I just caught up with the fourth and fifth Money Shot trade paperbacks. The fourth made me feel like I was reading porn, which I don’t remember feeling from the first three. It was a real, did this change or did I change? moment.
Then I got to the fifth volume where there was a creative shake up, new co-author, new artist, but it felt less porny, more familiar, than the fourth. Which means that he fourth is that way because of a “special guest star” of a character with whom I was unfamiliar.
Also I should reread the earlier volumes. They’re funny and I don’t really remember characters who reoccur in these ones.
Reading the new TPB of Lazarus and seeing news of the upcoming Sex Criminals adaptation just drives home how much we, in the USA, never got over the 2008 housing bubble crash. It's been almost twenty years and it feels like we're trying to self destruct because the right people didn't suffer for that.
I have never studied French. (Despite watching a fair number of French films and operas.)
I have studied Spanish and Italian. Despite never gaining fluency in either, I liked to tell myself that this grounding made it possible for me to more or less understand simple, written phrases/sentences in other Romance languages.
I’ve been reading the Lazarus Fallen tpb this week, and the extended French language sequences have made me realize how much I was kidding myself.
Because of my ignorance, I also cannot tell if the French is written well. And this reminds me of another situation involving a foreign language and comic books.
In Saga, the magic casters use Esperanto in their spells. At one point I met someone who was an Esperanto enthusiast and even went to conventions/gatherings for other Esperanto enthusiasts. She had never read Saga, but had heard through this community that the use of Esperanto in it was grammatically bad.
Anyway, I find myself wishing I could find the time to reread all of Lazarus and Saga. I know I read the first few arch’s multiple times closer to to when they came out, which is why I have much stronger memories of those than the more recent ones where I’m reading the follow up stories to right now.
Finally, a trade paperback of Saga that doesn't end with some world shattering heartbreak! Just the promise of a painful and messed up family gathering to start the next one!
I really should re read the whole series, I forget too many of the reoccurring characters. Also, I enjoy it.
Over this time period I read Friday written by Ed Brubaker, art by Marcos Martín and colors by Musta Vicente. Originally published only by the Panel Syndicate, the print edition I read was published by Image Comics. Brubaker is, of course, also the writer Fatale, the comic I started to re-read and analyze for this blog and then abandoned with vague plans to return to it. I still might, and this sort of made me wish to return to it as it also touches on cosmic horrors.
I don’t know what I was expecting when I started this. I am familiar with Brubaker and Martín’s work, so I didn’t look into it’s plot when selecting it for a read. I was just going along for the surprise. Still, I did not expect the combination of Young Adult mystery with cosmic horrors and time travel. I think I liked it. I definitely want to know what is next.
The story concerns a young woman named Friday Fitzhugh, who is just home to King’s Hill for the winter holidays after her first semester in college. Her best friend is a boy named Lancelot (Lance) Jones, who is the town’s genius. Over the years their set up has been he’d solve mysteries while she’d be his assistant/body guard. Things where getting uncomfortable between Friday and Lance before she left, though she’d have a hard time articulating why. As soon as she gets back, he enlists her in rounding up one of their usual suspects. Only their usual suspect seems spooked by something supernatural. Things escalate from there, taking Lancelot out of action for the second volume at least.
Despite having read many comics that Martín has drawn over the years, this felt somewhat different. His style seems to be changing. I’d describe his previous style as an acquired taste, but I have not yet acquired a taste for this one. The character design for Friday sometimes felt like she should be in images where she was extremely foreshortened even when that wasn’t the case. Aside from this, I liked the two page spread that were done to help fill in Friday and Lance’s past, the history of the town, et al.
In the back matter Brubaker discussed wanting to evoke the YA novels of the 1970s that influence it. I see that influence in the fashion and colors, (when they are not also evoking the more dream like aspects of the story). Despite the supernatural elements, this is a tale of disillusionment, the way that some people associate the 1970s in relation to the 1960s. Friday and Lancelot’s adventures were all about the fun of being smarter than their age when they were kids. By the time this story takes place, it’s also about how the adults can’t protect them either because of ineptitude or or corruption. That said, Friday has two interracial mothers, and that seems to be well accepted in this small town, and I don’t know if I’d buy it in this time period. Anyway, I do want to read more of this post-YA fantastical 1970s fashioned world.
Re reading these so I can finally finish it. I really did not remember enough of the plot to just read the third volume. But, just as the first time, I feel like I didn’t read enough kid detective stories as a kid, and wasn’t enough into the ones I did read, to really get what makes this story.
Over this time period I read Friday written by Ed Brubaker, art by Marcos Martín and colors by Musta Vicente. Originally published only by the Panel Syndicate, the print edition I read was published by Image Comics. Brubaker is, of course, also the writer Fatale, the comic I started to re-read and analyze for this blog and then abandoned with vague plans to return to it. I still might, and this sort of made me wish to return to it as it also touches on cosmic horrors.
I don’t know what I was expecting when I started this. I am familiar with Brubaker and Martín’s work, so I didn’t look into it’s plot when selecting it for a read. I was just going along for the surprise. Still, I did not expect the combination of Young Adult mystery with cosmic horrors and time travel. I think I liked it. I definitely want to know what is next.
The story concerns a young woman named Friday Fitzhugh, who is just home to King’s Hill for the winter holidays after her first semester in college. Her best friend is a boy named Lancelot (Lance) Jones, who is the town’s genius. Over the years their set up has been he’d solve mysteries while she’d be his assistant/body guard. Things where getting uncomfortable between Friday and Lance before she left, though she’d have a hard time articulating why. As soon as she gets back, he enlists her in rounding up one of their usual suspects. Only their usual suspect seems spooked by something supernatural. Things escalate from there, taking Lancelot out of action for the second volume at least.
Despite having read many comics that Martín has drawn over the years, this felt somewhat different. His style seems to be changing. I’d describe his previous style as an acquired taste, but I have not yet acquired a taste for this one. The character design for Friday sometimes felt like she should be in images where she was extremely foreshortened even when that wasn’t the case. Aside from this, I liked the two page spread that were done to help fill in Friday and Lance’s past, the history of the town, et al.
In the back matter Brubaker discussed wanting to evoke the YA novels of the 1970s that influence it. I see that influence in the fashion and colors, (when they are not also evoking the more dream like aspects of the story). Despite the supernatural elements, this is a tale of disillusionment, the way that some people associate the 1970s in relation to the 1960s. Friday and Lancelot’s adventures were all about the fun of being smarter than their age when they were kids. By the time this story takes place, it’s also about how the adults can’t protect them either because of ineptitude or or corruption. That said, Friday has two interracial mothers, and that seems to be well accepted in this small town, and I don’t know if I’d buy it in this time period. Anyway, I do want to read more of this post-YA fantastical 1970s fashioned world.
Re reading these so I can finally finish it. I really did not remember enough of the plot to just read the third volume. But, just as the first time, I feel like I didn’t read enough kid detective stories as a kid, and wasn’t enough into the ones I did read, to really get what makes this story.
I’m taking a break from writing reviews of whatever comic books I’m reading at the moment. I want fewer on going projects and this is one that I don’t want in my routine. That said I recently finished Stjepan Šejić’s Sunstone Mercy volume 8 and wish it had been fewer than approximately five years since I last read any Sunstone.
For the first time in years I re-read some comic books! Years ago I read the first volume of Kaptara, written by Chip Zdarsky and art by Kagan McLeod. Then in more recent years, much to my surprise a second volume was published and I bought it. But I had to admit to myself, besides the fact that I enjoyed it, I really didn’t remember much of Kapatara. The things that I could remember were:
the lead character is gay, and something of a loner,
it involves space travel and
one of the characters is an orb that displays positive affirmations.
The last was definitely a favorite part.
Turns out that there are a lot more characters than just those two. Our lead, Keith Kanga is first introduced with one ensemble, but by then end of the first issue he is with another. We are left to wonder if/when he will be reunited with anyone from the first.
Keith is throwing himself into a new life after being very unhappy and depressed in his previous. And the new life is in a planet with a mish/mash of knock offs from various 1980s children’s cartoons. I recognize He Man and The Smurfs without being sure if I ever watched an episode of either of those shows. These versions of these characters feel like it could have started as fan fiction, then wisely pivoted. While rereading the first volume I often found myself wondering what are they trying to say with it. But if what they were saying could be simply said, it would not be a multi issue comic book.
(The Smurf types in this are called Glomp and they are there to parody Gamergaters/incels. I barely remember The Smurfs, but as someone who was bothered by the gender ratio of the characters, I’m glad to see it taken to this illogical conclusion.)
The first volume meanders along in an unhurried way, even as we are told of potentially catastrophic things going on. The second, despite being made to wrap things up, doesn’t have a change in pace, which is great as I like the meandering. And it does manage to wrap up in fun and surprising ways.
I need to write about the art. It fits the child-geared influences and being made for an adult audience. It is playful and clear. The character designs are distinct, and often grotesque in a goofy way. The pallet is generally warm and has enough variation so it doesn’t draw attention to itself, and everything looks like it fits.
As the time period between my reading and writing should indicate, this is something I dreaded writing. A post in which I finally have to addressing the allegations against Neil Gaiman and how that affects me as a reader. As I have said elsewhere, The Sandman got me into comics. While I haven’t read much of his new work, I had a soft spot for him. I tried to follow new stories in the Sandman Universe corner of DC comics. I did pick up the comic book adaptations of his stories drawn by Colleen Doran. Which is why I had copies of Nightmare Country Volume One and Chivalry before allegations of his sexual abuse became widely known.
If I had read these before the allegations became public, I would have said they were good if not great. Nightmare Country has an interesting set up with the Corinthian investigating the crimes of someone who seems like a grotesque knock off himself. It mostly from the point of view of an undergraduate artist named Flynn, who haunted by the not-Corinthian nightmare. The art, by Lisandro Estherren with colors by Patricio Delpeche, feels both modern and like it could fit with the original series. While it wasn’t a particularly clear plot, I would follow it to the next volume if I wasn’t feeling like I should purge my collection of all Gaiman related books. Writer James Tynion’s starts the collection with enthusiastic letter about how supportive Gaiman was of the series, and how much that meant to Tynion. Thinking of how kind Gaiman could be to someone he considered a peer or protege, while abusing women in less equitable relationships made me sad.
Chivalry is a light little story about an old lady who finds the Holy Grail in a seance hand goods store. This leads Sir Galahad of the Round table to her and It was apparently written back in the 1980s though published more recently. Doran’s concept involved having all the pages look like they were from an illuminated manuscript. She ultimately couldn’t do that for the entire story, and that is for the best. As artistic conceits go, I like it better in theory than practice.
So should I have seen the allegations (which I believe) against Gaiman coming? Truthfully, I was waiting for some kind of downfall for him, ever since ever since the fiasco behind the scenes of American Gods season 2. I did not watch it, so I did not pay close attention to the story or its fallout. Only recently did I learn that he disparaged the reporters who reported on it afterwards . Also there was the whole weirdness of how he could be married to one of the most hated women on the internet and have it barely affect him. I knew something had to catch up to him eventually. But I didn’t think his downfall would be this.
There are things that in retrospect seem like red flags. I noticed that he had characters in two works stated that their fantasy death would involve being trampled to death while having sex with two virgins. I asked him about it at signing once. He said he just thought it was funny, and I left it at that. Now I am pretty sure he has some kind of virginity fetish given details in the New York magazine profile. Relatedly, the fact that The Ocean at the End of the Lane was a novella he impulsively wrote while his wife was unavailable, should have been a red flag. See the plot points highlighted in that article.
Even before all of this, I thought of Gaiman as an author who was maybe too into the concept of the subjectivity of truth. At a moment where it feels like many people are holding onto their beliefs despite demonstrable about of evidence contradicting it, it feels appropriate to get rid of him.
Over this period of time I read The Last God Book I of The Feldspyre Chronicles writes by Philip Kennedy Johnson, art by Ricardo Federici, and colors by Sunny Gho, Allen Passalaqua, with Arif Prianto and Dean White. That is how they were listed in the comic. I am not sure why, but it felt important to recreate here.
I am often attracted to the art for fantasy stories. But when I try to read them, am frequently unengaged with the actual story. As I finally I got around to reading my purchased beautiful, hardcover copy of this book, I wondered if reading it would lead me to giving up on this genre entirely. It didn’t, but it it did give me plenty to think about with regards to conundrum of my taste.
When I actually started reading it, I was surprised to realize that the fantasy comic book I read and gave up on it reminded me of of most was Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s Monstress. Aesthetically this was a surprise. Monstress’s look is inspired by an early industrial, highly colonial world design. The Last God’s look is more late Roman Empire, early medieval era. I make the comparison mostly for structural reasons. Both series have back pages that cover the history that informs the main narrative, but is outside of it. Within the main plot, lots of flashbacks. The back matter in Monstress is told by a professorial cat with multiple tails, and in The Last God the matter appears as text book excerpts and song archives and other things like that. The various tellers of these tails are unspecified. Further more thinking of the comparison to Monstress made me pay attention to the texture applied to the art. There was nothing as distinct as in the earlier title. The art and world building here reminded me more of Die, though that is a portal story and this isn’t that. And now I have to praise the art for never feeling muddy.
After reading a few issues I did something I haven’t done in a really long time. I stopped and restarted. I wasn’t getting much out of the story and not sure I could follow it. Rereading it clarified some things in the plot, and reassured me that I was retaining more than I thought. I definitely enjoyed the book more for having done this. I still can’t say it was for me, but later in the process I found myself looking at the cover again and could recognize characters and situations where I just saw tropes before.
In addition to the twelve issues of this series there is a bonus story called “Songs of Lost Children." It has a different creative team; written but Dan Watter, art by Steve Beach, Dave Stewart on colors and Tom Napolitano returning for letters. This one takes place between the two eras that the story was in. In some ways I like this more than the main story.
This short was followed by a source book text. As reading the Source Books for Lazarus, a series I’m generally more into, was a pain, I didn’t have much enthusiasm for this. I did try to read it. It confirmed for me that the creators definitely in love with their own world building. Some of it was okay. I kind of liked the stories of how the gods made the various species in the series. I was disappointed to realize that some design that I thought were people infected by the Plague of Flowers were actually some other evil looking creature. How was I supposed to understand that from the text itself? The Plague of Flowers didn’t look particularly floral, which means it could be confused with other things. (There were also some character designs that I wish had more distinction. How many bald men with the same skin tone and pointy ears are readers supposed to keep track of?) I eventually gave up on the Source Book. I was able to enjoy the story, but I’m not in love with the world building.
Over this time period I read Summer Fires written and drawn by Giulia Sagramola, translated by Brahm Revel. It is another example of a book I bought as a pre-order about four years ago and am only reading now. I am compelled to buy anything where the cover has someone wearing a Bikini Kill t-shirt. The shocking amount of time between buying and reading it is a good reminder of why it’s for the best that I avoid buying for the time being.
I am not sure how aware I was when I bought it that the book is Italian. Reading it coincided with me doing a lot of Italian related things. I restarted my Italian lessons after a couple of month’s break, I had Alessandro Manzoni’s The Betrothed as an audiobook from the library (I had been meaning to read it for about half my life). Also I got to see a screening of Michelangelo Antonioni’s L’Eclisse. I never could coordinate something like that if I tried. I haven’t seen a version in Italian and even if I did, I am not experienced enough judge the translation. But I will say that I was impressed by how even the words that appear in signs, texts, etc. were mostly translated and incorporated in the art. That seems like a lot of work! Does it make it seem easier to ignore the Italian specificity? It you didn’t know what to look for you won’t see it. The prominence of American pop culture can be distracting.
Based on the songs the characters listen to and the types of cellphones they have, the story takes place in the early 2000s. Summer Fires is about two teenage sisters, Rachel and Sabrina, during a summer late in their schooling. It follows more of what Rachel’s point of view. She is more of a homebody. Sabrina goes out more, and questions about what she does is important to the tone of mystery The sisters live in an unnamed Italian town, surrounded by hills and forrest. They and their teenage friends go out there to hang out and fool around. They are experimenting sexually and with what they want in relationship. A friend of Sabrina’s is pregnant, so there is a lot of wondering about the consequence of what they are doing now. Rachel is learning to drive which is a struggle and it appears that she does not get many opportunities to practice. There are a series of fires in the hills, which makes it harder to go somewhere and be oblivious about your peers. The sisters aren’t close, but they can be insightful to each others lives.
All the teen sex and nudity brings to mind Charles Burns Black Hole, but it’s hard to explain why. There are not sexually transmitted mutations here. In my memory, they are tonally similar, but it’s been such a long time since I read Black Hole, I might have to revise that opinion on a reread. I’d be fine saying “If you liked Charles Burns’s Black Hole try Giulia Sagramola’s Summer Fires.
The book is divided into four parts, each representing a months in summer. Each month has a different color to accentuate the otherwise bland and white drawings. June is peach, July is orange, August a bright yellow, and September an almost creamy, pale yellow. July and August have the most intense colors and June and September the least, which I think says something about feeling out of control without the daily structure of school. The drawing themselves are really detailed when in comes to the posters or screens in their world, but more simplified for the real life of its characters. There is a lovely texture in the blacks that reminds me of grease pencils, though I doubt that was the primary medium. Makes me want to try lithography again. As for character design, there were moments when I wished the characters looked and felt more distinct. But in some ways, that's appropriate for adolescense.
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