Comic Books: January 2008 Archives
PRESS RELEASEContraband (www.contrabandcomic.com) a new graphic novel by writer Thomas Behe and illustrator Phil Elliott, is a near-future tale revealing an all-too-possibly-real world of underground video, violence and crime on cell phone networks. Contraband follows a young man's journey into a new "voyeur underground", where profit-hungry youths prowl streets, secretly filming radical events with mobile devices to satisfy society's demand for sensational on-the-go content.
Co-creator Phil Elliott was approached on the street by a teenage girl asking for money. It's a sad but common enough occurrence in cities, but when Elliott refused, the situation became something much different from anything he'd experienced. "A younger kid -- he must have only been about 10 -- started swearing at me, 'Give us some ******* money!'" he recalled. "I was then aware that there was another girl filming all this on her mobile phone. What was going on here Were they trying to provoke me What happened to the video"
The incident took on a greater significance for Elliott when writer Thomas Behe contacted him to see if he were interested in drawing a comic he'd written, which explores a voyeuristic underground where profit-hungry youths prowl the streets secretly filming violence and catastrophes with mobile devices. That comic became Contraband. Behe was inspired to write the story after he noticed that people's concerns about cell phones had shifted from the physical dangers, such as radiation or tumors, to more cultural concerns. "The new concerns were more social-related," he said. "Kids receiving intimidating texts from class bullies. A mate of mine was even propositioned to subscribe to some sort of spy-cam exhibitionist mobi-blog. I had no idea why these folks were secretly filming everyone, but there was tons of stuff on there."
In the near-future society of Contraband, bands of content-hungry amateurs armed with camera phones record violent scenes, some of which they instigate, to satisfy society's demand for ever more shocking on-the-go entertainment. Toby, a self-styled "citizen journalist," is documenting this underground when he is discovered by agents for a cell-phone channel called Contraband. Forced to work for them, Toby is assigned the task of finding a female activist set on sabotaging Contraband and must navigate a difficult path where he must choose between his own safety and the greater good.
Contraband is a 144 page black and white graphic novel written by Thomas Behe and Illustrated by Phil Elliott. Published by SLG Publishing and due for release in February 2008, Contraband, isbn # 978-1593621018 is $12.95 and is available at: www.slgcomic.com
For more information about Contraband go to www.contrabandcomic.com.
Review by Michael VanceArchie’s Pals and Gals Double Digest #s 113-116/$3.69 and approximately 169 pages each from Archie Comics/various writers and artists/sold at book and comics shops and at www.archiecomics.com.
So
what new does one write about Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals since all of the
approximately sixteen Archie titles are basically interchangeable?
This “double digest” offers more than forty features including everything from one-page gags, pin-up art, coloring pages, and word games, to comics stories of varying lengths. However, that’s not different. Almost all of the Archie digest publications do so.
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals is well-written and drawn in a simple style with few details that targets a younger audience. Its cast includes Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Betty, Veronica, and a smattering of “second banana” characters. Herein, gentle reader, lies the real difference between this and other Archie titles: Pals ‘n’ Gals is loaded with secondary characters.
The featured bunch includes Lil Jinx (a five or six year old girl), Sabrina (the Teenage Witch), GiGi (Lil Jinx’s young friend), Mr. Lodge (Veronica’s rich father), Josie and the Pussycats (a teenaged Rock and Roll band), Little Archie (with the gang also at five or six years of age, Little Sabrina (as a kiddo), Ginger Lopez (a teenage girl), and a host of others.
The stories featuring teenagers focus mostly on boy and girl relationships and situations at school, work and home. The younger bunch of bananas tackles the problems faced by preteens. The goal in every story is a gentle fun that wins more smiles than laughs.
And stories and characters are all set in a world without nihilism or graphic sex or violence in which each character is gifted with a sense, almost always implied instead of stated, of human value and nobility.
Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals is recommended for readers of all ages so inclined.
Michael Vance
Review by Michael VanceGrowing Old with B.C.: A Fifty Year Celebration/$19.95 and 196 pages/from Checker Book Publishing/words and art by Johnny Hart/sold at book and comics shops and at www.checkerbpg.com.
Look up "funny, adv." in Wiley's Dictionary, and you'll find a drawing of Johnny Hart. Look for Wiley and you'll find one of those unshaven, cone-shaped cavemen that made Johnny Hart famous. But if you try to find Hart himself, you'll be sadly disappointed.
Johnny Hart died in 2007 after writing and drawing that wildly successful bunch of bananas, er, eh, cavemen in the comic strip, B. C.
Look up from almost any of the hundreds of comic strips reprinted in Growing Old with B. C. and you'll do so with tears in your eyes and deep-throated laughter.
How can you not laugh at stuff like: Peter: Do you have any yellow grapes? Curls: Sorry, we're all out. How about some gutless nectarines?
All of this slap-happy visual and verbal word play is drawn in a simple style that looks like you could do it on a paper napkin in a bar when you are half-sloshed. I dare you to try it.
You'll also need to be very clever to imitate Johnny Hart. Surely, he held the record for running gags, most of them featuring a caveman leaning on a boulder lettered with a business name like Dr. Peter: Head Shrinker, Wiley's Dictionary, and The Curse Exchange.
Finally, you'll need to be politically incorrect. Few cartoonists today can create characters like The Fat Broad and The Cute Chick and survive.
How anyone can survive Hart's demise is difficult to imagine, although the heirs of B. C. seem to be holding their own.
If you wish to hold your own copy, don't delay. This wonderful anthology is highly recommended, and won't last long on book shelves. Grog!
Michael Vance
Review by Mark AllenBatman: Legends of The Dark Knight #168, published by DC Comics, cover price $2.50, back issue prices vary.
My definition of the perfect comic book story: An entertaining tale that hooks you right away, and contains a beginning and ending in a single issue. Such stories are nearly extinct, these days. I found one, however, in Batman: Legends of The Dark Knight #168, in a story entitled "Urban Legend."
Long-time comics scribe Bill Willingham weaves a Bat-tale that's worthy of a "best-of" collection. That is NOT hyperbole, folks. I mentioned stories that hook the reader right away, and this one does it with 50-pound test line. Without giving away any major plot points, I'll simply tell you that the main character of this issue suffers some very severe trauma of both physical and mental nature, and the reader feels a great deal of it right along with him.
We're not talking about 100% shock value, however. No, no, there are plenty of would-be "greats" resorting to that in the beleaguered world of comics. The shock is there, to be sure, but it's backed up with intrigue, drama, characterization and a darn fine mystery to boot. That doesn't typically result in comics without great writing, as well as great art. And, speaking of the art...,
I'd never heard of artist Tom Fowler before reading this story, but I'm now a fan. The players in this yarn are wonderfully characterized with a slightly exaggerated style that is fluid and action-oriented. The hero is tortured and suffering, yet a noble and sympathetic figure. The villains appear shifty, smarmy, and at times, a little greasy. All of it is splashed onto the background of the seedy and violent Gotham underworld, a place I would only go within these pages. And, it's a trip well worth the taking.
This issue of Batman: LoTDK is recommended for older readers who are tired of having to read 30 different issues of six different titles to get one story.
Mark Allen
PRESS RELEASE"Seductions" Offers Unique Perspective - Plus Vampires!
A history of seduction and how techniques have evolved with the changing roles of women may seem like an odd subtext for a comic book, but Writer Gary Scott Beatty wanted to offer readers something unique with his book "Seductions," listed for comic shop preorder in January 2008's Previews catalog.
"The first piece of advice every writer receives is, 'Write what you know,'" said Beatty. "I'm not claiming to be some great lover, but I spent a lot of time working in bars watching how groups of people pair off through the night. As I got older I noticed how women's attitudes toward the chase changed through the decades."
Beatty explained that, as a member of several bar bands, he had a unique perspective on the mating ritual. "Most of the bar is watching the band, but people don't realize the band is also watching them."
The vampire "hero" of "Seductions" is caught in a maddening cycle. He wakes 10 years after each feeding. The world changes around him and only two things remain: his desire to feed and a yearning for a long lost love.
The done-in-one short story comic book features impressive pencils by "Oz," "Dark Oz" and "Land of Oz" illustrator Bill Bryan and computer-over-pencils coloring by Beatty. As graphic as the book sounds, both artist and writer decided to play it cool. "We could have dipped the book in blood, but subtle horror is what really creeps me out," said Beatty.
"I was talking the script over with Bill at the beginning, saying I wasn't sure how to classify the story to explain it to people. Bill informed me 'Seductions' is a love story." Beatty laughed. "It sure isn't anything like any love story I've ever read! I'd say 'Sex and the City' from a male perspective, with vampires."
"Seductions" must be preordered from your local comic book shop! Interested readers can find their local comics shop by calling the Comic Shop Locator Service at 1-888-COMICBOOK (1-888-266-4226) or online at http://csls.diamondcomics.com.
"Seductions" Offers a Different Look for Comic Book Pencils!
The trend in comic books has been to take an artist's pencils and manipulate the look into something photographic, but "Seductions" Writer, Colorist and Letterer Gary Scott Beatty knew the look he was after when he contacted illustrator Bill Bryan for pencilling.
"When I look at a beautiful piece of artwork, in ink or pencil, my first thought is to enhance what's there, not cover it up," Beatty explained. "The comic world hasn't seen the gorgeous stuff Bill Bryan can do with a pencil, unless they've seen him at conventions, because all of his previous comic book work has been inked. My challenge was to add color without subtracting from Bill's subtle tones."
The done-in-one short story comic book "Seductions" features pencils by "Oz," "Dark Oz" and "Land of Oz" illustrator Bryan and computer work by Beatty. The reaction has been overwhelming, said Beatty. "The look is just phenomenal. You can still see the hand of the artist."
The vampire "hero" of "Seductions" is caught in a maddening cycle. He wakes 10 years after each feeding. The world changes around him and only two things remain: his desire to feed and a yearning for a long lost love. Readers soon discover "Seductions" is not a typical, romantic love story.
"I'm also a computer fan, but I really admire artists who have a command of their tools and produce qualities on the page you can pause and appreciate," said Beatty. "With physical drawings disappearing from animation, comics and even the newspaper funnies, I'm determined to not overpower any artist I color."
Interested readers can find their local comics shop by calling the Comic Shop Locator Service at 1-888-COMICBOOK (1-888-266-4226) or online at http://csls.diamondcomics.com.
http://www.aazurn.com
http://www.garyscottbeatty.com
Review by Mark AllenBatman, # 667-669, published by DC Comics, 32 pages, $2.99.
Stop me if you've heard this one: Batman and Robin take a weekend jaunt to a Caribbean island to hob-knob with several other "dynamic duos" from around the world, and it ends up becoming a very un-campy murder mystery. That's the premise of "The Island of Mister Mayhew" in issues 667 through 669 of DC's Batman comic.
If writer Grant Morrison's not doing the impossible, here, it's something very close. He takes a bunch of "weird c-list crimefighters" (Robin's words, not mine) and makes them interesting. With the exception of possibly one or two of them, further investigation of such characters, in Morrison's hands, could prove entertaining, I suspect. To me, it illustrates the adage that there are no bad characters, just characters without the proper story.
What's more, the writer takes a three-issue tale and gives it a much more expansive feel using well-placed flash-back sequences.
J.H. Williams proves, as he does in most of his projects, why he is a fan-favorite artist. With a flair for realism, as well as a versatility which allows him to delineate between present and past events with apparent ease, Williams "paints" the mood of the story with just the right shades of the suspenseful, the horrific, the macabre, even the pitiful and ridiculous. Yeah, it's all in there.
Besides that, he may be one of the best Batman illustrators in the business. His Caped Crusader is eerily calm, but can easily be imagined housing multiple psychoses. In short, he's "spooky," and that's what Batman is supposed to be.
I suppose I should mention that this story builds off of an idea first conceived in the '50's, in Detective Comics and World's Finest Comics, but knowledge of previous history is completely unnecessary for enjoyment of this run, which is uncommon for DC, and to be commended.
These issues of Batman are recommended to older fans of superhero history and those who enjoy a good mystery.
Review by Mark Allen
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