Geek Diatribe

As always, thanks for visiting “Raging Against the Dying Light,” all dozen of you. ( : I have a lot of loose threads in this one, my main articles for November and December are in formation and so now’s the time to spew out what I refer to as a “Geek Diatribe” to touch on all the incomplete facets of interest I write about on this site. This time it’s all light too, no politics or religion!

First off, the 2009 Baseball season is over. I find it a very depressing of an end at that…I’m not a vehement Yankee hater, I have extreme love for the history of the team and readily admit the talents and watchability of most of the current Yank roster, but I always have a bit of anger over the unrestrained budget the team has to work with and the idea that they can “buy’ the championship…and the fact that A-Rod alone earns a higher salary than several combined teams. So, there’s always the hope that they will be shutdown and it will be proven that money can’t suppress the drive to overcome that thrives in the underdog teams; the Phillies would have been a much more satisfying win. But the whole thing got me thinking about the structure of the current season; it’s November, and Baseball is just now wrapping up. It’s cold, grey over much of the country and well on the way to winter. Now, I never thought I’d specify that the season should be shorter since Baseball is really the only sport for me, but the season should be shorter! It’s a spring and summer game, and the now extended season length drags it into competing too heavily with football broadcasts and ticket sales, and the game just doesn’t seem appropriate this time of year for whatever reasons. I say, start it in early spring as is done now, start the post-season in September and have the World Series the first week of October. Anyway, as many people thrive for the play-off season when things heat up, as fun as that can be I prefer two other key baseball phases—the opening game through the first two weeks of the season and the events of and games leading up to July’s all-star game and home-run derby. A lot of this ties in with many of the teams still having a shot, but just as much at factor is the time of the year and the way it perfectly fits with the game. I imagine football fanatics feel the same way about fall and February.

Item two on the geek docket is the best music of the 2000s. I’ve pretty much got the 50 picked out for albums and almost for songs, I just have to properly rank them which requires listening to them and making the call on order. It’s a compulsive geek trait for any type of list like this, but you can’t just arbitrarily throw them together. There’s a distinctive reason why item A is at 17 and item B is at 16…or at least there should be. As I was working on my list I noticed that “Paste” magazine already has their “50 albums of the 2000s” on their site. I really like “Paste” and they’ve turned me on to a lot of good music over the years, but their list was off (in my mind) on several accounts—for one thing, it’s early November, there’s still 2 months of music yet to be released. Related to that, their “Best of ‘09” list isn’t up yet—it seems fairly backward to sum up a decade before the last year of the decade. As to the selections, there’s the obvious nerd-centric private idols that the publication adores and will rank highly and mention continuously even if no one else does as highly—everyone does this, my lists are guilty of it as well. “Paste” is very noticeable for adoring a core 5 bands that can never do wrong, as is Rolling Stone and AMG and it’s interesting because these core 5 never overlap in the same regard between these publications. That’s a very signifying factor that when it comes to art and pop criticism, there is no great science. There may be general critical consensus that something new and groundbreaking is “excellent” but it often differs from group to group and certain styles and personalities latch on to certain sounds. I won’t ruin the article for you, but the #1 album of the decade for “Paste” sums up their stance and personality as a publication, and that’s not a bad thing. I’m pretty sure my “1 choice does the same thing for me, as will RS and AMG’s. Another observation on “Pastes” selections is that they was heavily eschewed towards music made by bands established in the ‘00s, with a few ‘90s bands new work thrown in but very little attention paid to career artists releasing very notable work in the decade. No mention of critically acclaimed and massively entertaining work by Dylan, Young, Springsteen, U2, etc. Jazz, Hip Hop and Blues were almost completely overlooked as well, and although Indie is a major focus for “Paste,” they’re an eclectic publication so I expected more variety. The 2000s, looking at them as a whole, may very well have produced the bulk of music that will stay with me the longest. I was a junior in High school at the beginning of the decade and as it draws to a close I’m a first year grad student working on a Masters. In between there was college, work, marriage. I’ve moved several times and grown a lot, and the music I’ve heard that’s stuck with me from each phase of this decade is formative and memorable. Granted, most of my all time favorite albums were made long before this time, but there’s something to be said for what was new and vibrant amidst the average, waiting just to be found.

On to the next one; I always cap up the year’s best in graphic art and prose– comics and graphic novels—with a top ten list at the end of each year as well. This year has been phenomenal with trend breaking literate work in Graphic Novels- – “Asterios Polyp” by David Mazuchelli, The illustrated book of Genesis by R. Crumb, pretty much the entire Vertigo monthly catalogue, creator owned and controlled titles by Jeff Smith and Terry Moore (“RASL” and “Echo,” respectively) and notable work from indie publishing houses IDW (“Locke and Keye“), Boom Studios (“The Unknown: The Devil Made Flesh“), etc. As far as mainstream work, generally meaning the “big two” (Marvel and DC), it’s become clear that despite cornering 65 percent of the market and being host to millions of loyal fans who refuse to read books published by anyone else, Marvel is far inferior to almost every other publishing company, especially DC. It just hasn’t been Marvel’s year. They sell out to Disney for a big paycheck. They opt for raising the majority of their titles to a higher price point– an entire dollar more, making most of their mainstream titles 3.99, a price DC reserves for special events and “important” stories. Unlike Marvel, when DC charges 3.99 they provide ten additional pages of story as well as better paper and ink quality. Marvel heads (here’s looking at you, Joe Quesada—by the way, stay retired from penciling, your art is atrocious) originally stated that this was the result of a tighter economy and to combat mounting paper costs but later Quesada admitted in an interview that it was really because “this is a business” and they wanted to see how much profit they could make if the cost of the titles continued to go up and sales didn’t dip accordingly. To make matters worse for Marvel, their output hasn’t been good enough to justify such tactics anyway. The only really smart move they’ve done recently is re-tool “Amazing Spider Man” last year, shedding the excess titles, hiring a great staff of rotating writers and artists for it, releasing it thrice monthly and generally making it the best popcorn, fun-for-everyone-over-13 book as possible. They have even (thus far) kept it price-pointed at 2.99 and the stories from it all year have been great escapist fun. Other than that, they’ve consistently dropped the ball. Big tie-in events and mini-series? DC’s “Blackest Night” is far better than Marvel’s “The List” or whatever they’re calling it now (since it’s an ever continuing fall-out tale from last summers “Secret Invasion” which was far inferior to DC’s “Final Crisis” at that). Thor? An Eisner-winning surprisingly smart book by Stracinzski is now moving on without Stracinzki and staying at 3.99 (without the extra ten pages). Then there’s the it-just-won’t-die slew of “Marvel Zombies” mini’s that get worse with each sequel. Or dumb ideas like “Marvel Apes” or “X-Babies.” There’s the never-reveal-the-ending-to-the-mystery compost-heap “Hulk,” which gets ever more ridiculous and stopped being fun half a year ago. They were building up steam with “Uncanny X Men” each issue after 500 then lost it having each issue be part of an asinine tie in to an asinine concept series. The only other worthwhile Marvel title right now is “Fantastic 4,” while DC has been on a run with their mainstream work as well. Geoff Johns and Gary Frank are producing the best Superman mini in years, “Secret Origin,” and their entire run on “Action Comics” was terrific last year. Since Batman’s death, every tie-in Bat title has been excellent., notably, “Batman and Robin,” with Grant Morrison and initially Frank Quietely but “Detective Comics” as well if only for J.H. Williams III’ impressionistic and unconventional art. “Green Lantern” and every “Blackest Night” tie in has been great sci-fi and “Wednesday Comics” was a truly original and successful idea. Of course, “JSA” has fallen off and “JLA” seems to never work, but the point is that much of their mainstream work is great and most of it is approachable and more affordable than their competitions. Most importantly, where DC has it’s “Vertigo” imprint which puts out a lot of great, intelligent adult-geared work and DC utilizes that imprint heavily, Marvel’s “Icon” imprint which allows creator funded work to be released doesn’t get nearly enough emphasis. “Criminal” by Brubaker and Phillips is back again with another miniseries, and it’s great. “Kick Ass,” is always fun whenever Mark Millar bothers to get it out (he’s late on everything lately), but what else does Icon have? And why no funding from Marvel? Why not more emphasis?

Okay, last up (and briefly) is “The Wire.” Harvard recently announced a college course that will utilize “The Wire” in its curriculum. If any show has ever been worthy of this, it’s this one. The smartest, most important and best produced television show of all time. Five seasons, so check them all out. That’s all for now.

Vertigo 2009: Cancellations and Launches

Vertigo consistently makes the smartest, deepest and most diverse comics for adult readers in the mainstream market. Whereas some publishers used the “adult” rating to merely amp the violence and sex, Vertigo allows the freedom such a rating gives them to explore thematic depths, philosophical concepts and ambiguous character traits that more approachable fair shies away from. Of course, using “Scalped” or “Preacher” as an example, the violence and sex isn’t shied away from either when necessary to the story. Yet it’s never the main goal or method in a typical Vertigo work. The problem presented by Vertigo is evident in last month’s cancellation of “Young Liars.” These are not books that fit a wide variety of tastes and preferences. Being funded by a subsection of a mainstream company, in this case DC comics, means that only so much money will be allocated in support of an artistic venture. With creator owned and distributed works like Jeff Smith’s “RASL” or Terry Moore’s “Echo,” low sells and limited appeal is overcome if the author has the time, money and passion to devote to a work that may take years to catch on. DC can always pick another up-and-comer to give a 2 year shot to with Vertigo, or they can move some money back to their main stable and release a new Superman ongoing title.

So, even though there is a tremendous history of smart, great works in Vertigo that got to start, run and come to their natural culmination in the beforehand planned “final issue” like “Sandman,” “Preacher” or “100 Bullets,“ the still ongoing “Hellblazer,” the going-past-originally planned “Fables,” or a host of other books that look like they’re in good shape to end their tale correctly, there are also a lot of books that get the axe before their time. Most recently this is the case with “Vinyl Underground” and “Young Liars.” Both of these titles launched about 2 years ago– “Underground” lasted 12 issues, “Liars” made it to their 16th last month. “Young Liars” is a frustrating example. It was the full work of writer/artist David Lapham, who never got around to wrapping up his creator owned “Stray Bullets” but who looked fired-up to tell this mind-bending, fully involved head-trip adventure through Vertigo in an on-going that never shipped late, often was set on the day it shipped to stores, and always delivered the goods. Axed before its time, we’re left with a hastily thrown together ending that tells us pretty much nothing…we have no idea where this would have really ended up and what detours it would have taken along the way.

So, that said… There are a few very promising works kick-starting this year, all a few issues into the story now. These three books all started around the same time, so the odds on all of them making it to the usual 70 some-odd books it takes to fully wrap a Vertigo tale aren’t tremendous…but if the numbers are decent, they will make it. So as a fan of these, I’m doing my part to get the word out. Buy the monthly…buy the trade too, and, if you like at which point you can sell the “floppies,” but you must buy the monthly if these series’ are going to last. It’s a gamble you take, sure, but you’re certain to be entertained along the way even if the ending never comes. We’re talking about an 8 or 9 dollar a month commitment; dig for some change and take the plunge.

First off, “The Unwritten.” This is a literary fans dream; if you’re a classics dork, check out the entire premise and especially the great detour this past months issue, Issue #5, takes. The basic story follows Tom Taylor, son of a famous author who has died. Taylor is the basis for his fathers best selling books about “Tommy,” a teenage wizard with animal cohorts and adventures. The series is written by Mike Carey and billed as a “literary conspiracy mystery.“ Last month’s issue  # 5 tells an alternate history of Rudyard Kipling and features his encounters with Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain). There are things that have occurred in the first 5 issues of this book I haven’t seen done since Neil Gaiman ended “The Sandman,” and I don’t mean to imply any overt similarities other than artistic ambition and non-pandering to popular taste.

Next, “The Unknown Solider.” A fully researched and prepared book by a former self-proclaimed pacifist struggling with the concept of war and “just” violence in the pursuit of peace. It’s set in Uganda and is complete with child soldiers, corrupt governments, agencies with misplaced priorities, humanitarian fervor and real, vivid- yet- dark, life.

“Sweet Tooth,” a post-apocalyptic story of a half-human/half-deer teen in the company of a hunter on the way to the promised land. Bizarre and although entrenched in an overly-used archetype of a setting, wholly invigorating and unconventional enough to make that setting new again.

Okay. I’ve pitched them and if you’ve ever been a fan of comics or graphic novels, pick them up. Support them, lets see them through to their natural conclusion.  Don’t forget “Scalped,” either— Vertigo’s best series which seems to be going strong, winning awards and in no danger of cancellation. It’s modern noir at its finest and hopefully one of the above three titles live up to it in time.

Summer Plugs

On a more trivial note, I suppose, I have to plug a few things. I haven’t posted on new albums and things in awhile, so I’ll take a few lines to spread the word on some notable releases.

First of all, if you’re a Drive By Truckers fan (and if you aren’t you should be), it’s a pretty good time to be one. Patterson Hood, co-founder and one of the lead singers/guitarists for DBT released his second solo album two weeks ago, “Murdering Oscar (and other love songs)” and CNN is already calling it the best record of the year so far. It’s a great album, backed by a full band on most tracks (unlike the at home solo recordings of Hood’s last non DBT outing). All are great sounding fully formed songs that are lyrical character studies of a wide range of humanity. Great music with good lyrics. Pick this one up the old-fashioned way (you know, at a record store), because the packaging is nice and the liner notes are very insightful. The record should hold you off until July’s CD/DVD combo release of DBT’s “Austin City Limits” live show and the upcoming fall release of a DBT B-sides, rarities and outtakes compilation

Also noteworthy recent music albums are the great power pop rock songs from French rockers Phoenix’ third album, “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix.” Also, for seriously bouncy perfect pop music check out “Manners” by the band “Passion Pit,” a throwback to 80s synth pop that remains sounding fresh. And, Morrissey’s latest album “Years of Refusal” may very well be the best and most cohesive work he’s put out since leaving the Smiths almost two decades ago.

In other mediums, if you are even a casual comic or graphic novel fan and you aren’t reading writer Jason Aaron and artist R.M. Guera’s excellent “Scalped” series from Vertigo/DC, you are sorely missing out. It’s available in 4 collected volumes (Indian Country, Casino Boogie, Dead Mothers, Gravel in Your Guts) and new single issues come out every month. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever read, a completely new and wholly American noir tale. The only thing giving “Scalped” a run for it’s money on intensity, depth and originality is the relatively new “Unknown Soldier,” another Vertigo title by writer Joshua Dysart and artist Alberto Ponticelli. “Soldier” is a thoroughly researched and eerily visceral take on Uganda and Congo political, war and civilian issues complete with child soldiers, violent civil wars and the re-imagining of the old DC character, the soldier clothed in full bandages. It’s available monthly, the first collected trade is scheduled to come out on September 1st, so mark your calendar and earmark your ten bucks because it’s more than worth it.

Last of all, with movies like “Star Trek,” “Wolverine,” “Angels and Demons,” “The Hangover” and “Transformers 2” raking in dough hand over fist, (good as some of them may be) it’s evident that the months of big, dumb, summer movies are upon us as the critical darlings are held back for the fall and winter. These big flicks are usually fun popcorn fare (Wolverine and Hangover were, I can’t speak for the others I haven’t yet seen them), but if you’re an indie, old-school horror or ‘80s underground film fan don’t forget to show director Sam Raimi a little love for “Drag Me to Hell,” his messy grand return to B horror schlock. I’m catching it this weekend hopefully, we owe him a bit of support for the “Evil Dead” films (even if he did drop the ball on a few aspects of the Spider Man films when he went big budget).

That’s all for now.

The “Understanding Comics” Book Review

Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics” is the best critical analysis of the comic medium ever written. Equally as  important, it’s also a very entertaining comic in its own right. McCloud points out that all mediums and art-forms have a long history of self examination and exploration from within the movement itself, yet comics have only done that very minimally, with the work “Comics and Sequential Art”  by the master of comics Will Eisner being a notable exception, yet that work was written a half century ago, leaving much room to be covered.

“Understanding Comics” is part history lesson, part art criticism, part psychology, part sociology and part science. He breaks everything down to the root, the origins and the methods. How do comics work? What differentiates them from every other medium? What are they capable of and what should they strive to be?

The art is tremendous here as well. It’s very simplistic and “cartoony” predominantly, McCloud notes later that basic, “cartoony” work is adaptable and perceived to be very relatable to a wide margin of people. In a sense, we can all place ourselves in the shoes of a more simplistic looking cartoon or comic character more than a very detailed realistic looking picture which will automatically exclude many people on physical matters alone. Yet in McCloud’s exploration of artistic styles and methods comics use, sudden panels will look photo-realistic, or impressionistic, or even of a “high art” quality. McCloud is seemingly capable of any sort of art style he should desire to use, which makes his use of more supposedly “simple” methods all the more admirable. In the chapter on motion, the art runs and jumps and spins through the pages like a film, and in chapters on layout and composition the material will slow to a freeze point so that every important matter can be dissected.

The entire work is highly readable, never does it become dry, dull or overly like a textbook. This book deserves to be used in art classes, literature classes and sociology classes across the board because it is very bright, very academic, very deep yet unpretentiously so. A critical analysis that is utterly entertaining, at times humorous and informative of many broad areas that can be appreciated by those familiar or totally unfamiliar with the medium, with pieces of information that can teach even the most sophisticated and knowledgeable fan a thing or two new, it’s hard to beat this book with any remotely similar.

The Swamp Thing Book Review

Okay, first off it’s been quite awhile since I’ve followed along with this thread. Way back on August 20th, 2008 I posted an article here titled “10 Great Examples of Comic Book Literature” and I stated that I would eventually post a book review of each of the ten items. If you’ve missed those and would like to read any of them, here’s a quick recap. In parenthesis after each article title I’ll list the date it was originally posted up on my site, so you can scroll through the archives to find it if you’d like.

1) 10 Great Examples of Comic Book Literature (August 20th 2008)

2) The Watchmen Book Review (August 27th, 2008)

3) The Preacher Book Review (October 21st, 2008)

4) The Sandman Book Review (November 11th, 2008)

I’ve had other comic articles but only those four of the ten reviews so far. So now, here’s the 5th, the “Swamp Thing” Review. Next up, within the next month or so will be the “Understanding Comics” by Scott McCloud Review.

So maybe you’ve seen “The Watchmen” film. Maybe it intrigued you enough to go out and pick up a copy of the graphic novel it’s based on and you’ve read it…and if that’s true, and you like good literature yet are new to the graphic storytelling medium, you were probably astounded that a comic book was capable of the intensity, emotional engagement, intellectual pondering and sophistication that “Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons was.

Now you want to know what’s next. If you’ve picked up a comic by DC in the past few months, you’ve  probably seen a full page add, “What’s Next?” and it lists a slew of suggested Watchmen follow-ups, most highly worthy of your time if you want to take the next plunge.  Yet Moore’s work is missing from the recommendations, and if you truly want some groundbreaking, excellent Moore writing, your next stop should be his fantastic run on “Swamp Thing.”

Alan Moore is brilliant, eccentric and scathing towards any naysayer’s, critics, contemporaries and those seeking to adapt his work to any other medium. In his field, he’s pretty much Shakespeare to most fans. Certainly that sounds grandiose, hyperbolic and a tad pretentious. He’s not as talented as Shakespeare or many other literary greats. Yet to do the type of work he has done, and to sell much of it close to the mainstream as far back as the early 1980s working in the field he was working in is quite an achievement. There have been many other great, groundbreaking, boundary pushing writers and artists in comics, contemporary with and post Alan Moore. Going as far back as the underground “comix” explosion of the ‘60s to the indie and small press “smart” books of the ‘80s and especially in the Vertigo line of DC in the ‘90s with Moore disciples like Neil Gaiman, Garth Ennis and Warren Ellis and taking root in many companies today with mainstream and underground work done by writers as varied as Jeff Smith, Grant Morrison and Jason Aaron. Yet Moore pushed things further than readers and industry thought possible when he first started his major works. He showed the world what the medium was truly capable of. That a well done comic can do anything a well done novel can, anything that a well done film can, anything that a great on-going television series can, and certain things that no other medium is quite capable of doing at all.

“Swamp Thing” shouldn’t have been this good. The concept, the name and the image it invokes sounds like cheap, B-level horror schlock. It was a character created by other people (Lee Weinstein and Bernie Wrightson),  30 some odd issues into a superhero horror comic and on it’s way to the cancellation bin when Alan Moore was handed the reins to DC’s “Swamp Thing in the early ‘80.  The Swamp Thing story and origin had varied in different versions, but in the series that Moore was handed the tale had been following Alec Holland, a scientist working in the Louisiana swampland. Holland was sabotaged by nefarious bad guys, a chemical explosion left him fleeing into the swamp. He emerged later as a swamp creature, and the series followed random horror and supernatural events he encountered as the Swamp Thing. Moore immediately reconfigured the entire heart of the tale in his first Swamp Thing story, “The Autopsy.”  Turns out that the creature isn’t Holland but a living embodiment of “the green,” an earth elemental. A living plant that had thought it was Holland because the accident had fused his memories and personality with the plant life to create the Swamp Thing.

Now of course this sounds out there. Over the course of approximately 30 issues Alan Moore writes, and Stephen Bissette and John Totleben handle the art for a range of stories covering everything from environmental rights, conservation and extremism, fears of nuclear proliferation and waste, racism, sexism, family and relationship dynamics, religion, magic, horror, love, hallucinogenic, poetry, prose, regional disparities, psychology, tension, lust, violence, anger, heaven, hell and the list goes on. Collected by Vertigo/DC you can find the entire Moore run in 6 collected volumes. Try the first three to get a feel for the scope, each volume stands alone to tell 1 or 2 major stories.  Early stories are primarily horror and suspense based yet as the series goes on and Moore elevates his character’s incarnation, introduces John Constantine (to go on to star in a 250 and counting series “Hellblazer”) and explores the different niche genres this story is capable of encompassing the series has plenty of variety to experience.

I’ve raved about Moore’s writing on the series, but the art is pretty fantastic as well. It’s a truly involving and unique story, I doubt you’ll find anything like it in any other comic or anywhere else for that matter.

Unrelated Preamble and “The Watchmen” Film Review

Flashes from the news this morning: yet another full story devoted to the media-dubbed “Octo-Mom,” this time in regards to a house donated to her and her close to 20 children by Dr. Phil. She’s a media sensation, she’ll probably get a book deal and inspire others to follow her example, and folks everywhere can snarl angrily and reinforce their false stereotypes that it’s Octo-mom type folks who drain up all the welfare from the good taxpayers.

Cut to Rush Limbaugh, a clip replaying him snarling and shaking, jowls flapping as he says “ I hope the President fails!” So this is the supposed “face of the Republican party” as many have called him, “the base unifier.” This man who is the very picture of intolerance, hatefulness, divisiveness, and political ugliness. This man actually hopes the president’s policies will fail simply so he can point and shout “I was right,” regardless of the effect such a failure would have on everyone living in the country today. RNC head Michael  Steele lambasted Limbaugh in one of the few smart comments I’ve heard him make, only to retract it the following day.

Then the news cut to a roundtable of financial advisors grading Obama’s first 50 days as mediocre to poor. Each stressed that Obama focus on the economy and the economy only, refusing to admit that health care reform has anything to do with improving the economy, education improvement and increased accessibility has anything to do with the economy, and the stimulus package with spots for new jobs in the energy and construction sectors have anything to do with it either. Focusing only on Wall Street in the hopes of bouncing stock prices still leaves the other 50 percent of Americans who own not a single stock nor even an IRA or 401K ravaged by the rising cost of health care and it’s declining quality and unable to send themselves or their children to increasingly expensive schools with the hope of bettering their opportunities. Even a quick bounce will leave the stock holding 50 percent better off only in the short run because those above-mentioned factors will someday hit them just as hard as well if something isn’t done now. The first 100 days is the perfect time for a new President to cast all of their nets into the sea and see which will make a catch. Obama had kick-started the talk for health care and education reform which if successful will make long term progress, opened the door for stem cell research to make advances in health, science and technology, and placed a renewed importance on the education sector of America, thereby restoring a bit more hope to future generations. So yes, Wall Street and the economy is very important, and it will likely take the majority of Obama’s time as President to work on. So give the man time, there is no quick fix as much as we all wish there were in this scary economic environment.

Now on to the “Watchmen” Film Review.

First of all, “Watchmen” by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons is the best graphic novel of all time and is also easily one of the top 10 best works of fiction of any kind of the twentieth century. No joke. So if you’ve never read it, read it before seeing the movie. If you have already seen the movie, go and read it now, it’s not too late. My book review of “Watchmen” as part of my “10 Examples of Comic Literature” thread is in my archives, so click on “comics” at the bottom tab and scroll way back to last summer to find it and read it if you would like to.

That being said, this movie does not live up to the book. But it does amazingly well at getting it’s points and themes across, and it does better than I ever would have imagined it possible to do. All in all, I give it a B +, an 8.5 out of 10, 4 out of 5 stars, somewhere in those mixed systems. The casting is great, it’s as if Rorschach and The Comedian stepped right out of the comic and onto the screen. Everyone does a great job. The effects are dazzling. Yes it’s long, but at 2 hours and 45 minutes it was over before I knew it, it simply sucks you right in. The ending is different than the one in the graphic novel, much to many fanboys dismay, but it gets the same point across. The effect is the same, and arguably the film’s version works much better on the big screen than the book’s would have given the time and medium at work here.
The title screen may be one of the best parts of the whole movie. While Dylan’s “The Times They Are A Changin’” plays, viewers see a summation of 40 years of major events in the Watchmen universe leading up to the 1985 setting of the film.

There are many things that simply cannot be reproduced in a film version of this story. Moore’s work was as much an example of what the comic and graphic storytelling medium is truly capable of as it was a story itself. There are so many wonderful explorations of the medium that were top notch and phenomenal just because they made you notice that such things would be impossible to do with any other medium.  Also with the length Moore had to work with, there was much more room for detail than this film has. That being said, the story-within-a-story “The Black Freighter” and the fictional autobiography “Under the Hood” sections that took place between each chapter are slated to be released as animated shorts in an upcoming straight-to-DVD release this month as “The Black Freighter.” Maybe someday there will be a directors cut DVD that interweaves them into this movie, I’d say it’s a possibility.

Other than that, most complaints I’ve read by fanboys and critics alike are overly critical. This movie was so mixed in its reception. Film critics were almost exactly split in half in their perceptions, ranging from A + praises, like that of Roger Ebert who said you should see it multiple times, to pans and F’s from folks like Gene Shalit. Fanboys that did complain chose funny things to complain about. One I read was mad at the soundtrack — “A song like 99 Luftballoons just jerks you out of the movie, and the ‘Graduate’ song at a funeral is just funny” (to paraphrase). I have to disagree. Of course, “99 Luftballoons” isn’t my favorite song but it worked perfectly in its brief use because it was very time appropriate since it was 1985 in the film, the song is a deceptively poppy song with lyrics about nuclear war, which the story is very much about, and the scene in question was a date so it doesn’t “jerk you out of the movie.” As for “the ‘Graduate’ song,” which is “The Sound of Silence,” really works better at a funeral than it did in “The Graduate,” as much as I love that film. The rest of the film soundtrack works perfectly, from Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan to My Chemical Romance, and the score is good as well. Another fanboy complaint I read came from a guy angry that details like Ozymandas owning a pet lynx weren’t explained. Umm, he’s insanely wealthy and eccentric and thus owns a lynx, what’s to explain?

All in all, it’s a very watch-able, suspenseful, action-packed, at times disturbing and entertaining movie. Sure there are missteps, but it’s always ambitious. I think the only complaint I have is that characters who in the novel have no powers seem to be insanely powerful here (Night Owl and Silk Specter rumble through the prison destroying everything in their path with seeming ease, but hey).

So check it out if you’re considering it. It’s worth it.

The Best Comics of 2008

I’m sure many of you who stop by to read what I have to say mainly in regards to my music, political or religious articles probably scratch your head over the comic thing. Nevertheless, I know preachers, teachers and stoners alike who enjoy what the modern graphic novel medium produces lately, and there’s something for all of them on this year-end round-up.

10) Zorro by Matt Wagner and art by Francesco Francavill

Dynamite entertainment gave Matt Wagner, famed creator of “Grendel” and writer of things like “Batman and the Mad Monk,” a chance to re-envision Zorro for a new set of readers. Really, though, his take is nowhere near a re-imagining or re-envisioning. Dyanamite’s “Lone Ranger” is radically amped up and done so successfully in the only way such a character could become relevant to modern readers, but Wagner maintains the classic elements of Zorro that work for readers of all ages in all time periods. Zorro is a warrior for the downtrodden and a fist against the oppression of a corrupt and controlling government presence. The art, directed by Wagner and executed by Francavilla, is majestic, the story is effective and the hero is noble. A better book for boys from 8 to 80 who enjoy action, history and westerns doesn’t exist.

9) Batman RIP by Grant Morrison art by Tony Daniel
Sure it was messy, confusing, a bit implausible and totally out of left field. It was Grant Morrison, so that’s to be expected. Morrison never bothers to give you all the details, like some sort of existentialist novelist he makes you catch up without stopping to elaborate. Between issues in this story things have occurred, often in each issue things seem to occur in between panels and pages and out of sight and we as readers are left to figure out just what is really going on. All the while, Morrison pulls from every bit of the story he’s built over the course of his 25 plus issue run on the title. That old, 3-part seemingly throwaway story in which Batman is solving a mystery on an island? Highly relevant, though we didn’t know it at the time. In fact, he pulls not only from his work but from major and minor details from the entire 60 odd year history of Batman, using story elements and characters that most of us assumed had been written out of continuity and forgotten about. Not to mention the gorgeous pencils of Tony Daniels. It’s been reported that the delays between issues were a result of Daniels painstaking attention to detail, and if so it was worth it. So sure, this was a love it or hate it proposition, and now Bat fans are left without their main character for what’s being said to be a year, but all in all it was one of the best events of the year.

8. Amazing Spider Man by various

“Amazing Spider Man” has been one of the most consistently enjoyable lightweight and fun books on the racks this year. Fans moaned at the results of the “One More Day” storyline which dissolved Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s marriage as a result of a pact with the devil (the Marvel Universe‘s “Mephisto“) Parker made to save his aunt’s life. Ultimately, that was silly, but now Parker exists in the same world, albeit one in which he and Mary Jane never married. So, several other details in his life are now different as a result. It’s a post “One More Day” world, and the now thrice monthly “Amazing Spider Man carried the banner “Brand New Day ” for months to notify folks. Harry Osborn is alive and currently friends with Parker. Parker is single and settling in an apartment with his cop roommate after moving out of his aunt’s house. May is alive and well working in a homeless shelter. The new direction strips the story down. What Stracynski had been doing for the past years on the title had been good, but increasingly too dark and dramatic for a character like Spider Man. Now we have a mid twenty Parker who’s a struggling photojournalist and a doting nephew, who’s juggling his superheroics, his dating life and his journalism job for Front Line (after the Bugle was sold out from under JJJ and became a tabloid.). New villains, new acquaintances and a revolving creative team incorporating the best up and coming writers and artists (check out Marcos Martin‘s phenomenal non traditional art) as well as the best veterans (Mark Waid, Roger Stern). Fun, humorous, action packed and all-ages enjoyment, exactly like “Amazing Spider Man” should be.

7) Locke and Key by Joe Hill and art by Gabriel Rodriguez
Joe Hill has consistently proven himself to be quite capable in any writing exercise. His first novel, “Heart Shaped Box” was terrific, his collection of short stories, “20th Century Ghosts,” is the best short story collection I’ve read in years, and now he’s trying his hand with comics to the same success. “Locke and Key” is human and heartfelt, spooky and occasionally violent, realistic yet supernatural and fantasy based. It’s beautifully illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez (who equally excelled in illustrating the Beowulf comic adaptation IDW released last year). It tells the story of a woman and her three kids who move across country from California to New England after the woman’s husband and the children’s father is murdered by two of the students he worked with as guidance counselor at the local high school.  The family move to the childhood home their deceased father grew up in, which his brother still lives in and care-takes. It’s  a sprawling old mansion named “Lovecraft.” Once there, the youngest of the children discovers a certain door in the house that passageway through results in the person becoming a ghost.  That door is but one of many that leads to odd places, and I’m sure we’ll get to read of more of them when volume 2 picks up in the spring.
The entire first volume is one story arc, collected in  a nice hardcover that came out a few months ago. Check it out.

6) Final Crisis (and tie ins); main series by Grant Morrison, art by J.G. Jones
Although Secret Invasion is over and Final Crisis still has a little to go, I already pick FC as the blockbuster comics event of the year. Secret Invasion sprawled across most Marvel titles yet managed to delay all major revelations and twists as long as possible. As it ends, parts of its conclusion are satisfying and what it sets up to follow seems more interesting than the actual event itself, but in comparison we see DC delivered much more in much more concentrated doses. Better art, more shocks and ultimately a better story was found in Final Crisis. Secret Invasion’s only real fatality is the Wasp? Well, FC took away Martian Manhunter in the first issue, followed through in subsequent issues by bring back Barry Allen, capturing Batman, reintroducing the multiple versions of the Legion, setting up “Blackest Night,” fully realizing Darkseid’s earthly presence and the list just goes on and on. Plus every tie-in miniseries was excellent, from “Rogue’s Revenge” to “Revelations.” Sprawling, thought-provoking and entertaining.

5) Young Liars by David Lapham

“Young Liars” is David Lapham’s latest tale. The first 8 issues of this series arrived monthly this year and at the end of the year the first 7 issues were collected into an inexpensive trade paperback. A lot of people wait for those collected editions with Vertigo. By doing so they’re usually missing out on the best monthlies, but especially so in the case of Liars. The first few issues sometimes had portions set in the present, actually dated on the date that issue was released in shops. This made those issues very timely and added an extra layer of enjoyment. This story is one of the most unpredictable and random stories I’ve ever experienced in any medium. Time jumps around quite Tarantino-esque: in one issue it might jump from the present day, back a month, back 5 years, back two weeks. It never reveals all of the details but usually doesn’t let you know that its avoided them. What I mean is that after reading an issue or two you’ll think you know where the characters have been and where they’re going. Then the next issue will flashback to a point often right between other events you were already aware of but will reveal aspects of the story you never would have suspected. I finally thought I knew what was going on then issue 8 told a tale that seemed to move the story in a completely new direction. Then, I read the next issue and found out I was closer in my first assumption. Aside from the unexpected, there’s also plenty of visceral shock: the insane lifestyle of Sadie’s father, the failed suicide of Danny, the “midget and mr. Johnson,” the item Cee Cee carries in her purse in issue 10…there’s plenty of out of left field shock and awe. Music permeates the series as well, whether it’s the mixtape selections listed at the beginning of each chapter, the work Danny and his band do for their band, or the concerts the liars occasionally see. Ultimately, Danny and the gang are almost void of admirable qualities yet they remain tragically flawed and likable. So check out Lapham’s latest gusto filled effort. Hopefully this one will reach a natural conclusion in a few years, unlike his on hiatus “Stray Bullets” series.

4) “Joker” by Brian Azarello, Art by Lee Bermejo

Who else to pen a Joker crime noir tale than the mastermind behind Vertigo’s ultimate long running noir “100 Bullets.” I suppose off of the success of the Heath Ledger portrayal of Joker in “Dark Knight” DC comics wanted to capitalize from it by issuing such a tale rooted in the same version of the character. “Joker” could be a sort of sequel to Dark Knight in many ways, although the prominent presence of one character that died in Knight would create a problem for that in the overall sense. Anyway, all of the villains present in this graphic novel seem to be Nolan versions of their comic characters. They all look grounded in a sick shady reality, portrayed scarily realistic: Killer Croc, Penguin, Joker, Harley Quinn, even the Riddler. The central tale focuses on the Joker being released from Arkham. He enlists a low-level hood to drive him around as he seeks to regain his criminal empire. The Joker is calculating yet impulsive, driven yet distracted by psychotic urges and always untrustworthy. The story is quick, fast and fun. It’s noir in the true sense of the word, and there’s really no great resolve or overarching victory or message. What really sets “Joker” over the top is the artwork by Lee Bermejo. Bermejo has done some of the best covers of the past year or two, specifically his “Hellblazer” covers and its great to see him do full interiors that pop right off the page. His style fits this version of the characters perfectly.

3) “Y the Last Man vol. 10: Whys and Wherefore’s by Brian K. Vaughn art by Pia Guerrera
Brian K. Vaughn finished his epic series Y the Last Man and the final story arc was collected and released this year as “Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores.” The entire series has been unbeatable, full of shocks turns, twists and emotional resonance. If you’ve never read it, go back to volume 1 and follow the adventures of Yorick Brown and his pet monkey, the last two males to survive the ‘gendercide’ that kills off all others carrying the Y chromosome. Its funny, scary, and surprisingly realistic at most moments. This last volume gives us one of the saddest single moments the comic medium has ever produced as well as the most poignant last page a series has ever had.

2) Wolverine- Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and art by Steve McNiven
This has been Mark Millar’s year. He penned an enjoyable mini-series, “1985” the last issue of which (and the last page specifically) was a career highlight. He released the first few issues of the creator owned and controlled series “Kick-Ass” under Icon, and is already helping oversee the film version of that (although finishing the series first would have been preferable, talk about delays). To top it all off, he penned two mainstream Marvel titles, taking them in new and great directions–Fantastic Four and Wolverine. “Wolverine,” was the most anticipated monthly action adventure series this year. “Old Man Logan” tells an alternate future story in which Logan (aka Wolverine) has retired from his pubic life and embraced a pacifist existence (in an obvious homage to Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven.”) He hooks up with the now blind Hawkeye for a cross country adventure in a world where the heroes are all dead or retired and the U.S. is carved up and owned by the villains. Not to mention an “anti-virus” of primordial dwelling goblins who’ve surfaced to cleanse the overpopulated planet. Millars story nods to every corner of the Marvel universe and its history and runs games with fan boys wishes. McNiven’s art surpasses his previous work on “Civil War.” Although there are a few issues left to go and the inevitable hardcover edition is yet to come, this belongs near the top of the best 08 had to offer. Which means if it ends as strongly as it’s been thus far, it could be back here next year.

1) Local by Brian Wood art by Ryan Kelly

I could write pages about the excellence of “Local,” but I’ll be brief. This maxi-series was supposed to run a year, but delays prompted it these twelve issues to spread across 2006, 2007, and the final 2 issues came out earlier this year in 2008. Months later the entire run was collected in a nice Hardcover that is the perfect gift to give a comic fan looking for something outside of the box or for a casual comic fan, say someone who’s only read “Watchmen” and the like. It’s a series of 12 short stories, all work alone yet all go together. The same girl is in each story, sometimes as the central focus and sometimes merely as a background character. Each issue is set in a different city spread across North America, from California to Virginia to Canada. Readers see her age from a 16 year old girl to a 28 year old woman; the final page really kicks you in showing her as a full grown woman who finally finds her place in the world. Each story is cram packed with detail–Kelly and Wood visited each city they set their story in, each panel is minutely and beautifully detailed, local qualities each city has appear continuously. The stories are about everything from a rock band returning to their hometown after a career abroad to a violent confrontation between brothers over a family inheritance. Do yourself a favor and pick up “Local.”

There were many, many close contenders: “Criminal vol 2″ by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, “Thor” by J.M.Stracynzki, RASL by Jeff Smith,Green Lantern: Secret Origins by”Hellblazer” by Andy Diggle

The Best Singles of 2008

First off, I should note that all of the following songs are not on any of the albums I picked in my “Best Albums of 2008″ article. I wanted to showcase some of the best music from albums that didn’t quite make the cut. Most of these were singles released on radio, i-tunes or video, but a few are just album cuts that should’ve been singles. Most of these tracks would have made the list had I also considered music from my top album picks, but a few would have been sacrificed to make space for “The ‘59 Sound” by Gaslight Anthem, “Sequestered in Memphis” by the Hold Steady, “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne, and “Hero,” by Nas. Anyway, enjoy.

10) Workin’ On a Dream – Bruce Springsteen
Bruce and the E Street Band recorded an album full of energetic, first take rock songs while on the comedown of the high from the “Magic” tour, and the album will be out in January. Springsteen teased his fans by offering up this single at the end of the year to build up anticipation for that new release. Here’s assuming it will be great, this song is evidence that it probably will be.

9) Swagga Like Us- Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Lil Wayne and Kanye West

Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne, and Kanye West trading off one-up verses over a hook crafted from M.I.A.s subversive single “Paper Planes?” The best one-off  of the year.  Now go back check out M.I.A.’s original.

8. Rock ‘N Roll Train – AC/DC
I didn’t discredit “Black Ice” from consideration simply because AC/DC went with a Wal Mart exclusive deal even though I hate Wal Mart. I did refuse to go to WM to get a copy though. No, I understand their deal and approached the album on its own terms, actually hoping it would be the later career classic we’ve yet to hear. See, those ‘70s albums with Bon Scott yielded a lot of rock and roll perfection, and upon losing Scott the band came back with an all time classic to pay tribute to him, “Back in Black.” We’ve had bright AC/DC moments since, but none in full length form. The first track on the album, which is also the first single, “Rock ’N Roll Train” is pure energy and a new classic to add to their canon. Unfortunately the latter half of the disc lacks a bit, but this song doesn’t disappoint in the slightest.

7. I’m Amazed – My Morning Jacket
“I’m Amazed” was the lead off track released by My Morning Jacket this year to promote their new album, “Evil Urges.” MMJ makes a habit of evolving their sound every year or two and almost no two albums focus on the same sound. We’ve heard them go from southern tinged hard rock to quiet folk. “I’m Amazed” announced to their listeners the direction their new album would take: 70s AM style pop rock. This simple, lilting and pretty jaunt is kind of like Yankee Hotel era Wilco minus the distortion. Pop music without pandering, so listen up.

6) You Know What – N*E*R*D*
“Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in Line for the Bathroom)” was the lead off single from “Seeing Sounds,” the latest album by the rock identity of the Neptunes. A music critic for AMG once noted that the hit qualities musicians seek out the Neptunes production for on their albums and songs is not the same type of thing that you’re likely to find on a NERD album. No, the weirder, more avant garde and odd, experimental aspects the Neptunes save for themselves. Perhaps in part because they’re not always guaranteed pop hit qualities. Well, “Everyone Nose” was fine but the brightest moment on “Seeing Sound” was this simple, funk/disco/pop gem, the best thing that Gnarls Barkley didn’t record this year. Pharell sings about a friends-with-benefits situation in which he fears the friendship might suffer over funk guitars and subtle dance beats, resulting in pop perfection in the Prince vein.

5) Love Locked Down – Kanye West
Kanye’s released 3 certifiable classics in his career so far so I guess it was about time for an experimental, artsy and ambitiously different approach like “808s and Heartbreaks.” He teased us with the album by releasing “Love Locked Down” on his own blog months before the album was available. It’s a synth drum beat propelled pop song, sung vocoder style (but in a viable way). It’s a great song, the best but one of the only moments on “808s” in which ‘Ye’s ambition matches his talent. The rest of the album is serviceable and admirable, but a bit dreary and R&B-emo’d out. This is the highlight.

4) Roxxanne – The Knux
“Roxanne” is the best song from “Remind Me in 3 Days, in my opinion. “Cappuccino” may have been the first single but Roxxanne should have been. For an album full of promise, a sonic pasting of electronica, old school hip hop and pop, this is the song to showcase that promise at its highest level. Like RUN DMC riding a Prodigy beat covered in Clash guitars, The Knux rework the Police classic for the i-pod generation.

3) Re- Education (Through Labor) – Rise Against
“Re-Education (Through Labor)” is a concentrated dose of what Rise Against is and does best. As a single, one-off song it’s almost comparable to the bands excellent full length, “Siren Song of the Counter-Culture” from a few years ago. The lyrics envision the working class rising up against the ruling elite. “We are the rust upon your gears, we are the insect in your ears.” They do this because, “sometimes dreams they still come true, our days are precious and so few.” This song sounds like gospel! The full pitch hard rock guitars, the proud declarations of “I won’t sweat one more drop for you,” the pounding yet melodic tempo all are signs of protest rock done right. A perfect song.

2) Discipline – Nine Inch Nails
“Discipline” is the best moment on “The Slip,” this years initially free NIN album. In fact, although the entire album doesn’t live up to Nails classics, “Discipline,” may be one of Reznor’s most simple yet effective singles ever. Rolling Stone called it “death disco” when it first came out earlier this year, and that’s about as apt a description as any. It’s the most darkly danceable song he’s had since way back on “Pretty Hate Machine.” So give it a spin or five, once you start you may not be able to help yourself.

1) My President – Young Jeezy featuring Nas
Young Jeezy is quick to inform you he didn’t write the best cut off the otherwise standard fare “The Recession” album. His opening proclamation “The realest…I ever wrote…I didn’t write this by the way” is a nod to the opening shouts on many earlier Jeezy songs (“The realest…I ever wrote). “My President” was penned by the guest artist on the track, Nas, who included his own Obama endorsement at the end of his own album this year. In retrospect, sounds like he gave the best away. Sure its silly and contradictory; in a verse following a hopeful endorsement of Barack, Jeezy ponders a cocaine run to Texas. But overlooking that, for any proud Obama supporter and even moderate hip hop fan there really wasn’t a better single or a more timely one than this. Nas and Jeezy trading verses complaining about the Iraq war, unemployment woes, the high cost of raising children, the overall sad state of the economy and nation but the hope of a better
future and the proud endorsement of Barack. A lot of us probably have to admit we felt like Jeezy did at the time, that win lose or draw, he was already our president.

“The Sandman” Book Review

The 20th anniversary of the first issue of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman is this year. In recognition of that and as a continuation of my “10 Great Examples of Comic Book Literature” thread, I now offer my “Sandman Book Review.”

Norman Mailer called The Sandman, “a comic book for intellectuals,” and he was right.

As I find myself writing in a lot of these pieces, Neil Gaiman is a brilliant British comic scribe (like I’ve said of Alan Moore and Garth Ennis). But he’s more than that, he’s a brilliant writer of not only comics but of novels, short stories, poems, children’s books and screenplays. The Sandman is what first gave him a name in the industry and that series also has the honor of producing the first comic issue to receive the  World Fantasy literary award for “Best Short Story.”

Sandman  very well displays what comics are capable of doing. For all you non-traditional comic readers, for everyone that jumped into the medium with books like Moore’s Watchmen,  The Sandman is the next stop for you. It’s a cross-genre fantasy epic that covers more ground than one would think possible. It’s high literature, ranks up there with the best classic prose work you can mention short of Shakespeare. It’s illustrated by a slew of variously styled artists. It originally ran as 70 issues which were collected in 9 volumes and a sort of “epilogue” book was released years later, Endless Nights. Recently those original 9 volumes have been collected into 4 massive, coffee table sized hardcover’s that are priced at 100 bucks a pop, so grab those up if you’re wealthy.

The Sandman follows Morpheus, more commonly referred to as “Dream.” Dream is one of “the endless,” all of which are siblings. Dream’s brothers and sisters are: Destiny, Death, Destruction, Despair, Desire and Delirium (Delirium is somewhat like Tori Amos’ persona and it’s intentional). The Endless have existed since time began and although Dream is the central character of this story the others play important roles as the story progresses.

As I said it covers multiple genres. You may very well be scared witless by the roadside diner carnage in issue #6 (which appears in volume 1, Preludes and Nocturnes).  In that story Gaiman pushed the envelope on what was expected fare for “mainstream” work at that time. It’s scary not because of what the villain does but because what the humans are actually capable of. Equally scary is the Corinthian, the serial killer spawned out of nightmares who shows up in volume 2, The Dollhouse.

But it’s not all scary. Volume 3, Dream Country is a short volume collecting a few short stories including the award winning issue about William Shakespeare (the Bard also makes an appearance in the very last issue of the series in volume 9, The Kindly Ones).  “Ramadan,” which originally appeared as issue 50 in the series is collected in volume 6, Fables and Reflections, another collection of Sandman short stories. “Ramadan” is a middle eastern fairy tale about ancient Baghdad complete with vibrant colors in the mythic Arabic style. The whole of volume 8, World’s End is basically an otherworldly version of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

My overall favorite volume of this epic is probably volume 4, Season of Mists. In this part of the story, Dream travels to hell after being goaded into guilt by his sister Death for imprisoning a former love in the underworld for thousands of years. Once there, however, he finds that Lucifer has a plan for him.

As the overall epic moves from start to finish it progresses into a tragedy. Early volumes are primarily horror based or DC universe-referential. As things move into the middle arcs it’s much more epic and fantasy based, and as the later volumes tie up the theme of a supernatural Shakespearean Tragedy appear. Along the way we experience thrills, chills, dark humor, absurdity, heroics, poetry and an array of amazing art. Gaiman uses different artists for pretty much every story in the series and they all have drastically different styles which fit the different types of tales. Gaiman himself sums up the entire story by saying, “The Lord of Dreams must change or die, and makes his decision.”

If you enjoy The Sandman, try Gaiman out in a few of his other mediums. Fragile Things is an excellent collection of short stories. American Gods is an entertaining novel. Coraline is a very nice, eerie dark fairy tale for children and adults alike. Stardust is a fantastic fairy tale film that Gaiman wrote the screenplay for.

I also realized that I’ve made the claim numerous times that “this shows what the medium is capable of doing,” in my various comic reviews on this site, but that most of those series have focused on the fantastic and the highly imaginative forms of fiction. There will be reviews of Maus and Understanding Comics in this top ten thread, but if you’re looking for something right now that’s based in reality, a very person and place driven dramatic and artsy work, please do not hesitate to check out Local by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly. I’ll refrain from doing a full review of it now because it will be reviewed in detail in my upcoming “Best of 2008” piece, but I will say that the art alone is some of the absolute best I’ve ever seen. In attention to detail and focus on real-life locations and detailed expressions of characters, it’s a joy to simply look at. The writing is superb as well.

One last note, if you scroll to the bottom of the site here you can click on the different categories I’ve place my articles into. If you click on “comics” you can read the original “10 Examples…” and the reviews of those selections I’ve completed so far. Thanks for reading.

The “Preacher” Book Review

“Preacher” is not an easy story for most people. It’s offensive and vile at times. The British comic scribe Garth Ennis writes it, and Ennis as a writer is cocky, sarcastic and rebellious, and he’s built a career on pushing ideas to their point-of-tension…the shock ending, the curve-ball twist, the sudden eruption of shock and gore are all somewhat common comic techniques today, but Ennis played such methods in original and ground breaking ways. Many great and newer comic writers owe Ennis credit for being the inspiration for their work. Ennis has attempted many times to shock and thrill readers on the surface while expressing much deeper and realer underlying meanings, themes and emotions. “Preacher” is the moment when Ennis nails his style most effectively. His work also tends to be best when his writing is partnered with the art of Steve Dillon, and Dillon pencils the entire series. Dillon’s art isn’t flashy–it’s straightforward and basic, yet compelling and effective. His characters look real and un-exaggerated. He brilliantly conveys Ennis’s intentions, and does what many artists often fail to do; he gives each character a unique and defined appearance and allows their facial expressions to convey their emotions accurately. To top it all off, artist Glen Fabry graces each issue with a cover of his original work. Fabry’s art is grotesquely beautiful. His pencils and paints look like classic Southern Gothic writer Flannery O’Connor’s prose sounds–macabre and ugly yet oddly graceful and pretty at the same time. Lucky for readers, each cover is reprinted in the trades, placed before each issue is that issue’s respective cover. Speaking of the trades, “Preacher” works well in collected form. The entire 66 issue run (plus all of the one-shot specials) are collected in a 9 volume set. Each individual comic works as a chapter, each volume collects a full storyline, and the overall tale sprawls out over the entire 9 volume set.
“Preacher” focuses on Jesse Custer, his ex-assassin girlfriend Tulip and their new friend Cassidy a vampire that’s overly fond of alcohol. Jessie is on his way to find God in a very literal sense of the phrase. God has abandoned his post in Heaven, and as such no one is watching over the world and things are getting progressively worse. Custer plans to track down God and persuade him to resume his post and heavenly duties in Heaven.
I suppose it’s a very secular humanist type of philosophy coming through in Preacher. Most religions hold that ultimately our strength, drive and purpose come from God. Frankly, many people do what good they do in their lives because of their faith in God. In the world of “Preacher” that reason and source is removed– God exists, but in a form that has rejected the real role of God.
Despite the negative factors, this isn’t a faithless or nihilistic story. Social and Religious institutions are broken down. Custer and Tulip have no faith in the church, the government, their family or modern American society. They don’t trust most of those that cross their path, and a betrayal or two down the road shake them even more. But Jesse and Tulip love each other deeply and spiritually. The faith they lose in all that surrounds them is reinvested in each other. Their love for each other, physically, emotionally and spiritually helps them survive through the weirdest and worst types of scenarios. At times this love manifests itself in metaphysical and miraculous ways.
And there’s also great strength of character on display. Jesse is driven, dedicated and strongly believes in taking responsibility for his actions, doing his job and keeping his word. He’s a proud Texan, believes in American ideals, freedom of speech, equality and choice. He’s a chain-smoking Clint Eastwood Archetype, but he owes just as much to his briefly mentioned idol, late Texas comedian Bill Hicks– not for his sense of humor, but for the way he carries himself and speaks what he knows to be truth.
I think the early volumes are the best; volume 1, “Gone to Texas,” is such a strong start. It introduces the central characters, lays out the basic plot, and everything seems so wild and unpredictable that a complete air of mystery hangs over all of it causing you to wonder where this story will possibly go. Volume 2, “Until the End of Time,” is my personal favorite part of the series. We meet Jessie Custer’s family and see what made him, and it’s completely terrifying. It’s while reading this volume you really see that this story is going to lead to totally unexpected places. In many comic review articles it’s volume 3 that earns top ranking, “Proud Americans.” As Ennis pens a detailed history of the Church and it’s multiple-centuries long conspiracy and true mission…well, the church leader and the Christ descendant will be what make you abandon this series as offensive if you are going to at any time. If you can make it through that, nothing until the last page of volume 9 will truly shock you. Well, except for a scene in which a Marquis de Sade character may or may not be eating Chocolate ice cream…
“Preacher” can only be enjoyed by those of us with a strong interest in religion and spirituality if we just shrug and take it for what it is–shock value and over the top entertainment. The “God” and his followers in this story are not the real God and his true followers, they’re merely intentionally offensive fictional characters created by a brilliant writer to express very real and satisfying concepts, but more importantly they’re just trappings used to tell a great, shocking, wild action story that deals with literally EVERYTHING on an epic scale.
It’s funny, because “Preacher” seems to be interpreted by everyone to fit their own needs. Kevin Smith in his guest introduction to volume 1 says it reaffirms his Catholic faith. Penn Jillete in his guest intro to volume 3 says it re-affirms his vehement atheism and states that his only fear is that someday someone will unearth a copy of Preacher and mistake what was meant to be a fun and exciting fictional story for a holy book and start a religion (a claim he makes for the original Bible).
So pick it up if it sounds like something you can dig. I think that after reading this review you know enough to decide whether this book is for you or not. If you like Ennis and Dillon, try their run on Marvel Max’s “The Punisher,” which is as mainstream as Ennis gets yet still very provocative. Try the current Ennis series, “The Boys” which aims to completely deconstruct superhero comics a bit more crudely than Watchmen, or “Crossed” which Ennis claims to be his most over-the-top work yet.

(Note: The illustration at the top of this article isn’t by “Preacher” cover artist Glen Fabry or interior artist Steve Dillon, I just liked it an had never seen it before. Below is the cover of volume I, illustrated by Fabry.)

TOTALLY UNRELATED, BUT IT APPEARS THAT THE WORLD SERIES WILL BE THE PHILLIES AND THE RAYS! AND HERE I WAS ROOTING FOR THE SOX AND THE DODGERS!