Thursday, July 30, 2020

Review City: Books you might have missed

If you created and published or were published by someone else, a comic and have a pdf of the series, I will consider it.  If you contact me and send me a hard copy version, I will review it.

My email address is Alexanderness63@gmail.com and I answer serious emails.  Hatemail not so much.

I am going to semi regularly post reviews of books that have been on the shelf a while, that I think are either more popular than they deserved to be, or never received the attention they should have received.  They will be books I bought or somehow acquired, and are not sent to me from publishers or talent.  These offerings will likely still skew to the positive, as I don't buy copies of tpbs I didn't expect to enjoy, and don't keep in mind books that didn't move me. However, over time we'll discover some works that didn't work for me.

BLACK ORCHID
By Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean  Published by DC Comics

The Black Orchid was a character who represented a great many possibly good character good ideas, but was rarely ever been done in a way that is worthy of her concept.  This was a work that was very in line with the modernization of DC characters found in the later 80s, and was a work I wanted to read when I heard about it from the very beginning.  For those who are not familiar, up until the currently considered mini series, Black Orchid had powers that were ill defined, and varied from all powerful to being simply mysterious and without definition or limits.  When Neil Gaiman wrote the character in the mini series he gave her a new raison d'etre, a new concept entirely of being. She is a form of a spirit of nature, who perceived herself as such, but had human memories. The story fleshes out and gives reason for all her powers, and it includes solving her own murder, or her human form's murder.  She is far more powerful in ways, but also less so, since by defining her powers writers thereafter had to work within a limit.

I should say, one reason I bought this is because I really did enjoy the character, however poorly done in prior comics.  In this work I loved the art by Dave McKean. And I mostly liked the story. But, in certain ways I'll not describe since they are part of the character's new story and you should read it yourself, she is given a new life but it is similar in ways to the Swamp Thing of Alan Moore.  And while I thought it was done well, I honestly liked the lack of origin, so giving it a form and aim, I felt less love for her.  The story itself was fine.  The art was glorious.  So, if you come into the series without pre-knowledge of her, I think you'd love it.  However, that wasn't my experience.



DOMOVOI
By Peter Bergting  Published by Dark Horse Comics


The Domovoi are powerful, sometimes malevolent spirits, and they threaten Stockholm, Sweden. A cat and its friendly humans walk through their world and become aware of the world they cannot directly see.  Over time the characters encounter delightful but also demonic spirits and beings, and there is a sort of fantasy tale here that attempts to show a collection of chapters that tell stories and unite at the end of the reading to create a world, similar to our own, but different.  There is here a sort of fantasy tales coming true, but, I'd suggest that we might be seeing a fantasy version of Stockholm too.  (I don't know, just saying it might be.)

I love the artwork of Peter Bergting. I also enjoy his story telling but, his dialogue is somewhat difficult. He is Swedish writing an English language book and I suspect the Swedish version is perfect. If you are a story first and art second sort of reader, it might feel like it didn't succeed as a straight forward work. I think it worked, and if not perfect in flow or dialogue, I could follow it quite well.  I should also say, I realize that even if the images and story telling flow of them are perfect, having difficulty with the dialogue could derail a person's enjoyment.  One last thing, you might think fairy tales must be for children, or if you are familiar with the form realize there is a darkness in most, and adults are the real target audience with the original sorts.  It has a feel that is one thing but delivers another, and while I had no issues with that, I am certain others might well have.



LORE
Ashley Wood, T.P. Louise  Published by IDW

"In times past, the world was full of mythical creatures — creatures long since banished and held at bay by the secret society of Shepherds. But when the generational line of Shepherds is broken, a reluctant hero finds her life threatened from every quarter. And the creatures are coming back..."

This work is a tale that mixes two distinct worlds, one of dark fantasy and supernatural, the other of normal and every day reality.  It has a X-Files feel, but it also has a feeling of Pan's Labyrinth and various original or vintage fairy tales written hundreds of years ago.  A group keeps humanity safe from the dark creatures, but, at the same time there are intrusions showing that the perimeter isn't safe, and who knows when the next attack or breakthrough will occur.  The main protagonist is a person who sees themselves as a normal everyday person, but the narrative requires a hero, and so, much like Byronic heroes, a self perceived flawed hero steps forward at a cost to her self.

Just as with every book presented here, the reception of this book was highly divided between the haters and lovers of it.  Those who love Ashley Wood's art tended to forgive a hard to follow narrative, while those who needed straight forward story telling regardless of the quality of art needed something more simple, more easy to follow.  I am in neither camp.  I liked the story, and I loved the art.  I had no problem with following it, and think people hunger for easy answers when if they'd just read it, instead of depending on visual cues, famous in comics, they'd absorb a deep, moving story. But, I should note, whether I loved it or not doesn't matter.  If I am writing this for the enjoyment of others, I'd say if your thing is superheroes and black and white morals, you'd probably find this a mess.  If you like DC/Vertigo offerings or comics from the more alternative and independent side, you will probably like this.  I was asked once when speaking about it if it is like the comic Fables, and it kind of is.  But whereas I read Fables and thought it was ok, the book Lore moves me.


PLASTIC FORKS
By Ted McKeever     Published originally by Epic/Marvel Comics


The quick description would be that the world found in Plastic Forks is one where scientists work to replace human parts with machinery, a goal in the future to be able to extend life with human made parts. But in reality, this is a dystopia wherein science tries to replicate life, not with machines, but with its very own creations.  As with Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the premise is not what was done, but the idea that, who are we, as humans, to try to replace natural existence with our own mechanical constructs.  Human flesh is to be replaced by artifice and to the extent that this happens, they take it one step further, trying to replace sex organs with machines that are meant to create a new sort of human. The title Plastic Forks could have more meaning than this, but, I think it is a reference to the use and discard world humans were only beginning to create in the era in which this was written/created.

I know people who absolutely despised this work, for the story but mostly those who hated it was for the non photo real art. There are reasons I get this, after all, comics are meant to entertain and for most stories there is a distinct need to be clear in image. This was a story that challenges the mind and perhaps our world views, and it did so in a style of art that is not, for some, easy to digest. However, as you might have suspected by the fact I said I know people, instead of saying I despised this, I loved it.  Jackson Pollock one of my favorite artists once said the modern art is meant to reflect the emotions and ideas of humans. How can art capture the reality of the nuclear bomb, or massacres or the death camps of World War Two?  It is done by showing the distortion and abstraction found in this style. McKeever might have been reaching too far for some, I know many people who couldn't figure out what the book was about. But if you think about things, you might like it, or, it might drive you mad.  One way or the other, you'll have a response.

Wednesday, July 22, 2020

REVIEW CITY

(This edition of Poplitiko features a few review offerings to consider.  It is a happy day since I've done reviews online and written about comics since the year 2000.  The sites I wrote for across the net were many, but they primarily were Slushfactory, PopThought, and RobinGoodfellow.  At one point I did reviews, interviews and commentary for 5 or 6 sites per month.

I can be found at alexanderness63@gmail.com if you wish me to consider your work for review.  If you prefer to send digital I might cover it, but also reserve the right not to do so.  If you contact me for me street address and send me print material, I will cover it.

I should say, I used to try to sift through the vast numbers of comics to review and present the ones I had most enjoyed, and it seemed that I had loved every comic ever produced.  It was not the case.  In the most awesome months I received dozens and dozens of items for review.  It didn't mean I could cover that many, so I did try to harvest the best of the offerings.

I do not promise positive reviews, for example, someone once sent me what would be a considered an amateurish collection of self drawn porn that had no story.  I wasn't interested in reviewing that.  So I wrote him explaining why not, and offered to send the product back.  He never responded.

All items presented, and art from them are copyright that of the creative artists or the publishers of them.  Click on images to make larger.  All review items provided by publisher.)

SONATA Volume 1: Valley of the Gods

By David Hine, Brian Haberlin, Geirrod Vandyke  Published by Shadowline/Image

I'd been familiar with Hine and Haberlin from Spawn and other works.  I appreciated their efforts on Spawn a great deal, but I am a fan of Hine's various works at different publishers most especially. Sonata came to my attention when interviewing David Hine.  The first look images from the work reminded me of Arzach from Moebius, Nausicaa from Hiyao Miyazaki and Taarna from Heavy Metal.  But if there was a similarity of look, there was in this is a complex thoughtful work. A world system is occupied by two different species. Avoiding the easy stereotype, the look of each is not a guarantee of moral ethic found in the species. Rans and Tayans live in something less than a happy coexistence. There is no guarantee of trust, far less of cooperation. The world they live upon is contested, for it and various regions have become to each race/species their perceived chosen and promised land.

This isn't a comic fantasy version of the state of Palestine/Israel versus the Arab/Islamic world. Even as much as it might be easy to attempt to apply a real world label upon it, it is a story about discovery, new creatures or old gods, whichever version appeals to you, and a forbidden beginning of a romance between a rebel and a possible villain.

What I think

The premise: This is a legendary tale, told with depth and grace.  I want to know far more.

The writing:  I think that there is a complexity in the concept that goes a long way, that is highly appropriate for the creation of a new sort of fantasy. That we find adventure and romance? That is a piece of the story telling that functions as comfort food.

The art: Nothing here that I say about the art should be taken as my being dismissive or negative. It's clean, clear, emotive, and worthy of appreciation. More so, I see it as being perfectly apt for a fantasy tale, exhibiting action and world views that are powerful. Yes I like the art of this work, it tells a story well, in classic form, and remains masterfully detailed.


MARKED Volume 1: Fresh Ink

By David Hine, Brian Haberlin, Geirrod Vandyke Published by Shadowline/Image

They are an ancient group, an order of magic, of sorts, of tattooed people have powers related to the ink etched upon their skin. As a first look at this book I figured I was in for a combination plate of Ray Bradbury's The Illustrated Man, and equal portions of DC's Tattooed Man (as found in the Vertigo/DC Comics title Skin Graft among appearances in the DC Universe.) I was wrong mostly, but not entirely. And that is a good thing. The idea that powers coming from the image on their body is not wrong. But The Marked follows an ancient order, devoted to a fight against evil, but, not by the norm found in the comic book superhero world, that is, by muscles and testosterone (didn't even need spellcheck on that word), rather by magic, by emotional intuition, and intelligent response. The ancient extent of their order means that while the present generation has a fascination with body ink, this draws from the historical, fictional, and human species experience with the power of image, especially when placed upon the body. When the order chooses an enemy that is part of a certain government, there is a mental smirk, as, there is a powerful amount of information found when a country's government is seen by the authors as the source of evil, if it is corrupted, or if it is by design.  And by that choice of an enemy, the goodness of the order seems to fight for a righteousness that goes beyond the black and white short hand PC world that the politically divided sides of America have been mindwiped to accept.

What I think:

The premise: The premise of the power of ink is worthy of being explored, if for no other reason, than the human experience, and the power of magic.

The writing:  I would use the word glib to suggest that the dialogue is quick, hard hitting and apt, but, quite differently than Sonata, it isn't nearly so lyrical, or dramatic.  It leads to a reading that is quick and effective, but, less beloved, on my part at least.  However, it reads easily for the fact that it is well done.

The art:  The art style is complimented by the colors used, as would seem to me to be ideal for a comic about body art, animated or otherwise.  I would say, however, that while the fantasy positive art in Sonata felt almost timeless in the perfection of image, it didn't work as well in The Marked when showing the action demanded by the story.  It seemed like faces and emotions were done well, but action seems less well done.


BLACK GHOST: The Hard Revolution

By Alex Segura, Monica Gallagher, Greg Lockard, Greg Smallwood, George Kambadais, Marco Finnegan, Ellie Wright, Taylor Esposito Published by New Wave Comics

Whatever you might think about a costumed hero, or villain for that matter, in order to read a comic book featuring the same it requires an immediate acceptance of the concept, or it will never work.  I love comics, have loved superheroes and villains, and for the most part I accept that as part of the whole. A suspension of disbelief or belief is always necessary in fiction, since it tells us a story we hope to never have heard before. As there is in this many changes from normal comic book fare, I believe to appeal to and pursue the new audiences for comics, women lead characters, lesbian love, internet and intrigue, all could be seen as being a politically correct venture.  But look beyond that to at least give the assembled work a chance.

In this story you find a Crime reporter who follows the exploits of a costumed vigilante called The Black Ghost.  The search for the truth moves quickly in a rush hour frenetic car chase way.  The story telling makes one want to know much more. There is a dark attraction, an information web of false hopes and secrets, innuendo, romantic false beliefs, and the evil love affair with alcohol, no matter how much it is a cheating lover.  And that the main players are women, adds to a certain level of discomfort of our expected archetypes, and that there is lesbianism, adds to a layer of outsider. In the end, ask yourself, in the current normal, what kind of vigilante behavior could exist that would thrill the outside world, challenge the corporate mindset, and drive a mystery to be solved?

What I think:

The premise:  I think if I had to purchase this book rather than had been given it to review, I might well have given it a pass. As a 56 year old old fart I am open to change, open to new things, but, when it is my money, I rarely follow a new opportunity.  Especially in the present of changed worlds, I think we pursue comfort in our relaxation.  So, even had I missed it if making the purchase, I am glad now to have read it.

The writing: I liked the writing on this most of all.  The characters seem well created, if they also speak like comic book characters they also reflect real life. That and the new heroes and ideals, offers a different kind of comic experience.

The art: Some might describe the art style of The Black Ghost as dynamic and exciting. I'd suggest it is less than that. I see it as simple, in a seemingly pure form of art. That isn't a complaint. It reveals action and nuance of emotion well, which is is a good thing. I will say, I am not a person who needs the art to be the highest form of quality to enjoy a comic.  While this is a style that worked, it has a way to go before I'd enjoy it as much as the current master of similar style, Mike Oeming. As a matter of fact, this work's look and modern sensibilities reminds me of Powers, a work Mike Oeming brought to life in art.

Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Is it the end?


I think you'll note that I've written a few columns here about the future and how it might be considered through our various popular culture.  But I thought here that it might be fruitful to look at also some more serious works, along with some fine media choices. Science and the future can be positive.  I am a very big fan of DC Comics' Legion of Super Heroes, and up to a certain point there was so much joy and innocence in that title, series, that I felt that it was a perfect balance to all the various offerings of doom and gloom.


PLAGUES, VIRUSES, AND GERMS.

The current Ebola event in Africa (in the present of 2014) has scared the bejeebus out of many people. The disease is harsh, and the fear of it is reasonable considering the toll. But it is by no means a new thing that disease can throw the world into upheaval. The Black Plague and other plagues changed the structure of society in Europe especially. Money became concentrated in fewer hands because, of course, families were losing members, and sometimes entire families died.  When the elders were gone, inheritance and the lack of siblings created a pot of gold for the survivors to upgrade their existence.

COLLAPSE.

The hungry sheep look up, and are not fed,
But swollen with wind and the rank mist they draw,
Rot inwardly, and foul contagion spread ...

Environmental collapse, as we see with the bee population, and various extinction events, is a very dangerous situation.  We have very few ways to fix the world, if we get so far as to cause a collapse of any of the important links to human survival. Without bees, their pollination won't occur. If that happens, NO FRUIT, no plants needing pollination. As small as bees are, we could be taken out by the loss of bees. 

HISTORY AS A GUIDE TO THE FUTURE.

Some scholars believe that we can apply lessons of the past to the knowledge of how to prevent disasters in the future. Jared Diamond, Clive Ponting and Alfred Crosby are all very intelligent men who dissect the lessons of the past to demonstrate what the future might hold. As you might guess, the answers they arrive at are troubling. The cost of modernity is high, and as the ancient peoples of the earth learned, the resources of the land are finite, and the greater the number, the closer to empty the land becomes, for resources.


HOPE?

However while each of these books are very well written, and come to conclusions that should shake you down to your foundations, the truth about existence is that we can hear the facts, and stop our forward motion. Thankfully, any tale of warning about the future comes with a potential to change our ways. Also, I think it is important to note that while there is reason to fear, people have feared the encroaching disaster for millennia.  I'm not saying everything is rosie, but I am saying, we can make choices that are better than those we've made. The reason you don't teach algebra in kindergarten is because the child has no concept of theories and ideas presented. But you can teach it by 9th or 10th grade.  The difference is that after 9 years of education, a child becomes mentally conditioned to think. Learning is a good thing, perhaps reading these warnings have fallen upon deaf ears in the past, but if my theory that humans grow intellectually through experience, we have a chance.

In the past it is known that at various times the common people believed in false things. Whether or not it helped them in life is another story, but, at one point in our more recent past, the renaissance occurred because scholars abandoned certain paradigms and said, we need to know better. Not every false belief is bad, not every scientific choice is great, but in this case, the choice to further study and abandon certain beliefs pushed human mental progress forward.  All books presented here are worth your time to read.  You might not agree with the concepts or theories, but at least you'll be better informed to make your choices.

July 2020 REVISION

I am aware that the world is entering dangerous times.  We have famines, pestilence, war, and environmental disasters looming.  We have a pandemic that has changed our normal.  We have a massively important election approaching.  And we have unrest and hate, violence and riots in the streets.  How can we possibly get out of this catastrophe?

Someone I know suggested that while they believed in the abolition of the death penalty, certain things happen when it is allowed. A number of criminals change their lives in a hope of avoiding the penalty, or having found a different understanding of what they are living for, they become worthy of escaping the death penalty, regardless if it is in the end imposed. I'm not suggesting we face a death penalty.  We might.  I don't know. As a person with degree fields of History and Political Science I am not one to know what the future holds, only that what we see approaching is a massive black cloud, that portents disaster.  

What should we do? If we are about to die, should we give up, give in, we will abandon our dreams. I suggest that there is hope. We have hope, however we view that, for a better world, and better individual lives.

The books presented last here move me.  Interstellar because in a fascinating and exciting narrative, there is so much more, a refusal to become extinct through determination, spirit, and efforts, and an acknowledgement that just because we do not know now, if we stay in the fight long enough, surviving, we might know later. The Swerve because we get this feeling that, nothing that has happened is important, only the future.  We inherited this earth, we earned all of the lessons of the past.  If we ignore our legacy of knowledge we lose it.

I believe humanity will fight, and win.

(This wasn't meant to be nearly as depressing as it turned out for me to write.  I was meaning to look at various eras when everything seemed to imply that the world was about to end. As it happens, humans have faced the end, and survived a number of times.  I should say, I don't altogether use my history degree to harvest depressing scenarios from the past. Also, let me say, it is perhaps true that we are so troubled by so many things because we know of so many things going on.  Humanity has never had nearly the coverage and information that it has in the present.)


72000 BC The Lake Toba, Sumatra/Indonesian volcanic explosion caused such an enormous kill of people, animals and plants, that human numbers fell to such a low number we can count most of our traits to those survivors.  Some scientists argued that humans were at such a low number that there appeared a genetic bottleneck as a result.

In 536 AD an Iceland volcanic explosion nearly killed humanity by the downstream effects from the ash in the atmosphere lowering temps, blocking sunlight, and causing the death of crops.  Facing food shortages, disease, stagnation of human learning were disastrous. This era was one of lost scholarship, snow in summer, and crop failures in moderate temperature areas, leading to a true Dark age of human history.

In 1346 AD the Black Death arrived in Europe, perhaps brought from Asia from the trade routes by then in use.  Half of Europe and vast numbers uncounted in Africa and Asia were wiped out. Human culture was changed, in numerous ways. Some historians have pointed to the Black Death as the true catalyst for when the modern world began. This is because the effects of the Black Death led to changes, including inheritances, and that money became concentrated, both investment and savings became more constant.

The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel, Elder
The period of  1918-1920 AD was a period of death and disaster, across the globe.  Both the toll of World War One and the Russian Revolution and Civil War were enormous, in the middle 30 million dead range.  Add to that the toll of perhaps 50 million dead from the Spanish Flu, you end up with a very huge number of dead. However, the population was large enough then that it wasn't nearly as threatening to human existence as it might have seemed.


Are the Four Horsemen approaching, or are they already here? Are they called to our time and place Or are they set to appear upon a designated time? Does their arrival mark the beginning, and things will only get worse? They are said to represent various traits, concepts events, and are visible as harbingers of God's final judgment. Are they just figments of a religious mind?  Or would any time of upheaval seem prime for any and all of these portents.

Conquest, Death, Hunger, Plague would seem to accompany any scenario of the events leading to our world's passing. As a Christian I believe the Horsemen are a metaphor, and represent the likely events and beings that will appear at the end of our world.  But, that doesn't mean I don't believe in them.  In other words, It doesn't matter the color of the cat, so long as it catches the mice.

I was asked by a number of readers here about my thoughts regarding the future.  I see a number of future destinations that our world is going in the direction of.

The first and most obvious, is a more dangerous world. Global warming is more than heat, ocean levels, and weather. The changes it causes leads the world to react with emotions not logic, it makes the world more likely to react with violence, due to the discomfort.

A different kind of world is one that has to go through hell before it becomes better.  The societal impacts of Covid are one thing, but the riots and racial tensions have to burn through before there can be healing.  But once we get there, we are willing to make changes to get to a better, happier place.

Covid might have a long term effect upon our minds.  Even if it is a phase and will evolve out of the deadliness, we can't say that from here.  What if the virus evolves into a more deadly, and even more contagious form.  I've been told by people that it is all lies by governments, ginning up the event for the opportunity to steal rights and power.  I think when America is done with it, we'll have 450,000 dead. But that is my optimistic outlook.  If we isolate and social distance, if we hide away, we might avoid getting the virus.  But if there is never a vaccine and it never evolves into a safer form, we might be forever screwed.

But I DO have hope.  Humans have had it worse and came out to build the world we live upon.  I just want the world to be a better place for all living creatures upon it.

Death upon a Pale Horse by JFW Turner

Thursday, July 9, 2020

Milestone Reached: Issue 250 Savage Dragon


I've not covered a lot of milestones in comics, so why have I recognized this one?  Erik Larsen created his character Savage Dragon when he was a child, and has story telling ability that I find effective.  But way beyond that, I think Erik is a kind person, a thoughtful one, and he has shown a determination and effort that few of his peers have ever revealed.  Also, he has produced a long run upon a comic, along with ever other work he has been part of, that has never failed to be fun.  

He tells stories that are somewhat larger than life, but are rooted in reality.  His character Savage Dragon is an alien, but he is/was also a police officer.  He has loved a partner, loved others, has fought battles, defended the planet earth, and has traveled in various dimensions.  He has a son (named Malcolm) who at a more mature age and in a moment that needs a hero, inherits the mantle of Savage Dragon hero.  The more recent years has seen a more mature content in the work, and you should be aware of that if you seek it out.


Deep down, the reason I think it all works for me, is that there is a developed sense of humor,  joy and adventure in the stories that reminds me, constantly, of the works of my favorite comics writer/artist, Jack Kirby. The stories of Jack Kirby were big, bold, exciting, and they were not realistic.  They were, however, constantly entertaining. Savage Dragon works for me on a number of levels, and, as a 56 year old old fart, I find that it still exhibits the best of the stories that Kirby created, and I still love stories of his sort.

Issue 250 goes on sale Wednesday July 15, 2020. Guest artists Frank Cho, Rob Leifeld, Skottie Young, Walter Simonson as well as Erik Larsen created 8 covers, two blanks for artists to create their versions of the milestone issue.

Congratulations Erik Larsen, you deserve it!