williams (Retrofit/Big Planet)
•     Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In, by Evan Dorkin, Sarah Dyer, and Jill Thompson (Dark Horse)
•     Blammo #9, by Noah Van Sciver (Kilgore Books)
•     Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
•     Sir Alfred #3, by Tim Hensley (Pigeon Press)
•     Your Black Friend, by Ben Passmore (Silver Sprocket)

Best Continuing Series

•     Astro City, by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson (Vertigo/DC)
•     Kill or Be Killed, by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips (Image)
•     The Mighty Thor, by Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman (Marvel)
•     Paper Girls, by Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang (Image)
•     Saga, by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples (Image)

Best Limited Series

•     Archangel, by William Gibson, Michael St. John Smith, Butch Guice, and Tom Palmer (IDW)
•     Briggs Land, by Brian Wood and Mack Chater (Dark Horse)
•     Han Solo, by Marjorie Liu and Mark Brooks (Marvel)
•     Kim and Kim, by Magdalene Visaggio and Eva Cabrera (Black Mask)
•     The Vision, by Tom King and Gabriel Walta (Marvel)

Best New Series

•     Black Hammer, by Jeff Lemire and Dean Ormston (Dark Horse)
•     Clean Room, by Gail Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt (Vertigo/DC)
•     Deathstroke: Rebirth, by Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, et al. (DC)
•     Faith, by Jody Houser, Pere Pérez, and Marguerite Sauvage (Valiant)
•     Mockingbird, by Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk (Marvel)

Best Publication for Early Readers (up to age 8)

•     Ape and Armadillo Take Over the World, by James Sturm (Toon)
•     Burt’s Way Home, by John Martz (Koyama)
•     The Creeps, Book 2: The Trolls Will Feast! by Chris Schweizer (Abrams)
•     I’m Grumpy (My First Comics), by Jennifer L. Holm and Matthew Holm (Random
•     House Books for Young Readers)
•     Narwhal: Unicorn of the Sea, by Ben Clanton (Tundra)

Best Publication for Kids (ages 9-12)

•     The Drawing Lesson, by Mark Crilley (Watson-Guptill)
•     Ghosts, by Raina Telgemeier (Scholastic)
•     Hilda and the Stone Forest, by Luke Pearson (Flying Eye Books)
•     Rikki, adapted by Norm Harper and Matthew Foltz-Gray (Karate Petshop)
•     Science Comics: Dinosaurs, by MK Reed and Joe Flood (First Second)

Best Publication for Teens (ages 13-17)

•     Bad Machinery, vol. 5: The Case of the Fire Inside, by John Allison (Oni)
•     Batgirl, by Hope Larson and Rafael Albuquerque (DC)
•     Jughead, by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm (Archie)
•     Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image)
•     Trish Trash: Roller Girl of Mars, by Jessica Abel (Papercutz/Super Genius)
•     The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, by Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Marvel)

Best Humor Publication

•     The Further Fattening Adventures of Pudge, Girl Blimp, by Lee Marrs (Marrs Books)
•     Hot Dog Taste Test, by Lisa Hanawalt (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Jughead, by Chip Zdarsky, Ryan North, Erica Henderson, and Derek Charm (Archie)
•     Man, I Hate Cursive, by Jim Benton (Andrews McMeel)
•     Yuge! 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump, by G. B. Trudeau (Andrews McMeel)

Best Anthology

•     Baltic Comics Anthology š! #26: dADa, edited by David Schilter and Sanita Muizniece (kuš!)
•     Island Magazine, edited by Brandon Graham and Emma Rios (Image)
•     Kramers Ergot 9, edited by Sammy Harkham (Fantagraphics)
•     Love Is Love, edited by Sarah Gaydos and Jamie S. Rich (IDW/DC)
•     Spanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists, edited by Santiago Garcia (Fantagraphics)

Best Reality-Based Work

•     Dark Night: A True Batman Story, by Paul Dini and Eduardo Risso (Vertigo/DC)
•     Glenn Gould: A Life Off Tempo, by Sandrine Revel (NBM)
•     March (Book Three), by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell (Top Shelf)
•     Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir, by Tom Hart (St. Martin’s)
•     Tetris: The Games People Play, by Box Brown (First Second)

Best Graphic Album—New

•     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
•     Black Dog: The Dreams of Paul Nash, by Dave McKean (Dark Horse)
•     Exits, by Daryl Seitchik (Koyama)
•     Mooncop, by Tom Gauld (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Patience, by Daniel Clowes (Fantagraphics)
•     Wonder Woman: The True Amazon by Jill Thompson (DC Comics)

Best Graphic Album—Reprint

•     Demon, by Jason Shiga (First Second)
•     Incomplete Works, by Dylan Horrocks (Alternative)
•     Last Look, by Charles Burns (Pantheon)
•     Meat Cake Bible, by Dame Darcy (Fantagraphics)
•     Megg and Mog in Amsterdam and Other Stories, by Simon Hanselmann (Fantagraphics)
•     She’s Not into Poetry, by Tom Hart (Alternative)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material

•     Equinoxes, by Cyril Pedrosa, translated by Joe Johnson (NBM)
•     Irmina, by Barbara Yelin, translated by Michael Waaler (SelfMadeHero)
•     Love: The Lion, by Frédéric Brémaud and Federico Bertolucci (Magnetic)
•     Moebius Library: The World of Edena, by Jean “Moebius” Giraud et al. (Dark Horse)
•     Wrinkles, by Paco Roca, translated by Erica Mena (Fantagraphics)

Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia

•     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
•     Goodnight Punpun, vols. 1–4, by Inio Asano, translated by JN PRoductions (VIZ Media)
•     orange: The Complete Collection, vols. 1–2, by Ichigo Takano, translated by Amber Tamosaitis, adaptation by Shannon Fay (Seven Seas)
•     The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime, by Toshio Ban and Tezuka Productions, translated by Frederik L. Schodt (Stone Bridge Press)
•     Princess Jellyfish, vols. 1–3 by Akiko Higashimura, translated by Sarah Alys Lindholm (Kodansha)
•     Wandering Island, vol. 1, by Kenji Tsuruta, translated by Dana Lewis (Dark Horse)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Strips (at least 20 years old)

•     Almost Completely Baxter: New and Selected Blurtings, by Glen Baxter (NYR Comics)
•     Barnaby, vol. 3, by Crockett Johnson, edited by Philip Nel and Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
•     Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy, Colorful Cases of the 1930s, edited by Peter Maresca (Sunday Press)
•     The Realist Cartoons, edited by Paul Krassner and Ethan Persoff (Fantagraphics)
•     Walt & Skeezix 1931–1932, by Frank King, edited by Jeet Heer and Chris Ware (Drawn & Quarterly)

Best Archival Collection/Project—Comic Books (at least 20 Years Old)

•     The Complete Neat Stuff, by Peter Bagge, edited by Eric Reynolds (Fantagraphics)
•     The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, edited by Trina Robbins (Fantagraphics)
•     Fables and Funnies, by Walt Kelly, compiled by David W. Tosh (Dark Horse)
•     Trump: The Complete Collection, by Harvey Kurtzman et al., edited by Denis Kitchen and John Lind (Dark Horse)
•     U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories, by Sam Glanzman, edited by Drew Ford (Dover)

Best Writer

•     Ed Brubaker, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, Kill or Be Killed, Velvet (Image)
•     Kurt Busiek, Astro City (Vertigo/DC)
•     Chelsea Cain, Mockingbird (Marvel)
•     Max Landis, Green Valley (Image/Skybound), Superman: American Alien (DC)
•     Jeff Lemire, Black Hammer (Dark Horse); Descender, Plutona (Image); Bloodshot Reborn (Valiant)
•     Brian K. Vaughan, Paper Girls, Saga (Image)

Best Writer/Artist

•     Jessica Abel, Trish Trash: Roller Girl of Mars (Papercutz/Super Genius)
•     Box Brown, Tetris: The Games People Play (First Second)
•     Tom Gauld, Mooncop (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Tom Hart, Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir (St. Martin’s)
•     Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)

Best Penciller/Inker or Penciller/Inker Team

•     Mark Brooks, Han Solo (Marvel)
•     Dan Mora, Klaus (BOOM!)
•     Greg Ruth, Indeh (Grand Central Publishing)
•     Francois Schuiten, The Theory of the Grain of Sand (IDW)
•     Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
•     Brian Stelfreeze, Black Panther (Marvel)

Best Painter/Multimedia Artist (interior art)

•     Federico Bertolucci, Love: The Lion (Magnetic)
•     Brecht Evens, Panther (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Manuele Fior, 5,000 km per Second (Fantagraphics)
•     Dave McKean, Black Dog (Dark Horse)
•     Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)
•     Jill Thompson, Wonder Woman: The True Amazon (DC); Beasts of Burden: What the Cat Dragged In (Dark Horse)

Best Cover Artist (for multiple covers)

•     Mike Del Mundo, Avengers, Carnage, Mosaic, The Vision (Marvel)
•     David Mack, Abe Sapien, BPRD Hell on Earth, Fight Club 2, Hellboy and the BPRD 1953 (Dark Horse)
•     Sean Phillips, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, Kill or Be Killed (Image)
•     Fiona Staples, Saga (Image)
•     Sana Takeda, Monstress (Image)

Best Coloring

•     Jean-Francois Beaulieu, Green Valley (Image/Skybound)
•     Elizabeth Breitweiser, Criminal 10th Anniversary Special, Kill or Be Killed, Velvet (Image); Outcast by Kirkman & Azaceta (Image/Skybound)
•     Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)
•     Laura Martin, Wonder Woman (DC); Ragnorak (IDW); Black Panther (Marvel)
•     Matt Wilson, Cry Havoc, Paper Girls, The Wicked + The Divine (Image); Black Widow, The Mighty Thor, Star-Lord (Marvel)

Best Lettering

•     Dan Clowes, Patience (Fantagraphics)
•     Brecht Evens, Panther (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Tom Gauld, Mooncop (Drawn & Quarterly)
•     Nick Hayes, Woody Guthrie (Abrams)
•     Todd Klein, Clean Room, Dark Night, Lucifer (Vertigo/DC); Black Hammer (Dark Horse)
•     Sonny Liew, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye (Pantheon)

Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism

•     The A.V. Club comics coverage, including Comics Panel, Back Issues, and Big Issues, by Oliver Sava et al., www.avclub.com
•     Comic Riffs blog, by Michael Cavna and David Betancourt, www.washingtonpost.com/new/comic-riffs/
•     Critical Chips, edited by Zainab Akhtar (Comics & Cola)
•     PanelPatter.com, edited by Rob McMonigal
•     WomenWriteAboutComics.com, edited by Megan Purdy and Claire Napier

Best Comics-Related Book

•     blanc et noir: takeshi obata illustrations, by Takeshi Obata (VIZ Media)
•     Ditko Unleashed: An American Hero, by Florentino Flórez and Frédéric Manzano (IDW/Editions Déesse)
•     Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and White, by Michael Tisserand (Harper)
•     The Life and Legend of Wallace Wood, vol. 1, edited by Bhob Stewart and J. Michael Catron (Fantagraphics)
•     More Heroes of the Comics, by Drew Friedman (Fantagraphics)

Best Academic/Scholarly Work

•     Brighter Than You Think: Ten Short Works by Alan Moore, with essays by Marc Sobel (Uncivilized)
•     Forging the Past: Set and the Art of Memory, by Daniel Marrone (University Press of Mississippi)
•     Frank Miller’s Daredevil and the Ends of Heroism, by Paul Young (Rutgers University Press)
•     Pioneering Cartoonists of Color, by Tim Jackson (University Press of Mississippi)
•     Superwomen: Gender, Power, and Representation, by Carolyn Cocca (Bloomsbury)

Best Publication Design

•     The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, designed by Sonny Liew (Pantheon)
•     The Complete Wimmen’s Comix, designed by Keeli McCarthy (Fantagraphics)
•     Frank in the Third Dimension, designed by Jacob Covey, 3D conversions by Charles Barnard (Fantagraphics)
•     The Realist Cartoons, designed by Jacob Covey (Fantagraphics)
•     Si Lewen’s Parade: An Artist’s Odyssey, designed by Art Spiegelman (Abrams)

Best Webcomic

•     Bird Boy, by Anne Szabla, http://bird-boy.com
•     Deja Brew, by Taneka Stotts and Sara DuVall (Stela.com)
•     Jaeger, by Ibrahim Moustafa (Stela.com)
•     The Middle Age, by Steve Conley, steveconley.com/the-middle-age
•     On Beauty, by Christina Tran,  sodelightful.com/comics/beauty/

Best Digital Comic

•     Bandette, by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
•     Edison Rex, by Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver (Monkeybrain/comiXology)
•     Helm, by Jehanzeb Hasan and Mauricio Caballero, www.crookshaw.com/helm/
•     On a Sunbeam, by Tillie Walden, www.onasunbeam.com
•     Universe!, by Albert Monteys (Panel Syndicate)

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Judges Select Gross, Peter, Prohias, and Seda for Eisner Hall of Fame

Voters Will Select 4 More Inductees

Comic-Con International has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected four individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2017. These inductees are Milt Gross (early newspaper cartoonist known for such strips as Count Screwloose of Tooloose, Nize Baby, and That's My Pop!), H. G. Peter (original Wonder Woman artist), Antonio Prohias (creator of MAD’s “Spy vs. Spy”), and Dori Seda (pioneering autobiographical underground cartoonist). In most years, the judges select only two automatic inductees, but an exception was made this year as part of the Will Eisner centennial celebration (Eisner would have turned 100 on March 6).

The judges have also chosen 17 nominees from which voters will select 4 to be inducted in the Hall of Fame this summer. These nominees are Peter Bagge, Howard Cruse, Steve Englehart, Justin Green, Roberta Gregory, Bill Griffith, Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez, Francoise Mouly, Jackie Ormes, George Pérez, P. Craig Russell, Posy Simmonds, Walt Simonson, Jim Starlin, Rumiko Takahashi, and Garry Trudeau.

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Comics Review: WHO KILLED KURT COBAIN?

WHO KILLED KURT COBAIN?
IDW PUBLISHING – @IDWPublishing

CARTOONIST: Nicolas Otero
TRANSLATION: Ivanka Hahnenberger
LETTERS: Troy Little
ISBN:  978-1-63140-726-0; hardcover (October 2016)
152pp, Color, $24.99 U.S.

IDW Publishing recently published a new hardcover, full-color graphic novel, entitled Who Killed Kurt Cobain?: The Story of Boddah.  This is an English language release of the French graphic novel,  Le Roman de Boddah, written and drawn by Nicolas Otero and published earlier this year by Editions Glénat.  Otero's graphic novel is a comic book adaptation of the French novel, Le Roman de Boddah (2013), by author Heloise Guay de Bellissen.

Who Killed Kurt Cobain? is a work of fiction that recounts real-life events from the life of Kurt Cobain.  For those who don't know, Cobain was the lead singer and songwriter for the rock band, Nirvana.  This musical trio exploded onto the American music scene in late 1991 with the album, Nevermind.  Less than two and a half years later, Cobain committed suicide in April 1994.  [Dave Grohl, the founder of the Grammy-winning rock band, Foo Fighters, was Nirvana's drummer, and Krist Novoselic was the band's bassist.]

Cobain allegedly had an imaginary friend named “Boddah,” to whom he supposedly addressed a suicide note.  In Who Killed Kurt Cobain?, the readers see the rise and fall and the highs and lows of Kurt Cobain through the eyes of Boddah.  Cobain becomes modern rock's greatest icon in a journey that begins in the dark clubs of Seattle before rocketing the young musician onto the world stage.  The journey to rock immortality then plummets through a torrent of drug abuse; a dysfunctional marriage to fellow musician, Courtney Love; and self-loathing and depression before the final stop, self-destruction and suicide.

Who killed Kurt Cobain?  Unless Perry Mason knows something else, then, the answer is Kurt Cobain.  I have not read Heloise Guay de Bellissen's novel upon which this comic book is based (nor do I plan to), so I will focus on what I think Nicolas Otero attempts to do in the graphic novel, Who Killed Kurt Cobain?

It seems as if Otero tries to fabricate a time line of events – what happened in Cobain's life – and then presents them in a murky, impressionistic haze to reflect the fictional Cobain's state of mind.  I think Otero also tries to fabricate Cobain's interior life – his thoughts, creativity, imagination, delusions, illusions, etc, which he also presents in a murky, impressionistic haze.  The narrative is shocking and even confrontational, but the meaning or purpose of the series of events depicted is oblique.

Who Killed Kurt Cobain?  I don't care.  I hate to go hard on this graphic novel, especially because I am reviewing a copy IDW Publishing generously sent me.  I try not to bum-rush or be too harsh on books I receive as review copies, but I am not really interested in Who Killed Kurt Cobain?, the graphic novel or the real-life question.

I was and still am a huge fan of Nirvana and Kurt Cobain the musician and singer-songwriter.  I don't remember the date, but sometime in or around September 1991, an employee at Paradise Records (which has been closed for almost two decades) in Baton Rouge, LA, just off the northern side of the campus of Louisiana State University, recommended Nevermind to me because I was looking for rock music outside the mainstream.  I bought Nevermind and immediately brought it home, and after the first listen, I was a fan.

I was shocked and hurt upon learning of Cobain's death, but whatever went down with his death was and is beyond my control.  I loved Nirvana because I thought the music was good – real good, and like Paul McCartney, I don't just like genres of music, I like good music.

Who Killed Kurt Cobain? is not a bad graphic novel.  I suspect some people find it quite intriguing; otherwise, IDW would never have published a snazzy hardcover, full-color edition of it.  In this work, Nicolas Otero is ambitious and thoughtful.  This work just ain't for me... not anymore.  There are, however, readers who want comic books about real-life rock musicians or ones that feature fictional versions of them, and Who Killed Kurt Cobain? may be something they want to read.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


The text is copyright © 2016 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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