Gunnerkrigg Court is a webcomic that you really should already be reading. If you’re not, go swiftly to gunnerkrigg.com and read the archive. Should take you a good day or two. Now, let’s assume you’ve returned to the review. I’m here to tell you why you should buy the book of the webcomic.

It’s possible you may be asking yourself why you should buy something you just consumed for free, and it’s a fair question, but there’s an easy answer – to support the artist (and, of course, your local comic book store.) Thomas Siddell is a UK-based comic artist who recently quit his job to pursue Gunnerkrigg Court full-time, and the more artists who can make this sort of endeavour a success, the better. In non-altruistic terms, I also believe the printed book is a superior product. Read the online archives and you’ll soon find yourself, like me, slaved to Tom’s thrice-weekly publishing schedule, hanging out for more. The books are brilliant simply because I believe they’re how Gunnerkrigg Court is meant to be read. You can skim, flip, admire, read in-depth, and work your way towards puzzling out the many mysteries of the Court that remain unsolved. Published by Archaia, who are known for their high-quality, beautiful publications, any of the Gunnerkrigg Court books are a worthy purchase.

What of the story and the art? Both are evolving beautifully, as anyone who reads the series from beginning to end will appreciate. Tom has always been a good writer and his art skills have improved by leaps and bounds since beginning the comic (although I’m still fond of the half-cartoon style he had around the Volume 2 era.) It’s nice to see the art mature along with the story, which, as with Harry Potter, is growing up with the characters. It’s glib to say that Gunnerkrigg Court is getting darker as it gets older, but it is certainly getting richer. The main characters are enticing, and by the third volume they’re all showing the increasing depth that you’d expect from people who are rapidly becoming adults. The side characters remain, by turns, creepy, intriguing, or hilarious – mad god Coyote and “demon” Reynardine are personal favourites.

Gunnerkrigg Court is an all-ages title that’s truly all-ages: smart kids will love it, as will adults. There are supernatural themes, which might put off some, but won’t spook anyone who made their way through, say, the Lord of the Rings, Artemis Fowl or Harry Potter.

Gunnerkrigg Court volume 3: Reason is a must buy, and is best bought with the previous two books. Get it today.

Mk1 Price $45.90 (Hardcover) – available in the Mk1 store and web catalogue

Can you tell me about the Genesis of Infinite Kung Fu as a book – how

did it develop?

As soon as I discovered old school martial arts movies in college it kind of took over my artwork. Even if I had to do a school project on the anatomy of the hand I would work in a moustachioed, badly wigged kung fu master to demonstrate the said hand anatomy. I started toying with story ideas around ’99 and self published the first few pages of what would become the graphic novel in 2000. I did about 200 pages on my own before teaming up with Top Shelf to finish the story.

Your love of Kung Fu/Wuxia films is obvious – how did you first get into them and what is it about them that you enjoy so much?

I’m sure it had a lot to do with Wu-Tang’s first album in ’93. After that I started buying bootleg VHS tapes through my local video store guy Colin Geddes, who wrote the forward for the book. The thrill of the hunt was a huge part of it. Finding something really obscure and weird that nobody else knew about was a blast. It’s so easy now online to get whatever you want instantly, that it’s hard to appreciate a clunky VHS tape you waited 8 weeks for with only one good ninja death.
I’ve always had a sore spot for so-bad-it’s-good material, and there’s a lot of that in martial arts movies. But for the higher quality films, obviously the choreography is impressive but I’m drawn to the ideas behind the fights. The characters are superheroes, but not mutants or aliens — just guys who became really powerful through hard work. The training is often just as exciting as the final fight.

Do you have any particular favourite films or actors?

Gordon Liu is a favourite so I was amazed to have him write a blurb for the introduction. I love his ‘monk’ movies — The 36 Chambers of Shaolin, Eight Diagram Pole Fighter. Master of the Flying Guillotine is great, and Shaolin Executioner. I also love the 6 Lone Wolf and Cub films and the whole kung fu subgenre of Black Magic horror movies, like Boxer’s Omen, Black Magic (1 and 2) and Black Magic with Buddha.

Have you ever trained in martial arts yourself? If so, what style(s)?

Nope!

Gordon Liu wrote the foreword for the Infinite Kung Fu collected edition – how did that come about?

Colin Geddes, who I had mentioned above, works for the Toronto International Film Festival and is very connected to a lot of film people. At some point Gordon was in Toronto for a few screenings of some of his films, and Colin couldn’t make it to an Dim Sum with him arranged by the Hong Kong Trade Office. He graciously gave me his spot, and even being the only non-cantonese speaking gweilo in the room I still managed to snag the seat next to Mr. Liu. He’s a great guy, and I put the bug in his ear about the foreward then. Another friend, King Wei Chu of the Montreal Fantasia Festival, helped me get in touch with Gordon later on.

Although the book for the most part stays completely within the conventions of a traditional Kung Fu/Wuxia tale, you’ve also got elements of 70s blaxpoitation and of course zombies in there as well – what are the influences there?

I guess all of those subgenres fit under the “grindhouse” umbrella. Tonnes of movies from each of those genres were being made in the ’70s, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to see them packaged together as a double bill. They all have a similar vibe that I was drawn to; low budgets without much flashy special effects, funky music, real stunts. Honestly, zombies are just fun to draw so that was the reason for working them into the story. There’s so much zombie stuff out there now that I’m almost embarrassed my book has that element, but I guess it is what it is.

In keeping with the blaxpoitation elements, there’s a bit of a tip of the hat to Curtis Mayfield/Isaac Hayes style funksters in Infinite Kung Fu and nowdays, of course, the Wu Tang Clan and other hip hop artists are also associated with the Kung Fu genre – what was the soundtrack in your head as you were writing and drawing?

Right, some of Moog Joogular’s looks are based on George Clinton and Isaac Hayes. I grew up listening to ’80s and ’90s hip hop and later started to get into the music sampled by those artists. If I could recommend a few tracks to check out they might be:
1. Billy Jack by Curtis Mayfield
2. T Plays It Cool by Marvin Gaye
3. Electricty by Allen Toussaint
4. Woman of the Ghetto by Marlena Shaw
5. If I’m In Luck I Might Get Picked Up by Betty Davis
6. The Gym Fight by the Blackbyrds
Your art style is very distinctive – kind of a mixture of traditional asian ink and brush with street art/graffiti sensibilities – who or what are you main influences?

I grew up drawing from Mad magazines, copying Mort Drucker and Jack Davis art. But I do love traditional Chinese drawing and golden age illustration, which is basically anything from the late 1800s up until the ‘70s.

As an artist, how hard is it to capture the dynamic movement of martial arts in a static medium?

I found it was easier than you might think. The films have a very rhythmic quality to them, the fights anyway. Pacing kung fu moves panel to panel seems to echo that, in a way. I definitely didn’t want to try to recreate a movie in comic book form, but to suggest the flavour of the genre.

Brushes and inks seem to be your preferred medium but your pencil work in Moog’s flashback scenes was also awesome! Will we see more of this in any future work?

Sure, I’m not opposed to it. I quite like playing with line widths though and don’t do it enough (it’s easier to use the same brush for a whole drawing). If the project calls for a specific style I can try something different. I definitely wanted the flashbacks to stand apart from the main story in case things got confusing.

As both writer and artist on the title, what’s your process? Do you script it out fully beforehand or do you just have a rough outline and script it out once the art is done?

Scripting beforehand really helps me, at least chapter to chapter. I like to write without pages in mind, then go through the script and draw lines where the page breaks should be. After that I’ll figure out how many panels it will take to illustrate the page.

You’re obviously really busy with your illustration work for magazines – will we see more comics work from you in the future?

I find it hard to say no to assignments but really, all I think about is doing comics.

More Infinite Kung Fu or something else?

Something else, I hope to avoid being pigeonholed as just a kung fu guy. Details early in the spring.

Finally, how would you describe Infinite Kung Fu to someone who’d
never read it before?

Martial masters working to re-achieve the ‘great balance’ after Buddhist reincarnation has gone awry, in an epic fantasy reflecting ’70s kung fu films in tone!

By Brian K Vaughn and Fiona Staples

Reviewed by Joshua Drummond

Saga is a simple story. A mother, a father, their child. But because it’s a saga and not just a story, the parents are literally-star crossed lovers (they’re from different worlds) and their races are at war. It’s not unlike if Romeo and Juliet got married in a universe not unlike Star Wars as imagined by Baz Luhrmann and Moebius.

The key theme – a family discovering an endless and often disturbing universe – reminds me of Doctor Who in a few key aspects, not least the highly imaginative heroes and villains. Antagonists include the Crown Prince of the Robots, who are quite humanoid apart from the ability to manifest nasty weapons at will and their television heads, a giant spider-assassin, and a cat which is also a lie detector. Space-ships are similarly imaginative. There are no blue police call boxes, but there is everything else – things like gossamer dragonflies and trees. The art is quite beautiful, and matches the writing perfectly. As you might be able to tell, Saga is among the best of the “comics can be and do anything” school. Other masters of the genre, if it can be called such, include Brandon Graham (King City) and Carla Speed McNeill (Finder). Vaughn and Staples are in good company.

The characters of Alana and Marko and narrator Hazel (age: 0.1 years old)  are well fleshed out as are those they meet along theVaughn is at his best, in my opinion, when there is no mystery to be revealed, no rabbit-hole plot – just pure character and story. Which, while often funny, does not lack for darkness. This book explores the dark side as deeply as the Star Wars prequels glossed over it. In Saga, we see what laser weapons do to people (nasty) and what magic light-swords can do in the hands of a skilled operator (nastier). It’s definitely not for children – in fact, I would nearly go as far as to say it’s adults-only. In a good way.

I’m looking forward to seeing where this Saga takes us.

Mk1 Price $19.90 – available in the Mk1 store and web catalogue 

The Finder Talisman Hardcover
Written and drawn by Carla Speed McNeil

Reviewed by Joshua Drummond

The Finder Library is dense. I mean that in the best possible way. It’s deep. It’s as deep, textured, rich and layered as real history, or real myth. Or perhaps a cake. I think the cake metaphor is best: It’s rich, and you may be unable to resist eating it all at once.

It’ll be tricky though. This is a big work  - five hundred plus pages of comic book art, not including extensive notes, glossaries and cover galleries. Page count aside, you’re getting a lot of narrative value for your money, and as the “Volume 1″ moniker would suggest, it’s the first in a series. Set in a world that looks like pop culture, myth and history got married and had babies a few thousand years after an apocalypse of some kind, Finder is like nothing else I’ve ever read. Fans of Warren Ellis, William Gibson and Grant Morrison might find some familiar ground here, but Finder really is its own thing.

The art? It’s good. Like a lot of books that start out as self-published or webcomics, it starts out shaky but grows stronger as the book goes on. By the end, it’s excellent.

The stories – for The Finder Library is more than just one narrative – are complex, deep and involving. Most of them involve Jaeger, an enigmatic character who is always on the periphery if not the centre of events, and the family of his sometime-partner Emma and her daughters Rachel, Lynne, and Marcie. The first and main narrative in The Finder Library sees him returning to Anvard, a domed city with some seriously unsettling undercurrents that reflect those within the narrative. This isn’t a kid’s book. Finder poses somewhat awkward questions about sexuality and gender dynamics, among much else. It also features one of the most terrifyingly plausible abusive relationships I’ve seen in any fiction, and its perpetrator, Brigham, is a likeable, complex character. Pretty heavy stuff, sometimes. There’s plenty more I haven’t touched on, but feel free to visit McNeil’s website, lightspeedpress.com, where you can catch up with the characters, the world, and back issues.

Anyone who’s a fan of deep, layered narratives or far-future sci-fi fantasy will certainly want to pick the Finder Library up, but it really is a lot more than just another genre label. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys applying some deep thought to their fantasy. I’m looking forward to the rest of this series.

by Brandon Graham

Reviewed by Joshua Drummond

King City is a simple story. It is about a man and his cat. Except the man is Joe, a skilled thief, and his cat is Earthling J. J. Catsingworth the Third, who can turn into anything – a flame-thrower, a periscope, a pun – given the appropriate injection. Joe and Earthling have arrived back in King City, a place of secrets, warring gangs and throbbing demon hearts, where they must face a terrible threat to the entire world and Joe’s issues with his ex-girlfriend Anna.

So yeah. It sounds a bit loopy. That’s because it’s a bit loopy. `In an excellent way. Brandon Graham is a comic book wizard, adding ingredients from all of pop culture to a bubbling cauldron of pure invention. He’s also a connoisseur of wordplay: King City has as many puns as six or seven Asterix books.

The art is perfectly paired with the writing, and has the fast and loose feel of you’d expect from someone with a graffiti background like Graham. Every panel tells a story. No space is wasted. Every building has something clever and/or a dick drawn on it. Please note: this isn’t a kids comic. Sex, violence, drugs – a particularly interesting drug called “chalk” that slowly turns the user into the substance itself is a stand-out and thought-provoking invention - King City has it all. The thing with the sex, violence and drugs is that it fits quite perfectly into the world being portrayed. None of it is superfluous or gratuitous, only awesome, like when Earthling cuts everything in half for several city blocks or flambes a Demon King.

In addition to the wild, extravagant invention, King City is a subtle story of love and loss, about coming home to find things different. It’s about how people change – and how they don’t. It’s also completely and utterly mental.  This comic could never be made into a movie.  Perfectly collected into a giant-size single book, King City is a living example of the kind of storytelling that is only possible in comics.

Available here:  http://www.mk1.co.nz/store/latest-arivals/king-city.html

Written and drawn by Guy Delisle

Reviewed by Joshua Drummond

Guy Deslisle is a French-Canadian cartoonist who is best known for his comic-book travelogue Pyongang, which features the artist as a young animator experiencing ennui in the world’s most isolated city. Jerusalem is his fourth travel book, and his best work to date.

Jerusalem, which follows the life of Delisle his wife (who works for Doctors Without Borders) and his two small children, is much more than a mere travel story. It blends journalistic insight with a gift for rendering everyday life in a strange place. It’s the little things that make up a Guy Delisle book: feeling guilty for shopping for diapers in an illegal Jewish settlement, searching for a playground for his kids, making friends with a cleric who offers him drawing space in his ancient church… Short tourist jaunts are chronicled with one-page, wordless comics, and chapters are broken up with sketches from Delisle’s notebook.

Delisle doesn’t set out to make points. He just tells a story, and his tiny windows into the world make his points for him. It’s a mark of a cleverly-written book that Delisle’s views on the morals of the complex Israeli-Palestinian conflict are easy to distinguish without ever digressing into editorialising.

The book is simply and appealingly drawn. Delisle’s background in animation means he’s got a great eye for gesture. The art works seamlessly with the words, and he knows exactly when to leave out background or render a piece in exquisite detail. The whole book is just beautiful.

Having read Jerusalem, you feel like you’ve already been there.

Available here: http://www.mk1.co.nz/store/jerusalem-chronicles-from-the-holy-city-hardcover.html

Writer: Kagan McLeod
Artist: Kagan McLeod
Cover Artist: Kagan McLeod
Page count: 464 pages

Reviewed by Matthew Henderson

MK1 Price: $45.90

I love this book. Really, really love it. I love it so much that I don’t think I can explain how much or why without waxing long and lyrical. For those for whom long and lyrical waxing is a turn off here’s my ‘cover quote’ review:

If you took the best elements of every martial arts movie ever made, added an oh so cool splash of blaxpoitation, mixed in a hoard of zombies, and added some of the best art in comic books – you probably still wouldn’t be able to cook up a dish as scintillating to your fanboy palate as Kagen McLeod has created with “Infinite Kung Fu”. Buy it now or tear up your comic book geek membership card forever!

Still too long? How about:

The art is visceral, kinetic, and intensely cinematic. McLeod has, perhaps more than any before, truly translated the power and beauty of the martial arts onto the drawn page. He’s a Grand Master of sequential art.

No?

Hits harder than a ‘Buddha Palm’ to the gonads!

Or for you real ADHDers:

It rules! Buy it!

Now, if you’re still reading this and not already at MK1 hitting Chris up for a copy of this fantastic tome, I’ll assume you like to get right down to the actual factual before parting with your hard earned dollars. You like to get both the nitty and the gritty before making a decision. Ok, I respect that, but don’t say I didn’t warn you!
.
I hate to admit it, but I’m old enough to remember David Carradine’s “Kung Fu” series being on the tele. Well actually, its probably more accurate to say that I have vivid recollections of seeing the oh-so-enticing ads for said series since my Mum had been to teachers college and had become totally militant in enforcing her ideas about bedtimes and not exposing my young mind to anything remotely (in her view) violent or (in my view) cool. Kung Fu came on at exactly my bedtime so the full extent of my viewing was the forementioned trailers (usually a profound sounding snippet of conversation between the young “grasshopper” and his blind Shaolin Master, followed by some cool action scene of the adult Kwai Chang Caine kicking some bad dude in the head) and if I could manage to reeeeeeally prolong the pre-bedtime ritual putting on of pajamas and brushing of teeth – the first scene and opening credits of the show proper. This would be followed the next day by having to see and hear the endless re-enactments by my friends who all were allowed to watch the whole thing.

In my young mind, Kung Fu became the epitome of Forbidden Coolness and Bad Assery, a conclusion that was finally confirmed when my Uncle assumed baby sitting duties on the nights it was on. Due to his less than rigid adherence to my Mum’s Commandments of TV and Bedtime I was finally able to experience the programme in its fullness. Young Matman was not disappointed.

Although it might seem a bit hokey and slow when viewed all these years later, at the time it was totally unlike anything else on tv. The idea of this mysterious fighting art from China that enabled its proponents to become unbeatable while also gaining hidden wisdom was captivating to my younger (short, skinny, and already a bit nerdy) self.

Fast forward a few years to my 12th birthday when (after years of endless pestering) my Mum finally agreed that I was old enough to watch a Bruce Lee video. It was Fist of Fury (aka the Chinese Connection) and I can remember being as enthralled by the magnetic charisma of Lee as I was amazed by the speed and dynamism of his movements. I watched it twice in a row, fell asleep, woke up and watched it twice more the next day. After that I quickly sought out “The Big Boss”, “Way of the Dragon”, “Game of Death” and “Enter the Dragon”. Having run out of Bruce Lee films to watch I exhausted the Martial Arts section of the local video shop, leading over the years to the discovery of Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu comedy and amazing stunts; the Shaw Brothers films (directed by the great Chang Cheh and Lau Kar-Leung) with exotic titles like “5 Deadly Venoms”. “36th Chamber of Shaolin”; Tsui Hark and his “Once upon a time in China” series; to movies featuring actors like Sammo Hung, Gordon Liu, Jet Li, Donnie Yen; and to mysterious and alluring sounding techniques like the ‘Buddha Palm’, and ‘No Shadow Kick’. The movies had implausible storylines that often relied on outrageous coincidences or launched off on weird tangents, terrible voice dubbing (and/or poorly translated subtitles), and cheap production values – but still had a magnetic pull on me.

I think the source of is that pull is that, at their core, martial arts movies are stories about people achieving the great and the unbelievable through hard work (the literal meaning of Kung Fu), discipline, and self mastery. No radio-active spiders, chemistry set accidents, or powers bestowed by powerful beings from another planet – the Kung Fu hero achieves his power by passing through great trials, making great sacrifices, and exerting great effort. They’re stories that at their heart speak to the power of human potential. You could easily argue that Batman or Daredevil are essentially Kung Fu movie men in tights (which is probably why those 2 are 2 of my my favourite super-heroes…the Kung Fu thing that is, not the tights).

This fascinating voyage through the life of Matman is mainly to point out that I was completely hardwired to either lurve or detest Infinite Kung Fu. if I, as a funny book reading, martial arts movie watching, Bruce Lee imitating fool, am not the target market for this, then it’s hard to think of who is. There have been plenty of crappy comics written/drawn by those with only a passing interest in/knowledge of the genre and if guys like me (believe it or not there are others) don’t buy it (conceptually and financially) then the book it would be hard to imagine that it would find a place in the market. Well, that’s what I thought when I first picked it up anyway. What I found is a book that has much wider appeal than to just the funny book reading, martial arts movie watching, Bruce Lee imitating fools of the world.

It’s obvious from every pencil and brush stroke on every panel of every page of Infinite Kung Fu that Kagen McLeod ‘gets’ what makes the genre work. The book is a 464 love letter to Kung Fu movies that not only references and pays tribute, but joins them in using the classic tropes (plus Moog Joogular: the coolest black man never to appear in a blaxpoitation flick, and the aforementioned zombie hoards) to tell a great story. The book is a tour de force that, perhaps more than any other comic I’ve read, captures the kinetic beauty of martial arts in sequential art (yeah, I know I already said that, but its true and worth repeating).

Although stylistically very different, the art in IKF makes me think of Jeff Smith’s work on Bone in that there’s a lot more happening that you will ever pick up on a casual flick through. Actually if you don’t give yourself some serious time to sit down and really absorb all of the detail you are robbing yourself of much of the coolness. The book is in black and white which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but to be honest, I think that the addition of colour would actually detract from the experience – like adding colour to Frank Miller’s Sin City.

Storywise, the elements are all there. Grand Masters with mysterious powers, deceitful disciples/evil villains who use forbidden techniques, a young hero who has to overcome adversity and train hard to ultimately conquer, hot Kung Fu babes, magic, zombies, and my favourite – Moog Joogular: the coolest black man never to appear in a blaxpoitation flick. The writing is low key and doesn’t stand out in an Alan Moore sort of way but it fits with the art to create the IKF gestalt of awesomeness.

This really is the most fun I’ve had reading a comic book in a long time (and I have a lot of fun reading comic books) and I can’t wait to see what Kagen McLeod does next (Hopefully it’s something with Moog Joogular: the coolest black man never to appear in a blaxpoitation flick)

Recommended for:
• Anyone who has ever enjoyed a Bruce Lee/Jackie Chan/Shaw Bros/Jet Li/Donnie Yen film.
• Anyone who thinks that Shaft is the epitome of coolness and that ‘Sho Nuff’ was the best character in “the Last Dragon”
• Zombie fans.
• People who like fantastic art.
• Ah, to hell with it – everybody! (though given the amount of entrails and detached body parts that fly across the pages, maybe not the Young and the Squeamish)

A comic by Pat Grant

“Blue” is a pretty rad comic.

I say “pretty” because the art is absolutely stunning and rad because, well, I’m pretty sure the word “rad” isn’t actually used in the book, but the book is about surfers. Or, more accurately, the book is about other things, like racism, xenophobia, the inevitability of change, but surfie kids feature pretty heavily. Boofhead little grommets who probably need a good kicking. This story, I should mention at this point, draws from Pat Grant’s own childhood, although it’s clearly not autobiography.

Blue opens with a prologue that neatly encapsulates the story to follow: a kid from Sydney tries to make friends with the local kids from Bolton, a nowhereville on the coast of New South Wales. They’re building a castle – a “keep” as they put it – which they’re constructing as well as possible to withstand the incoming tide. They don’t let him help. Sydney kid gets sand kicked in his face. Then the kids smash the castle so he can’t have anything to do with it. It’s the kind of thing kids do. As the story shows, it’s the kind of thing adults do too.

The rest of the story is told by Christian, who reminisces about one particularly memorable childhood experience in the once-idyllic town of Bolton while on break from his day job – fighting a losing battle against scrawly blue graffiti, left by the Blue People. These are the immigrants that feature so heavily in the Australian national consciousness, except in the sort of metaphorical twist only possible in comics, Pat Grant has drawn them as blue tentacle monsters.

While the story gives the reader plenty to think about, I don’t want to make it sound too heavy. This is a seriously funny comic. The grommets act exactly like surf-rat kids really do, which is to say, they’re all kinds of gross. The stylised art is both beautiful and what I can only describe as “yucky” – all the characters are endowed with a very human ugliness. The style is unique – the best comparisons I can think of are Chris Ware and early Craig Thompson. To top it off, there’s a fantastic essay at the end that follows the evolution of Aussie surf comics and how they influenced Grant in life and in creating Blue.

The story of Blue is easy to follow but isn’t particularly easy to describe. It’s probably best to say the book is about a lot of things. I rate it a must-buy, but if you want to check it out first, Pat Grant has the whole thing available to read for free on his website - http://boltonblue.com/. Don’t stop there though: if you like it, buy it so Pat can keep making more excellent comics.

Reviewed by Joshua Drummond

Available here: http://www.mk1.co.nz/store/latest-arivals/blue-hardcover.html

Inside spread

Phew! As much as I enjoyed reading the selection of DCs new 52 titles that Chris gave me to look at, it has certainly taken a while to catch up with reviewin em! By the time you read this most of the titles reviewed will be up to issue 5 or 6, but the first issues are still in stock or orderable if you want to pick them up. This week some of the lesser lights of the DCU provide the best reading…

Resurrection Man #1-4

A few weeks before the announcement of DC’s 52 new titles, Kurt Busiek posted a question on his facebook page asking which defunct title people would like to see come back (No -  I don’t know him. Yes – he does just friend anyone. Yes – I am that much of a geek). I didn’t even have to think about the answer. I am a huge fan of the original run of Resurrection Man and always thought that it was a shame it didn’t find a wider audience.

For the uninitiated, RM is about Mitch Shelly, an amnesiac wanderer who is returns from the dead (and he dies A Lot), each resurrection being accompanied by him manifesting a different super power. It was a fresh concept with from the writing team of Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett with a great mixture of action, humour, mystery and character and also featured some awesome art from Jackson Guice. He struggled to identify and make use of his new power of the day/week (sometimes powerful ones like super strength and other times completely useless ones like changing skin colour or producing showers of sparkling butterflies) while under attack by powerful foes, feuded with Vandal Savage (and there were hints he had done so throughout the ages), was hunted by the funny, red-hot-but-oh-so-deadly ‘Body Doubles’ (agents of The Lab that evidently gave him his nanotech based powers), and slowly uncovered the mystery of his origins.

It’s not yet clear whether the new title is a reboot or a continuation of the former. Mitch is once again an amnesiac and its not yet clear whether he’s merely forgotten the events of the previous series or if this is a fresh start. Abnett and Lanning are back on board sans Guice (currently plying his trade in Marvel-land) but new artist Fernando Dagnino and cover artist Ivan (“He’s so hot, right now”) Reis  do a great job of maintaining the look and feel of the original title. There are new mystical and metaphysical elements (angels, demons etc.) and the tone is (as with many of the 52 titles) darker. Bonnie & Carmen – the Body Doubles – in particular have had their psycho-factor ramped up substantially (‘Psycho-factor’ – now that’s a show I want to see! Imagine the ‘eliminations’!). Despite the slight shift in tone its still a great read and one I have no problem at all recommending. The original series is also due out very soon in Trade Paperback. Check it out. It’s the Goodness.

Justice League International #1

Dan Jurgens writes a JL title with Booster Gold leading a team of superheroes from around the world. Dan Jurgens, Booster Gold, Justice League International B team – it’s played for  the funny, right? Well, no. There’s definitely some great comic moments in there but Jurgens spins a great yarn that gives a plausible reason for the team’s existence while highlighting the political and character tensions that make sure that there will be anything but ‘cool runnings’ for the group. Particularly well handled is Booster Gold’s self doubt and fumbling as he takes on the leadership role and Batman’s involvement in the team and mentoring of the Gold and Blue Dude. Aaron Lopresti provides the pretty pictures.

Deathstroke #1

The pirate version of Slade Wilson was a surprise hit of the Flashpoint titles. He’s back to business as usual as a gun for hire, this time assisted by a team of up-and-coming mercs. If you think working with a team means that he’s gone soft, think again – he rakes up a high enough of a body count to make sure his cred is well and truly in tact and the surprise ending leaves no doubt at all that Deathstroke is still one of the most Dangerous Dudes in the DCU (today’s review is brought to you by the letter D). If you want deep and meaningful existential musings read Swamp Thing. If you want kick @$$ action, Slade’s your guy

Suicide Squad #1

The DCU’s own Dirty (not quite a) Dozen features Rick Flag, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, El Diablo, Voltaic, Black Spider and King Shark in the familiar – “work for us, or we’ll kill you” scenario. Big on moody vibes and extreme violence, it’s not as good as Deathstroke but should appeal to a similar audience.

Swamp Thing #1

Since Alan Moore’s seminal run on Swamp Thing back in the 80s has cast a huge shadow over any attempt to restart, relaunch, or reboot and despite some great story arcs from the likes of Andy Diggle and Brian K. Vaughan (though admittedly his was more focussed on Swampy’s daughter) readers don’t seem to have taken to any of their efforts to a sufficient degree to sustain an ongoing title. I’m not sure if writer Scott Snyder succeed where others have failed but I really enjoyed this issue.

I hadn’t read much of Snyder’s work prior to this but this book really impressed me (even more so than the Snyder penned Detective Comics that I reviewed in part 1). The writer manages to squeeze in a decent amount of exposition for new readers, a tip of the hat to long time Swamp-o-philes, some Ominous Signs & Startling Revelations, and a visit from Superman in a 24 page book that focuses on the difficulty that Alec Holland has had adjusting to life post his resurrection in ‘Brightest Day’.

The art by Yanick Paquette is phe-Nom-Nom-Nom-inal! Loved it! It’s one of those books I went back over again after reading just to check out the art and almost every page is a visual feast (apart from the 3 or 4 panels featuring Superman. I don’t know whether it’s the new costume or what, but Paquette’s Supes looks like he was drawn by a completely different, and much less talented, artist).

Anyway, based on this very strong first issue, it looks like the latest volume of Swamp Thing could very well have the legs (roots?) to last.

Animal Man # 1

Didn’t know much about Animal Man going into this…actually, didn’t know anything at all apart from the fact that Grant Morrison had a hugely critically acclaimed run on the title…that I’ve…um…never read (but can confidently say that every odd numbered issue was probably as brilliant as the even numbered ones were poos [see my Batman & Robin review if you need clarification]). Never read anything by writer Jeff Lemire either so I was surprised to find that that this issue was one of the best reads in my review pile. As a new reader, Lemire caught me up quickly via the oft used (but extremely useful) device of a magazine interview with the titular Manimal. Buddy Baker has retired from superheroing to spend more time with his family and is struggling to adjust. Lemire does a great job of juxtaposing the normalcy of Buddy’s home life with the tripped out nightmare world of ‘the Red’. (The interactions between Buddy and his family read very real (despite the fact that most parents probably don’t have to deal with their daughter’s emerging superpowers) and the dialogue is great.

Travel Foreman’s art style isn’t my usual cup of tea but it worked for the book – especially when he leaves Buddy’s domestic environment and gets to fly his freak flag in the ‘Red’ zone.

Issue #1 is now on its 4^th re-printing so that should tell you that plenty of other people have discovered something you haven’t. Join them.

…and just to show that I haven’t forgotten you Marvel Fanboys out there:

Moon Knight #1

Marc Spector, aka Moon Knight, is a character that seems to attract high profile writers and repel readers in equal measures. I don’t know how many times I’ve read an interview with a writer where MK has topped his “dudes I’d most like to write” list. You can understand the appeal – Batman-y superhero with split personalities, there’s a lot of stories that could be told there.  Bendis has been talking about how much he wants to write the character for literally years and it says a lot about Marvel’s perceptions about the sales potential (or lack thereof – I mean c’mon, not even having David Finch on the title could get it to sell well!) of the title that, even after essentially gifting BMB with the keys to the kingdom in letting him take the lead in most of the mega-ultra-uber crossovers they’ve had over the past 10 years, they’re only now letting him play in the Moon Knight sandpit.

The result? Some of Bendis’ best Marvel work. Ever. It has all of the usual Bendis hallmarks – snappy dialogue (and heaps of it), Spider-man and Wolverine popping in and doing their odd couple thing (though in this case they’re joined by Captain America so it’s more of a oddage a tois) etc. but his shtick is good shtick and it’s even gooder than usual here. Spector has moved out to the relatively superheroless LA, and so it seems have a lot of the naughty bad guys, finally realizing that it’s probably better fo’ bidness to Live and Die in LA than try to operate in NYC where you can’t swing a (baseball) bat without hitting one of the Avengers/X-Men/FF. Cap, Logan, and Spidey pop in to make sure that Moon Knight is on the job and end up helping out as Mr Hyde (under the orders by Shadowy Forces) starts stuff. Action and hilarity ensue.

The art is by Bendis’ former partner on Daredevil, Alex Maleev, but his style is much changed from that title. There seems to be less use of photoshop collages and more straight sketching here but it works for the title. BMB has even got him drawing action scenes. Maleev! Action! (and not bad action scenes either! Amazinck!).

You may not have picked this title up for a look because its, well, Moon Knight and/or because it’s not connected to any big titles/crossovers  but you really should. If you like Bendis (and based on sales of Ultimate Spidey, Avengers et al there are a lot of fans of the Short Bald One out there) you’re as crazy as Marc Spector if you don’t read this!

Unless you’ve been living in a cave (of the non-Bat/non-Mat variety) you’re well aware that DC has undergone a massive shakeup – rebooting its entire line in a move that, without (much) hyperbole, must surely be one of the biggest events in comics history. Flowing out of the ‘Flashpoint’ mini-series DC has combined the DCU, Wildstorm, and parts of Vertigo into a new universe and timeline and launching or re-launching 52 titles under the creative banner of…uh…’52’.

The new comics are a combination of re-booted mainstays, re-launches of cancelled titles from years past and entirely new offerings. While the reading would be fun – reviewing all 52 books would take up more time and space than is practical (“Dammit Chris, I’m a reviewer, not a Time Lord!”) so the Master of MK1 suggested a quick fire look at a cross-section of what’s on offer. So here we have 12 of the DC 52 titles (+ 1 Marvel one thrown in for all y’all DC haters out there)

Green Arrow #1

A much younger gajillionaire, Oliver Queen uses his archery skills and mega riches to fight crime with the assistance of some skilled employees. If you’re a fan of the Smallville version of the character you’ll feel right at home here. The art is by Dan Jurgens and George Perez there’s no surprise in the fact that it looks fantastic.

Batman #1 and Detective Comics #1

A couple of years ago Frank Miller & Jim Lee’s ‘All Star Batman’ stirred up all sorts of controversy with its dark, ultra-violent, sexualised take on the caped crusader and criticism for how far removed the character was from his depiction in the ‘in continuity’ version. It now seems like that book was just a foreshadowing of things to come because DC have definitely decided to go all Dark Knighty with all of its bat related titles (Dark Knighty: just one of the many items of lingerie worn by Selina Kyle in her  T&A fest  first issue).

There’s some brutal stuff in the pages of DC#1 – gory enough that I wouldn’t let my kids read it. Not only have they ratcheted up the violence but New Batman is a also a ho – shacking up with a new love interest not long after getting his freak on in a 4 page rooftop tryst with Catwoman that makes the 2 panel equivalent in All Star Batman & Robin that set the net on fire look positively tame in comparison (the titles appear to be loosely tied together with the Catwoman hookup being referenced in both DC and Batman).

So ok, you get it, the tone is dark and it’s for mature readers, but are the stories any good? Yep. No worries there. Both Scott Snyder on Batman and Tony Daniel on DC hooked me in good with the set up for their first story arcs. There’s some great dialogue in both books and little touches like the Dark Knight’s circle of trust ratings of the members of Team Batman provide cool insights into where his head is at. Detective Comics in particular finishes on a cliff hanger that could potentially signal a big change for a major character and had me grabbing for the next issue.

Art-wise it’s interesting to see both Greg Capullo and Daniel eschew the smooth bold lines that both of them have been known for and take on a looser, sketchier look. Whether this is an artistic choice or just a by product of them trying to maintain a monthly schedule, it definitely works well with the new tone of the titles.

Green Lantern #1

Reboot? What Reboot? Geoff Johns keeps on truckin’ with one of the best super-hero books around. The story carries straight on from the ‘War of the Green Lanterns’ story line without missing a beat and has all of the great dialogue, characterisation, and ‘wow’ moments that we’ve come to expect from this title. Green Lantern was a must read before ‘52’ and looks to continue to be so now.

The Fury of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men #1

When I was a lad (more years ago than I care to admit) we didn’t have pop/pulp culture emporiums like our beloved MK1.  Comics were obtained from local dairies and dodgy book exchanges where there was never any rhyme or reason to what was stocked or in what quantities. It was pretty much impossible to guarantee that you’d get your favourite title every month (which is probably why most stories were only 1 or 2 parts) so a young comic junkie had to develop pretty eclectic tastes and just choose something from what was on offer. Anytime there was a Spider-man, Batman, X-Men Avengers, Green Lantern, Flash, Superman etc. in stock was a great day. If you couldn’t get one of the big guns (more often than not) you would have to pick from what was left in order of preference, with the likes of Firestorm being right at the bottom of the list. You’d still buy/read it if there really was nothing else, but it wasn’t ever your first choice.

Green Lantern, New X-Men artist extraordinaire, Ethan Van Sciver, obviously has quite different memories of the character because given his choice of characters in the DCU to play with he went with Firestorm…Firestorm??! Yellow and red suit with flames coming out of the top of his head Firestorm?! Yep. That Firestorm.

Well, I read it (last of course) and…wow! It’s actually really good! The art is typically great from Van Sciver (though the fact that he’s not inking his own work this time around makes his linework look looser than usual), but he (as Co-plotter) and Gail Simone also do a great job of introducing and establishing the premise and characters in a way that is high on action and low on exposition. The Dialogue is Snappy, Conspiracy Abounds, Characters Conflict, Stuff Happens, Things Go Boom, and even the yellow/red costume suddenly doesn’t look so wussy! (though there’s now a yellow costume, a red costume, and a yellow and red costume…it’s called ‘the nuclear men’…just read the book…)

Now….where’s issue 2?! (actually already on the MK1 shelves!) I can’t believe that I actually like a Firestorm comic! Next thing you know I’ll be saying I like Aquaman (*snigger*)!…

…*cough*…well…um…now that you mention it…

Aquaman #1

Somewhere along the line, Aquaman has become the joke of the DCU. I don’t know if it was the old Super-friends cartoons or maybe it was all those old school JLA comics (Batman: “ Ok – Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and I will go into space and face the [insert name of interplanetary threat of the month]. Aquaman – you go and talk to the fishies and ask if they’ve seen anything”), but somehow the King of Atlantis just hasn’t seemed to have the same cool factor as the other big guns of the JLA. Some really great writers (Peter David, Kurt Busiek, Erik Larsen) have tried and  failed to generate enough buzz to keep an Aquaman solo title going but it always seems to go porpoise shaped in the end.

Then Geoff Johns strides in like Clint Eastwood to Sort This Crap Out.

I’m convinced that Geoff Johns has a real to goodness Superpower – namely the ability to pick up a tangled mess of continuity and spin it into gold. In this first issue he takes Aquaman’s audience (or lack thereof) baggage head on with the King of Atlantis being faced with people who verbalise all the reasons for his perceived un-coolness.  His responses provide for some great comic moments but also opportunities to reveal nuances to his character. “Aquaman walks into a fish shop…” sounds like the start of a joke, but it’s actually the set up for one of the best and most memorable scenes I’ve read for a while – skewering preconceptions, bringing the LOL, and revealing a touching memory that, along with Arthur’s reactions provides a surprisingly poignant moment.

Johns ignores the usual suspects from Aquaman’s rogues gallery to introduce a brand new serious and decidedly gruesome threat that looks like it could be as big to Mr. Fishy as his creation of the Sinestro Corps and other Lanterns was in his other famous reboot. I’m looking forward to see how it all plays out. Most of all I’m looking forward to finding out more about the Dude From Atlantis – turns out he’s not who I thought he was.

Join me soon in The Mat Signal: 12/52 +1 (part two) where I’ll take a look at:

• Suicide Squad
• Deathstroke
• Swamp Thing
• Resurrection Man
• Animal Man
• Justice League International
• + Moon Knight