It’s Wizard World convention weekend here in LA, and that means time to think about making comics.
If you have any aspirations about making a living as a comic creator, you shoul go read this post from all around smart-guy Kevin Kelly (cofounder of Wired).
“You fix old wounds with new ones.”
When a character says that to Matty Roth, the journalist who is our eyes & ears thru the 2nd U.S. Civil War that’s the backdrop for DMZ, I immediately thought of the cover-up surrounding the death of Pat Tillman–the cover-ups, the lies…which was in turn followed by the Abu Ghraib scandal–another shock, public “outrage”, but in the end, does anything change?
Brian Wood & Riccardo Burchielli (with a series of guest artists) tackle these questions in a story arc that turns a previously solid series into a potential classic: in an age where “objective” journalism means “don’t say anything bad about my side”, Matty steps back from passing snap judgements, attempting to figure out not only why a massacre took place, but what it means–and what do our reactions say about us?
Go read this delightful little webcomic. Posted this week to The Chemistry Set by Andrew Drilon.
And while we’re on the subject of online comics, the fourth installment of FreakAngels went up today.
Frank Miller makes a great point in his Intro to the second collection of Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips’ noir comic, “Criminal”:
“Not many people understand what makes a crime story tick…they dress it up dark, even murky, but the essential inner darkness that a good crime yarn exposes, relishes in, and releases never occurs to them.”
The genius of Criminal is in that inner darkness–instead of focusing on the mechanics of the Big Score, Brubaker & Phillips focus on the flawed men & women in the game, battling internal demons as much as other hustlers. If you’ve enjoyed any of Brubakers’ recent work on Captain America, Daredevil (both series have excellent new issues out today), Iron Fist, X-Men, etc, you need to give Criminal a try–you’ll love it.
Frank Miller & Jim Lee’s “All-Star Batman & Robin” had been enjoying rolling around in the murkiness a bit too much over the first 8 issues: even a die-hard Miller disciple like myself was turned off by the wanton violence and mean-spirited depictions of classic DC characters…but in today’s new issue, The Dynamic Duo come to grips with the consequences of their actions, and finally take the hard steps towards actually becoming heroes. Pages in this series thus far have made me laugh (at, not with the book) and scratch my head in disbelief–but the haunting finale to the arc made me reconsider what’s come before, and for the first time in the run, made me care about these two lonely orphans.
Who needs too-tightly packed tables and a two drink minimum, especially if there’s an option to pick up a Buffy The Vampire Slayer omnibus and a maquette of Sub-Mariner before the show? Arguably LA’s best recurring comedy show in town is tucked away in the back of Meltdown Comics on Sunset once a month, a free Friday night lineup in the store’s gallery featuring top-notch talent riffing large under the harsh glare of a bank of fluorescents instead of the usual spotlight. (Which might not help when it gets a little chilly in that back room, particularly on stormy January nights, but the open bar warms things up a bit. Yeah, I know… free and an open bar. Dude!) (Above right: Blaine Capatch)
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“The Perry Bible Fellowship” is not a church, although it has been known to inspire a certain cultish zeal amongst its fans. The “Perry Bible Fellowship” is in fact a strange and nearly always surreal newspaper strip and Webcomic by Nicholas Gurewitch. Somewhat reminiscent of “The Far Side” in terms of its fierce weirdness, “Perry Bible Fellowship” is composed of vignettes highlighting the strangeness of life, religion and politics in a manner sometimes macabre, sometimes with a childlike glee, and illustrated in a variety of art styles.
By far the funniest book I’ve read this year, Don’t let the colorful cover fool you, it’s not for kids.
Stop by, take a gander, few copies left.
Kazu Kibuishi’s new all-ages graphic novel, Amulet is here at Meltdown! The release date isn’t technically until January, but we’ve already nabbed plenty of this gorgeous hardcover. If you’re still looking for a gift for that 11-year-old on your list, this is it. Or that 32-year-old. Or that 20-year-old. Or that 57-year-old.
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