Thursday, October 11, 2012

Review: Charles Burns' THE HIVE

THE HIVE
PANTHEON BOOKS – @PantheonBooks

CARTOONIST: Charles Burns
ISBN: 978-0-307-90788-2; hardcover (October 2012)
56pp, Color, $21.95 US, $25.95 CAN

Charles Burns is the Philadelphia-based comic book creator, cartoonist, and illustrator known for such works as Black Hole and Big Baby. Burns grew up in Seattle in the 1970s and rose to prominence in the mid-1980s when his comics began to appear in RAW, the avant-garde magazine founded by Art Spiegelman and Françoise Mouly.

Burns’ latest work is The Hive, the second volume of a graphic novel trilogy that began in 2010 with X’ed Out. Both volumes are published as 9x12 hardcover editions, similar to the oversized format Fantagraphics Books used for its “Charles Burns Library.” Apparently, Burns has drawn inspiration for X’ed Out and The Hive from legendary cartoonist Hergé (Tintin) and author William Burroughs (The Naked Lunch), although I think the films of David Lynch could also be an influence.

Like X’ed Out, The Hive is the story of Doug, a photographic artist who has a head injury of some kind. Following his cat, Inky, who is supposed to be dead, through a hole torn in a brick wall, Doug discovers a place called The Hive. As the second volume begins, Doug works in that nightmarish alternate world as a lowly employee who carts supplies around The Hive. He strikes up a friendship with a breeder named Suzy, and that new relationship is almost like another he had.

In fact, in the real world, Doug is talking about his past to an unidentified woman. He struggles to recall a mysterious incident with his now-absent girlfriend, Sarah (who is also a photographer), and her menacing boyfriend. Where are the answers?

I have to admit that by the time I finished reading the first half of The Hive, I was bored with it. Actually, I thought I was bored; I was simply lost in and confused by this narrative, which not only travels between two worlds, but also moves back and forth through time. The hero, Doug, is also unmoored in time. I think he’s an unreliable narrator, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s dead, in a coma, or intellectually disabled.

Once I got my bearings, I realized that Charles Burns had done it to me again. He’d drawn me into another one of his surreal landscapes – infused with a sense of creeping dread and filled with the dreadfully creepy. When he draws a figure, human or humanoid, Burns beats back the ordinary (except for a nude depiction of Doug, who is ordinary), choosing the extraordinary and the bizarre. As Chris Ware just showed with Building Stories, Burns reveals with The Hive that, as a comics creator, he is in a place where few other cartoonists are.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux

www.facebook.com/pantheonbooks
www.pantheoncomics.com


Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Fantagraphics Bookstore Holds EC Comics Event, Oct. 13th

The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library Opens Oct. 13 at Fantagraphics Bookstore 1

THE HORROR: SELECTIONS FROM THE EC COMICS LIBRARY seduces Seattle at Fantagraphics Bookstore on October 13.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery celebrates the legacy of these American masters in “The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library” opening Saturday, October 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. On display will be pages reproduced from the work of acclaimed EC editor (and creator of EC’s insurgent MAD magazine) Harvey Kurtzman, as well as Wallace Wood, among the world’s most admired cartoonists.

The exhibition celebrates the publication by Seattle-based Fantagraphics Books of the first two titles in the EC Comics Library series: Corpse on the Imjin! and Other Stories by Harvey Kurtzman and Came the Dawn and Other Stories by Wallace Wood. Visitors to the reception will be among the first in the country to receive complimentary copies of Fantagraphics’ Tales From the Crypt EC sampler featuring the work of incomparable cartoonist Jack Davis.

The lurid crime and horror comics of the fifties created nationwide hysteria. Unsubstantiated claims that comic books caused juvenile delinquency, circulated by psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham in his book Seduction of the Innocent, led to sensational Senate hearings and the introduction of the Comics Code Authority – a self-censoring body that ended this age of classic American comics. At the peak of their popularity, crime and horror comics on the EC imprint sold millions of copies each issue despite being demonized by political opportunists. It was only later understood that these disposable publications were arguably the work of the greatest cartoonists of their generation.

Musical entertainment will be provided by Swedish-born, Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson. Her haunting vocal delivery and lyrical approach perfectly complement the EC aesthetic. This event coincides with the colorful Georgetown Art Attack featuring visual and performing arts presentations throughout Seattle’s spookiest neighborhood. Celebrate the beginning of Halloween season in style on this extraordinary evening.

Listing information:

The Horror: Selections from the EC Comics Library
Opening reception Saturday, October 13, 6:00 to 9:00 PM
Performance by Berlin-based recording artist Molly Nilsson.
Exhibition continues through Halloween.

Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery
2101 S. Vale St. Seattle, WA 98108
206.658.0110 www.fantagraphics.com
Open daily 11:30 to 8:00 PM. Sunday to 5:00 PM


House of Five Leaves: The Final Volume

I read House of Five Leaves, Vol. 8

I posted a review at ComicBookBin (which has free comics).

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 10 2012

DC COMICS

AUG120239 AME COMI GIRLS #1 FEATURING WONDER WOMAN $3.99

AUG120190 BATGIRL #13 $2.99

AUG120180 BATMAN #13 $3.99

AUG120183 BATMAN #13 COMBO PACK $4.99

AUG120189 BATMAN AND ROBIN #13 $2.99

AUG120241 BATMAN ARKHAM UNHINGED #7 $2.99

MAY120287 BATMAN ODYSSEY HC $29.99

AUG120133 BEFORE WATCHMEN DR MANHATTAN #2 (MR) $3.99

AUG120135 BEFORE WATCHMEN DR MANHATTAN #2 COMBO PACK (MR) $4.99

JUL120221 BIRDS OF PREY TP VOL 02 THE DEATH OF ORACLE $16.99

AUG120226 DEATHSTROKE #13 $2.99

AUG120220 DEMON KNIGHTS #13 $2.99

JUL120258 DOMINIQUE LAVEAU VOODOO CHILD #7 (MR) $2.99

AUG120216 FRANKENSTEIN AGENT OF SHADE #13 $2.99

AUG120203 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #13 $2.99

AUG120269 GREEN LANTERN THE ANIMATED SERIES #7 $2.99

AUG120227 GRIFTER #13 $2.99

JUL120255 HELLBLAZER THE DEVILS TRENCH COAT TP (MR) $16.99

JUL120211 JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK TP VOL 01 IN THE DARK $14.99

JUN120241 LEGENDS OF THE DARK KNIGHT ALAN DAVIS HC $39.99

AUG120233 LEGION LOST #13 $2.99

JUL120214 NIGHTWING TP VOL 01 TRAPS AND TRAPEZES $14.99

AUG120209 PHANTOM STRANGER #1 $2.99

AUG120290 PUNK ROCK JESUS #4 (MR) $2.99

AUG120232 RAVAGERS #5 $2.99

AUG120229 SUICIDE SQUAD #13 $2.99

AUG120171 SUPERBOY #13 $2.99

AUG120222 TEAM 7 #1 $2.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for October 10 2012

MARVEL COMICS

AUG120744 A PLUS X BY MCGUINNESS POSTER $8.99

AUG120582 AVENGERS #31 AXFO $3.99

JUN128219 AVENGERS ASSEMBLE BY MCNIVEN POSTER NOW $8.99

JUL120685 AVENGERS ASSEMBLE TP VOL 05 $34.99

JUL120661 AVENGERS CHILDRENS CRUSADE TP $29.99

AUG120595 AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #13 $3.99

AUG120569 AVX CONSEQUENCES #1 $3.99

AUG120611 CAPTAIN AMERICA #18 $3.99

JUL120639 CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ED BRUBAKER PREM HC VOL 03 $24.99

JUL120637 CASTLE PREM HC RICHARD CASTLES STORM SEASON $19.99

AUG120676 DEADPOOL #62 $2.99

JUN128220 DEADPOOL BY GEOFF DARROW POSTER NOW $8.99

JUL120686 ESSENTIAL THOR TP VOL 06 $19.99

AUG120631 FANTASTIC FOUR #611 $2.99

JUN128221 FANTASTIC FOUR BY BAGLEY POSTER NOW $8.99

JUL120663 FEAR ITSELF TP AVENGERS ACADEMY $19.99

JUL120664 FEAR ITSELF TP IRON MAN $16.99

AUG120661 FIRST X-MEN #3 $3.99

AUG120622 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #526 $3.99

JUN128222 IRON MAN BY GREG LAND POSTER NOW $8.99

AUG120652 MARVEL UNIVERSE AVENGERS EARTHS HEROES #7 $2.99

AUG120593 MARVEL UNIVERSE VS AVENGERS #1 $3.99

MAY120736 MMW SGT FURY HC VOL 04 $69.99

JUL120678 MU AVENGERS HULK AND FANTASTIC FOUR DIGEST TP $9.99

JUL120674 NORTHANGER ABBEY GN TP $14.99

MAY120727 POWERS TP VOL 14 GODS (MR) $19.99

AUG120628 RED SHE-HULK #58 NOW $2.99

AUG120598 SCARLET SPIDER #10 $2.99

AUG120587 SECRET AVENGERS #32 $3.99

MAY120730 SECRET SERVICE #4 (MR) $2.99

AUG120643 SPACE PUNISHER #4 $3.99

JUL120657 SPIDER-MAN SPIDER-ISLAND COMPANION TP $34.99

AUG120742 THANOS SON OF TITAN BY DJURCJEVIC POSTER $8.99

JUN128224 THOR GOD OF THUNDER BY RIBIC POSTER NOW $8.99

AUG120602 ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #17 UWS $3.99

AUG120550 UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 NOW $3.99

AUG120743 UNCANNY AVENGERS BY CASSADAY POSTER $8.99

IDW Publishing from Diamond Distributors for October 10 2012

IDW PUBLISHING

AUG120372 DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS TP VOL 08 $19.99

AUG120373 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS FORGOTTEN REALMS TP VOL 04 $19.99

AUG120345 GI JOE VOL 2 ONGOING #18 [DIG/D+] $3.99

AUG120397 HAUNTED HORROR #1 [DIG/D+] $3.99

AUG120450 NIGHT OF 1000 WOLVES TP $17.99

AUG120337 POPEYE #6 [DIG/D+] $3.99

AUG120453 POUND GHOULS NIGHT OUT #2 [DIG/D+] $3.99

JUL120368 SMOKE & MIRRORS TP $19.99

AUG120320 TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES COLOR CLASSICS #5 $3.99

AUG120358 TRANSFORMERS REGENERATION ONE #84 [DIG/D+] $3.99

AUG120356 TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE ONGOING #10 [DIG/D+] $3.99

AUG120395 TRANSFUSION #1 [DIG/D+] $3.99