Walking on the Moon

Badger Saves The World #2, Baron and Caron. Better, but not great. I don’t know if Badger’s changed more or I have. Plenty of old Badger tropes are in play, but I just don’t feel as much enjoyment out of the whole thing. Maybe because I’ve seen much of this before and it was fresher then. Maybe Baron’s getting crankier in his old age. I just don’t feel the sparkle here, which is a shame.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #13, Gold & Risso, O’Neil & Templeton, Simone & Hester & Parks. A fill-in issue with short stories by the various groups above. The Glen David Gold and Eduardo Risso story is visually interesting, but ultimately muddled. When you’re trying to do a visual twist story, you need a deceptively clear artist – say David Gibbons. While I think Risso’s art is stylish, I just don’t like his storytelling. I’d buy a set of single page pin-ups from him, but his sequences require so much work out of me to follow that it breaks me out of the story.

Templeton and O’Neil’s story is, on the other hand crisp and clear. It’s just not very innovative. The writing’s perfectly clear and appropriate for the Spirit, and Templeton’s art and layouts charm, but again, there’s no spark of the new. It’s the kind of story that’s worth study rather than enjoyment; the technique’s excellent.

Of the three I liked the Simone story best. Simone’s telling a story without dialog, just icons, and the art is extra lively and expressive to make up for it. Where I found the work decoding Risso’s art distratcing, I easily tripped along with Simone’s tale. As for Hester & Parks art, even the panels where nothing in particular is happening are dynamic – almost electric. The story just rips along and, while it won’t move anyone to tears, is a thoroughly good time. In 8 pages we meet a new villain, watch dastardly deeds, watch our hero struggle, meet new allies, and see justice in the end, all while the writer and artist stretch their abilities and the medium. I think Eisner would applaud.

Captain America #34, Brubaker, Epting, Guice, D’Armata. Bucky takes up Captain America’s mantle and the Red Skull makes his move. A splash page of an issue, that’s honestly well executed, but not what I come for. We have to have this kind of issue to underscore the “return” of Cap, and sell a few extra copies to the gullible, but I’m waiting to get back to Brubaker’s pace again next issue.

Black Summer #5, Ellis and Ryp. This series is going to read better in the trades. This is all paced to be read in one breathless sitting, and reviewing discrete chunks of it is pretty unfair. Things continue to be trying for the Guns, who are surprised by Blacksmith’s team this issue. There are more revelations about Tom that will be no surprise to anyone who’s grokked that character, and Ellis holds forth some on Iraq. Honestly, the only depressing thing about the issue is the art, and there, really the coloring. Much of the issue is a fight between black-garbed antagonists in the dark. Simultaneously maintaining the dark atmosphere and letting the reader follow the action is difficult. Mark Sweeny’s the colorist here, and he could take a few cues from Captain America’s D’Armata. They’re up to similar things in these two issues, but I followed Bucky’s night fight the first time to the point where I could enjoy the visual jokes, while I had to retrace the Guns’ battle to follow the basic action. Still solid stuff, though.

Doktor Sleepless #5, Ellis and Rodriguez. I continue to enjoy this, and things are moving along at a good clip now. Having spent 4 issues introducing his world, Ellis begins to reveal some of the mysteries. An interesting, fun issue with in-world revelations (Reinhardt’s not omniscient), plot development, and another thought provoking Ellis/Sleepless rant on authenticity. Rodriguez’s art continues to be clean and tel the story beautifully. This will certainly read better in collection as well (I’m already benefiting from rereading), but I won’t be able to wait that long to see it come out.

Capsules of On The Wealth Of Nations, Dzur, and What’s The Matter With Kansas are up in Bell, Book, and Candle.

I wanted to mention a few collections/graphic novels I’ve finished in the last couple months that didn’t get into one of the other longbox posts.

Girl Genius 4: Agatha Heterodyne and the Circus of Dreams, Girl Genius 5: Agatha Heterodyne and the Clockwork Princess, and Girl Genius 6: Agatha Heterodyne and the Golden Trilobite, Phil and Kaja Foglio. These are a great chance to see excellent creators at the top of their game. Phil’s been doing comics a long time and his writing/plotting chemistry with Kaja seems to make everything stronger. Girl Genius really shows off their personal blend of humor and drama. Better than that, their mad scientists are all geeks with the volume turned up to 11, and they get them exactly right. Highly recommended. You can read the whole thing online.

Skellington, The Retribution Index, Great Aches, and Heavy Metal Hearts + Flowers, John Allison. These are all Scary-Go-Round collections, and all of them but Heavy Metal Hearts + Flowers are online. Scary-Go-Round has long been a favorite here on the moon. Its clean expressive art and whip-smart dialog make every arc a great delight. Of course, Allison can get a little lost on his way to the big picture – a quirk that is becoming less common as he goes on – but the joys above more than compensate for the occasional wandering storyline or abandoned set-up. It’s good fun.

Legion of Super-Heroes: An Eye For An Eye, Levitz, Geffin, Lightle, Orlando. This reprints the first 6 issues of the 1984 prestige series, including the death of Karate Kid. Now, if that sounds super campy to you, you should skip right on to the next review. I’m a LSH fan, and something like this collection is hard to resist. I kind of wish I had. It’s great to see the old Lightle art, and to a lesser extent the Geffin art, but the story is a lot more disjointed than I remember it. It’s certainly difficult to juggle the Legion’s large cast, and Levitz was always good at communicating a lot of action with a few broad strokes of writing. It seems like this was accomplished by immersing the reader in the world month-by-month, and looking back from 20 years later, it doesn’t flow as well.

More importantly, Karate Kid’s death was really disappointing. (I suppose these are spoilers.) This was something that had happened off-panel for me, and the short explanation – sacrificed himself fighting Nemesis Kid when the LSV conquered Orando – always sounded like a way the Kid might go out. But the actual scene is just awful. The Kid ditches the rest of the Legion to fight Nemesis Kid hand to hand to “settle a personal score.” Val is simply not this dumb; Nemesis Kid can beat any single combatant by definition – you don’t fight him alone if there’s any other choice. As a result it looks like KK threw his life away by being pig headed, and that’s a lousy thing to know. Bleah.

Yeah, I know how dumb it sounds for a grown man to be ticked off that 20 years ago Karate Kid fought Nemesis Kid out of character and lost, but that’s the way it is.

Powers 11: Cosmic, Powers 12: Secret Identity, Bendis and Oeming. Mmmm Powers. I keep thinking that Bendis and Oeming’s gritty cop drama set in a world with superheroes has nowhere else to go, and they keep surprising me with new ideas and new character interactions. Really it’s Deena and Walker – the lead characters – who carry this all. They’re flawed people doing their best to eek out some sense of fairness and justice in a world with all the corruption and venality of ours, magnified by super powers. They’re flawed to the point that they’re as real as their world is a fantasy; I probably wouldn’t much like meeting them. Still, as long as they stay real, I’ll keep coming back.

Goodnight Irene: The Collected Stories of Irene Van de Kamp, Carol Lay. When I stroll through the comics store and see a collection of Carol Lay comics about a character I don’t know with an introduction by Mike Mothersbaugh of Devo, well, you’ve got my attention. Irene is one of the richest women on Earth, who happens to have been raised by the Ubangi people and has the radical body alterations common to that culture. And she lives in a world informed by 60’s romance comics. It’s both a lot of fun and certainly will keep the analysts busy. Even if you don’t want to think vary hard, these are winning stories with an interesting protagonist set in a fantastic world. They’re drawn by Carol Lay, so they’re gorgeous. If you do want to think there’s stuff to chew on.

Reviews of I Am America (And You Can Too), Born Standing Up, and The Physics of Superheroes are up on Bell, Book, and Candle.  Mmmmm, Christmas books.

This is long overdue.

Badger Saves the World #1, Baron and Caron. I liked this much better than Badger: Bull in terms of presenting the Badger. There’s more space to breathe and a little more time to let readers ease into his world. The art still isn’t my cup of tea. It seems a little cramped and much less dynamic than I think the Badger needs.

While the pacing is better, things still seem a little uneven. There’s a Badger vs. demon battle that feels tacked on and rushed, as if to show that Badger’s not just crazy. Without room to change tone, it just feels confusing.

Overall, I’d still send people to the back issue bin to see the Badge at his best. Boy I’d love to see a set of Badger reprints like Grimjack and Jon Sable have been getting.

Uncle Sam and the Freedom Fighters #3-4, Palmiotti, Gray, and Arlem. This one’s still in guilty pleasure land. I do continue to like the art, though it isn’t always simple to follow. It is stylish and matches the tenor and pace of the story, which are considerable plusses.

The writing is more troubling. Every issue seems to add a subplot to the mix without resolving any of the existing danglers, which is a little alarming for a half-over 8-issue mini. I do like the consistent nods to the complexities of the real world, but that isn’t really enough characterization. I guess I’d prefer less going on and more characterization – or even more spectacular punch-ups – to rushed characterization and new subplots. It’s still a fun read, though.

Gravel #0, Ellis, Wolfer & Caceres. Beginning of a new series featuring Warren Ellis’s combat magician. Bought more or less on a lark. So far there’s plenty of Grim’n’grtitty dialogue, but not much beyond that. Gravel’s had a run of mini-series and hasn’t died out, so I’ll stick around a while to see what’s here, but this issue was not anything very special.

Black Summer #4, Ellis & Ryp. Very clearly a pacer issue. Several pieces of the chess game move to new positions, but very little happens in terms other than plot. A bunch of ordinance and people are destroyed by the Guns, John Horus shows he’s a bad ass, and Frank Blacksmith is moving new Guns into position. All well and good, but no one will ever say this is their favorite issue of Black Summer.

Captain America #33, Brubaker, Epting, Guice, and D’armata. Like Black Summer above, this is mostly pacing and plot. Bucky mixes it up with Iron Man and a surprise twist that’s only minimally surprising is revealed. I know why Brubaker needs to incorporate the twist, but the real test will be if this book remains readable after it’s added.

Grendel: Behold the Devil #2-3 (of 8), Wagner. Matt’s getting readers into Hunter’s world at a reasonable pace, though it’s starting to take a toll on his characters. As they start to see what goes on in Grendel’s operatic world, it’s difficult to ccntinue to see it as a game. Unless you’re Hunter, of course. For me it’s interesting to see these characters again, but I wonder how new readers are seeing this whole thing unfold.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #12, Cooke, Bone & Stewart. Looks like we’re not done with Cooke and Co., and I couldn’t be happier. Another updating of an Eisner character where the team does an excellent job keeping the emotional resonances intact while updating the action for the modern reader. That story is so strong, and the updating done with such care, that this remains classic stuff.

Doktor Sleepless #4, Eisner & Rodriguez. Now, this is the way to keep the pot bubbling. We learn some more about the Nurse, there’s an interlude with the Doktor complaining about the state of music today, and then some strange rumblings of badness to come. Each segment is spooky, oblique and raises more questions than it answer.

Looking at the big stack of comics I’m reviewing I was struck by how clean Rodriguez’s art is and how well he tells the story. There are plenty of subtleties to the art, repeating visual motifs, hints in the backs of panels, and such, but his art never looks cramped or busy. It’s art that so well done that it’s easy to miss.

And what can you say about a series that features disemboweling as a repeating motif? Good stuff.

Fell #9, Ellis & Templesmith. While one of the joys and goals of Fell is that each issue tells a complete story, that doesn’t mean that its world is static. This is another great issue in itself, with a tense plot and unusual crime to unravel, but the real tension comes from seeing the long term effects on Richard Fell. It’s becoming clear from both the issue itself and the backmatter that things will be changing more for detective Fell in the coming issues, and it also seems clear that this will not be a pleasant experience. For anyone.

Except, of course, those of us reading about it. Grab the trade paperback and then join in.

I’ve updated grap to handle some emerging standards and pickier compilers.  There are no new features, but you can compile the new code under G++ up to 4.3.  This was motivated by a Debian bug report that I’ve closed with this update.

Over on BoingBoing, Cory Doctrow put in a plug for Neal Stephenson’s Interface.  It’s one of my favorites, and with the election year coming up, I encourage you to get a copy and enjoy it.

Those are up on Bell, Book, and Candle.

Nothing actually came in this week, but here’s what I got last week.

Badger:Bull – Mike Baron and Kevin Caron. I’m going to buy all Baron’s Badger output, and there’s not much I can do about it. For my money, Badger was one of the great 80’s indy comics, and I keep watching to see if Baron can find that magic again. I know Badger holds up, because I re-read many of my old issues after the ill-fated Image run a few years ago, and they were still great. Unlike the Image run.

To be fair, Badger is tough to do – a comic kung-fu movie starring a multiple personality that’s surreal, touching, thrilling, and drop dead funny is a hugely tall order. I wouldn’t believe one could pull it off, except that Baron did for 50+ issues in the mid-80s. I believe he’ll hit his stride again.

And to be more fair, Bull isn’t bad, really. Mostly a little rushed. There are certainly moments that come near the Badger of old.

Some of Baron’s commentary makes it sound like this was an attempt to sell the Badge as a movie property, so there’s an attempt to tie up a lot of continuity in a very short space. I think these characters need more room than that to breathe; despite the comic elements, they’re deep. But as long as Baron keeps trying, I’ll keep reading.

Grendel: Behold the Devil #1( of 8 ) – Matt Wagner. More 80s stuff. I’ll read any Wagner, and certainly any Wagner Grendel. Hunter is one of my top three Grendels, and it’s always fun to see him again. This issue just puts the players on the board and lets us see how things are starting. It’s atmospheric and interesting. At his best Wagner’s one of the best writers or artists in comics today, and this shows signs of being good stuff. Recommended.

Captain America #32 – Brubaker, Epting, Guice. I didn’t recognize Guice’s inks this issue; he did a nice job keeping the tone consistent. SHIELD and our heroes finally get to take a swing at the Skull and his men this issue, with typically mixed results. Still one of my favorite reads.

Will Eisner’s The Spirit #11- Cooke, Bone, Stewart. I think this wraps up Cooke’s run on the Spirit, which makes me sad. I enjoyed his run a great deal, as he respected the material while making it his own. This issue ties up the loose El Mortez ends. It’s the least Spirit-y of his issues – which is to say plays few of the Eisner tropes, except good storytelling and string characters. (And I don’t think Eisner has a monopoly there.) Well done; the creative team goes out with a bang. Sorry to see them go.

Sig file fodder: “Ellen, I love Kimball, and there are things I don’t want him to worry about, like my youthful engagement to you. Or the Undead.” — Argonaut Bones

My brief thoughts on The Razor’s Edge are up on Bell, Book, and Candle.