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May. 24th, 2004 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fajrdrakoToday I wrote reviews of three graphic novels.
Kurt Busiek's Astro City: Confession. Written by Kurt Busiek. Introduction by Neil Gaiman. Art by Brent Eric Anderson and Willy Blyberg. (Homage Comics, 1997).
Astro City is a superhero comic with a difference. One of the differences is that Neil Gaiman likes it enough to write a glowing introduction. Another is that it is not in the Marvel style, or the DC style, but a style all its own.
Neil Gaiman's introduction beings: I am about to tell you one of the secrets of the trade. I mean it. This is the magic trick upon which all good fiction depends: it's the angled mirorr in the box behind whi h the doves are hidden the hidden compartment beneath the table. It's this: "There is room for things to mean more than they literally mean.
This introduction perhaps led me to expect more of Astro City: Confession than the graphic novel delivered.
There was nothing wrong with the story, and there were numerous things right with it. This particular storyline was about an unnamed teenager whe leaves his small town to come and live in the city, Astro City, home of superheroes. He eventually gets a job as a bus boy at an exclusive superhero club; eventually gets noticed by a superhero, and is taken on as apprentice by the mysterious masked hero the Confessor, under the name of Altar Boy - playing Robin to his Batman. But the Confessor has many secrets, and the Mayor and the city turn against their superheroes, and there are a series of serial murders.... The plot thickens.
Do you sense parody here? So did I, but the story tells itself blandly, even if, from time to time, I suspected it of being coy. There are surprises, but unfortunately I guessed all the big surprises before they were revealed. Some of the artistic design is magnificent - including the cover by Alex Ross - but the layouts and rendering by Brent Eric Anderson struck me as, on the whole, competent but unremarkable. More damning, I really did't come to love any of the characters. I did very much like the moral implications of the story, but excellent though they were, they were fairly obvious. A young man learns the nature of heroism. A good lesson, but not out of the ordinary.
* * *
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. (DC Comics, 1997)
This was the hardcover version of the magnificent Elseworlds miniseries that postulated a future in which an aging Superman returns to the Earth he had abandoned, to participate in a war between mankind and the new breed of superhero - bullies who dominate the earth; with Lex Luthor manipulating events, a white-haired Bruce Wayne taking a hard line with a coterie of non-superpowered costumed heroes, and Wonder Woman getting tough.
The comic made a fair splash when it came out, partly because it was heavily advertised, partly because of the eye-catching art by Alex Ross, who must have spent a thousand years on its exquisite detail.
It does have great moments, but sadly, I do not much like the way Alex Ross draws characters or faces, and I find Mark Waid's writing dull. Through high emotions and desperate situations I found myself skipping panels or pages and scanning for when it gets interesting again. I was not really convinced of the feelings being depicted, and though there was considerable invention, the story elements I disliked outweighed the elements I liked. Part of it was with the concepts involved: I don't like the idea of an aged Superman who has abandoned the world, for whatever reason. And Wonder Woman being stripped of her status of Princess? I couldn't help feeling that much of the action happened because of the stupidity of the characters, or of mankind in general. The happy ending also seemed pat - and, in fact, disturbing.
But I have read far worse stories and enjoyed them more.
Bits I liked: grey-beareded Superman in overalls and pony tail, lifting a tractor over his head with one hand, and standing, wiping his hands, in a fake-Kansas cornfield, his white dog beside him and white horse looking on. Bruce Wayne, white-haired and wearing prosthetics, still tougher than anyone else on earth. Waiters and waitresses in ersatz superhero costumes, and Bruce Wayne ordering his steak well done. Nice moments, in a story that did not live up to its own pretentions.
* * *
Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (Reprints of Daredevil, Vol. 2, #26-37. Marvel Comics, 2002).
In the early 1980s, Daredevil became the best comic on the market with the intelligent, innovative work of Frank Miller. Now again, Daredevil is the best comic on the market, this time thanks to Brian Michael Bendis, who has woven a dark and disturbing thriller around the identity and nature of hero Matt Murdock, the man without fear.
Daredevil is a blind man whose acutte senses and athletic ability make him a superhero in the style of Batman, fiercely defending his turf - New York's "Hell's Kitchen" - from gangsters. By day, Matt is a lawyer.
The status quo is destroyed when Daredevil's gangland enemy the Kingpin - who knew his identity, and respected him - is murdered. In the repercussions of this event, Daredevil's identity is sold to a tabloid and published. Matt's life is overturned. Everyone he knows is in danger. This story is about how he deals with it, and how he deals with the changes in the underworld, and with those who are significant in his life.
The action is based on the nature of Daredevil himself, his character and circumstances. The art compliments the plot perfectly, artistically, vividly and orginally. Told from the point of view of the gangsters as well as that of Daredevil himself, told in clear but non-chronological style, this is one of the best comic book story arcs I have ever read, and the best series currently being published .
* * *
Kurt Busiek's Astro City: Confession. Written by Kurt Busiek. Introduction by Neil Gaiman. Art by Brent Eric Anderson and Willy Blyberg. (Homage Comics, 1997).
Astro City is a superhero comic with a difference. One of the differences is that Neil Gaiman likes it enough to write a glowing introduction. Another is that it is not in the Marvel style, or the DC style, but a style all its own.
Neil Gaiman's introduction beings: I am about to tell you one of the secrets of the trade. I mean it. This is the magic trick upon which all good fiction depends: it's the angled mirorr in the box behind whi h the doves are hidden the hidden compartment beneath the table. It's this: "There is room for things to mean more than they literally mean.
This introduction perhaps led me to expect more of Astro City: Confession than the graphic novel delivered.
There was nothing wrong with the story, and there were numerous things right with it. This particular storyline was about an unnamed teenager whe leaves his small town to come and live in the city, Astro City, home of superheroes. He eventually gets a job as a bus boy at an exclusive superhero club; eventually gets noticed by a superhero, and is taken on as apprentice by the mysterious masked hero the Confessor, under the name of Altar Boy - playing Robin to his Batman. But the Confessor has many secrets, and the Mayor and the city turn against their superheroes, and there are a series of serial murders.... The plot thickens.
Do you sense parody here? So did I, but the story tells itself blandly, even if, from time to time, I suspected it of being coy. There are surprises, but unfortunately I guessed all the big surprises before they were revealed. Some of the artistic design is magnificent - including the cover by Alex Ross - but the layouts and rendering by Brent Eric Anderson struck me as, on the whole, competent but unremarkable. More damning, I really did't come to love any of the characters. I did very much like the moral implications of the story, but excellent though they were, they were fairly obvious. A young man learns the nature of heroism. A good lesson, but not out of the ordinary.
* * *
Kingdom Come by Mark Waid and Alex Ross. (DC Comics, 1997)
This was the hardcover version of the magnificent Elseworlds miniseries that postulated a future in which an aging Superman returns to the Earth he had abandoned, to participate in a war between mankind and the new breed of superhero - bullies who dominate the earth; with Lex Luthor manipulating events, a white-haired Bruce Wayne taking a hard line with a coterie of non-superpowered costumed heroes, and Wonder Woman getting tough.
The comic made a fair splash when it came out, partly because it was heavily advertised, partly because of the eye-catching art by Alex Ross, who must have spent a thousand years on its exquisite detail.
It does have great moments, but sadly, I do not much like the way Alex Ross draws characters or faces, and I find Mark Waid's writing dull. Through high emotions and desperate situations I found myself skipping panels or pages and scanning for when it gets interesting again. I was not really convinced of the feelings being depicted, and though there was considerable invention, the story elements I disliked outweighed the elements I liked. Part of it was with the concepts involved: I don't like the idea of an aged Superman who has abandoned the world, for whatever reason. And Wonder Woman being stripped of her status of Princess? I couldn't help feeling that much of the action happened because of the stupidity of the characters, or of mankind in general. The happy ending also seemed pat - and, in fact, disturbing.
But I have read far worse stories and enjoyed them more.
Bits I liked: grey-beareded Superman in overalls and pony tail, lifting a tractor over his head with one hand, and standing, wiping his hands, in a fake-Kansas cornfield, his white dog beside him and white horse looking on. Bruce Wayne, white-haired and wearing prosthetics, still tougher than anyone else on earth. Waiters and waitresses in ersatz superhero costumes, and Bruce Wayne ordering his steak well done. Nice moments, in a story that did not live up to its own pretentions.
* * *
Daredevil by Brian Michael Bendis and Alex Maleev (Reprints of Daredevil, Vol. 2, #26-37. Marvel Comics, 2002).
In the early 1980s, Daredevil became the best comic on the market with the intelligent, innovative work of Frank Miller. Now again, Daredevil is the best comic on the market, this time thanks to Brian Michael Bendis, who has woven a dark and disturbing thriller around the identity and nature of hero Matt Murdock, the man without fear.
Daredevil is a blind man whose acutte senses and athletic ability make him a superhero in the style of Batman, fiercely defending his turf - New York's "Hell's Kitchen" - from gangsters. By day, Matt is a lawyer.
The status quo is destroyed when Daredevil's gangland enemy the Kingpin - who knew his identity, and respected him - is murdered. In the repercussions of this event, Daredevil's identity is sold to a tabloid and published. Matt's life is overturned. Everyone he knows is in danger. This story is about how he deals with it, and how he deals with the changes in the underworld, and with those who are significant in his life.
The action is based on the nature of Daredevil himself, his character and circumstances. The art compliments the plot perfectly, artistically, vividly and orginally. Told from the point of view of the gangsters as well as that of Daredevil himself, told in clear but non-chronological style, this is one of the best comic book story arcs I have ever read, and the best series currently being published .
* * *
