Review: PEARL #1

PEARL No. 1
DC COMICS/Jinxworld – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Brian Michael Bendis
ART: Michael Gaydos
COLORS: Michael Gaydos
LETTERS: Josh Reed
EDITOR: Michael McCalister
COVER: Michael Gaydos
VARIANT COVERS: Alex Maleev
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (September 2018)

Rated “M” for “Mature”

Pearl created by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos

Pearl is the title of a new comic book series from writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos, the creators of Marvel Comics' Jessica Jones.  The series focuses on an accidental assassin whose life changes when she meets another assassin who is like her in some ways.

Pearl #1 opens in San Francisco and introduces Pearl, who is an exceptional tattoo artist and also an assassin for one of modern-day San Fran's yakuza clans.  Then, at a coffee shop, Pearl meets Rick, who recognizes a tattoo on her wrist, a work of art executed by the legendary and reclusive tattoo artist, Iriguci.  The meeting, an act of serendipity or of fate, drags Pearl deeper into a world of violence that she is desperate to escape.

I can keep this review short.  I love Pearl.  Brian Bendis' writing is blunt and straight to the point in a way that reminds me of the late Darwyn Cooke's comics adaptation of Richard Stark's Parker prose novels.  Sparse dialogue and powerful confrontations drive this narrative.  Letterer Joshua Reed emphasizes the directness of the dialogue with his emotive lettering.

Michael Gaydos'a illustrations and graphical storytelling offer stunning background detail and beautiful facial drawings.  Gaydos also draws some of the most elegant figures in clothing that I have ever seen in comic books.  I did not know comic book characters could “wear it” so well.

Pearl #1, as a bonus, includes the first Bendis/Gaydos collaboration, which is a Batman short story from The Batman Chronicles #21 (cover dated: Summer 2000).  It is a cute novelty piece, but cannot match the power of the main story, the work of two now accomplished, veteran comic book creators.

[This comic book contains a reprint of the Batman “Elseworlds” story, “Citizen Wayne,” by Bendis, Gaydos, Janice Chiang, and Patricia Mulvihill.]

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: THE KAMANDI CHALLENGE #12

THE KAMANDI CHALLENGE No. 12 (OF 12)
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Gail Simone
ART: Jill Thompson; Ryan Sook
COLORS: Trish Mulvihill; Laura Martin; Andrew Crossley
LETTERS: Clem Robins
MISC ART: Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Joe Prado with Mark Chiarello; Adam Kubert
COVER: Frank Miller with Alex Sinclair
VARIANT COVERS: Ryan Sook; Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Joe Prado with Trish Mulvihill
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (February 2018)

Rated “T” for Teen

Kamandi created by Jack Kirby

[Afterword by Paul Levitz]

“The Boundless Realm”

Created by Jack Kirby, Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth was a comic book series published by DC Comics in the 1970s.  Running from 1972 to 1978, the series starred Kamandi, a teenaged boy in a post-apocalyptic future.  In this time, humans have been reduced back to savagery in a world ruled by intelligent, highly evolved animals.

Kamandi, The Last Boy on Earth #1 (cover dated: October 1972) opens some time after a huge event called “The Great Disaster,” which wiped out human civilization.  In “Earth A.D.” (After Disaster), many animals have become humanoid, bipedal, and sentient, and also possess the power of speech. These newly intelligent animal species have equipped themselves with weapons and technology salvaged from the ruins of human civilization and are constantly at war in a struggle for territory.

The world of Kamandi returned in the DC Comics miniseries, The Kamandi Challenge.  Ostensibly a tribute to the 100th anniversary of Jack Kirby's birth (1917), The Kamandi Challenge brought together 14 teams of writers and artists.  Each team produced a single issue (or worked on a single issue) of The Kamandi Challenge, which ended in an cliffhanger.  The following issue's creative team would resolve that cliffhanger left behind by the previous creative team however it wanted.  That team would craft its own story, which also ended in a cliffhanger, which the next creative team would have to resolve... and so on.

The Kamandi Challenge came to an end with the recently published twelfth issue, featuring two creative teams.  The first team is writer Gail Simone; artists Jill Thompson and Ryan Sook; colorists Trish Mulvihill; Laura Martin; and Andrew Crossley; and letterer Clem Robins.  The second creative team is comprised of writer Paul Levitz; artist José Luis García-López (pencils) and Joe Prado (inks); colorist Trish Mulvihill; and letterer Clem Robins.

The Kamandi Challenge #12 opens with the story “The Boundless Realm” (by the Simone-Thompson/Sook team), which introduces “Kamanda: The Last Girl on Earth.”  Who is she and what does she have to tell Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth as he enters his final battle with “The Misfit?”

The second story is “Epilogue the First: The Answers” by Levitz- García-López.  Kamandi meets his creator Jack Kirby and gets some answers.  But what kind of answers are they?

Let us make no mistake, Jack Kirby is a great artist, worthy of being a comic book icon (or the comic book icon) and being in the hallowed halls of museums and academia.  The problem with tributes to great artist is that those tributes are sometimes offered by people who, while they are influenced by great artists, are not themselves great artists.  In fact, sometimes the people who offer tributes are hacks, in spite of the greatness they admire.

And The Kamandi Challenge is the creation of some who are middling talents, some who are hacks, some exceptional talents that produced middling work in this series.  In this final issue, from the ugly Frank Miller front cover to the “it was all a dream” type ending, The Kamandi Challenge #12, like the earlier issues, is a tribute in name only to Jack Kirby.  Yes, there are some good moments and good issues in this twelve issue maxi-series, but The Kamandi Challenge is a cynical attempt to make money using Jack Kirby's name and legacy.

The best thing about The Kamandi Challenge #12 is Paul Levitz's afterword, which is a true and loving tribute to someone who was obviously a friend, the truly talented and late Len Wein.

5 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 for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: THE LOST BOYS #1

THE LOST BOYS No. 1
DC COMICS/Vertigo – @DCComics @vertigo_comics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

WRITER: Tim Seeley
ART: Scott Godlewski
COLORS: Trish Mulvihill
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Tony Harris
VARIANT COVER: Joelle Jones with Trish Mulvihill
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2016)

Suggested for mature readers

“The Lost Girl” Part 1 of 6

Many of your favorite characters from the 1987 vampire horror-comedy film, The Lost Boys, are back in DC Comics' new comic book sequel to the film.  Entitled (what else) The Lost Boys, this six-issue comic book is written by Tim Seeley; drawn by Scott Godlewski, colored by Trish Mulvihill, and lettered by Clem Robins.

The Lost Boys #1 (“The Lost Girl” Part 1) opens with Sam Emerson telling the story of how he and his older brother, Michael, and his mother, Lucy Emerson, moved to Santa Clara, CA to live with his Grandpa.  Michael fell in love with Star, a beautiful and mysterious young woman, who happened to be a vampire.  The Emerson boys joined the Frog Brothers, Edgar and Alan, fearless young vampire hunters, to clean out the nest of head vampire, Maxwell “Max” Hooker.  That nest included the beautiful, bad boy vampire, David, who was Star's boyfriend (more or less)

Sam is telling his story to another mysterious young woman who has stopped by his place of employment, “Fantasy World Comics.”  Like his brother and friends, Sam is in a bit of a post-vampire-slaying funk.  What to do next?  Well, there is one thing about Santa Clara that never changes; there is always more darkness.

I did not see The Lost Boys when it was first released to movie theaters.  I saw it on cable – probably on HBO.  I couldn't' believe how good it was – at least to me.  Afterwards, I watched it every chance I got, and I eventually bought the film on DVD.

The film's titular vampires, “The Lost Boys,” never grew old and never died, and the film certainly has grown old, but it has a timeless quality.  It never looks old, and because of that, The Lost Boys has always begged for sequels.

This new comic book is a sequel, one that is set shortly after the events of the original film.  I have read a few comic books written by Tim Seeley, and I have enjoyed them to one extent or another.  The Lost Boys is my favorite Tim Seeley comic book, so far.  The dialogue snaps and crackles; to me, this comic book reads as if the writer is having a blast writing it.

Artist Scott Godlewski captures the visual sensibilities of the first film and draws the characters in a way that resembles the live-action actors of the original film just enough to remind the readers where they are.  Godlewski is respectful, however, considering that not all the actors of the original film are still living.

I liked this comic book and could not stop reading it.  I even went back and reread sections of it while reading it the first time.  I feel comfortable recommending it to fans of The Lost Boys film, as well as to fans of vampire comic books and films.  I can tell after The Lost Boys #1 that this comic book series is going to be a blast to read.  Please, don't disappoint me, guys.

A

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


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

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Review: MOTHER PANIC #2

MOTHER PANIC No. 2
DC COMICS/Young Animal – @DCComics

STORY: Jody Houser
ART: Tommy Lee Edwards
COLORS: Tommy Lee Edwards
LETTERS: John Workman
COVER: Tommy Lee Edwards
VARIANT COVER: Paul Rentler
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (February 2017)

Mature Readers

Mother Panic created by Gerard Way, Jody Houser, and Tommy Lee Edwards

“A Work in Progress” Part 2

Young Animal is a recently-launched DC Comics imprint.  It is curated by rock musician (My Chemical Romance) and comics creator, Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy).  The first three Young Animal titles that were released were remakes and re-imaginings of two Silver Age DC comics series (Doom Patrol, Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye) and one cult property (Shade the Changing Man has become Shade the Changing Girl).

Mother Panic is a brand new comic book creation about a brand new vigilante who calls Gotham City (Batman's hometown) her stomping grounds.  The series stars wealthy prodigal daughter, Violet Paige, who returns to Gotham to clean up the city's filthy, disturbed underbelly while pretending to be a “celebutante.”  Mother Panic is written by Jody Houser; illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards; and lettered by John Workman.

Mother Panic #2 opens as Violet prepares to take down Mr. Hemsley and to trace a sex trafficking ring to its source.  First, she will have to find Hemsley, and what better place than the 2017 Gotham Victims Fund Gala.  However, Violet's mission is tied to her own troubled past, which may affect her ability to... ahem... execute her plan.  Plus, a Gotham hero makes a cameo.

From reading different web articles, I gather that the point of Mother Panic is to present stories from Batman's hometown that are too disturbing to be told in Batman comic books that are marketed to readers of all-ages.  Mother Panic is basically a quasi Batman-related title for adult readers.  I was only mildly interested after reading the first issue, but I feel different after reading Mother Panic #2.

In my review of the first issue, I said that Mother Panic might turn out to be a really good title, but I found that the first issue teased the reader and only offered standard superhero fare (violence).  However, I am starting to find Violet Paige to be an intriguing and likable character.  There is something cool about her costume and “flying” motorcycle, but there is something even cooler, Violet's emerging personality.  I am reviewing Mother Panic #2 via a PDF that DC Comics makes available to reviewers.  I feel confident in recommending Mother Panic because I will read the next PDF and may eventually start buying the comic book.

[This issue includes a bonus story “Gotham Radio Scene One: The Morning After” by Jim Krueger, Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Trish Mulvihill, and Deron Bennett.]

B+

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: MOTHER PANIC #1

MOTHER PANIC No. 1
DC COMICS/Young Animal – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jody Houser
ART: Tommy Lee Edwards
COLORS: Tommy Lee Edwards
LETTERS: John Workman
COVER: Tommy Lee Edwards
VARIANT COVERS: Paul Pope; Bengal
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (January 2017)

Mature Readers

Mother Panic created by Gerard Way, Jody Houser, and Tommy Lee Edwards

“A Work in Progress” Part 1

Young Animal is a DC Comics imprint curated by rock musician (My Chemical Romance) and comics creator, Gerard Way (The Umbrella Academy).  The first three Young Animal titles released are remakes and re-imaginings of Silver Age (Doom Patrol, Cave Carson) or cult DC Comics properties (Shade the Changing Man, a Steve Ditko character).

Mother Panic is a brand new comic book creation about a brand new vigilante who calls Gotham City (Batman's hometown) her stomping grounds.  This latest Young Animal series is written by Jody Houser; illustrated by Tommy Lee Edwards; and lettered by John Workman.

Mother Panic #1 (“A Work in Progress”) opens as Violet Paige returns to Gotham City, and the press is nearly in full force for the return of a prodigal daughter.  Why is Violet's return so noteworthy?  She is a member of Gotham's elite glitterati, but she did not return home in order to play “celebutante.”  There is filthy, disturbed underbelly in Gotham City, and Violet is back to begin cleaning it.

Apparently, the point of Mother Panic is to present stories from Batman's hometown that are too disturbing for Batman comic books that are marketed to Batman fans of all-ages.  Mother Panic is basically a quasi Batman-related title for adult readers.  I say good for them – them being DC Comics and the Young Animal imprint, although I can't say that I'm particularly interested.

Mother Panic might turn out to be a really good title, but once again, we have a first issue that teases the reader and features standard superhero fare (violence), this time with a vague Vertigo Comics haze over the story.  I am reviewing Mother Panic #1 via a PDF that DC Comics makes available to reviewers.  I can guarantee you, dear reader, that if I review the second issue that it will also be via a PDF.  I wouldn't spend money on this – at least not now.

[This issue includes a bonus story “Gotham Radio Scene One: 1621” by Jim Krueger, Phil Hester, Ande Parks, Trish Mulvihill, and Deron Bennet.]

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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Review: WE ARE ROBIN #1

WE ARE... ROBIN #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review originally appeared on Patreon.]

STORY: Lee Bermejo
ART: Jorge Corona; Khary Randolph (Epilogue)
BREAKDOWNS: Rob Haynes
COLORS: Trish Mulvihill; Emilio Lopez (Epilogue)
LETTERS: Tom Napolitano
COVER: Lee Bermejo
VARIANT COVER: James Harvey
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2015)

Rated “T” for Teen

Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger; Robin created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson

“We are... Robin!”

The DC Comics character, Robin, is best known as Batman's sidekick/partner.  Robin's civilian identity, Dick Grayson, was Bruce Wayne's young ward.  Robin/Dick Grayson was originally created by Bob Kane, Bill Finger, and Jerry Robinson to serve as a junior counterpart to Batman and first appeared in Detective Comics #38 (cover date:  April 1940).  Eventually, Dick Grayson became a new superhero, Nightwing, and over the last 30 years, there have been other Robins.

As part of the “DCYou” event/publishing initiative, there are several aspiring teenage vigilantes in Gotham City taking the moniker, “Robin.”  The focus will be on Duke Thomas, an African-American teenager previously introduced in the Batman story arc, “Zero Year,” and who becomes part of the movement to fight crime in Gotham.  Duke and the other teens are the stars of the new comic book series, We Are... Robin.  It is written by Lee Bermejo; drawn by Jorge Corona, Rob Haynes, and Khary Randolph; colored by Trish Mulvihill and Emilio Lopez; and lettered by Tom Napolitano.

We Are... Robin #1 (“We are... Robin!”) opens with Duke Thomas on the receiving end of a schoolyard beat-down.  That means Dr. Leslie Thompkins will have to find the orphaned teen another foster home.  Duke doesn't want to sit around in another  foster home/dump.  He would rather discover the fate of his parents who were exposed to the “Joker toxin” (in the Batman story arc, “Endgame.”).  His search takes him underground where he finds trouble and also a group of admirers.

We Are... Robin #1 is not as well-composed as the first issue of the new series, Robin: Son of Batman, but I will give it a chance.  As someone who was once a Black child who wanted to be Robin in order to have adventures with Batman, I can certainly buy into the central conceit of We Are Robin.  I can also find myself becoming a huge Duke Thomas fan.

Lee Bermejo is an acclaimed comic book artist, but here, he is the writer.  However, he does provide the cover art for We Are... Robin #1, and it is a striking illustration, indeed.  However, Bermejo's drawing style is also strikingly different from the interior art, but I like the series artists; their styles seem as if they will work for We Are... Robin.

In some promotional information released for We Are... Robin, Bermejo said “We Are... Robin is a new approach to showcase diversity in the DC Universe for readers.”  Too bad someone can't showcase the diversity of DC Comics by showcasing the work of more African-American creators, especially writers.  For the time being, however, I can settle for more White women and Asian-American/Canadian creators because, in the DCYou, there is a Black kid trying to be Robin.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

I Reads You Review: LOVELESS: A Kin of Homecoming

LOVELESS: A KIN OF HOMECOMING (Volume 1)
DC COMICS/Vertigo – @DCComics @vertigo_comics

CREATOR/STORY: Brian Azzarello
CREATOR/ART: Marcelo Frusin
COLORS: Patricia Mulvihill
LETTERS: Clem Robins
EDITOR: Will Dennis (original series)
COVER: Marcelo Frusin
128pp, Color, $9.99 U.S., $13.50 CAB (2006)

Suggested for mature readers

Loveless was a Western comic book series for mature readers published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics.  The series was created by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Marcelo Frusin.  Loveless was published for 24 issues with the cover dates:  December 2005 to May 2008.  In addition to Frusin, artists Danijel Zezelj and Werther Dell'Edera also drew the series.  Loveless was a monthly, ongoing comic book series that was apparently intended to run for four years, but was cancelled after two-and-half years.

Loveless began as a series that focused on a Confederate Civil War veteran who returns to his hometown and finds it under Union control.  The veteran eventually becomes sheriff, as he continues to investigate the fate of his missing wife.  While the early issues of Loveless focused on the veteran’s relationships with the townsfolk and other locals, the series eventually expanded its scope and themes.

Several years ago, probably around the end of Loveless’ publication, I used some Amazon credit to buy the first two trade paperback collections of Loveless.  After misplacing the books, I found them and decided to read both and to review, at least, the first trade collection (for you, of course, dear readers).

Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming collects Loveless issues #1 to 5.  All five issues were produced by writer Brian Azzarello, artist Marcelo Frusin, colorist Patricia Mulvihill, and letterer Clem Robins.  The art for the cover of Loveless #1 was reused as the cover for Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming, but with new cover copy.

Loveless is set mainly in and around the town of Blackwater, Missouri.  The series introduces Wesley “Wes” Cutter, a former Confederate soldier who returns to Blackwater, where he finds that Union soldiers occupy his house and his wife, Ruth Stokes, is missing.  To regain his house, Wes starts killing Unions soldiers, but he isn’t the only former rebel killing soldiers.  Another former Confederate leads a band of fellow rebels who do not accept that the Civil War ended.  A man named Boyd leads this band of bushwhackers that are not only killing Union soldiers, but also Black people who live locally.

Jeremiah Trotter, a Northern businessman (a “carpetbagger”) wants to bring stability to the area.  In spite of the protests of Union commander, Colonel Silas Redd, Trotter offers Cutter the job of sheriff, which he accepts.  Perhaps, Cutter hopes the position will help him find answers about his missing wife and his missing younger brother, Jonny Cutter.  Also, a former slave turned bounty hunter, Atticus Mann, enters the scene.

Writer Brian Azzarello offers an embarrassment of riches when it comes to intriguing characters.  Lead character, Wes Cutter, is full of mystery, and with each page, he becomes more interesting rather than off-putting, which having too much mystery can sometimes do to a character.  Having a lot of characters can be a little confusing when the narrative shifts back and forth in time, however, which the first fives issues of Loveless do quite a bit.

One thing about Loveless of which I am ambivalent is the violence.  Artist Marcelo Frusin stages all of it in interesting ways, as if trying to create a graphical impression similar to that of film.  In spite of that, the violence is sometimes tedious, to the point where instead of raising the ante, it just wears down the story.

Marcelo Frusin and colorist Patricia Mulvihill deliver some pretty art.  In fact, the art is so good looking that the violence, the depictions of rape, and the portrayal of corpses (in various stages of damage and decay) seem odd, even out of place.

On the back cover of Loveless: A Kin of Homecoming is a quote from what is likely a favorable review.  The quote mentions the term “spaghetti western,” which Loveless is not.  Loveless, at least in the beginning, is a Western historical drama.  It is more like one of those old Western television series from the 1950s and 60s (but with explicit violence, profanity, and sex) than it is like a Sergio Leone-Clint Eastwood film … or even like Django Unchained, a truer heir to Leone and Eastwood.

I plan to read the rest of Loveless.  I am curious to see how this series turned out before being cancelled.

B

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

REVIEW: The New Deadwardians

THE NEW DEADWARDIANS
DC COMICS/VERTIGO – @vertigo_comics

CREATORS: Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard
WRITER: Dan Abnett
ARTIST/COVER: I.N.J. Culbard
COLORS: Patricia Mulvihill
LETTERS: Travis Lanham
MISC. ART: Cliff Chiang
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3763-9; paperback (February 2013)
176pp, Color, $14.99 U.S., $17.99 CAN

Vertigo, the DC Comics imprint, has just published The New Deadwardians. It is a trade paperback collection of the 2012 eight-issue miniseries of the same title created by writer Dan Abnett and artist I.N.J. Culbard. The series is set at the end of the Edwardian era, a period in the United Kingdom, from 1901 to 1910, that marked the reign of King Edward VII. The New Deadwardians is set in a world of vampires and zombies and follows a lonely detective’s quest to solve a murder that should not be.

The New Deadwardians opens on October 10, 1910. In post-Victorian England, most of the people in the upper classes have voluntarily become vampires, by taking “the Cure.” The cure for what, you ask? It’s called “the Restless Curse,” and it has turned legions of the lower classes into ravenous zombies. Zombies want to eat living flesh, which vampires don’t have, so the hordes of the mindless undead ignore the vampire undead – called “the Young.” The lower classes that are neither vampire nor zombie – the normal humans – are called “the Bright.”

The New Deadwardians’ central character is Chief Inspector George Suttle of Scotland Yard. Suttle has got the slowest beat in London; he’s on the “Murder Squad,” investigating murders in a society where practically everyone is already dead. Of course, you know what’s going to happen. A body has been found on the embankment by the Houses of Parliament. It’s an actual murder, and the victim is a vampire – something that can be killed by one of three ways. The corpse of the victim, Lord Hinchcliffe, shows no signs of those killing methods having been used.

Suddenly, Suttle is thrust into a world of privilege, protests, class unrest, and riots. With his acerbic driver, Constable Bowes (a normal human), at his side, Suttle interviews and investigates. His investigation attracts such colorful characters as Sapphire, a prostitute who can raise the dead (wink, wink), a missing artist (Pretendleby), and even a secret society (the Sons of Adam). As he searches to find who killed Hinchcliffe (and why and how), Suttle finds his own life and past being drawn into a snare.

The easy thing to do would be to say that The New Deadwardians is like a blend of two hot cable television series, “The Walking Dead” and “Downton Abbey.” I think of this comic book as being similar to and/or sharing aesthetic qualities with the Guy Ritchie-Robert Downey, Jr. Sherlock Holmes films. The New Deadwardians also reminds me of two indie comic books that I wish more people read: The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde (Dark Horse Comics) and Moriarty (Image Comics).

This narrative’s connection to the Edwardian period isn’t superficial, and the extent to how essential this time period is to the story can be determined by the reader. I think the story is more relatable to the Victorian era, because many of the characters, especially the lead, George Suttle, are frozen in the past in which they became immortal or undead. Perhaps, the Edwardian period is a bridge that marks the desire to stay in the past (the Victorian era), as exemplified by the Young, and the struggle to move forward (as represented by the Bright) to the future, that being the World War I and Interwar periods.

The New Deadwardians is a detective novel, and class and clues are the things through which Inspector Suttle digs to solve the mystery of a murder that should not have happened. Also, I agree with novelists George R.R. Martin and Bernard Cornwell that fantasy and historical fiction are twins, so The New Deadwardians is the comic book as both fantasy detective and historical fiction.

Whatever it is, The New Deadwardians is a surprisingly fantastic read. When I first heard of the series, I scoffed at it. Now, I’m demanding more. Dan Abnett’s script is clever and is filled with both humor and satire. The characters are nice, but are mostly types: the sarcastic cop, the well-meaning whore, the stiff-upper-lipped rich, etc. George Suttle is by far the most developed and richest character here. Still it’s the basic plot that drives this story, ever pushing the reader to end, and the final two issues/chapters are actually quite chilling. I really felt scared as I raced to the shocking conclusion.

I.N.J. Culbard’s succinct and crisp drawing style makes for clean visual prose that concisely conveys the story and script. His elegant graphic storytelling transports the reader into a world that Culbard makes wholly and completely believable. I didn’t believe in this world at first, but I wasn’t far into the story when I started believing that The New Deadwardians took place in our real historical past. That’s some convincing art on Culbard’s part.

Vertigo strikes again. The New Deadwardians is one of the best and most imaginative comic books of 2012. The trade paperback collection brings it back to life for us to enjoy in 2013 and forever, because it deserves eternal life.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

Vertigo Review - SPACEMAN: The Deluxe Edition

SPACEMAN THE DELUXE EDITION
DC COMICS/VERTIGO – @vertigo_comics

WRITER: Brian Azzarello
ARTIST: Eduardo Risso
COLORS: Patricia Mulvihill with Giula Brusco
LETTERS: Clem Robins
COVER: Dave Johnson (also series cover art)
ISBN: 978-1-4012-3552-9; hardcover
224pp, $24.99 U.S., $28.99 CAN

The comic book creative team of writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso is best known for the Eisner Award-winning comic book series, 100 Bullets, which was published from 1999 to 2009. The most recent Azzarello-Risso “collabo” is Spaceman, a nine-issue, science fiction comic book miniseries. Published by DC Comics’ imprint, Vertigo (also the home of 100 Bullets), Spaceman is set in a future in which the rising seas leave a significant portion of the planet a drowned world. In this time, an outcast tries to be a hero and finds fame a very dangerous thing.

Vertigo has collected all nine issues of Spaceman, plus a short story that appeared in Strange Adventures #1 (the 2011 Vertigo anthology one-shot) in the hardcover collection, Spaceman: The Deluxe Edition. The new book also includes sketches and preliminary art that Eduardo Risso executed for the series, and there are also samples of Risso’s final art for the series in pencil form.

Spaceman’s title character is Orson, a simian-like man. He was born as the result of the Spacemen program, NASA’s attempt to biogenetically engineer humans that could withstand space travel. Orson and his Spacemen “brudahs” (as he calls them) were born with expanded bone mass and flesh density so that they could withstand the zero gravity of prolonged space travel. Orson and a few of the Spacemen did travel in space, but once the public became aware of the program, the Spacemen were basically tossed aside.

Now, a hulking, lonely loser, Orson lives in “the Rises,” a Venice-like community of broken buildings still standing in areas flooded by seawater. Orson spends his days in a small boat, trawling for scrap metal and dreaming of a better life. Meanwhile, like the rest of the country, Orson finds entertainment in “realtee” (reality television shows), and the most popular one in the world is “The Ark.” This realtee focuses on wealthy couple, Marc and April, and the orphaned children who compete for a place in Marc and April’s adopted clan.

One of the children, Tara, a Filipino girl, is kidnapped. Fate brings Orson and Tara together, but money and fame bring together a coalition of self-serving factions, all vying to retrieve Tara. Suddenly, Orson’s need to save Tara has put his life in danger and also dug up a dark part of his past, which goes by the name of Carter.

Brian Azzarello has some good ideas in this series. Some may seem obvious, such as the notion that the Internet and hand-held devices will be the engines that drive television entertainment and not televisions and broadcast signals. Azzarello creates a future English language full of strange colloquialisms and slang. It is as if a Jamaican, a black kid from the streets, and Anthony Burgess formed a poetry-slam/rap trio. Spaceman is a richly conceived world, but I do question the series as a whole. In terms of the execution of this concept as script (or series of scripts), it is probably three issues too long, which hampers the overall narrative development. Spaceman is interesting, intriguing, and thoughtful, but somewhat flawed.

You can make an argument that the star in Spaceman is artist Eduardo Risso. Practically every page is a narrative painting, with panels imbedded in the pages like bejeweled drawings in a tapestry. Risso makes Azzarello’s gaggle of ideas practical as a graphical narrative. Suddenly, the theoretical and eccentric are actual, and the unique voice Azzarello designed is given full throat through Risso’s pencils and lush inking.

Of course, Spaceman: The Deluxe Edition is the best way to read this original science fiction vision. It is the best way to see this unique, but surprisingly possible future.

B+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux