New readers...start here!

Incorruptible volume 1: Boom

2012-01-24T12:00:00.003Z

This is another crosspost, from Civilian Reader, re-formatted into our usual style. The original post can be found here. As before, we're cross posting because the book fits the remit of the site, and CR kindly offered us the review. He has this to say about himself:

I’m a British globe-trotter, who is passionate about all things genre-related (novels, movies, comics, etc.) and loves to tell people about them.

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist: Jean Diaz

Inker: Belardino Brabo

Colourist: Andrew Dalhouse
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Publisher: Boom Studios

What's it about?

What if the world’s greatest supervillain decided to become the world’s greatest hero? Meet Max Damage, Sky City’s most notorious super-powered criminal. Known for everything from manslaughter to terrorism, no one could match Max’s appetite for chaos. But that was before the Plutonian, the world’s greatest hero, turned his back on humanity and slaughtered millions, leaving Max a changed man. Now, the world’s salvation may lie in the hands of its most infamous supervillain. Can someone who once ruined so many lives now truly become Incorruptible?

Faced with a post-Plutonian, post-apocalyptic city filled with petrified survivors, Max starts out on his new path, putting a stop to the machinations of those who would prey on people’s fear for profit. We see a weary resignation in Max, as he has to deal with people’s understandable trigger-happy reaction whenever they see him – he’s trying to make things right, but people only see the supervillain and insist on shooting him. Repeatedly. (It’s so hard, being a reformed villain…)

Incorruptible is a companion series to Waid’s longer-running Irredeemable (reviewed here). Needless to say, if you like comics, superheroes and great writing, you need to be reading Irredeemable. Seriously: it’s incredible.

What's good about it?

I guess the question many people will want to know, if they are familiar with Irredeemable, is how it stacks up. Some people have said it’s not as good, but I actually really liked this as well. I’ve read more of Irredeemable and while that has a premise that is more obviously original and interesting, Incorruptible manages to stand up alongside it very well.

It’s got a different tone, obviously, and because of Max’s past, the people who are around him aren’t the most noble or respectable – take his sort-of-girlfriend, Jailbait, whom he rescued from a brothel (see the short story in Irredeemable Definitive Collection). She’s an interesting character – petulant, still young (hence her name), slightly ADHD, clearly smitten with Max, but having difficulty with reconciling their past and his new good-guy ethics. She also has a lot more difficulty giving up her old ways, and offers up some funny frustrations for Max. Her character and place in the story are well done – it’s common for villains to take advantage of these types of characters, which Max has clearly done in the past, but now he’s trying to reform her as well. It’s a nice spin on the usual “baddy’s cute totty” trope. It’ll be really interesting to see how she develops in the future.

Armadale, Max’s unwitting police contact, is another interesting character, who is having difficulty reconciling this new version of Max Damage. He refers to Max’s change of heart and new mission as “like… Katarina apologiz[ing] for New Orleans”. Nevertheless, he slowly comes to accept Max’s help – after all, who’s going to say no to a guy with a diamond-hard, impervious body?

The reformed villain is not a new premise, but Waid manages to keep things fresh and engaging, and has put an original spin on this theme. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and can’t wait to read the second volume in the series (if I read them quick enough to catch up, I’ll definitely have to add individual issues to my reading schedule).

What's bad about it?

It’s a little difficult to get a bead on Max, which is probably intentional – he’s a brooder, not given to vocalising what’s going on inside, so we’re left to understand him largely by his actions and outward appearance. Which brings us to the art...

What's the art like?

Diaz’s art speaks volumes. It’s very good throughout, and is expertly put together – visually very pleasing, and compliments the writing perfectly. The style is clean and clear, without being exaggerated or ridiculous. The characters are drawn realistically and in proportion. There’s a high level of attention paid to detail. Diaz is easily among the best artists whose work I’ve seen. Waid’s writing is crisp and fluid, with plenty of nice turns of phrase. I really don’t know why Irredeemable and Incorruptible haven’t made a more significant cross-over into the non-comic-reading population (a la Watchmen, etc.).

Other information

This first collected volume of the series contains issues #1-4, a cover gallery, and a 10-page sample of Waid’s Potters Field series. It is highly recommended, alongside Irredeemable (which you should probably read first).

ISBN: £9.86

Price: 1608860159

Read about Irredeemable here.

Many thanks again to CR, for letting us crosspost his excellent review.

Irredeemable: The Definitive Collection

2012-01-21T12:00:00.001Z

This is a cross-post from Civilian Reader's blog, reworked into the New readers... format. You can find the original post here. We're cross posting because the book fits the remit of the site, and CR kindly offered us the review, instead of writing a brand new one (why re-invent the wheel, after all). You should check out his blog, he likes the Discworld, therefore he has impeccable taste.
He has this to say about himself:

I’m a British globe-trotter, who is passionate about all things genre-related (novels, movies, comics, etc.) and loves to tell people about them.

Writer: Mark Waid

Artists: Peter Krause & Diego Baretto

Inker: Andrew Dalhouse

Letterer: Ed Dukeshire

Publisher: Boom Studios

What's it about?

What if the world's greatest hero decided to become the world's greatest villain? When the Plutonian, the world's greatest hero, snaps and turns into the world's greatest villain, only his former teammates have a chance at stopping his rampage. But while on the run from the world’s most powerful and angry being, will these former teammates discover his secrets in time? How did he come to this? What became of the hope and promise once inside him? What happens to the world when its saviour betrays it? What makes a hero IRREDEEMABLE?

I’d been considering this title for a long time, and when I finally managed to try it out, it was this mega-edition. I really liked the idea behind the series – it seemed so simple and yet innovative at the same time. After reading this book, I quickly realised that all the hype about the series is completely justified. The story is gripping, original, moving and superbly rendered. This exceeded my already high expectations. This was a very difficult review to write, as I really just wanted to say, “This is incredible. Buy it.”

The first Chapter of Irredeemable (basically the first collected edition) opens up with a shocking and brutal scene – let’s just say we are left with no doubt as to the Plutonian’s homicidal tendencies. The reader is dropped straight into the story without any lead-in, right into the action. We are quickly introduced to most of the Plutonian’s former teammates, the other superheroes collectively known as “The Paradigm”, who he is now hunting down and systematically killing, one by one. They know of his powers and methods, but now they have to figure out how to stop him. General consensus – from the Paradigm and the population as a whole – is that the future is very bleak indeed.

“You don’t get it. The Plutonian has gone rogue. We’re all going to die.”

Many of the acts the Plutonian commits over the course of this collection are truly horrific: homicidal and genocidal, and even the ‘smaller’ actions are cruel in the extreme.

The members of the Paradigm have taken it upon themselves to bring an end to the Plutonian’s reign of terror. Which is a tough job, given the fact that his powers are basically god-like, limitless. It is through their investigation that we learn of the Plutonian’s history as a hero. He’s the perfect hero, Superman-esque in his perfection. Take this frame as an example:

But, as could be expected, the Plutonian slowly becomes more and more disillusioned with his protectees, and his story morphs into one of endless disappointments and ever-greater demands. The Plutonian, in other words, shows his human side. And it’s a fascinating history, particularly how the people he protects seem to constantly let him down – for example, wilfully revealing his secret identity without thinking of the consequences, never satisfied, always demanding more from him. They are, as the Plutonian says, the

“miserable, bitter, ungrateful paramecium who lash out at you in a state of perpetual rage for not solving their problems fast enough.”

What's good about it?

There’s a lot of nuance to this story – nobody is perfect, and it seems that, while the Plutonian’s reaction has been utterly out of proportion to the wrongs and disappointments he experienced, it’s not a case of his switch coming completely out of nowhere. He has been betrayed and let down by everyone, in one way or another. In addition, as they hunt for a way to stop his, the Paradigm uncover a number of fractures within their own ranks: rivalries, jealousies and, in one instance, a case of hidden megalomania…

The writing, dialogue, and pacing are great as is the occasional dark humour. Waid has covered all the bases – every questions I could come up with when I read of the premise, also those that arose as I read the book, and way more besides, are answered and confronted in the story. He has written some complex and engaging characters.

It is now clear to me just why this series is so popular – it’s spectacular, as well as highly original, intelligent and thoughtful. An absolute must for anyone interested in comics, superheroes, and great stories. Think Watchmen was good? This’ll blow your socks off. This is not only a story of superheroes gone bad, it’s an examination of everything it means to be human and be a part of society. This is quite possibly the best comic series I’ve ever read. It’s amazing.

This book, and series as a whole, couldn’t come with a higher recommendation. I’ll be reading the rest of the series from here on, catching up first with the collections and then individual issues. I’ll also be keeping up with Incorruptible.

This is, in my opinion, essential reading.

What's bad about it?

Editor's note - Civilian Reader has nothing bad to say about this book.

What's the art like?

The artwork is great – it has a classic feel, but updated for the modern reader. There are some truly awesome full-page compositions, too – many come at the end of what would be the single issues. Krause is able to pack a hell of a punch – both visual and emotional – into just one picture. Waid and Krause are an amazing team, and there are so many scenes that are genuinely powerful. For example, the final page featuring Joey Daniels almost made me choke up, and haunted me for a couple days after finishing the book. It’s an incredibly affecting and effective scene.It’s a long time since a novel had this sort of effect on me, so I was very surprised at how much emotion could be instilled into a comic. It’s heart-wrenching.

Other information

The Definitive Collection is a great book. Along with the first three collected books of Irredeemable proper, includes a ton of bonus material. First up, we get “Irredeemable: Special #1”, which is comprised of three stories focusing on Hornet, Kaidan and Max Damage (the star of Waid’s companion series, Incorruptible), and gives us a little bit more background for each of them – in the case of the latter, it’s about where Max first meets his sidekick, Jailbait. There’s a great Foreword by Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me fame); an Epilogue by Mark Waid; an Afterword by Grant Morrison; a recreation of Waid’s pitch for Irredeemable; a covers gallery; and a concept art gallery.

So, there’s a hell of a lot collected into this hardback. It’s pricey, yes, but if you’ve tried even a little bit of this series, then you know how good it is. If you can’t stretch for this collection, then the three books contained within here are still readily available and also highly recommended. Basically, I think you should just try to read this in any (legal) format you can.

Covers of volumes 1 to 3

Definitive Collection - ISBN: 160886071X, price: £47.96, or £39.57 on Amazon at the time of writing.
Volume 1 - ISBN: 1934506907, price: £5.56
Volume 2 - ISBN: 1608860000, price: £9.63
Volume 3 - ISBN: 1608860558, price: £9.89

There is also a companion trade, called Incorruptible, for which we will crosspost another of Civilian Reader's already written reviews, in just a few days. Stay tuned!

Thank you CR for letting us cross post and telling us about this pretty cool sounding book!

Killroy and Tina

2012-01-18T12:00:00.002Z

Killroy and Tina

A webcomic by Justin Pierce

What's it about?
Killroy, alien despotic overlord, gets bonded with a 17 year old earth girl called Tina Matthews. this bonding means that Tina gets Killroy's powers (laser eyes, super strength etc), but if they go further than 5 miles away from each other, they each lose their superhuman abilities. If one dies, the other dies. There are a few unexpected side effects, like Killroy gaining some of Tina's physical characteristics.
Killroy has to learn to live with Tina and her mother, work out the intricacies of earth culture, and Tina has to deal with the new events thrown up by Kilroy's presence.

It's essentially a hero's journey. Tina grows into her new skills, worries about her responsibilities and eventually takes up the vigilante mantle. She doesn't like Killroy, she's resentful of him upending her life and she won't give him a fair chance. Her mother grows to like him, and her boyfriend, Brandon, gets on with him very well. Later on we meet another alien, Querty, some female furies, Tina's rubbish classmates and future selves of Tina. All mixed together, they've got to get on, deal with school and jobs and taking a drive (not easy when Brandon's around, as he has a habit of, well, making weird things happen).

What's good about it?

It's one of the finest webcomics I have ever read. It's the first webcomic I ever read in it's entirety (and there's 6 years worth of strips here). It's the only one I've ever remembered throughout the years and continually felt gutted about it ending.

The creator, Justin Pierce, has commented in interviews that he feels that Killroy and Tina is paced very slowly. It may have felt like that if you were reading it as it was being posted, but if you read it in one go (or several goes), it doesn't feel slow at all. OK, there are a lot of sub plots going on, but to me, it feels well paced, well characterised, with good dialogue and with characters you actually care about. It's funny, and it's sad and there's drama and hubris and inanity and seriousness and all the stuff that actually happens in real life.

Justin also said, he doesn't like the art. More on that later. I think you should ignore him.

The characterisation.. I love these guys. There are tons of superhero stories out there, mainly from DC and Marvel, and within those there are tons of hero journey stories, but DC and Marvel have not produced something like this. Unencumbered by continuity and fannish wrath, Pierce has created the characters he wants to see, with their own foibles and skills. I love these guys.

It's funny. Particular favourites of mine is the paintball story (start here), and the cat jokes. There's a few pop culture references, cameos of characters from other web strips, a few instances of mocking mainstream superheroes, and plenty of Brandon being a prat.

The ending, ah, on the first read it felt to like a very arbitrary end, just cut off for no reason. I think I recall reading at the time that Pierce said he had lost interest in it, his heart wasn't in it and he wanted to focus on Wonderella. I couldn't see this, I felt like he'd just given up one day, and I was very sore about it. On the second reading, just finished now, it does feel like far more of a proper end. There are lots of things not resolved yes, but actually, I quite like the openendness of it. It's full of possibilities and it ends with a very Killroy and Tina esque joke.

What's bad about it?
Each page is particularly slow to load. It's very frustrating. It's possible it's just my laptop though.

Trigger warning: there are a few strips that deal with domestic violence and rape (not at the same time). But, and this is a big but, the violence isn't gratuitous, it's not there to big up the hero or show what a nice guy they are, and the strips do deal with (some of) the reality of violence against women.

Here are two of the ones that deal with rape and here is one that deal with domestic violence. Each of these sub plots takes place over several strips and are revisited later in the series.

What's the art like?
The layouts, panels, plotting, perspective, emotions and movement between panels is all good. At the start of the webcomic, the artwork itself, as in the pencil lines, is of varying quality. The depictions of Killroy and the other space folk are fine. The depictions of Tina and the humans, are, well they are a bit awful really.

The thing is, this doesn't matter, not to me, and it probably won't to you. Normally, the quality of the art if a big deal for me. if I don't like the pencils, I can't read it. However, with Killroy and Tina, the bad pencilling at the start of the comic didn't put me off. Maybe it's because of the things I mentioned above.

The good news is that the art does improve quite significantly throughout the series. Compare this strip showing Killroy at the start, this one with the first appearance of humans, with this one, one of the last entries. You can see how Pierce's art has improved. Don't let the early art put you off. if you do, you'll miss out on some absolute gems. For example, I adore this panel beyond all words, and I'm very taken with the layout of this strip.

Other information
Start reading Killroy and Tina here.
Justin Pierce also does The Non-Adventures of Wonderella, a sort of Wonder Woman parody.

If you want to chat about it on twitter, I've been using a #killroyandtina hashtag.

Updated review information: Superman/Batman/Supergirl

2012-01-16T12:00:00.003Z

We've updated the information on further reading in this Superman/Batman/Supergirl review.

Incidentally, did you know that story has been released as a DVD? They changed the name and called it Superman/Batman: Apocolypse (presumably because the marketing people think girls have cooties) but it is the same story and it's really really good. It's all ages so would be a great gift for the younger superhero fan in your life.

That Deaf Guy

2012-01-15T12:00:00.002Z

A webcomic

By Matt and Kay Daigle

http://www.thatdeafguy.com

What's it about?

That Deaf Guy is about the everyday adventures of a Deaf man with a hearing son and wife. It is created by husband and wife team, Matt and Kay Daigle. Matt draws, Kay writes. Matt was born Deaf, his wife is hearing, and together they create a comic strip about everyday life - raising a small child, managing money, working out Halloween costumes, appropriate winter finger wear, and being Deaf.

Heh heh. "glittens"

What's good about it?

Drawn in newspaper strip style, it's dead easy to read and jump into.It's also darn funny. That Deaf Guy chronicles the life and times of a small family, so much of the jokes will be recognisable to anyone who's ever lived in a family environment or dealt with young kids.

The punchlines are delivered superbly with the story being told in the artwork as much as the text.

The creators have said they wish to create a strip that appealed to both Deaf and hearing people, in that I reckon they've succeeded. Some strips deal with life in the Deaf world, some deal with family life, and some deal with when the Deaf and hearing worlds collide. The gags are delivered simply and effectively. with style. Some of them are bit surreal, exactly the thing to appeal to my odd sense of humour.

Going through the strips and trying to find ones to highlight was hard - simply because there's just so many good examples I want to share with you! I have a list of twenty I'd like to share, but that would be silly, so really, just go read the comic!

What's bad about it?

I really like this. I think it's fun and interesting. I started reading it because I'm interested in Deaf stuff, but I can see that if you are not interested in families or Deaf stuff, or if you don't like newspaper style comic strips, you might not like it. However, I would urge you to give it a go, it doesn't take long to read through the archive and it is genuinely funny.

What's the art like?

The art has a lovely cartoony feel to it, reminiscent of traditional comic strips, like Garfield or Peanuts. The faces are open, movement is shown by a few small lines, there's not a lot in the background to distract the eye. I love this style of cartooning - it's really accessible and perfect for when you don't want to get into something too heavy.

As you can see from the samples posted, the strips are both black and white and in colour. The black and white ones are the early strips, the more recent ones are in colour. Colour suits it. The things in the foreground seem it be coloured in blocky, strong colours, with the background a more faded, washed out type of shade. It gives a lovely sense of depth to the images.

Other information

That Deaf Guy can be found online at http://www.thatdeafguy.com/. Read an interview with Matt here.

Follow Matt on twitter @DeafCartoonist or like the facebook page.

Thanks to Matt and Kay Daigle for allowing me to post example strips.

Garfield minus Garfield

2012-01-11T12:00:00.002Z

Writer and Illustrator: Jim Davis
Garfield removed by Dan Walsh

What's it about?
Garfield is a fat orange tabby cat, who likes pizzas and being sarcastic. He hates Mondays, diets and doing things. As a cat, he naturally knows he's better than everyone else, particularly his owner Jon and the dog, Odie. Garfield has been running as a comic strip since the late 70s and is beloved by many people the world over. There's been a film, TV shows, toys, mugs, t-shirts, all sorts of merchandise.

What Dan Walsh has done, is take Garfield strips and remove Garfield from them. This invariably leaves Jon looking, well, decidedly odd.

What's good about it?
This is such a simple idea, but so good.

The original strips generally had Garfield providing the punchline, and since they tend to be only 3 panels long do not have a whole lot of action in them. Usually it would be Jon and Garfield having a chat. Or Garfield staring at Odie doing something stupid. Or similar. The thing is, as the reader we see Jon talking and Garfield's speech bubbles. This gives the impression of a conversation, but really Jon is talking to himself.

Garfield minus Garfield makes this solitariness clear. The results are funny, to say the least.

Ah, the life of a crazy cat man. Or as the blurb puts it:
"It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb"

Reading these strips, it probably helps if you've read some original Garfield strips, but I reckon they stand up by themselves pretty well.

What's bad about it?
I can't write anything bad about this - it's a 3 panel comic strip poking fun at an institutional comic strip! You can't start thinking seriously enough about it to provide critical commentary, it's just fun!

What's the art like?
Cartoony. This isn't the sort of thing you need to describe the style of to describe to readers - every strip is the same, you can clearly see the style from the samples posted here.

Other information
ISBN: 0345513878
Price: £7.99
Website: http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/
Read what Jim Davis, the creator of Garfield thinks of it.
For other Garfield parodies, check out Square Root of Minus Garfield.
For regular Garfield books, Amazon has a list. Any of them will be good.

Green Manor part 1: Assassins and Gentlemen

2012-01-08T12:00:00.002Z

Writer: Fabien Vehlmann
Illustrator: Denis Bodart
Lettering and text layout: Imadjinn
Translator: Elaine Kemp
Publisher: Cinebook

What's it about?
A cup of tea? A drop of milk? A spoonful of poison?
At first sight, nothing would make the very select club called Green Manor stand out from any other English club. Yet behind its thick walls, sunk into its deep chairs, hides the biggest bunch of con artists, bandits and murderers that Queen Victoria’s England has ever seen.

Can there be a murder without a victim and a murderer? Is the pride of Scotland Yard worthy of his reputation? Can murder complement art?

Green Manor contains several different tales of murder and mayhem, as told and implemented by the members of a posh gentleman's club in Victorian London. These fellows are boorish and pompous, intoxicated by their own cleverness. As a consequence, the challenges issued from one to another are fantastic (in the old sense of the word), foolhardy and border on the ridiculous.

What's good about it?
The characters are what you'd expect from a private members club, filled by the rich in that day and age. Having said that, they are very entertaining. It's delicately told, with grace and humour (and more than a hint of mockery).

It's divided into several short stories, with a nice introduction and conclusion that frames the whole thing wonderfully. It's not a dark and heavy whodunit, not like a Sherlock Holmes or Agatha Christie story. It's humorous, and while there is an element of solving riddles, that's not the be all and end all. I mean, I loathe detective fiction. It's the one genre I've never been able to care about, yet I found a lot of things to love about this book.

What's bad about it?
It's too short. Seriously, it's only 56 (A4) pages long. But wait, I hear you cry, there's another volume available! Oh well, that's all good then.

What's the art like?
Most of it is dark and gloomy - befitting stories of dark and grisly murders in gaslit old London. It's a great period piece - cartoonish enough not to be overly detailed, but with enough sense of the day and age, from the horse and carriage transport, to the clothes, to the furniture in each room. The gentlemen at Green Manor are so snooty they are pretty much always drawn holding their noses aloft! I love this from of visual storytelling - good comics should give you as much information and feeling from the art as from the narrative. This book does so in spades.

Other information
Price: £6.99
ISBN: 9781905460533
Buy it here (and please, buy it from the publishers, not from Amazon or Waterstones or some other faceless corporation). Buy volume 2 here.

Many thanks to Cinebook, purveyors of Europe's finest non English language comics, for providing the review copy for me.

Disabled superheroes update

2012-01-07T21:52:00.000Z

We've added some more information to the disabled superheroes (wheelchair users) post we did a while back, to cover Horsewoman. Click through to check it out.

Gingerbread Girl

2012-01-05T12:00:00.005Z

Writer: Paul Tobin
Artist: Colleen Coover
Publisher: ~~Top Cow Comic~~ Top Shelf Comix (not Top Cow, that's a different publisher, they publish Witchblade, not the most feminist of comics series, it's a bit porny, approach at own risk. Google them if you want)

What's it about?
It's about a girl who has a sister grown from her homunculus, by her mad scientist father. Or it's about a girl who's a major tease and can't decide what she wants. Or it's about a girl in the early stages of a new relationship. Or it's about how other people see this girl. Or it's about the effect of parental divorce. Or it's just a fun little story full of fantasy and giggles.

Well, that last bit may not be true. There's funny, unusual episodes, but it's not really a comedy. Annah is the lead character, and she may or may not be crazy. She thinks she has a sister, but it may be fantasy. It may be real. Who knows? Either way, she thinks she's lost her sister and it's having a profound impact on her life.

What's good about it?
The execution and plot is completely unexpected. The back blurb asks
"Did Annah invent an imaginary sister named Ginger during her parents traumatic divorce? Or did her mad scientist father extract part of her brain and transform it into a living twin?"

I think I expected a detective story, maybe something a bit cynical, a bit knowing, a bit too hipster-ish. Whatever I did expect, this wasn't it. It's heartwarming, a little sad (maybe a lot sad), definitely whimsical but also happy. From Annah's point of view, life is confusing, maybe a little bleak. From her girlfriend's and occasional boyfriend's point of view, life with Annah is madcap, infuriating and cute.

The book needs re-reading and it needs further consideration. I think there's something brilliant about it, but I can't quite put my finger on what. There's certainly enough there to make me want to write this review immediately after finishing it! It is a keeper, most certainly.

What's bad about it?
Aw, this is a difficult one. It's not easily digestible, because although it's just a snapshot of life, a little snippet if you will, it's not a straightforward, trope led story. It's not complicated but it left me frustrated - I want to find out more, I want to see what happens next! Then again, some would say that's the mark of a good story. Whatever floats your boat.

What's the art like?
It's a serious subject (well parts of it are), but as I've said above, it's also a bit whimsical |(for example, the parts narrated by a pigeon). Maybe that's more to do with Colleen Coover's art style than the characters or events It is, ultimately, cute. Coover uses only a few lines to draw people, nothing is busy, nothing is top heavy. It's light and carefree.

The only colours used (in the printed book) are an orangey/tan colour, black and white. the book was originally published as a free online webcomic, in black and white. For comparison here are two panels, one from the book, one from the webcomic:

See the difference? Both are easy to read (perfect for the day after new year's day then!) and both have their own charm. The coloured ones are warmer, and I feel have more depth to them, but there's just as much expression and life in the online version.

Other information
As said above, the webcomic is available for free. If you read it and like it, please consider buying it - comic creators need our support!
Hardcopy details as follows:
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 1603090800
Here's an interview with Colleen Coover where she talks about Gingerbread Girl, the art process and her other work.

Disabled characters in superhero comics - the rest

2012-01-02T12:00:00.008Z

Now we coming to the last of our short series looking at disabled characters in superhero comics. originally I intended to list every characters with some form of disability or mental health problem. But due to life getting really full I'm going to have cut the entries short, so think of these posts as more of a selection of highlights which will give you a good place to start in comics!

A quick word about characters with mental health problems - all too often writers understand mental health issues as equalling evil. So many villains motivations are explained away as the character simply being 'mad'. As if mad automatically equals dangerous and violent. The point of this series was to shout about characters that could be role models (even if they were sometimes arseholes) as well as being disabled. So, I'm not including any characters with mental health problems, because I haven't yet found one that fulfils that criteria.

Right, lets begin.

The Captain Marvel family has two heros who with mobility difficulties. Freddie Freeman is a teenager who was attacked by Captain Nazi (yes, really) and left lame, needing sticks to help him walk.. Amon Tomaz is an Egyptian lad who was severely beaten by the criminal group, Intergang, and became a wheelchair user. Both were awarded the powers of Shazam by uttering the names of their mentors - for Freddie it was Captain Marvel, for Amon it was Black Adam. They can fly, have super strength, stamina and so on.

The power fantasy here is they say one simple word and get new bodies, but they also get to go back to their usual selves when they say the magic words again. Freddie and Amon's stories mirror each other, but the Captain Marvel family have always had their mirror images, it's one of the delights of the stories. The difference is that of personality traits. Captain Marvel has always been a hero, Black Adam veers between villain and hero. At the time of Amon turning up, Black Adam was a mostly good guy.

Freddie Freeman is showcased in Trials of Shazam. Amon is showcased in 52, volumes 1 to 4, see here for details about 52.

Ragdoll. Delightful, crazy, weird, disturbing Ragdoll. Real name Peter Merket Jr, Ragdoll is definitely a villain. He's a thief, a killer, a very strange man and one of the oddest creations of the DC Universe. He is the second person to bear the name Ragdoll, the first being his father. When young he had surgery to replace his normal joints with lubricated, cybernetic joints. The end result is he'd the bendiest man alive and can cram himself into ridiculous shapes, positions and spaces. In real world terms, he's like a person with (very) extreme hypermobility (used to be known as double jointedness), but without any of the discomfort and problems hypermobility causes to real people. He's an interesting character, a fan favourite, but he's not a hero. He's cruel, funny, sadistic and dark. You can start reading about him in the following books (listed in correct reading order):
Six degrees of devastation/ Unhinged / Depths / Danse Macabre / Cats in the Cradle / The Reptile Brain /The Darkest House

Information on each book listed here.

From the Marvel universe, I present to you Misty Knight. She's African American who has a false, cybernetic arm. Over the years she's been a supporting character in various Marvel series including the old but more recently in Immortal Iron Fist. She's now the main character in Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's Heroes For Hire, where she co-ordinates a large band of heroes working for her on a case-by-case basis.

Currently there are two named trades of this series - Control and Fear Itself.

An honourable mention also needs to go to Madison Jeffries, a mutant in the Marvel Universe. He is dyslexic. I'd like to write more about him, but I don't really know a lot, so will have to redirect you to his wikipedia page. Apologies. That isn't very professional but as I mentioned at the start of this post, life is very full at the moment.

Don't forget our other posts on characters with sensory disabilities and those who are wheelchair users.

If anyone wants to recommend any other characters that we've missed (I'm sure there's quite a few), please leave a comment!

Paul Dini's JINGLE BELLE: Naughty and Nice

2011-12-24T11:38:00.004Z

Written by Paul Dini
Illustrated by Stephen DeStefano

Lettered by Sean Konot & Stephen DeStefano
"Little Matchstick Girl" Illustrated & lettered by Barry Caldwell
"Jingle Belle Conquers the Martians" painted by Lawrence Marvit
Chapter one illustration by Bill Morrison
Chapter two illustration by Lynne Naylor

Publisher: Oni Press

What’s it about?
Jingle Belle is a punctual comic produced by Paul Dini, which he's been releasing every Christmas since 1999. Either in the form of short stories ("one shot" issues), or little graphic novels which have been either collections of previous short stories or original material.
They have been mostly printed in black & white comics.

Naughty and Nice is the first Jingle Belle book I'd recommend starting with.
It contains Jingle Belle's first two stories from Winter 1999 and 2000, as well as a bonus colored story from "Dini Double Feature #13" and some original content (one page stories and pin-ups) by various artists including Evan Dorkin, Alex Ross, Sergio Aragonés, Jill Thompson & Coop.

Jingle Belle is the eponymous daughter of the legendary Santa Claus.
With a father that mostly spends his whole year thinking about all the children across the world and preparing for one very special night, Jings is the rebellious daughter that every parents fears to have.
With a passion for mischief, the little elf girl tries to get by living surrounded such a strict family business.

The book also has an introduction by Eddie Gorodetsky (TV writer and producer behind such shows as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air & Saturday Night Live).

What is good about it?
Jingle Belle is a very fun all-ages comic book for kids and adults alike.
The stories are pretty simple and straightforward enough, like a great saturday morning cartoon.
Christmas might seem like the principal subject here, but it's really the backdrop behind the show.
Jingle Belle is your typical teenage daughter...only, she lives in the least typical household.
The stories contained in this book are the very first Dini wrote for these characters, so they might not be as defined as they appear in later tales, but they're far from simple caricatures. (well besides Santa, who wasn't much more than your typical Santa Claus in these first pages)

Children will love the stories, the fun characters, the fast pacing and simplicity of it all.
A picture is worth a thousands words, and so is the case in Jingle Belle, Dini preferring letting the artists express Jingle Belle's adventures in the beautiful and big panels presented here.
Adults will surely enjoy the cartoony and detailed art work here. The artists Paul Dini selected to illustrate Jingle Belle are often from the "Bruce Timm" school, the lines clear, the figures bold and curvy.

There's also a wide range of artists picked up to do some characters pin-up, like Alex Ross or Sergio Aragonés. These interpretations are a nice break in-between stories.

What is bad about it?
Well it's sort of an expanded "Christmas Special".
Also I can imagine people hesitating picking this up in the middle of June.
Besides making a great Christmas gift, you really need to be a fan of the author(s) or love the character to remember picking this up some other time during the year.

Also, fans of deep, gritty and dark compelling stories might skip this sort of book.
This is no Grant Morrison or Alan Moore work, I know, but it never pretends to be either.

What’s the art like?
The art like the main character Jingle Belle is definitively young, fresh and dynamic.
It "bounces" all around if you will.

Stephen DeStefano, the artist behind the main featured storyline has a great style, and defined Jingle belle for artists to come:

There's a lot of artists interpretations over this book, showcasing Jingle Belle under the pen of various guest artists:

And finally there's a special color mini-story by artist Lawrence Marvit.
Very fun surprise at the end of the book.
The layouts are done such as to present a crazy story told by Jingle with big large panels and splash pages:

Other information
Jingle Belle Vol 1: Naughty & Nice
Black & White (+ a dozen Color Pages) - Trade paperback - 128 Pages
2004
Priced at approximately £6.00
ISBN: 1-929998-08-2

If you liked this comic, I recommend checking out the other Jingle Belle books:
Jingle Belle Vol 2: Cool Yule Another collection, it features Jingle Belle's 2001 and 2002 comics as well as more bonus material

Jingle Belle Vol 3: Dash Away All A special Jingle Belle graphic novel released for Winter 2003.

Dark horse. It's an original 136 pages story.
Paul Dini's Jingle Belle In 2004, Jingle Belle moved from Oni Press to Dark Horse Comics.
There's also other various titles released as only issues as of today, but they haven't been collected yet.

And if you enjoyed Jingle Belle, I recommend you give a try to:
Mutant, Texas: Tales of Sheriff Ida Red Another Paul Dini original character, which crossed over and is a spin-off of sorts from Jingle Belle. More of an action/western tales however.

Disabled superhero comics characters - wheelchair users

2011-12-18T15:47:00.004Z

Note: I thought this had posted back in November. Apparently not! Well, better late than never.

Continuing our series on comic heroes with disabilities, let's look at wheelchair users.
Here we have Charles Xavier, Barbara Gordon, Wendy Harris and Niles Caulder and more. Read on.
From Marvel we have Professor X, otherwise known as Charles Xavier.

Xavier is the leader of the X-Men. He’s an incredibly strong telepath and founder of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a refuge for mutant teenagers. Whilst a young man he was injured by an alien called Lucifer, this accident left him paraplegic and he became a wheelchair user. To read about Xavier, we recommend Joss Whedon’s run on Astonishing X-Men. He shows up in the second arc titled ‘Danger’. You could also try the comic adaption of the X-Men film made in 2000, with Patrick Stewart playing the man himself. The comic is fairly faithful to the film and a decent read. I would stay away from the Ultimate X-Men stories because Charles is really not a likeable personality in these stories.

Barbara Gordon, once Batgirl, then Oracle now back to Batgirl.
Barbara Gordon, Librarian, intelligent, redheaded sidekick to Batman, daughter of Jim Gordon. She was determined to become a crimefighter, so she donned the suit without waiting for anyone's permission. She fought alongside Batman for many years, then the Joker turned up at her house, and shot her in the spine. He didn't know she was Batgirl, he wanted to get back at Jim Gordon. Barbara was left unable to walk and used a wheelchair to get around. Not one to feel sorry for herself she reinvented herself, studied, trained and became the premier information resource for superheroes, taking on the codename Oracle. She is phenomenally talented with computers and is far from helpless.

Read about her as Oracle in the Birds of Prey series. You can buy digital issues on comixology, but if you want Babs as Oracle look for the series titled Birds of Prey: Manhunt or those dated 1999 to 2009, or 2010 to 2011. The 2011 onwards series has Babs back as Batgirl, de-aged and walking again. If you can track down the single issue comic titled The Batman Chronicles #5 (from 1996) you will get a sort of year one origin story for Barbara as Oracle telling how she recovered after her shooting and morphed into Oracle.

In a similar vein we have Wendy Harris (on the left, below), one half of the Wonder Twins (not the same Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna who appeared on Smallville). Her brother Marvin was killed by a giant dog in a pretty terrible story arc in Teen Titans and Wendy herself was brutally injured. She ended up, like Barbara Gordon, unable to walk, and took on a sort of junior Oracle role within the DCU. She worked with Barbara and helped out Stephanie Brown, the then current Batgirl.

I realise this sounds very similar to Barbara's role, but the characters are different and don't have much in common apart from being good with computers, heroic and using wheelchairs. Within this Batgirl series there was discussion over each character's acceptance of their disability, Barbara being much further along than Wendy. The series is very very good and I highly recommend reading it. As the trades are pretty difficult to get hold of, try buying digital copies on comixology.

Niles Caulder is the leader of Doom Patrol, an oddball group of heroes that are deemed a little, well weird, by, the rest of the DCU. There have been various re-tellings of the Doom Patrol idea, some cast Caulder in a sympathetic light, some that don't. I recommend Grant Morrison's run. In this Caulder is a very intelligent, kindly older mustachioed fellow. The series itself is deliciously weird. The second trade features a gay gorilla in love with a disembodied brain, and a painting that wants to eat Paris. It's not really suitable for kids, or people who prefer simple entertainment. Amazon lists all the available trades.

And lastly we have Horsewoman. She's a new character in DC's Demon Knights series. She doesn't use a wheelchair, but that's because the series is set in the dark ages and people didn't have wheelchairs then. Instead, she rides a horse. According to the writer:
She can ride, but she can’t walk, supported in her saddle by magic and invention. She has an absolute affinity for all horses, and she’s the greatest archer in history.
At the time of writing Demon Knights is only 4 issues in, so a good time to jump on. Not much has been revealed about Horsewoman, her motives or background, but she looks to be a pretty intriguing character.
The Demon Knights team also includes a female knight disguised as a man and Madame Xanadu. It's a great mix of characters and magic shenanigans.
The series is written by a Brit, Paul Cornell, so you won't get any American schmaltzy cliches. You can buy electronic copies from Comixology or you can buy paper copies from your local comic shop.

Don't forget our other posts on characters with sensory disabilities and my rather uneloquently described, the rest.

Elemental Micah

2011-11-29T12:00:00.004Z

Writer and Artist: Michael Georgiou

Publisher: self-published

What's it about?

Micah Sampson is a seventeen year old college drop out, feeling his life draining away from his as he works as a supermarket. He has low self esteem, mostly surrounding his body, and a huge crush on the American older man who works at the fish counter. On Micah's last day at the market, said sex-bomb asks him out on a date, which also happens to be the night on which Micah discovers he has superpowers.

Elemental Micah is a blend of a superhero origin story and a tale of friendship, self discovery and finding your place in the world. As most superhero stories are about these things to some extent or another, it's a very effective blend.

What's good about it?

The cast of characters, while small so far, is well told. Micah and his friends Dana and Simon are complex, interesting characters with hopes and regrets of their own, that Georgiou weaves into the story naturally. He never pushes the superpowers to the back seat, but instead character background and conversation (it's a little early for character development) happens while, for example, Micah and Simon are chasing down a tornado in London.

What's bad about it?

Well, the art could use some work. It's obvious that this is Georgiou's first comic work to star human characters and telling a story of this kind. His character designs are great, but there's some awkwardness in telling a cohesive story with them. At some points I had real trouble figuring out what was happening. Which is a shame, because the plotting is so tight, and characters so interesting that better art would make this comic really very good indeed.

What's the art like?

As mentioned above - it needs work, but I suspect that this will pick up as the comic continues. The art is greyscale, and shows a lot of potential in terms of character design and plotting, but needs to be developed more before it's up to the standards of the writing. Nevertheless, the writing and the characters carry the story so well, that it's definitely going to be worth the wait.

Other Information

ElementalMicah.com

Available to buy at Indie Comics (£2.99 an issue) and Kindle (86p an issue)

Michael Georgiou is the writer/artist behind the webcomic Steve & Bob. His artwork can also be found at michaelgeorgiou.com

Western

2011-11-26T12:00:00.005Z

Writer: Jean Van Hamme
Artists: Grzegorz Ronsinski

Letterer: Imadjinn

Translator: Jerome Saincantin

Publisher: Cinebook

What’s it about?

This is set in 1868, when America was being colonised and white folk were staking out their claims across the nation. Ambrosius Van Deer investigates a claim that his long lost nephew, presumed stolen by native Americans (except the book calls them Red Indians) several years ago, has been rediscovered. The meeting is made, plans are revealed, and we skip forward 15 years. The lad has grown up and has made his own way in the world. Events conspire to send him back to Van Deer's daughter, Cathy. Then the real tragedy begins.

This is a story of identity, of struggling to survive, of staking your claim in the world, and of family. It’s heart wrenching, beautifully told and beautifully painted.

What’s good about it?

I have never been a fan of the Western genre so had my doubts about this story. Upon reading, my doubt vanished and I was utterly and totally suckered into the book. Part of this is down to the heroine, Cathy. Despite not having much screen time, her presence is pivotal to the plot. She’s courageous and bold. At a time when women weren’t allowed much freedom she manages a massive plot of land and is beholden to no one! I would love to see a book telling of Cathy’s life and her experiences.

The lad (name ), is nearly as enthralling. Without trying to give too much away, he doesn’t have an easy life and suffers an accident which could easily have killed him, but instead leaves him disabled. Events are told from his point of view and as the final tragedy unfolds you weep for all involved.

What’s bad about it?

I have nothing to criticise with this book. It is played out perfectly, constructed wisely and leaves you with a gut wrenching sense of loss.

What’s the art like?

If you like the finer style of comic book art, then this is for you. Most of the pages are rich in detail and expression, having been produced with a mature and caring hand.

In between the regular sequential art sections you will find opulent double page painted spreads. Immaculate in their scope, they contain a sense of largeness of landscape that seems to dwarf the reader. I won't post any here, but be assured they are gorgeous.

Other information

Price: £7.99

ISBN: 9781849180849

Available direct from the publisher, Cinebooks Ltd. Information about where to buy the books are detailed here. Shipping options and costs detailed here.

Many thanks to Cinebooks for sending me the review copy.

French Toast Comix

2011-11-23T12:00:00.002Z

A webcomic, by Becky Hawkins

(Images posted with author's consent)

What's it about?
French Toast Comix is an autobiographical webcomic by a lady who works as a cruise ship musician. She's Jewish, gay and draws pretty much anything that happens in her life. Strips might appear about a coffee shop, her mum, cruise ship culture, new places that she's visited, her art class, anything (also - stealing giant porcelain cows)!

It's not as linear as a lot of web comics, in that it mostly reads more like stand alone events. However, you can buy more structured print mini comics if you like (see the more information section at the end of the review). Many of the entries have a text blog accompanying them, giving more information about the events being depicted.

What's good about it?
This web comic is what we used to call 'a giggle'. Ms Hawkins has a dry wit about her and can pull out the important elements that make a situation funny, then reproduce them concisely. It's a style that makes you warm to her and all her friends, even if they are doing stupid things.

The humour is very visual. This may seem an odd thing to say about an artform that is always visual, but French Toast Comix really does put it's jokes in the art, not the words. As a result, the comics seem to become a living, breathing thing. This also means that people who's first language is not English will hopefully find it easier to understand.

It's an easy read, it's not got any traumatic situations, it's not written as therapy or an attempt to chronicle her life, it's just retellings of one off events, sometimes they last for a few entries, sometimes not. Some entries are examples of art class homework, some are doodles from a bus stop. It's not that the quality varies, it doesn't, the entries are all pretty good, but they are sometimes different things.

I found it a refreshing, relaxing read.

What's bad about it?
I guess the very elements that made me warm to it - the easy feel that it's got, the variation in entries, the lack of a structured narrative, may put off some people. Some comics are one panel pages of a packed lift, others are recordings of familial conversations. This may not be what some readers are looking for, but in that case, I would point you towards the mini comics and urge you to buy them, as they are far more structured and more conventional in presentation.

What's the art like?
The comics take a variety of forms - sometimes they are 3 panel strips, as seen above, sometimes they are larger one panel scenes, sometimes they are laid out as they would be in conventional print comics:

Some are in colour, some are black and white. This one is done in pencils (or biro) only, this one has been coloured with grey tones. All of them have a caricature feel about them. The faces are round, with big grins and few line details are put on the faces, giving them a cartoony feel. The feeling comes from the position of the eyes, the mouths and the eyebrows, this comic being a good example of that. There are also a couple of silent comics included.

More information
French Toast Comix has it's online home here and you can buy the mini comics from this page. I recommend Coffee and Beer Money.

52 volumes 1 to 4

2011-11-20T12:00:00.005Z

Writers: Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid

Artists: various

Publisher: DC

What’s it about?

The DCU has suffered an Infinite Crisis and the big 3 heroes, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman have disappeared. The other heroes have to take up the mantle, but in a world fractured and without hope, how will they survive?

Lex Luthor is building an everyman programme, giving ordinary people superpowers, but at a price. There’s an island of mad scientists building cricketrons, omnibots and other explosive things. The religion of crime is building and only Batwoman and the Question can stop it. Starfire, Animal Man and Adam Strange are stuck in the farthest reaches of the Galaxy with an ex homicidal Czarnian, now converted into the Pope of the Triple-Headed Fish God's church. The dark half of the Captain Marvel family is growing and Black Adam is developing his compassion. Booster Gold is being replaced by a young whippersnapper and he doens't like it. Then there’s the Teen Titans, JLA, JSA who are all imploding without proper guidance or support.

There’s a lot going on. More than I can describe in a short paragraph.

What’s good about it?

52 takes place over the course of a year. It was originally published in weekly installments (superhero comics are usually published monthly) and was a bold new move for DC. However bold and unprecedented it was, it worked. These 4 volumes collect all 52 issues and are a densely filled journey into the lesser known characters in the DC Universe. As such, it’s a brilliant way to get to know a lot of characters and to find your way around the DCU.

After each issue there are some notes from the writers about the creative process that went into publishing a series as expansive as this. No spoilers are given away, but each page of text does serve as an interesting addition to the main material.

I love these volumes and find something worth reading in each sub plot and set of characters. The final volume draws all the different stories together to give a gripping finale.

What’s bad about it?

Well I suppose you could argue that at 4 volumes these take along time to read, but really, who’s gonna complain about being able to savour something this good?

What’s the art like?

There are loads of different artists on this series, (as there are many different writers). Sometimes issues are drawn by just one person, sometimes several pencillers, inkers and colorists contribute to the same issue. Of the most notable names, you might recognise Phil Jiminez, Keith Giffen, Jared K Fletcher, Jamal Igle and Dan Jurgens.

Usually I find that a mix up of artists distracts from the storyline, but in this case, perhaps because we are following so many storylines, I feel that this doesn’t happen. Some artwork is better than others, but nothing is so bad that it repels me from the events being shown.

Other information

Volume 1 - ISBN: 1845765524. Look inside the book here.
Volume 2 - ISBN: 140121486X. Look inside the book here.
Volume 3 - ISBN: 1845766040. Look inside the book here.
Volume 4 - ISBN:1845766245. Look inside the book here.
All priced at about $19.99 (American) or £15 (Sterling).

To read more about these characters try the following books:

Booster Gold: Try his own series. You can find out more about them here. My partner is also selling my old monthly issues for me on ebay, here. If you want them sent outside the UK send him a message saying you got to the listing from the New readers blog. He'll work postage out. (Hey, I'm skint and running out of shelf space for comics, some things have to go!)

Batwoman: She has one trade out, named Elegy and reviewed by us earlier this year. There is currently a Batwoman monthly series out, see here for details.

Captain Marvel family: There are really only 3 worthwhile trades out, we reviewed them all here and here. There is also a trade collecting a Black Adam mini series which sprung out of 52. It's called The Dark Age but it's awful. Read at your own risk.

Animal Man: There are 3 key trades to read, we reviewed them all here.

The Question: We recommend Final Crisis: Revelations and The Question: 5 Books of Blood.

52: Companion reprints old background stories about the key playes in 52. It's worth a look.

Also, see our post on DC's 'Crisis' books to see how 52 fits into it all.

Halloween month has ended!

2011-10-31T12:00:00.000Z

EDIT: This might show as a fresh post. I'm being stupid and thought it hadn't published, but it may actually have published. Apologies for the brain melt.
-------------------------------
Hi everybody. October is over and with it our Halloween month. We haven't published as many reviews as we wanted, blame real life for getting in the way. But I hope you have enjoyed those we have posted. You can view everything with a Halloween tag by clicking here.

October is also Black History Month, and we really didn't make enough of a fuss about this. Again, blame real life for getting in the way. However, if you do want to read stories about Black characters, click here to view everything with a CoC (Characters of Colour) tag.

Thanks for reading!

Below is a BSL intepretation of the above. The video quality is poor and the signing has mistakes, sorry. I aim to get all of the posts interpreted into BSL and videos posted, and this is my first effort.
Thanks for watching.

Sinfest

2011-10-27T12:00:00.001+01:00

written and drawn by Tatsuya Ishida

What's It About?Sinfest is a daily online comic strip. Originally intended for newspaper publication author Tatsuya Ishida was unable to find a paper willing to publish his product so he turned to the internet. Reading Sinfest it isn't difficult to see why it wasn't taken up and why that's a damn shame.

In some ways the world of Sinfest is a pretty normal place. The two main characters, Slick and Nique, have their on-off friendship/flirtation, they have their friends, both have their romantic troubles (mainly self-inflicted) and their dreams of fame and fortune. On the other hand it’s a damn surreal place: the Devil runs a stall (“Anything you want! Price: Your Soul”) complete with succubus booth-babes and his own personal fanboy, the characters regularly converse with God Himself and Slick's best friend Squigley is a pig on drugs. Sinfest is by turns a touching, surreal, political and thought provoking four panels once a day, every day.
What's Good About It?Though the format of the series is that of a simple newspaper comic strip Sinfest is surprisingly complex. Ishida makes regular use of politics, social satire, comparative religion and philosophy in the strip, not just as explicit punchlines but through implication and subtext. The Devil character in particular is used as a vehicle for social commentary with his various temptation-based business enterprises.

Sinfest actually operates with several casts of characters rather than just the one. The largest cast, headed by Slick and Nique, features in the majority of strips but Ishida likes to shift his focus. Many of his more satirical strips in recent years have eschewed the principal cast entirely in favour of a rock star Barack Obama and American wartime propaganda figure Uncle Sam, whose marriage to Lady Liberty is on the rocks. Lighter storylines tend to feature a cat and dog called Percy and Pooch, base upon Ishida's own pets.

In just about any other format this approach might come across as confusing and fractured but in the brevity of the four panel strip it works because the focus of the writing is to tell the joke rather than advance a complex ongoing plot. This means that the shifts in emphasis don't interrupt ongoing threads or get in the way of building narrative tensions, instead it simply adds variety to the reading experience. The same can be said for certain returning strip concepts such as the abstract Calligraphy strips or Slick's regular attempts to get himself elected to public office.

Also because of the compartmentalised nature of the strip you can begin reading at pretty much any time so don't worry about having to find a convenient jumping-on point. Once you've got a handle on the characters, though, a trip through the thousands of strips in the archives is well worth a go.

What's Bad About It?Some of the content in the strip could be considered religiously offensive. The series regularly makes use of revered figures such as Jesus Christ, Buddha and the monotheistic God. Whether or not the mere inclusion of these figures offends you is, of course, a personal matter but at least be assured that where the relevant religion contains rules about what can and cannot be portrayed Ishida follows those rules diligently. For instance, when the monotheistic God appears he is either a disembodied voice or a pair of hands (sometimes with hand puppets) peaking out from a cloud, His face is never shown in accordance with Biblical scripture.

Also on the subject of offensive content there are numerous references to recreational drug use and pornography in the strip. Despite the childish stature of some of the characters and the cartoonish art style this is definitely not a series for kids.

What's the Art Like?Normally this section would have some nice, eye-catching scans but because Sinfest is a free-to-view webcomic etiquette means we instead include links to relevant examples. Unlike most webcomics Sinfest never makes use of guest artists, the series is pure Ishida from start to finish.

From Monday to Saturday the strip is presented newspaper style in four black and white panels. Ishida draws in a flowing manga style that is most reminiscent, of all things, of Charles M. Schulz's Peanuts comic strip. Most days the strip operates as your typical four-panel gag strip (in form if not in content, as we've discussed) but Ishida does like to play with the format. Every now and again you'll get one of these fellas with four characters articulating one thought, usually with some meaning for each of their storylines at the time. Also previously mentioned are the strips that break up the main storyline featuring the adventures of Ishida's pets.

Also, if you've ever wanted to learn a little written Japanese there are the Calligraphy strips.

In common with American newspaper strips the Sunday instalment is page-length and presented in full-colour, the extra space usually being used to tell a more complex joke that is sometimes part of the story running in the week and sometimes separate depending on the author's mood.

Other InformationSinfest posts new strips daily at http://www.sinfest.com/ with the complete strip archive reaching back to January 2000 free to view. There is a blog section to the website below the strip but updates are extremely irregular. Three print collections have been published, the details of which can be found on a conveniently displayed sidebar on the front page of the site, I haven't provided Amazon links because at time of writing Ishida is switching to a new and larger publisher, Dark Horse Comics, so the new editions will be of significantly higher quality.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

2011-10-25T12:00:00.002+01:00

adapted by Tony Lee from the novel by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
adapted from the original novel by Jane Austen
art by Cliff Richards

What's It About?This is a graphic novel adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith's best selling novel that merges the work of Jane Austen with flesh-eating zombies. In this version the courtly Bennet sisters are fearsome warriors in the war against the undead “Unmentionables”. Elizabeth Bennet's classic tale of love and manners now takes place in equal parts in the ballroom and in battle and disapproving aunts are now far from the only threat she and the arrogant swordsman Mister Darcy have to face.
What's Good About It?I read a few reviews of the Pride And Prejudice And Zombies novel which argued that inserting zombies into the classic diluted one of the books of the Great English Canon. I absolutely disagree, in fact whilst reading this book I had something of a revelation about Pride And Prejudice because I finally understood it. I really mean that. Austen's novel was always a satire of attitudes towards woman in her time.

In the original novel Elizabeth Bennet's reluctance to marry, her strong attitude towards Mister Darcy, even her subtle sarcasm were all designed to be consciously unladylike. Such behaviour was shocking in its time but that time passed long ago. There's a scene in the original where a cousin asks the Bennet sisters which one of them cooked a meal, subtly implying their family is too poor to afford a cook and the family acts subtly offended. In Seth Grahame-Smith's version Elizabeth Bennet threatens to stab her cousin in the neck with a fork, giving violent voice to the passion Austen always meant Elizabeth to feel.

Giving the Bennet sisters muskets and swords and having them slaughtering zombies whilst surrounded by genteel society and fine clothes gives the story back some of that punch. Yes, this is a parody but it's an affectionate one, Seth Grahame-Smith takes the time to match up his new dialogue with Austen's style so there isn't any sense of disconnection between the two. For example:

“A woman must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing and the modern languages. She must be well trained in the fighting styles of the Kyoto masters – and the tactics and weaponry of modern Europe.”

The whole idea of merging Jane Austen with a zombie story is also a pleasant new twist on a genre that's been rather over-exposed the last few years. Thanks to modern cinema we've had slow zombies, fast zombies, rage zombies, sci-fi zombies and far, far too many pirate zombies. This a wonderfully fresh approach to the idea.

What's Bad About It?Jane Austen, like poor Will Shakespeare, is one of those authors whose work has been spoiled for many by having to study it at school. There's nothing like homework to make you hate an author, especially when taught by some of the passionless teachers I had to study under who just told you to read things and never explained anything. Reading Pride And Prejudice at school no one ever mentioned to me it was satirical or that it had a point.

What isn't Austen in this book is designed to be as much like Austen as possible. If you don't like her flowery dialogue style or if school biased you too badly against her work then you probably won't enjoy this book.

What's the Art Like?Cliff Richards draws this novel entirely in pencil without the usual ink layer most comics use to finish and define the art. He draws his figures in varying levels of detail, sketchy and indistinct when they're in the distance but in a more complete, defined style as they move into the foreground. In comparison to his figures Richards' backgrounds are architecturally precise and it's surprising how many different texturing effects Richards can achieve just in pencil.
I have to admit, in the name of fairness, that it did take me a while to tell who was who. In part this was due to the sketchy art style but also because the dialogue doesn't have many signifiers to name people and get the recognition in your head early. It's a small flaw, however, and it didn't take me too long to put names to faces.

Other InformationPride and Prejudice and Zombies (ISBN 978-18485669-41) retails for £9.99 and whilst Amazon lists it as out of print they do sell it cheaply second hand here.

iZOMBIE Vol. 1: Dead to the World

2011-10-24T13:19:00.001+01:00

Writer: Chris Roberson
Artist: Michael Allred
Colors: Brian Buccellato
Publisher: Vertigo Comics

"Combine the two most horrible tastes you can imagine... like motor oil and someone else's vomit... and you won't even come close to this level of nasty. Yeah, I eat brains."

What’s it about?

iZombie is a a sort of fantasy story taking place in an urban environment.
It takes places in our modern times and updates old movie monster archetypes.

The story is told from the point of view of Gwen, Gwendolyn Dylan, who works as a gravedigger.
She's in her 20s and is actually a living dead! A zombie if you will.
Her best friends are also other undead creatures. Ellie is a genuine ghost, she seems to come from the 60s and can't leave the places she visited. Scott, aka Spot, is a were-terrier.

Gwen as no recollection of her death and her memories of her past are slowly fading from her mind.
To stay alive, or rather undead, she needs to eat brains.

This comic isn't actually an horror story, but plays a lot with elements and tropes from the genre.
It is more of a detective series, mixed with some drama and romantic clues.
What is good about it?

First of all, the art!
Michael Allred (X-Static, Madman) has style that suits perfectly the genre this book plays with and the tone set by the series. As co-creator of iZombie, he really gets to play around with the various monsters that occupy this little portion of Oregon.

And second, the story!
It's just pure fun. Horror and monster movies fans will love the allusions and nods to the genre.
iZombie plays around the concept of death and the way spirits work in such universe.

Bodies are inhabited by two souls rather than only one. One residing in the mind, another in the heart. The oversoul and the undersoul. The brain, the center of our thoughts, memories and personality. And the heart, home of our appetites, emotions, fears...
It's kinda odd at first, but it perfectly explains and ties in the other type of monsters. Everything sounds so simple and logical from that original idea! Ghosts are bodiless oversoul, when after some death one of the souls remain on this plan of existence. Poltergeists are bodiless undersoul, prisoner of their instinct and without the true embodiment of their personality. Were-wolves are normal human beings haunted by a ghost, vampires are bodies that only lost their undersoul now victims of their own hunger and emotions while zombies are in fact bodies without the oversoul.

The story is fun, a real page turner, and you'll find yourself asking for more, wanting to discover more about Gwen and her strange new life amongst these weird creatures!

There's also proper references to the comic book medium as a whole, rather than just horror stories.
Silver Age-era comic books, old E.C. horror comic books, but also old publications and more!
Nothing seems forced, unlike what I've seen in other books and it's all in a good fun.

What is bad about it?

I wouldn't really call it bad, but the fact it speaks of death, undead creatures and brain-eating zombies is kinda an odd concept presented like this.

The comic isn't a properly "horror" story. Which makes this kinda hard to classify.
Some "way too serious" horror fans might be put off by the simple and fun look at the genre.

And people who might be used to by gentler and kid friendl-er comics might be surprised by the amoung of gore and violence presented in such an unusual fun way.

But besides that, it's an all-age title for everybody!

Besides the "Zombies eat brain"-part.

What’s the art like?

It's amazing!
What? Too much?
It's gorgeous, it truly is! Allred is a very talented artist, is art is neither too realistic/serious nor too cartoony. Just the perfect balance, expressive enough to convey a lot of emotion, detailed enough to feature realistic and diverse body types.

Each cover is a true work of art.
Panels are well thought out and the layout works alongside the story telling to narrated and express the mood of the story. The colors are also quite impressive, well worth mentioning! Mike's other half, Laura Allred, did an amazing job on all of these issues!

Other information
144 pg. Colors. Softcover.

Priced at approximately £10.99
ISBN: 0857682512

It's a current on-going series. I recommend reading at least the first trade to see if you like the mood and the characters. The first volume mostly places the important players and sets up a few plot points, like a good introduction. A continuous on-going plot develops during the second volume which will no doubt spawn many more issues! Monster hunters are travelling the country and been present during our whole history, an unreasonable number of supernatural events are taking place in this town, and it's quite difficult to have a normal life when you're given a second chance. Even an undead life!
Vol. 1: Dead to the World
Vol. 2: uVampire
Vol. 3: Six Feet Under & Rising coming up in February as I write these lines.

The title is no doubt a reference to I... Vampire comic books from DeMatteis featuring a modern day unusual Vampire instead. And the very first issue is indeed titled "I...Zombie".

If you enjoyed Mike's artwork and the style of this story, you can also take a look at:
Madman Atomica! a giant sized omnibus reprint of most Madman comics.

X-23: Innocence Lost

2011-10-17T12:00:00.002+01:00

Writer: Christopher Yost
Pencils: Billy Tan
Inks: Jonathan Sibal
Publisher: Marvel

What's it about?
X-23 was going to be a clone of Wolverine, but when the scientists tried to copy the only DNA sample they had, they discovered the Y part of his XY chromosome was damaged beyond repair. One scientist, Sarah Kinney, decided to strip out the Y chromosome and copy the X. So X-23 was created, more of a twin than a clone.

She has Wolverine's healing factor, she has his claws, his sense of smell and sad to say, his experience of horror and abuse. For X-23 is created in a lab to be the perfect weapon. Trained to fight and injure and kill from a young age, from the age of 12 she is sent out on assassination missions as a killer for hire. Innocence Lost is the story of her creation, her upbringing and her fight to break free of the system.

What's good about it?
She's a tough old cookie is our X-23. She wasn't brought up in isolation from other people, but she has a sense of seclusion around her, likely because those who have trained her and kept her in the lab refer to her as a beast and not human.

If you ever wanted a female Wolverine, this is it. Although I should be clear that she isn't a carbon copy of the male character - she is undoubtedly a different entity, although her skills and background are similar.

This is a classic story of the child warrior, abused by those in charge of her, who nonetheless keeps a shred of her humanity and manages to break out and find her own way in the world. It's not startlingly original, but it is well enough crafted and the ending does pull at your heartstrings a little. It's a good way to while away an hour or so.

What's bad about it?
As I said above, it's not a startlingly original tale. There are a lot of common tropes within the story and you can guess the ending a mile off. However, I don't think the pleasure in it lies in the (un)surprising events, more in the glimpses into a mysterious character's past. So it's an OK read. Not brilliant, but would suit someone who fancies getting background detail or an easy step into the darker side of Marvel mutant universe.

What's the art like?
Some of the art is a bit plasticky and by the numbers. The artist is clearly going for some sort of sexy look for the women and men but often they look a bit vacant. However, it's not exploitative as such, just a bit average. X-23 always looks likes a child as well, which is nice.

Given that X-23 is a killer for hire it is quite violent, there's a lot of blood and fights but it's not over the top and it's not slasher porn.

Other information
Price: £11.99
ISBN: 0785115021

To continue X-23's story, read X-23: Target X (this has one of the fiercest covers I've seen in a long time) and then X-23 volume 1: The Killing Dream. You can also buy these issues as digital copies on Comixology. If stories about child assassins who are basically good at heart float your boat, you could also try reading Batgirl: Silent Running.

Superhero Comic characters with disabilities - sensory loss

2011-10-13T12:00:00.001+01:00

After putting together the Characters of Colour posts, I thought it was about time we highlighted other role models not commonly seen in popular culture. Specifically, we will look at people with disabilities, (or disabled people, if you prefer) and we shall attempt to find some decent characters with mental health problems.

The reason behind doing these series is to point potential readers towards books where they can find people like themselves, no matter the reader's race, sexual orientation, or gender identity. This is because it is important to see yourself reflected in the media you consume.

I thought I'd start with characters with sensory loss, mostly because one of my favourite comic characters is a Deaf woman, named Maya Lopez, or Echo. Echo is a Native American woman who has been Deaf from birth. She has the ability to copy any physical movement she sees, be that kicking, boxing, dancing, piano playing and more. She first appeared in the Daredevil books and has 2 trades about her, Parts of a Hole reviewed here and Vision Quest reviewed here.

The art is great, the writing is great,I strongly recommend you track down a copy of these books!

Alongside Maya, is Daredevil, aka Matt Murdock. Murdock was blinded in a freak accident when young. Since then his other senses improved beyond normal human abilities so that he can always tell where he is and lead a life as a vigilante. By day he's a lawyer, by night he's leaping around rooftops catching the bad guys. Yellow, Wake Up and Parts of a Hole are all good places to start reading about him.

Dr Mid-Nite - Pieter Cross is a highly skilled doctor, one of the best in the DC Universe. Born sighted, he became blind when involved in a car accident, which only happened because he was investigating a new dodgy street drug. OK, we say he became blind, but much like Daredevil, he found that he could see in pitch black darkness by infrared vision and ultrasonic vision.
Cross is the third man to take the Dr Mid-Nite title and is a member of the Justice Society of America (JSA), the forerunners to the Justice League of America. He is less of a vigilante and more of a doctor, although as part of the JSA he does engage in superheroics.
You can read about him in his own trade paperback or in nearly any recent JSA book.

The Wilson Family - let's go through each of them, starting with Daddy dearest, Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke The Terminator. Deathstroke is a master assassin, easily one of the most dangerous in the DCU, and has had a somewhat complex history. He's a bit of a bastard (and a killer, definitely a villain) but he loves his kids, in a somewhat screwed up way. After one of his sons was injured (see below) his wife took revenge on him by shooting him the head. This didn't kill him, but he did lose one of his eyes. Slade has better than normal stamina, speed, healing, reflexes and intelligence. He currently has a new series just started, but as this is part of DC's relaunch I'm not sure how much of his history is kept. Instead, I recommend you read about him in either the Teen Titans books listed further down the page, or in Green Arrow: Crawling Through the Wreckage.

Rose Wilson, known as Ravager, is Slade's daughter. She took his other son's codename, her Dad's costume, and in a bid to prove her love while in a drug induced haze, her eye (so she could be just like Dad). She's a bit of an anti-hero, has precognitive abilities and the enhanced stamina, speed etc that her father has. She drinks, she smokes, she flirts, she says what she means, she's violent and she can't really be bothered with niceties for niceties sake. She uses swords to fight with (and sometimes fists and feet too). She's one of my favourite characters. See further down for books she's starred in.

Jericho aka Joseph William Wilson is Slade's son and has been a member of the Teen Titans. He doesn't have a sensory loss, rather he is mute and communicates through American Sign Language. As a young child Jericho's throat was cut by an enemy of his father's, thus rendering him mute. As a teenager Jericho's metahuman power came into being and he discovered that he could 'jump' from body to body if he made eye contact with a person. Joey has been variously good and evil, but to start reading about him try The New Teen Titans - the Judas Contract. Amazon is currently pricing a used copy at £50. Ignore that, hunt around, look on ebay and pay about £12 for it.

All three Wilsons appear in the last Teen Titans run, start with Teen Titans: Family Lost.

Don't forget out other two posts in the series - wheelchairs users, and my terribly summarised, the rest.

Halloween month: We Kill Monsters

2011-10-02T12:00:00.004+01:00

To kick off our now annual Halloween month we bring you a guest post, from the land down under:

Michelle is an Australian-based writer and all-around geekified girl. she loves comics, sci-fi, and talking or writing about either of those two things. She'll pay good money without question for any comics written by Gail Simone, Ethan Van Sciver, Ed Brubaker, or any books written by Connie Willis. One day her name will be on the front of a comic book, right underneath the words "Written By". One day....

You can find Michelle at one of these domains:

Wordpress: Runaway Writings

Tumblr: The Geekified Girl

Twitter: @mishla

Writer:Christopher Leone

Artist:Brian Churilla

Inker:Hilary Barta, Brian Churilla, Richard Ellis

Colourist:Ronda Pattison

Letterer:Jeff Powell

Publisher:Red 5 Comics

What’sit about?

Jake andDrew are mechanically inclined brothers who stumble across a geneticallyenhanced secret. When Jake is attacked by a monster that appears out of nowhereand injures his arm, he soon finds himself with more trouble than he canhandle. His arm heals itself almost instantly but by the next day his arm hastransformed into that of the creature he was attacked by – complete with superstrength.

Thedrawbacks, however, soon outweigh the benefits.

As theflesh of his arm slowly beings to deteriorate and Jake becomes weaker, thebrothers realise that only the fluids from the monsters that have taken oversleepy Kern County will keep Jake alive. Thus begins the journey as with thehelp of Drew’s ex-girlfriend Vanessa the brothers race to find a cure, and finda way to keep Jake alive and the county safe in the meantime.

What’sgood about it?

Thisis a very humorous comic that never takes itself too seriously. The dialogue issharp and punchy, and the by-play between the brothers in particular has acertain dry wit about it. The writers and artists very clearly had fun withthis.

Thebrothers start out as the protagonists, but by about halfway through it is thecharacter of Vanessa that truly shines. Not only does she out-run and out-gunthe boys, but she keeps a decent amount of clothes on while she’s doing it, afeature that mainstream comics seem to lack these days. No boobs falling out ofspandex for this young lady, only a Buffy-esque habit of saving the brothers’sorry arses.

I lovethe cuteness of this comic, the refreshing unpretentiousness, and the fact thatI will never, ever look at my breakfast cereal in the same way again.

What’sbad about it?

Some aspectsof this comic are a little cliché. While I appreciate that this is intended tobe part of its’ charm, certain aspects – such as the too-perfect boyfriend whoturns out to be evil (sorry for the spoiler!) – I could see coming a mile away.I prefer my comics to keep me guessing a little more.

What’sthe art like?

When Ifirst saw this artwork, it reminded me of the comics I used to read as a kid.Brian Churilla’s artwork harks back to Superman in its heyday, and it fits inwell with the tongue-in-cheek style of the writing. The full-page splash at thebeginning of chapter four is particularly detailed, with wonderfully strongexpression.

RondaPattison’s colours are vivid, and the monster fluid in particular leaps off thepage. The colours are for the most part muted, but that only serves tohighlight the more dramatic colours which are used to draw attention to themore important panels. Her experience with DC, Marvel, Dark Horse, and Imageare certainly brought to the fore – she knows when to pull back, and she knowswhen to emphasise.

OtherInformation

ISBN:978-0-9809302-7-6

Price:$14.95 USD

Nonews yet of the future release of TPB #2, but keep an eye out on http://www.red5comics.com– it’s bound to happen!

Halloween month is upon again!

2011-10-01T12:00:00.001+01:00

It's October and that means all things spooky and creepy out to play, which means that we do a horror themed month! So, expect soem scary books dotted amongst the usual clutch :)

Superman: Secret Identity is being reissued!

2011-09-27T12:00:00.000+01:00

We wrote about this astoundingly good, real life interpretation of the Superman story here. As it's now out of print it's getting incredibly difficult to find, so we were incredibly excited to find out that it's going to be re-released!

Issue 1 and 2 are reprinted on 19th October and issues 3 and 4 are reprinted on 30th November.

As it can be pretty difficult to find second hand copies of this I suggest you snap it up as soon as it's available, because it's a truly great read. It would also make a wonderful present for the Superman/Clark/Lois fan in your life.

The whole DC Comics Presents series, reprinting old hard to find stories, are pretty good value for money. You can find the full list of them here. I particularly enjoyed the Impulse issue, and the Shazam issues, but there's lots more worth checking out.DC

Bludgeon #0

2011-09-25T12:00:00.001+01:00

Writer and Artist: Jeremy Owen
Editor and Story Collaborator: Greg Freeland II
Publisher: Burly Comics

What's it about?
The first issue of this new comic introduces us to Mike, who is moving to Albuquerque, and it sets up a few mysteries at the same time as portraying a seemingly uneventful enounter at a diner. Our hero is large, gay, and generous, yet carries with him a secret that makes him taciturn around the people he encounters; and the way those people react to him forms as much part of the first issue as his own motivation. He is the alter-ego of a superhero known as Bludgeon.

As you'd expect from a title produced by a company called Burly Press, Mike is a bear-identified gay man, and is clearly marked in the author's notes as a self-insert. So as with all good superhero stories, there are two threads we'll be following with this story - one the mystery that brings Mike to Albuquerque, and the other his experiences and personal identification in the gay and bear communities.

What's good about it?

Jeremy Owen really manages to paint the character of Mike in a few simple panels and with sparse dialogue. Mike doesn't talk a lot, but he's polite and quietly amusing when he does, and although we don't get to see a lot of him, it's hard not to like him.

The scene in which Owen's sexuality is revealed to the reader is understated on Mike's part, but brutally honest in the reaction of the barista, who may make you squirm as much as I did, in total recognition. "OMG, you're a 'Mo?" she declares excitedly. "I can show you around town! I'll introduce you to my gays! I'm a proud fruit fly."

It's not a comfortable scene, but it's familiar, and Mike handles it with understated amusement while waiting for the subject to change. It's just part of the way in which Mike's character and background is introduced.

What's bad about it?
Well, nothing much happens, which is presumably why this is a #0 instead of a #1. The sum plot of the issue is: "Mike is a gay superhero who has moved to Albuquerque following a mystery that's so far taken him across the country." Sure, the way in which we're told these things is well crafted as part of the story, and there's no tedious exposition scenes that are all dialogue, no action, but we're not told anything other than the bare bones. It's not even fair to say that the foundations are laid for the plot. Rather, the lines are drawn on which the foundations will be laid.If you want an action packed plot driven issue, then this isn't where to start.

But it certainly looks like action will start, and that it will be a fascinating journey when it starts. And if you want something to whet your appetite before #1 comes out, then #0 is an entertaining read.

The biggest drawback, however, would be postage and packing. Being produced by an independent comic publisher, it is only available online and free shipping is only available in the US. Shipping to the UK, for example, is $9 - approximately £5 and more expensive than the comic itself.

What's the art like?
The art is a black and white line drawing style that works very well with Owens' bold strokes, and the way he can tell a lot about a situation in just one panel. Look at the pattern of traipsed mud on the floor of the diner as Mike enters - emphasising the emptiness of the place and laying the scene. The poster on the wall reflects the conversation we will overhear at the only occupied table in the diner.

The characters are clear and varied in the art, and characterisation shines through. There's a level of awkwardness in some of the faces and figure work, but this is the kind of thing I've seen improve very rapidly in comic art, so it's hardly fair to judge Bludgeon on it.

All in all, Bludegon is a solid introduction to a promising character. It's quiet, but that's not fully noticeable until you reach the end and wonder "what actually just happened?" If you're looking for independent superhero comics with a wider diversity in characters, this story about a gay superhero in the bear community is a good thing to add to your collection.

More Information
Bludgeon
#0 single issue
Approximately £3 (plus £5 shipping to Europe; free shipping to the US)

This is Jeremy Owen's first comic, but if you're interested in other comics with an LGBT cast, check out our LGBT tag.

An unusual entry into our review system..

2011-09-22T12:00:00.002+01:00

As you probably know, we usually review trades of published comics or webcomics as a whole series, but today we shall make an exception. I recently discovered a short strip giving advice to a 12 year old on how to deal with sexual harassment, or perverts, as the strip puts it. It’s great! Here is the first part of it:

Read the whole entry here.

It’s part of the Sneaky VFX comic strip you can find the rest of the their webcomic here. I understand that this is a variation from their usual strips, but based on this entry I heartily recommend you check it out (and forward the link to all teenage girls)!

Now, who says comics can’t tackle serious issues effectively?

Metal Men

2011-09-19T13:47:00.001+01:00

Writer & Artist: Duncan Rouleau

Story based on ideas by: Grant Morrison

Colors: Moose Baumann & Pete Pantazis
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: DC Comics

What’s it about?
This trade paperback collects the eight issues of the 2007-08 Metal Men mini-series.

The Metal Men are a rather obscure team of DC Comics characters. They were originally conceived as a super team of intelligent robots fighting other robotic menaces under the guidance of their creator Doctor Will Magnus during the Silver Age of comics.
They sort of fell under the radar over the years, that is until after the big Crisis when DC decided to revamp various old concepts. By giving several of its proprieties a test run to see which characters could support a book in the then-modern market. (amongst others, The Martian Manhunter, Angel & The Ape or even Green Arrow were given a mini-series with only a handful of them ending up with a regular on-going series)
The Metal Men were then reimagined as fellow scientist (and friends) of Doc. Magnus turned into robots in a freak accident. But the concept sort of felt odd, turning these robots into cheap knock-offs of the Fantastic Four or the Doom Patrol.

After that, they weren't much seen anymore for a decade, besides little apperances here and there in other DC books or events.

That is were writer Grant Morrison comes in.
During DC's big yearly story arc 52, narrating a missing year from the perspective of "B and C-lister" type of characters, Morrison decided to give a sub-plot to DC's evil scientists on the imaginary island of Oolong Island. A story in which the Metal Men creator Magnus was abducted by the evil Chang Tzu and forced to work on some top secret projects.
After that, Morrison wanted to write a mini-series which would have seen the return of the Metal Men, based upong Magnus' experience from 52 and building up on his own development in that story.

Finally, Morrison stepping out for other projects (his work on Batman) DC gave the greenlight for this idea and it was creator Duncan Rouleau who took creative control as both writer and artist for this Metal Men book.

"Metal Men" is both a continuation of Will Magnus as seen in 52 and a reimagining of these characters' origin story.

What is good about it?
First of all, let me just say I love Duncan Rouleau's artistic aesthetics.
The whole book as a very hi-tech look. Both in the story telling and the way the comic looks.
Being both the artist and the writer on this mini, he was able to really tell the story as he needed it. The layouts were specially designed around the story and vice versa.

The story isn't linear either. It jumps back and forth around the present and the past.

Flashback sequence

It follows pretty closely the old Silver Age origin of this team of metallic heroes, establishing a new sideplot as well as clarifying the way the Metal Men came to be.
The story follows closely Will Magnus, as he created with the help of his lovely assistant and love Helen Garin these early protypes of AI. With the help of an ancient mysterious artifact, Magnus was able to build his robots articial minds and hearts called Responsometers.

The story moves to the present as Magnus is trying to make a living by offering people the help of his robotic crew, facing giant mechanical menaces and more every day.

The story does a great job of showcasing the various upgrades and updates of these robots over the years, from simple robot puppets to the current incarnations.

Science is also a big part of the charm of Metal Men adventures, and this book is no different in that regards. The team is composed of Metal Men representing only pure "base" metals (there's no transition metal on the team).
Though there's some "playing around" with physics in the story, as the group is turned into radioactive elements nearby in the Periodic table.

The paperback also features an introduction by Dr. Christopher Webster - Senior scientist at Caltech's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
It is a nice look at robotics and technology, the comic books as world where dreams can be true... since human's progress aren't ready to catch up any time soon...

What is bad about it?

Well, as much as I liked the very hi-tech look of the book, I know from fact it is also something some people might have a problem with.
It might look a bit too complicated to follow. Specially on the pages more charged in text. It's like watching a big explosion of metals, with shiny colors and bits and pieces going everywhere around the breakdowns of the pages.

Example of layout and text heavy composition

Also, even as it drops complex ideas like the humans composing the Metal Men's personas (from the early 90s mini-series) and goes back to a more "back to basis" approach for them instead, it does keep pretty abstract and purely comic book concepts like time travel.
Will Magnus' brother and T.O. Morrow are showing travelling around time to prevent the Metal Men's creation to avoid some prophecy to come to life.

The book also makes several connections and references to other DC Comics concept making this one a pretty difficult entry point to newcomers. For example, the Metal Men face against a team composed of earlier DCU robots such as the Justice League International's own L-Ron and a Manhunter (from the late 80s crossover Millennium). These nods to the past, which I liked personally, ground the Metal Men in the middle of the DCU but might prove to be a barrier for new readers.

Finally, the redesigns of the Metal Men might not be everyone's taste.

Including the addition of a new female member, Copper!

(like I said above, some will like the art of Duncan Rouleau, others not that much...)

What’s the art like?
The art is very modern.
It gives the book and the characters a very hi-tech look, like I said above. The robots look splendid!
The colors are well used to reflect the mood or the tone of the settings. Meaning scenes taking place in the past make use of a different palette, almost sepia.

While the future while have lots of gradients, lots of contrasts. Almost surreal...

The look of the book is pretty well represented in the various covers Duncan Rouleau did for the mini.
Beautiful concept covers, representing the issue's nomber..

Other information
Metal Men
200 pg Color Softcover
Priced at approximately £8.25
ISBN: 978-1401222123

I did another review of this book on my own blog, which can be seen as another take here:
CBR Metal Men

If you liked the characters, which were reintroduced first in Superman / Batman #34-36 alongside new member Copper (though the events in that story take place after this mini, with Gold needing to be rebuilt lacking a robot body - gold being quite an expensive metal), don't miss out their following adventures collected in:
DC COMICS PRESENTS: METAL MEN #1 - a mini-series published originally as a back-up feature in Doom Patrol issues. Under JLI's classic creative team of writers Keith Giffen and J.M.DeMatteis, penned by artist Kevin Maguire.
The classic original issues are also collected in these collections:
Metal Men Volume 1 (Showcase Presents)
Metal Men Volume 2 (Showcase Presents)

And you can also follow Magnus (sans Metal Men) on the pages of 52:
52 Vol. 1
52 Vol. 2
52 Vol. 3
52 Vol. 4

And as for Duncan Rouleau, there's plenty of comics based around his famous cartoon series Ben 10 (co-created and designed by Rouleau), such as:
Washington B.C.
Or there's also an original Graphic Novel illustrated by Rouleau:
The Nightmarist - published by Active Images in 2006, it's aimed at a more mature audience though.

Understanding Bandes dessinées - a guide to European comics

2011-09-13T14:26:00.001+01:00

© Dupuis.

Comic books... Mangas...
Different names, same basic idea.
As popular as they might be in their local birthplace, there's a form of funny books that simply isn't as well documented and known outside their countries' border. European comics. What is known, in various languages, as "Bande dessinée" (literally, "drawn strip") the french term for Franco-Belgian comics.
Though I like to also count as such comics from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, as well as many more regions and to some extend, those from the UK as well. (more on that later, below!)

Mostly, they aren't as well represented on the net outside specific regional websites.
Perhaps its due to a lack of information regarding them or documentation beside the few high profiles long running series (Tintin, Lucky Luke or Astérix come to mind).
Or the irregular exportations of those few books, try to get a complete run of Spirou in english, at a single editor and on a regular format.
The problem is that if you don't read French (or Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc..) and aren't ready to end up importing those from way across the sea, you might end up letting quite something pass by you. And you won't know what you will be missing...

© Casterman.

So here's a little in-details blog post about European comics, a brief look at their histories, the various editors, the genres and some personal thoughts and recommendations.
And if there's some demand, I might review some of these books, some series I'm a big fan of.

© Dupuis.

History of an art form from an old world.
Comic books might have originated from Europe (at least, the form in which we know them nowadays*), some even name the Swiss artist Rodolphe Töpffer as creator of the genre, but it is their American and Japanese evolution that has spread the medium and conquered millions of fans all over the world.
Even so, comic fans shouldn't ignore the impact and growth that came from their original roots in Europe.

As the 2nd World War ended and comics in both their Asian and American new found homes started finding a niche genre and a direction that would leave a path for most future generations (specifically the "superheroes" genre after Batman, Superman lead the way to the Stan Lees, Steve Ditkos and Jack Kirbys that would define the medium: and meanwhile, Osamu Tezuka would do the same to the "shonen genre" all the way through the 50s with mangas like Astro Boy for example)....
Comics in Europe started exploring genres and styles, never truly defined under a single style or rule.

If the world know today European comics for Tintin, which has only been drawn by Hergé until his death, putting an "end" to that series as it is (not counting movies or cartoons obviously), not all European comics use the same techniques and styles as seen in Tintin.
Not all comics there are about adventure, the same way you could say that 80% of American comics are about Superheroes. Nor Tintin's unique use of realistic simplistic cartoons characters over detailed backgrounds can be seen elsewhere other than in Tintin.

And Bande dessinée spawned a various and diverse inspired genre over nearby countries. Be it with Spanish comics, Italian comics, etc.. their roots can style be traced back to earlier Franco-belgium works but their tone specific to their region.

© Dupuis.

Various genres and styles.
Nowadays, the most mainstream and popular style is what people call the "big noses" humor genre.
But don't make any mistake, if some similar graphic approach can be found in various titles, the feel of those books might not always be the same.

Not all books employing this simplified genre popularized by André Franquin and his Spirou, Gaston or The Marsupilami after the war up to the mid-70s are destined for children for example.
The same way, lots of mature comics don't always employ realistic art styles. Both graphic styles cross over each other's type of stories.

Let's resume simply the styles that can be most found in European comics.
What can approach US Superheroes' monopoly on comics in Europe is probably the humor genre.
Most based around those simplified cartoony "big nosed" characters I mentioned above.
Big name artists that helped out comics survive and evolve over the previous century include Peyo (The Smurfs/Les Schtroumpfs, Johann & Pirlouit), Morris (Lucky Luke), Uderzo (Astérix, Oumpah-pah).

Lately, there's been an increase of what I call "customized" everyday-comics. Parodies too.
These humor comics are often of pretty cheap productions quality. They're made by generic easily replaceable. (I'm harsh, I know)
They're often named like "The cops", "The car mechanics", "The baker", "The gardener", etc... You get the idea?
They're aimed at specific audiences and are in the form of one-pages comics collected in albums, and they're mass produced and each series easily counts over dozen of volumes.
They're produced fast and cheap and can by found in supermarkets, 24/7 stores, etc..
The problem I have with these so-called parodies is that there's too much of them on the market and they're literally drowning the other books more deserving of a chance.

Comic strips found there way to America, like Calvin & Hobbes or Garfield, but they're still pretty present in Europe.
Strangely though, it is these US comic strips imported (and translated) that remain the more popular over most of Europe. But there's been some major successes lately. Like Bertschy's Nelson comic strips.
They still populate most newspapers.
They're more popular in the United Kingdom in which through various formats (the Beano magazine comes to mind) they've survived alongside imported American comics. (perhaps due to the similar language which helped US Superheroes establish a secondary market there)

There is the adventure genre too.
Defined by Tintin many years ago, it's a very popular genre in France.
Characters are often stereotypical and cartoonified to contrast over rich and impressive backgrounds. It also helps make heroes relatable in incredible settings/stories.
Some series use this contrast to a smaller extend and feature more realistic characters of course.

And finally, the fantasy genre.
Why do I separate it from the adventure genre? Because it truly evolved over something of its own over the years.
Fantasy stories spawn spinoffs, prequels, "cycles" of story arcs, etc.
They're also the only genre to have successfully been passed over other artists, like American comics do all the time. For you see, most comics are creator-owned in Europe. Series rarely change creative teams, thing that often happens with the fantasy comics though. Guest artists writing/drawing spinoffs, different team continuing the sagas, etc.

© Dargaud.

But ake into account that's just a generalisation.
All genres are permeable, so are the styles authors employ.
In the late 80s for example, Conrad (with writer Yann) threw chaos right in the middle the natural order of European comics with their long running franchise Les Innommables.
The style seemed to follow in the footsteps of the Franquins and other Uderzos..but it was far from being yet another innocent comic.
Their new series was crude, shocking, tongue-in-cheek, featured nudity and over-the-top violence and was clearly destined for an adult audience. Probably meant for a public that grew up with the classics but was tired of the conformity established over the years.

With this success, it opened a door to a large range of mixed genres, more graphic cartoony series for adults as well as realistic yet comedic comics for kids...the possibilities are truly endless!

© Dargaud.

Culture and European-specific formats.
Bandes dessinées in Europe might have a similar origin to their Japanese (mangas, manhuas,..) and American (comic books) counterpart but they've certainly obtained a much different status and part in the culture.

First of all, they're not episodic. Yes they are, but I would not exactly call them that really. Except for stories using cycles in storytelling like the above mentioned fantasy genre.
Let me explain.
Sure bandes dessinées used to be published in magazines, kinda like monthly/weekly anthologies which you can compare to the Action Comics or Detective Comics DC Comics used to do. But over the years it's the collected trade paperbacks that have become the true release form of comics in Europe.
Similar to hardcovers or softcovers in the US (kinda in between actually), they collect complete story arcs. Releases kinda depend on the creative teams, but they often vary between half a year to be released (for quicker artists) to 2-3 years of work (for others).

All major editors in Europe (more on that, next section!) used to have their own magazines. Today only a few little ones and one long-running magazine continue to be released regularly.
There's been a Pif magazine, Spirou magazine, etc.
This is what people call pre-publication. With the actual publication being the Volumes, or Tomes, (or also Albums).
To compare, imagine the pre-publication of a Superhero comic being the issues and the actual publication the trades at the end. The market has changed, evolved and adapted to this way of thinking in Europe.

The same way, comics hold a much more respectable status as "art" in Europe. Probably due to the work of Hergé or Franquin and the likes. And the collected Volumes probably helped that. But anyway, comics found their way into various libraries, schools and readers over the years. With a more durable format being the standard and praises over the genre for years.

© Glénat.

Local publishers vs. international editors.
Finally there's the matter of the publishers, the editors.
This is where the problem of comics not crossing over the ocean comes to.

Naturally, like comics in other places like Canada, India, China, the USA, etc.. There's a giant independent market of comics. Often local production, lots of gems can be found there. But they're harder to come by, or import, etc...
Some editors, like Les Humanoïdes Associés started this way, but ended up nowadays being the official importer of DC Comics, publish books in America and start the movement of digital comics long before Dan Didio even thought of it.

Most big houses publishers are Belgium based, the original country of almost all of European comics today (did you know the Smurfs are Belgium? so is Astérix, Lucky Luke, Tintin,..). Most artists/writers either send their work over there or even go live in Belgium to become authors. But it is not necessary to publish a comic book. Many of these publishers have established various sub-houses in other countries. Glénat is well established in the Mediterranean region. Dargaud has various smaller companies across Europe.

What you could compare to DC and Marvel Comics in Europe could be Dupuis, Dargaud and Casterman.

Casterman is well known for Tintin mostly, but they've published various creator-owned and independent features too. They've got an inprint edition for Mangas that has been focusing in only importing work from independent and smaller Manga authors as well.

Dupuis was the rival house, the place that spawned that other redheaded little Belgium adventurer accompanied by his best friend and an animal mascot... Spirou! Unlike Tintin, Spirou has seen a continuous publication over the years since his creation by Rob-Vel and Jijé, through the hands of Franquin for many years and many different other artists and writers up to this day. Kinda like long-running American characters Batman or Superman, right? Dupuis is today the only house that still continues to run a pre-publication, the Spirou magazine, since World War 2! They're mostly known for publishing classic series, humor comics and a strange growing number of fantasy/adventure stories these last couple of years.
They have various inprints, like DC or Marvel. They publish more adult serious work at Repérage Dupuis, kids books at Puce Dupuis, etc.

Finally, Dargaud is another classic old timer.
They've published tons of adventure and more realistic comics. They seem to prefer a more adult audience over Dupuis' younger public.
They do have some comedic titles though.

Those three are amongst some of the oldest editors.

There's various other companies that I'll briefly mention.
Glénat is a big international publisher, with various Editions solely developed for children, kids and young adults. They have various houses in many countries, translate tons of mangas each year in even ore languages (mostly "shonen" adventure/action genre for boys). What about the European books?
They've got an inprint for pre-publication called Tchô where they run some of their more popular series along new titles to test them with an audience. They've been known to publish a lot of Swiss based cartoonists, like the super popular Titeuf by Zep.

And to mention a few more, there's also Vent D'ouest which publishes mostly big authors or adventure books, Soleil who's specialized in adventure and fantasy, etc...

© Casterman.

Other information
Comics in Europe have been known to be mostly written and drawn at the same time by the same guy. Artists often write what they're gonna draw. There isn't as big a specialization of work in comics as in America. Perhaps due to the fact there is no such pressure of time, the deadlines are longer without the "issues" approach of comics.
People often color/sketch/ink/letter there work all by themselves. Though there still is some workshops working on comics, but nothing like you'd find for a manga at least.
Inker is never a separate job from artist. Never!

But there's still various writers that have made a living by writing comics, but they either write a dozen books/series per years or write novels/have another job at the same time.

Colorists don't get as much respect as in American comics.
I mean, who knows who Cerise is? I sure don't, but he or she colored a hundred of books I own!

There are huge comic book specialized libraries all over Europe. Rarely found outside big cities, but often in larger numbers. (I think we have like 5-6 comic book stores in such a small city as Geneva)
Comic books slowly retreated from newsstands as they slowly retired from pre-publication/magazines format. (but there's still some surviving comics there!)

If you live abroad in a foreign country in Europe, don't hesitate to either try or read comics there.
It's a graphic medium, even not being able to read shouldn't be such a big impasse to enjoy a comic!

Many comic book authors have "crossed borders" (so to say), and have published books around other countries despite their origin.
Munuera (Nävis, Spirou et Fantasio) has been drawing books in Spain for many years and only started making books for France now. And his original work has since then been translated, as well as the current books, in one and the other language.
Jordi Bernet had a career in Spanish comics before starting to work for DC on Jonah Hex these last years.

And finally, European comics have influenced the work of various artists all across the world such as Will Eisner (who's admitted being a fan of Franco-belgium comics) as well as Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki.
Even the more independent Jiro Taniguchi has been influenced in his story telling and artistic orientation by European works.

© Dargaud.

I'd recommend giving a try to these series like:
Spirou et Fantasio by various authors - the groom turned reported turned adventurer, a classic!
Une épatante aventure de Jules by Emile Bravo - pure Tintin-esque adventure series set in modern days. 100% entertaining fun read!
La Quête de l'oiseau du temps by Loisel - I never really liked fantasy books..until this one! Great creative universe, wonderful art.
Peter Pan by Loisel - same author as above, his own personal (and much more faithful) take on the classic Peter Pan tale.
Les Innommables by Yann & Conrad - mischief, fun, aggressive violence and humor, a series taking place during the Cold War days.
Jérôme K. Jérôme Bloche by Dodier - a long running and incredibly creative polar/thriller series.

Sadly I can't recommend any precise book or edition since getting these books translated isn't always easy nor do I know exactly which title has or hasn't been translated/imported.
So try finding if a book was edited in the country you are from. Even a single volume.
Or go for the original untranslated work!
Either way's fine with me.

Note:
*Scott McCloud wrote the highly recommended book:
Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
in which McCloud goes in detail in the long and unclear history of comic books as an art form, from hieroglyphs through mosaics in cathedrals and the disputable but probably origin of modern comics with artists Rodolphe Töpffer.

Justice League #1

2011-09-08T12:00:00.002+01:00

Writer: Geoff Johns
Pencils: Jim Lee
Inker: Scott Williams
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Patrick Brosseau
Publisher: DC Comics

Regular cover on the left, variant cover on the right. We recommend you buy the regular cover so you can avoid looking at a deformed and pin headed Wonder Woman. The inside of the comic is exactly the same, just the cover is different.

What's it about?
It's the introduction to the new DC Universe. In an attempt to boost sales and attract new readers to their books, DC Comics have recently undergone a relaunch. Lovely, this is just the sort of initiative we approve of at New readers...start here!

The story is set 5 years in the past, at a time when the Justice League, DC Comics' premier team of superheroes, is just forming. It is part of an ongoing story arc, which will probably be spread out over 5 or 6 issues. This means this issue is just the first part of the story. Apart from that I will tell you nothing else as it's only 26 pages long and I want to avoid spoilers.

What's good about it?
It's the very first of the relaunched DC books so everyone, long term reader or new reader, is at the same starting point. Absolutely no prior knowledge is required.

The book itself is fun, it's energetic. The heroes, apart from a cranky Batman, seem to enjoy being superheroes. This is joyous. The characters are having fun. I mean, if you had these guys powers wouldn't you be thrilled?

If all you know of DC's superheroes is the films, you'll recognise the characters here. If you haven't seen the films, don't worry, personalities are well defined and distinct. It's a well paced action story and it's done what it's meant to, it's hooked this old cynic back into the universe and made me look forward to the upcoming books.

What's bad about it?
Ohh you know, I think this is a great little book. The dialogue is entertaining, it's well plotted and it's fun. I've nothing to complain about, particularly not from the perspective of a new reader.

What's the art like?
Well, I was going to show you a splash (double page spread) of Batman, but then thought it would be better to just show the first page. Less spoilers that way. The art is like this:

Check out Batman's stubble! He's a bit moody and a bit growly, he inhabits a dark and grimy world. See him be cranky. Ok, so I'm mocking him a bit here, but I do love to do that. Anyway, the rest of the art is in this style - intense, dramatic and action packed. In places it's heavy on the shading, in others it's really quite colorful.

Other information
This comic is available in hardcopy and electronic formats. You can buy the hardcopy from your local comic book shop or you can buy an electronic copy from comixology. It's $3.99 (American) or £2.49 (British). Justice League will be released monthly, you can see the release dates here. if you want to read more of DC's relaunched titles you can read the solicits on their website here. All books will be released in hardcopy and digital format on the day of release.

Note: The Justice League are sometimes known as Justice League of America, JLA or JL. In the new DC Universe there will also be Justice League International (featuring other, less well known heroes), and a Justice League Dark (about the magic users in the DC Universe).

Ignore the last post!

2011-08-30T22:08:00.000+01:00

I posted it on completely the wrong blog. Have now reposted it on Pai.

Cringe. Sorry everybody (and especially to my co-bloggers). I'm sure most folk coming here don't want to read my personal stuff.

Cringe.

Sorry.

Black Lightning: Year One

2011-08-28T12:00:00.006+01:00

Writer: Jen Van Meter
Artist: Cully Hamner
Colourist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Publisher: DC

What's it about?

Metropolis' Southside is a slum. Ignored by police, run by gangs (well, one gang), even Superman doesn't touch the area - he says his powers don't work there, but that's no comfort to the residents. From a once promising upcoming middle class neighbourhood, the place has sunk to the point that the locals and the rest of Metropolis call it Suicide Slum.

Back to this troubled neighbourhood comes Jefferson Pierce, superstar high school principal with a track record of turning around five schools in ten years – and a secret. A year ago, he started having serious nightmares, and at the same time something started manifesting in his body; electricity and sparks that scorched the bedsheets and frightened his wife. They both hoped the return home to his family, and to help the community where he grew up would help to ease these problems.

But Suicide Slum needs more than a new principal for Garfield High School.

This is the story of the origin of Black Lightning. Not how he got his superpowers, that happened off panel and before the events of the book, and aren't even explained. Jefferson Pierce is just in possession of 'metagene' making him the DC equivalent of a mutant, but without the civil rights metaphor. The subject of race relations in this book are completely literal. Instead, it's the story of how Jefferson Pierce learned to use his powers as another way of helping his family and neighbours, at the same time never forgetting his purpose as an inspirational principal.

What's good about it?

This is a very underrated book – Jan ven Meter is an amazing writer, who deals brilliantly with all the miriad of threads she works through the book. This isn't a story just about a man, it's about a family and a community, and she tells the story through a number of protagonists; the narrative voice in each of the six issues belongs to a different character, starting with Jefferson's wife Lynn, and moving through Clark Kent, a family friend Peter Gambi, finally ending with Jefferson himself.

This has everything I want from a Year One. It understands and demonstrates why Jefferson does what he does – not why he has the powers but why he dons a suit. He's already proven himself a 'hero' before the events in the story, as a teacher and a community leader, so the story instead focuses on the journey of the community gathering around Black Lightning and the inspiration he generates. One of my favourite stories is that of a Trey Creer, a student at Garfield who starts the book torching the Principal's office and ends up a supporter of Black Lightning, trusted with his secret identity, as is everyone important in Jefferson's life. Later he'll be an Outsider (capital O), but in Suicide Slum he's not an outsider, he's a man working with his family and his friends.

Then there's the little details that I love in Year Ones: the references to future continuity and many guest stars. Clark Kent is a major character and Talia Al Ghul shows up in the middle. Jefferson's daughter Anissa, especially, runs through the book as a nine year old girl who loves and idolises her father, with only a one panel visual clue as to her own superpowers.

Anissa Pierce will grow up to be Thunder - a superhero and member of the Outsiders with the ability to control her density, including being able to make herself heavy enough to break the floor beneath her.

The art, of course, is superlative, but I will talk about that later.

What's bad about it?

Sometimes it can get a bit confusing, following the story on the panel and at the same time reading the reflections of the issue's narrative voice in the narration boxes. The art and speech shows one linear story, but the narrator for the issue talks at a different pace and sometimes about something unconnected. This sometimes works, but sometimes I used lost one of the threads and had to double back to find out what I was reading about.

What's the art like?

Cully Hamner is one of the highest calibre artists working at DC; he has the ability to give each of his characters individuality and expression with remarkably few lines. Every single one of the people he draws is instantly recognisable and capable of a deep complex range of emotion.

He's equally skilled at action scenes, making movement seem as effortless as he makes expression, with a few clear, strong lines that convey much more than other 'hyperrealistic' artists. Hamner's style was made for comics, and it shines in every panel. The colours by Laura Martin are bright, strong and bold, and a perfect complement to Hamner's art.

The book is alive with the energy that Van Meter and Hamner breathe into the story. It really doesn't matter if you know anything about Black Lightning or his family, this is a great introduction to the character.

Other Information

ISBN: 1848565410
Price: £14.99

Black Lightning's other eponymous series have not been collected in trade. His most frequent appearances recently have been in the Outsiders title, of which his daughter Alissa is a member. The collected trades start with Looking for Trouble. We reviewed the series here.

Jen Van Meter is the writer of the independent title Hopeless Savages and has also written a mini-series for Marvel: Amazing Spider-Man Presents: Black Cat. This is another stand alone story that you don't need to know a thing about the character to follow.

Cully Hamner was the artist on the fantastic Warren Ellis-penned book Red - recently adapted into a movie that had very little to do with the book. He's also worked on the excellent Blue Beetle series (start with Road Trip) and The Question: Pipeline, the latter written by Jen's husband, Greg Rucka.

Wonder Woman: Eyes of the Gorgon

2011-08-25T12:00:00.000+01:00

Writer: Greg Rucka
Penciller: Drew Johnson, James Raiz, Sean Philips
Colourist: Ray Snyder, Sean Philips
Inker: Richard & Tanya Horie
Letterer: Todd Klein
Publisher: DC Comics

What's it about?
It's a book based heavily on Greek myth and legend. Previously, the Gorgon sisters Stheno and Euryale coerced the sorcerer Circe into resurrecting their third sister, the monstrous Medusa. Once revived, Medusa is burning with the thirst for revenge on Athena, responsible for cursing her. The sisters decide the best to do this is to slaughter Wonder Woman, Athena's champion on Earth. Of course, a lot of time has passed since they last walked the earth so the plan does not go smoothly.

Woven in and around the main plot are intrigues and plotting of a higher nature, as Athena stirs up rebellion among the Gods of Olympus.

Like the best Greek stories, this is a book of heroism, honour, sacrifice, love and tragedy.

What's good about it?
It's an excellent portrayal of Wonder Woman. This particular volume falls right in the middle of Greg Rucka's run on the series and by this point he is really shining. He has a great feel for Diana, her motivations and her history. Where many writers manage to completely mangle the idea of Wonder Woman, Rucka handles her with grace and respect.

There are a few scenes of cultural clashes between the Amazons and Man's world, these are written with a biting sense of realism (in the best sense) and serve to further draw the reader into Wonder Woman's world.

Medusa is full of rage and bile, Stheno is annoying and Euryale ambitious. These three ancient characters are brought to life and humanised in a way that I had not expected nor encountered before. The ties to ancient Greece are strong throughout the book. Wonder Woman lives and works in a Themyscirian embassy, her clothes are based on Greek designs and her battle armour (pleated leather skirt, shield, axe, straps to the bustier!) has an old warrior feel to it. She has a minotaur for a chef! He's called Ferdinand.

This book has an introduction which brings the reader up to date with what has gone before and helps new readers start the Wonder Woman story from this book.

What's bad about it?
I think this book is a right rollicking good read and the strongest one in this particular series of Wonder Woman. The cover is rather unrestrained with the size of Diana's breasts, but inside the book her clothes and anatomy are more fitted to her role.

What's the art like?
As you can see from the scans the colours are quite muted and not as bright as more modern comics. I'm not sure if this is due to the type of ink used, the age of my copy or something else.

The cover art (back cover below), while quite lovely, is very different in style from the art inside the book. The art inside is less textured and so maybe a little less affecting in emotion. It is a good example of cartooning. of course, the best scenes are the action ones, the fights at the end in which Wonder Woman is drafted to serve as Athena's champion again. But even before this, there's plenty to keep the reader interested, whether it's the modern interpretation of the Gods or just day to day scenes.

That's Athena, Hekate and Aphrodite above. Below is Ares.

Other information
Price: £12.35
ISBN: 1401207979
So what next? Well to discover Greg Rucka's series you should read the following:

Down to Earth
Bitter Rivals
Eyes of the Gorgon
Land of the Dead
Mission's End
To read more of the Greek myth aspect try The Hikiteia and to discover the origins of Diana read Gods and Mortals.

Characters of Colour in superhero comics: the women (part 3) and a Spider-man

2011-08-22T12:00:00.003+01:00

And so we come to the final entry in the our characters of colour in comics series, looping back to focus on women again.. We hope that we've showcased characters that interests you and we hope that you've been intrigued enough to search out some books. There seem to be a lot more superhero men than women around, part of this is, I think, because there are more male superheroes than female ones, which is a pity. Another thing I think we've learnt is that ongoing superhero series tend to feature white people, not characters of colour. The only way this will change is if people buy more comics with characters of colour in them, showing the publishers that there is a demand. So please, if you like the sound of any of these characters, buy a copy of the book!

To recap, the previous entries in our series can be found here:

Women (part one), women (part two), men (part one), men (part two), men (part three), the X (wo)men,
non superhero comics here, men (part four) and the men (part five).

And now, on with the women.

White Tiger is the code name of Angela Del Toro. Angela is Puerto Rican and the fourth person to bear the name of White Tiger and the niece of the first White Tiger. She uses the Jade Tiger amulets to give her enhanced strength, speed, stamina, agility and dexterity. When she's in costume the amulets also provide camouflage, allowing her to blend in with her surroundings and go about unseen. Before she gained the amulets she was an FBI agent, so she's pretty darn clever too.

Tamora Pierce wrote a White Tiger mini series, details here, titled A Hero's Compulsion.

Black Panther is another Marvel heroine, who is also a legacy hero (someone who has taken the codename of another hero and is continuing their work). Shuri is the sister of T'Challa, both of whom are African royalty (we wrote about T'Challa here). When Shuri became the Black Panther she also became ruler of Wakanda, the African nation her and T'Challa are from. The Panther spirit is the local God, and the King is considered to be the God's living Avatar. AS such, the Black Panther identity is a rank of office, giving the post holder access to magical artifacts to improve strength, speed, stamina and agility. You can read about how Shuri became the Black Panther in The Deadliest of the Species.

Sticking with Marvel comics, we now move on to Sabra. Also known as Ruth Bat-Seraph, she is Israeli with superhuman levels of strength, speed, agility, reflexes, endurance, and stamina. She can also transfer her power to other people, helping them heal from grievous wounds. She was brought up in an Israeli kibbutz and worked for the Mossad, (Israeli Secret Service). She has fought powerhouses like the Hulk and survived. She is a mutant, i.e. like the X-Men she is a member of homo superior not homo sapiens. Sadly she's not had any solo series or headlined many series arcs, but you can find a list of her appearances here.

Now to a couple of other heroines. We have previously reviewed Planetary by Warren Ellis. Planetary is an organisation determined to discover the world's secret history andone of the team members characters in this book is Jakita Wagner, a woman witha British father and African mother who was raised in Germany.She is a powerhouse possessed of a low tolerance for boredom and a voraciouscuriosity. To read about her, you simply have to buy a Planetary book!

And lastly, we have Detective Enki Sunrisefrom the Powers series. Powers is an independent ongoing series focusing on two cops who's job it is to investigate superhuman crimes. It is in no way related to DC or Marvel. It's also pretty damn great. Enki first turned up in issue 25, collected in volume 6 the Sellouts, replacing a white character in the police force. You can read a short interview with the creator here where they discuss her introduction.

OK, so maybe Ms Sunrise isn't the last one. Big news was made a few weeks ago when Marvel revealed that they now have a biracial Spider-man! This isn't in the main universe, it's in the Ultimate universe, where the major stories are being retold in a more modern fashion. In this universe, Peter Parker has been killed and young Miles Morales takes up the Spider-man identity. This was revealed in a very short segment of the issue Ultimate Fallout #4. This issue was about how various people reacted to Peter's death, so young Miles was never going to get a big feature. But in future issues this half Black, half Hispanic kid will be Spider-man! How cool is that? We'll keep you updated as to what trades he appears in, but for the moment, it's a pretty safe bet that he'll be in Ultimate Spider-man. if you fancy reading about fan reaction to this news and background about the event try this link post from When Fangirls Attack!.

And that's it from us, at least until we get some more heroes to write about. We will be reviewing books with these characters in so please stick around, or, if you want more brain food I can recommend the blog Comic Books for Coloured Folks. At New readers.. we firmly believe that everybody should be able to read about people like them. I hope that this series of posts has proved that there are diverse characters out there for people of every skin colour. There may not be enough, they may not have headline titles, but they are there and well written about. It's s start, let's hope it gets better.

Green Arrow: Crawling Through the Wreckage

2011-08-19T12:00:00.017+01:00

Writer: Judd Winick
Penciller: Scott McDaniel
Inker: Andy Owens
Colorist: Guy Major
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
Oliver Queen is a multi millionaire with a secret identity - he is also the masked vigilante Green Arrow, crimefighter of Star City. We start this story one year after a large proportion of the city was blown up. In the last year a wall has been built, effectively ghettoising the poorer parts of the city (sound familiar?); corporate fat cats are trying to turn a profit at the expense of human lives and a former criminal is the only one bothering to keep the peace in the ghetto. Oliver is not happy with these developments. But that's OK, because at the end of issue one we discover that he's now Mayor of Star City (and still moonlighting as Green Arrow).

He doesn't have any superpowers, just a bow and arrow, a liberal ideology and a desire to defend the people of his city. He's always been the outsider, criticising 'the man' and now he's taken a role in government. At heart, Ollie is an easy-going sort, but considering his home has been blown up and he's now in politics, he tends to comes across as rather grumpy. Still, he's an entertaining character, one of my favourites, and this is one of the best Green Arrow books out there.

What's good about it?
Not only is this about one of my favourite characters, but it contains one of my favourite ever issues. The master assassin Deathstroke has been hired to kill the mayor of Star City. Deathstroke knows full well that Ollie is both mayor and Green Arrow, but as he likes a challenge that's no problem. The scenes in which he finds Ollie, fights him and is defeated are masterfully told. They are a wonderful collaboration between writer and artists and the energy fairly leaps from the book. As you keep turning the pages the emotions intensify, the action builds up and builds up until you get to the explosive last page, where you cannot help but feel a sense of triumph and justice. Alas, I cannot post many scans from these scenes as it would spoil it, but trust me, it's a thrilling read.

Later on Mia, Green Arrow's teenaged sidekick, arrives on the scene. She's great. She's so much fun and unlike other female heroes she doesn't wear a revealing uniform. She's also HIV positive, a fact that was revealed in the Moving Targets trade, the volume just before this one. She is most definitely a positive role model for young women, HIV positive or not. This picture is a wonderful portrayal of her:

Just look at her. She's graceful, athletic and quite clearly having the time of her life. I've read this book many times but only recently registered that this page featured Ollie. The focus is very much on Mia, as it should be.

Normally we review trades that collect the start of a series, but this one is volume 8. It's a set a year after something called the Infinite Crisis. Infinite Crisis was a big 'event' for DC comics and after it finished all DC titles jumped forward one year. This meant that the readers had no idea what had happened over the last year and had to start afresh. This sounds new reader friendly but it didn't always work out like that as the issues with the one year later tag recapped past actions, past history and past events in such a way that is could be confusing even for long term readers. However, unlike many other series, Green Arrow is actually new reader friendly. The background is explained clearly and briefly in the first few pages and from then on it's straightforward.

What's bad about it?
Judd Winick gets a lot of bad press on the comic blogosphere, partly because he doesn't always write other people's characters well. Green Arrow is not his own character, but this trade sits towards the end of a long run on the title, and by this point his Oliver Queen and associates is firmly established in character and written well. What I'm trying to say is, the usual complaints about Winick's work don't apply here, and I don't really have any criticisms to make of the book.

What's the art like?
I think the art is a perfect match for the type of story Judd Winick tells. It's a got a retro feel to it, which fits in well with Oliver Queen's old fashioned approach to crime fighting. Green Arrow has his roots in the Silver Age, the 1950s to 1970s. He's an idealist and a hippy, without the new age beliefs. McDaniel's lines, Owen's ink and Major's colours combine to produce blocky pieces that throw you into the action. There's some interesting uses of perspective, for example:

That's Deathstroke by the way.

McDaniels is good at action scenes and creative with his panels. Some pages will have the characters scrambling to get out of danger in a path that takes them off the comic book page, others will have dramatic poses to highlight the hero of the piece:

There's a lot of vigour and energy in the artwork. It feels like an action movie in paper format. If you like big explosive films, like Die Hard, or Demolition Man, or any of those wonderful 1980s films about a hard guy in a dangerous situation you'll probably like this book.

Other information
ISBN: 1845764463
Price: £8.99

The rest of this series is collected into trades, and the reading order is as follows:

Quiver - this is written by Kevin Smith, who also did the films Clerks, Chasing Amy, Mallrats and more.
Sounds of Violence - also written by Kevin Smith
Archer's Quest
Straight Shooter
City Walls
Moving Targets
Heading Into the Light
Crawling Through the Wreckage
The Road to Jericho - This tells the story of what happened in the year between Infinite Crisis and Crawling from the Wreckage.

Amazon lists a lot of these as out of print, but they shouldn't be too hard to get hold of. Try eBay, your local comics shop or bookstore for copies.

After this, Green Arrow got another series, called Green Arrow/Black Canary, in which him and the Canary got married and continued their costumed adventuring. This was also a pretty good series and we will be reviewing the first trade from it at a later date. however if you want to find more Green Arrow books to read, the full trade reading order is located here or, you can look for the other books we've reviewed here.

Marvels

2011-08-16T12:00:00.000+01:00

Writer: Kurt Busiek
Art: Alex Ross
Letterer: Richard Starkings
Publisher: Marvel

What's it about?
Marvels is the story of the Marvel universe, from 1939 to 1974, told through the eyes of journalist Phil Sheldon. From the elegant black cover, to the back page, it's an astonishing story of the rise of the superhero and what it means for ordinary people. As the name suggests, it's a book to inspire awe and wonder, it is truly a marvel.

What's good about it?
It's a beautifully drawn, original and remarkable book. Even now, nearly twenty years after it was first published there is not much else truly like it. The concept of telling Marvel's history through the eyes of a non powered observer, was something new back then, and even today, this sort of perspective isn't a common one.

Phil Sheldon brings a sense of humanity to the narrative. In the best tradition of superhero books, he is a journalist. He starts the book by telling us that Europe is where it's at, that that's where he's going to make his name. Then he attends a presentation by Phineas Horton, who is introducing the first Human Torch to the world, and Sheldon realises that something big is happening right on his doorstep. Soon after, Namor the Sub Mariner makes his appearance. The general public doesn't know what to make of these new powered beings, some think it's a hoax, some are terrified of the damage they can cause. Sheldon wonders how he can bring up a family in a city as unpredictable as New York has become.

Then Captain America arrives, bringing a sense of reassurance and patriotism to the American public, and then there's the Hulk, and Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer and more. Public perception of the Marvels changes, sometimes they are hailed as heroes, sometimes they are vilified. Throughout all this Sheldon reports on them, investigating tragedies and celebrating successes.

If you want to get into Marvel this book serves as a potted history of all the important events in Marvel's back catalogue and is an excellent start.

What's bad about it?
There's very little bad about this book. I love it. I wish it had gone on longer, covering events past 1974. It gives a broad outline of the major events in the Marvel universe, but it doesn't go into specifics about everything. If you've seen the Marvel films (Spider-man, X-Men, Fantastic Four etc) you'll certainly recognise many events. To get more detail on each incident you will have to go and read the original stories! (I know, it's a tough world isn't it ;)

What's the art like?
It's beautiful. Alex Ross paints everything and uses real models to base his characters on. Yet he still manages to produce decent sequential art, where the story is told in the pictures form panel to panel. In short, he draws (paints) real people, with real clothing in amazing situations. This splash page covering two pages is a good example of the ambition and sense of grandeur he gives to his work:

Or look at this piece of the Silver Surfer. Take note of the detail and texture of the Surfer's body. the rocks behind him and the reflections:

My edition of the book has a section at the back showing how he creates this pieces. One particular age really stood out for me, as it showed how he used his parents as stand ins for Richard Reed and Sue Storm at the wedding:

Not only is it an interesting look into Ross' artistic process, I also think it's just lovely that he used his parents as the base models for the most solid, loving relationship in the Marvel Universe. This doesn't really add anything to the story, but it does make the book a nicer 'thing' to have.

Other information
You can buy it in paperback or hardcover, the price varies from £12.99 to £18.99. I have it in hardback and I think it's well worth spending the extra money. Have a look at those links as they have a 'look inside' feature where you can read the first few pages of the book.

If you like Alex Ross's work check out Justice and Kingdom Come published by DC Comics and his website. For Kurt Busiek check out his Conan series, Superman: Secret Identity or his Astro City series.

Characters of Colour in superhero comics - the men (part five)

2011-08-12T12:00:00.006+01:00

This is the more independent edition, where we look at a few of the male characters of colour who sit outside of the mainstream superhero comics published by Marvel and DC.

You can read previous entries in the series here:
women (part one)
women (part two)
men (part one)
men (part two)
men (part three)
the X (wo)men
non superhero comics here
men (part four)
women (part three) and a Spider-man

Blade is a Black half-vampire Londoner. Strictly speaking, his entry should have gone in the Marvel characters entry, but to most people Blade has nothing to do with spandex clad superheroes and I would guess this has a lot to do with the films starring Wesley Snipes as Blade. He has dedicated his life to hunting down vampires and destroying them. The films were pretty good, if you're a vampire fan you should check them out.

Unfortunately there have not been many (if any) ongoing series starring Blade, meaning there's not a lot in print. Your best bet might be to find the Ultimate Avengerscollection named Blade Versus Avengers. It's quite good if a bit action focused and light on character. Or you could try two recent Captain Britainand MI-13 books - Hell Comes to Birmingham and Vampire State, in which Blade is one of the British super -heroes drafted into MI-13 to fight the vampire menace. As an added incentive, you also get to read Dracula's secret gothic castle, based on the moon!

Now moving away from Marvel and DC, we come across Thugboy from Empowered. Empowered is about an inept superheroine who gets her powers from her suit, but seeing as her suit gets ripped up really easily this leads to her getting kidnapped and tied up quite a lot. Thugboy is her love interest who used to be an evil minion. None of the characters have real names, one is named Ninjette, another Captain Rivet, another Jugganaut and so on. It's an adult comic, drawn in a manga style and contains a lot of sex. It's not for children. Thugboy is Asian.

The 99 are the world's first superheroes based on Islamic culture and traditions. Created by Dr Naif Al-Mutawa, each member of the 99 has a power or ability based on the 99 attributes of Allah, for example, Jabbar: The Powerful, Noora: The Light, Darr: The Afflicter, Jami: The Assembler. From the website:

"Each of THE 99 possesses a certain gemstone that has imbued in it a special power. While each of our heroes has their own power, each of their powers is enhanced by working in teams of three. Our characters must decide which three heroes and sets of powers are best suited to solve the problem at hand. It is through this process that the values of tolerance and diversity become one of the 99’s most valuable continuing story themes."

The series isn't explicitly religious in nature, instead it aims to communicate Islamic virtues which Al-Mutawa view as universal. President Obama even gave them a shout out! You can't buy The 99 series in the shops but you can buy and download digital issues from the website. The 99 did team up with DC's Justice League of America for six issues, but I don't think it was a particularly good series. There are no signs of it being collected into trade yet.

Finally, we present Al Simmons. He's the main protagonist of the Spawn series, and is Black. Simmons story starts when he worked as a government assassin. He was murdered and sent to hell, where he made a deal with the devil, Malebolgia, to return to earth to see his wife again. In return for this favour, he becomes a hellspawn, where they gain special powers, armour and have to fight in Malebolgia's army. When Simmons is returned to earth he finds that's in five years in the future and all is not as he left it.
As you can guess, making a deal with any devil is never going to turn out well. The Spawn story is about how Simmons lives his new life - taking down criminals, trying to break free of hell's control over him and trying to come to terms with his actions in life.

You could start in the Spawn universe by reading Spawn Origins volume 1.

Finding out about monthly issues

2011-08-09T12:00:00.004+01:00

On this here blog we usually talk about trades – those books that collect between 4 and 8 issues of a monthly comic. We do this because we believe it is an easier way in for readers, but as big changes are afoot at DC comics I think it’s about time to talk about the monthly issues and where to find them. We have briefly talked about the different publishing houses here, so this post shall serve as a bit of a reminder.

DC comics

DC are relaunching their entire universe in September. All issues will be renumbered to number 1 and the idea is that they serve as a great starting point for new readers. The first issue of this relaunch, out on August 31^st, will be the JLA (Justice League of America). This issue will set the scene for the new DC universe (DCU) and will introduce us to the world. If you follow me or other comics fans on twitter you will have seen quite a few tweets referencing the DCnU – this stands for DC new Universe, and refers to the relaunch.

Reactions have been mixed. All heroes have been given new costumes, based on a design ethos from the 1990s, and their origins and timeline of the DC universe, as we now know it, has changed. DC included a lot more characters of colour in their 52 new issues, but dropped a lot of female characters. Initially there were few female creators involved. However because of the questions posed by a woman dressed as Batgirl at the recent San Diego Comic Con, Dc have promised that a lot more female creators will be involved. To find out more about this you can read an interview with the fan, known on twitter as kyrax2, here, and you can also read about the u-turn DC have made since the convention, here.

The good news is that the issues will be available digitally on the day of release, so if you can’t get to a comic shop you can download them easily and quickly. To find out more about all this go here or scroll through the list of titles on sale in September here.

Vertigo

Vertigo is an imprint of DC and generally publishes more mature, adult (not pornographic) comics. Although a lot of Vertigo's titles nominally belong in the same universe as DC's main books, they have a very different flavour and do sit far apart in mood, theme and style from DC's straightforward superhero books. You may see DC characters in Vertigo titles, and vice versa, but Vertigo's books can be read without nay knowledge or interest in the DCU. As such, these comics will be unaffected by the DC relaunch. Read more about Vertigo here and browse the comics on sale here. We have reviewed various Vertigo books already, and if you click here, you will see all reviews tagged with the Vertigo label.

Marvel

Marvel is DC’s main competitor. We have reviewed several Marvel books on this site, but not as many as DC. This isn’t a statement on the quality of Marvel’s universe – it’s just that most of the bloggers are primarily DC fans (If you’re a Marvel fan and want to submit reviews please email me on paicomics@yahoo.co.uk!).

Marvel’s website is much better organised than DC and they are the ones responsible for most of the superhero movies we’ve had lately – Thor, captain America, Iron Man, Hulk to name a few. If you visit the Marvel website you’ve got a decent banner across the top giving you links to characters, movies videos, games and of course comics. Scroll further down the page and you see a link to ‘comics on sale this week’.

If you click through to the ‘comic book’ section from the top banner, you get to this page where they very helpfully list current in comic events, including something called point one, which is a great jumping on point for new readers, apparently. I say apparently, I haven't read any of the books, but it seems like a great way to get new readers started.

Image
Image can be found here and they publish a range of genres. They have some horror comics, some sci-fi comics, superhero and monster books. They have published the wonderfully creepy Morning Glories and also do the Walking Dead books, which is about a zombie apocalypse and is a must read for all horror fans. To see what they are releasing this week, go here.

Dark Horse

To my mind, Dark Horse have a higher presence than Image, but only because they publish more recognisable spin offs. For example, they published all of Joss Whedon's universes in comic form - Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, the Angel comics and the Serenity spin offs. They have just published the first issue for a new Dollhouse series (and it's very very good), and they also do Star Wars, Hellboy and Conan the Cimmerian comics (the Conan ones are also highly recommended).
probably Publishers of Buffy, Angel, Dollhouse (highly recommended), star wars, hellboy, conan.

http://www.darkhorse.com/. To see Dark Horse's release on any given week go here.

Don't forget that you can also buy digital comics from all the publishing houses on Comixology. They quite often do sales and other promotions so have a browse and sign up to their mailing list, or follow them on twitter, if you want more information.

Alternatively, we have compiled a list of recommended comic shops. If you think your shop be on there let me know!

Blankets

2011-08-06T12:00:00.003+01:00

Writer/Illustrator: Craig Thompson
Publisher: Top Shelf

What's it about?

In an autobiographical tale, Craig Thompson tells the story of his childhood and adolescence, focused through the lens of first teenage love. In many ways, it is a very typical and relatable story of growing up.

Growing up in a fundamentalist Christian family in Wisconsin, Craig struggles with his relationship with his brother, with God, and the other people in his life. Plagued by feelings of inadequacy heaped on him by his parents and other adults, and rejected by his peers at school, Craig is a loner who isn't quite sure where he fits in this unpleasant, trying world.

At Church Camp as a teenager, Craig meets Raina, a young woman of his own age to whom he is instantly drawn by her apparent loner status and her disregard for the established rules. The camp friendship becomes a letter writing flirtation, which results in Craig spending two weeks visiting her house. All the while, the story is interspersed with tales from his own childhood, showing the many many events that have influenced his development as a brother, a Christian, and a man.

It sounds like a relatively mundane tale, and nothing especially out of the ordinary happens to Craig or to Raina - one traumatic experience from his childhood aside, but he tells the story with such care, and renders his characters with such sympathy and beauty, that somehow a story of teenage love becomes a book that I for one was actually unable to put down.

What's good about it?
First, of course, the art and the page layouts, which effortlessly combine words with pictures into one unified narrative, and which I will rave about later.

Beyond that, there's the care and compassion with which Thompson constructs the characters around him. It would be tempting, with the kind of experiences he's talking about, to paint adults and authority figures as adversarial and monstrous, but Thompson never gives into that temptation. His adults are torn, stressed and sympathetic characters with easy to understand motivations so that, while we feel for the plight of the boy Craig, we understand the reactions of the adults round him and why they act the way they do.

Well, for the most part.

This is a book about children, but it's not a book for children. All the way through, Thompson relates his experiences with a tender voice that presumes we, the readers, will understand what the boy is putting himself through. He presents his self esteem and self flagellation without commentary, and it is left to us to find the sympathy he needs.

Reading Blankets is like having a conversation with Thompson himself. While the main romance does follow a linear timeline from the first meeting to the dissolution of the relationship, he constantly dips into his childhood for anecdotes that relate to and and connect with the experience in the story. The connections are seamless, and the whole story comes together in the beautiful way that the subject matter deserves.

What's bad about it?This book should come with a trigger warning for child abuse, to be honest. One particular incident is particularly explicit, and although Thompson doesn't dwell on it, it's referred to more than once. On top of that, even the frustrated, reactionary punishments meted out by his parents can be pretty hard reading for anyone who had a hard childhood.None of this is handled in any sort of inappropriate manner; it's touching and disturbing and deliberately painful, a very powerful reminder of how painful childhood can be. But it's a hard read for someone sensitive to those issues.

What's the art like?

Absolutely beautiful.

One of the advantages of having one creator over separate writers/pencillers/inkers is that the words, the pictures and the layouts flow together in one continuous art form; the words form part of the art and the art is so expressive that it speaks volumes on top of the dialogue. Like the best comic art, Thompson can tell decent chunks of his story without words at all.

The book is all in black and white line drawings, hand drawn and shaded in a way that really makes you believe Thompson sat down and drew the whole thing from beginning to end. His art is deceptively simplistic and almost cartoonish, but so expressive that the emotions and movement of each character comes through in very few lines.

This simple, flowing style is perfect for the simple, beautiful story of love and growing up that Thompson is telling here. Raina is flawless and beautiful, and Craig, the first person protagonist is blocky and awkward, suited to a teenager still not sure of himself.

I never expected to like Blankets, but I cannot forget it.

Other Information
ISBN: 1-81830-43-0
Price: Amazon have it on sale for £15.75, but usual price around £22.50

Craig Thompson has another comic in print: Good-bye Chunky Rice, and a third coming out later this year called Habibi.

The Question: Zen and Violence

2011-08-03T12:00:00.001+01:00

written by Dennis O'Neil
pencils by Denys Cowan
inks by Rick Magyar
colours by Tatjana Wood
letters by Gaspar Saladino and Albert DeGuzman

What's It About?Vic Sage is an investigative reporter in corrupt and rotten Hub City, using his secret identity as the mysterious Question to further his television career. He is arrogant, selfish and reckless and one day he finds himself lying on the bottom of the river. One lucky rescue later he goes into training to become a better fighter so he can survive his return to Hub City and maybe even become a better hero in the process.

O'Neil and Cowan's The Question is a potent mix of mystery, violence and philosophy written in the noir manner.

What's Good About It?
What sets The Question apart from a lot of other comic series is its philosophical complexity. O'Neil is a writer who loves issues. Another of his series, Green Lantern And Green Arrow (reviewed here) dealt with the issues of race and class in 1970s America, and The Question is similarly issue-led.

Hub City is a place of urban decay and moral corruption. The mayor is a non-functioning alcoholic controlled by his advisers, the police are on the take to a man and even the hero of the piece often can't claim the moral high ground. In a sense the whole environment of Hub City is Vic's enemy and Vic is just a normal man blessed with neither superhuman power (like Superman) or massive wealth and resources (like Batman). He isn't even blessed with a clear conscience. The Question also departs from the conventions of superhero comics by treating violence as something that has tangible consequences. Everyone in this book is human: they will die if shot, their bones break, they can be debilitated by the level of pain they're in. This is far from the traditional level of power fantasy at which comicbook violence usually operates.

That's the noir side of things dealt with so let's get to the real moneymaker of The Question: the philosophy. In place of the traditional “kid sidekick” Vic has Aristotle “Tot” Rodor, an aging PHD who acts as the hero's sounding board and as the source of much of the series' philosophy. This is a very literate series, more literate even than it seems from this collection (as we'll see in the What's Bad section). One of the best chapters in this book is the final one which deals with the story's fallout from the perspective of the ordinary citizens of Hub City and the feeling of impotence one person, even the hero, can feel in the face of chaos.

Zen And Violence isn't much for the spectacular set-pieces of superhero comics but it more than makes up for it with solid characters and the depth of its storytelling.

What's Bad About It?There is an utterly pointless appearance by Batman in this book. He flounces into the story, growls out some passive-aggressive advice at Vic and flounces out again. At the time this was a good marketing ploy to shift issues of a new and untried series but in hindsight it is a massive disruption to the plot that doesn't even fit the tone of the series.

There is also an unfortunate omission from the material collected in this book. O'Neil is a very well-read writer and he even wrote philosophy reading lists that were published in the letters pages so the readers could bone up on the ideas that went into the story. Sadly the lists weren't included in the collected editions, though I'm sure they exist on the internet somewhere.

What's the Art Like?
Hub City being such a dark and terrible place Denys Cowan and Rick Magyar's art is big on shadows: deep black voids in the world and the smaller bits of hatching that introduce shadow to everything.

Much of the book is drawn in this style: atmospheric backgrounds framing two people in conversation. The Question largely does away with the flashier aspects of comics: the colourful costumes, the magic superpowers, the spaceships and zappy ray guns. This book has to stand more on its characters and so real effort had to go into making the visual aspect of the series as interesting as the dialogue because if it wasn't then it begs the question: why not just write a book?

It's all about mood. This example here: shadows, smoke, darkness and fear. The art tells more than just the basic visual information of setting and set dressing, it's used to inform the reader of as much emotional as possible.

Fight scenes draw the eye to the action by largely removing the backgrounds so nothing is left but the physical choreography. The only background detail on this page is the snowman behind the girl being kidnapped, a symbol of the child's innocence against the innocence-shattering horror of her kidnapping.

Other InformationThe Question: Zen and Violence (ISBN 978-1-4012-1579-8) retails for £12.99 and is available from Amazon here.

Superman: The Black Ring Volume 1

2011-07-31T12:00:00.001+01:00

Writer: Paul Cornell
Artists: Pete Woods, Cafu, Pere Perez and Sean Chen

Inkers: Pete Woods, bit, Pere Perez and Wayne Faucher

Colorist: Brad Anderson

Letterer: Rob Leigh

Publisher: DC Comics

Today's guest review has been written by Anj, who usually blogs about all things Supergirl related at Supergirl Comic Box Commentary, one of the best resources for Supergirl fans on the web. Here he introduces himself:

This is Anj from Supergirl Comic Box Commentary and I was thrilled to be asked to review the Lex Luthor-centric trade Superman:The Black Ring Volume 1, which collects Action Comics #890-895. As a lifelong Superman Family fan, I think this is an interesting choice for review. Despite its name, Superman is not seen in this portion of the story at all, having gone on an introspective walk across America in a story called ‘Grounded’ in the Superman title. With Superman away, Luthor steps into to star in the title. And Lex is also free to do what he wants. It is most definitely a Luthor story but with a couple of interesting wrinkles to his characterization.

Whats it about?

This is the first half of a story arc in which Luthor is questing for Black Lantern energy globes and therefore ultimate power. From a continuity point of view, this story takes place after Blackest Night, a huge crossover event in which beings called Black Lanterns, essentially zombies, wielded the power of the dead to try to destroy all life. The details of this event aren't necessary for the new reader as long as they can roll with Luthor’s goal of finding and controlling Black Lantern Energy.

Luthor’s quest for this power takes him on a journey where he encounters numerous other villains of the DC Universe: Mr. Mind, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, and Vandal Savage. He also meets Death from the Sandman universe. Luthor is joined on his quest with some allies, a right hand man named Spalding and a Lois Lane robot (a Lois-bot) who acts as lover, confidant, and counselor.

Whats good about it?

There is a lot to like about this series.

Cornell does a good job showcasing Luthor’s character – his motivations, his need for power, his hatred of Superman. By having Lex interact with a variety of other villains, Cornell is able to contrast Luthor and his goals to these others. This contrast helps better define Lex.

There is also a nice current of dark humor throughout this storyline. There aren’t laugh-out-loud moments or pratfalls, but there I found myself smirking or chuckling many times here.

And Cornell really has a nice handle on the Death character. She is funny and cute but also exudes the strength and nobility of someone in her position.

Perhaps the best introduction to the DCU in this book was Lois-Bot. For one, there is something creepy about the fact that Lex built this thing in the image of Lois, showing just how jealous or outraged he is that someone like Lois would love Superman/Clark. She also has some nice moments, nudging Lex to do some things but clearly loving him. On top of that, she is the muscle of this couple breaking out the guns when she has to. She is fascinating to watch because she has the feel of a Femme Fatale in a Noir movie. What are her motivations?

Whats the art like?

Pete Woods does the bulk of the artwork here and really shines. His style is slick and organic, with no hard edges. He clearly is having fun here, especially with Lois-Bot who he dresses in a wide range of styles – 40s glamour, jungle explorer, Amelia Earhart style aviator. There are a lot of quiet moments here where Woods is able to add to the moment with good expressive work on the characters. He also handles the fight scenes well.

Sean Chen does the art on the Grodd issue which veers towards the silly with the gorilla’s physically humorous acts. While Chen’s style differs from Woods, it works fine on that story.

Whats bad about it?

The one drawback to this book is that it is clear that Lex is being manipulated by at least one other villain/presence. As a result this book shows a much more impulsive, hands on Luthor. I usually think of Lex as being a step ahead of everyone, putting pawns in place to do the dirty work, more restrained and calculating. I think Lex would rather bide his time and do things in the most discrete way instead of racing into things himself. As a result, this book isn’t the quintessential Luthor book. New readers shouldn’t expect Luthor to physically investigate things himself rather than sending out his lackeys to do so for him.

That said, it is clear that Luthor knows he is acting unlike himself. He voices when he thinks he is acting unusually. And the reactions of other characters do help build a sense of who the ‘real’ Luthor is.

If you don’t know much about comics, this book will be a nice way to meet new villains. But the books are written in a way that information about the other villains is assumed. You may find the Savage issue confusing if you don’t understand that Savage (below) is immortal, has lived for millennia, and has a daughter who is also a super-villain.

Other info
The hardcover is currently available priced at £14.99 (that's quite cheap for a hardback comic), ISBN: 0857682105. The paperback will be released in February 2012, details are here.
Volume 2 will be out in September 2011 priced at £18.52, ISBN: 1401232035.
Price:

Cornell has written Captain Britain and MI13 for Marvel as well as Knight and Squire for DC. There are trades for these available.

Pete Woods' work can be found in the World of New Krypton and Last Stand of New Krypton trades.

Meet the team!

2011-07-28T12:00:00.009+01:00

Given the new reviewers we have gathered over the last six months or so I thought it was high time we gave you a bit more information about the regulars! Here goes nothin':

Eyz: I'm a graphic designer from Switzerland. I have first studied Mathematics & Physics, then went into art & communication later. What I would really want to do for a living would be drawing comics and illustrations - but this goal is currently "on hold". In the meantime, I keep a blog and make silly comic strip parodies.

You can find Eyz at his blog G33K life. Eyz also did our banner for this blog, and I'm loving it.

James: The wandering mind of James Ashelford generally runs towards mysteries, science-fiction and character comedy in just about any medium but particularly comics. Quite apart from enthusing about graphic novels here he blogs about all and sundry at A Less Than Reputable Source from wargames to comics to classic radio comedy.

Debi: Debi moved from London to New York when she decided that one postgraduate degree wasn't enough and she still wasn't ready to get a real job. Having spent her twenties studying dinosaurs, she's now
studying educational theory so she can make all your children love dinosaurs just as much. If science museum educators could get away with wearing tights and a cape, it would be her ideal job.

You can find Debi at Thagomiser. Debi is our newest reviewer so we look forward to seeing her reviews soon!

Lissbirds: When she's not obsessing over comics, Liss obsesses over classic movies and ballet. Her sole ambition in life is to own a lemur. And to publish a novel. Oh, and to become Supreme Dictator of the World and institute a four-day work week, National Squirrel Appreciation Day, and make it a law that all men must wear hats, preferably Fedoras. In her spare time she enjoys sarcasm, lolcats, and things that are purple.

You can find Liss at Comics Make Me Happy.

Our guest contributers can be found on twitter, and if you want to find out more about them visit this list for everyone involved in the blog.

As for me, I'm Saranga. I live in the UK and have loved comics for most of my life, although for years and years I was far too embarrassed to actually buy them - that only started when I was about 23. From there my fannishness just blossomed and now (aged 31) I buy between 3 and 12 issues a week. When not nerding out over comics I learn British Sign Language and am intending to qualify as an Interpreter, although that may take a few years yet. I also blog at Pai where I talk about comics, feminism, Ddeaf stuff, politics, Smallville, Buffy and more comics. You can find me on twitter @sarangacomics.

This blog was my idea, I decided to set it up as there seemed to be very little resources helping people get into comics - most blogs assume you already read comics, and that's not very helpful to the newbie. I am eternally grateful to my co-bloggers for their enthusiasm and dedication to this site. I hope you all are finding it interesting and useful. As ever, if you have any questions or remarks, leave us a comment! We do our best to respond.

Characters of Colour in superhero comics - the men (part 4)

2011-07-25T12:00:00.007+01:00

Aaand we're back to our characters of colour series. Showcasing the best, most interesting or most prominent characters of colour in superhero comics, and a few other genres besides. You can read previous entries on women (part one) here, women (part two) here, men (part one) here, men (part two) here, men (part three) here, the X (wo)men here, non superhero comics here, men part five and finally women (part three) and a Spider-man.

With this entry we're going back to DC comics.

First up, a gentleman named Mr Terrific. Michael Holt is African American, atheist and a genius. He took on the mantle of Mr Terrific in 1997 (the first Mr Terrific was a white guy named Terry Sloane). he has invented 'T-Spheres' which can do practically anything - renders Holt invisible to technology and allow him to fly, collect and transmit information, create holograms, release electrical charges and so on. As Mr Terrific, Holt is a member of the Justice Society of America, the precursors to the more famous Justice League who now train up the young heroes of tomorrow. He has also been in the Checkmate series, the secret government agency running the Suicide Squad.

To read about Mr Terrific, you have three different series to choose from. You can try Bill Willingham's JSA: Volume 1: Axis of Evil and Volume 2: The Bad Seed. You can try Greg Rucka's Checkmate, (and also get to read about the amazing Amanda Waller): Volume 1: Outsiders/Checkmate (a crossover with the Outsiders series, this is the first in the series but may not have much Mr Terrific in), Volume 2: Fall of the Wall, Volume 3: Kings Game, Volume 4: Pawn Breaks.

From September, DC Comics are relaunching their comics and Mr Terrific is getting his own series. The issues will come out monthly and be priced at $2.99 (American) or about £2.20 (Sterling). You will also be able to buy digital copies on the same day the hardcopy is released.

Next up is Bronze Tiger. His civilian name is Ben Turner and he possess no superhuman powers but is a superb martial artist. Although growing up in an affluent area he had a bit of a rough childhood as he defended his parents from a burglar attack, using a knife. As he grew older he turned to crime. He is now somewhere between the good and the bad, as he works for Amanda Waller's Suicide Squad, a superhuman task force working for the government, often on quite shady missions. He has also been a member of the Justice league Task Force with better known heroes such as Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter and Flash. However if you want to read about him I would suggest starting with John Ostrander's Suicide Squad, which we reviewed here.

Blue Beetle, ahh, young Jamie Reyes! Jamie is Hispanic and fell into the Blue Beetle identity when he found an ancient scarab which later attached itself to his spine, and now he has instant armour and weaponry whenever he needs it. Jamie is funny, outgoing, still in high school, sometimes awed by the greater heroes he mixes with, and generally ridiculously good fun to read about.
I believe a version of Jaime appeared in Smallville season 10, with Booster Gold. This representation is a mix up of canon, as Booster is more usually paired with Ted Kord. On that note..

Don't confuse Reyes with Ted Kord or Dan Garret. These are still good characters but are older white men who previously had the Blue Beetle identity.

Try these trades:

Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle: Road Trip
Blue Beetle: Reach for the Stars
Blue Beetle: End Game
Blue Beetle: Boundaries
Blue Beetle: Black and Blue

Like Mr Terrific, Blue Beetle is also getting his own series in September. His issues will also be available digitally on the day of release.

Lastly we have Bane, a Latino Batman villain, born and raised in Peña Dura ("Hard Rock") prison. He is best known for breaking Batman's back during the Knightfall story arc. He is immensely strong and most importantly here, not stupid. He has recently been introduced into the Secret Six series. Secret Six is about a group of villains who form sort of anti hero types. They aren't pleasant, but they are real people.

It's a dirty, dark series with a lot of black humour and is what they call a fan favourite. We wrote a review of the first book in the series here (not including Bane). To read about Bane, try the Knightfall series in Knightfall part 1: Broken Bat, Knightfall part 2: Who Rules the Night and Knightfall part 3: Knightsend.

Or you could try Secret Six, start with Unhinged and continue with Depths, Danse Macabre, Cat's in the Cradle, The Reptile Brain. Bane will also be appearing in the new Batman film - The Dark Knight Rises. I'm excited about it.

We talked about DC Comics relaunching their entire range of titles in September. The good news is that there will be more characters of colour leading titles. To see the full range of books they are doing you can browse through their comics here. Click on a date to bring up the comics out that month, then if you hover over a title the cover will be shown. Click on the title to read the blurb for each book. Just don't look at Suicide Squad, please.

Batgirl: Silent Running

2011-07-21T13:45:00.002+01:00

Today's guest review is brought to you by Jamie Rimmer, who has this to say about himself:

Hmmm lets see I'm Jamie Rimmer, by day I'm a mild mannered office worker, by night a shadow lurking, comic loving geek. Paintbrush in hand I aim to right the wrongs of the World one injustice at a time. Loves superheroines, pretty art and coffee, hates bullies and small mindedness. Still waiting for my letter for Hogwarts. You can follow Jamie on twitter under @theyallfalldown.

Writers: Scott Peterson, Kelly Puckett
Penciller: Damion Scott
Inker: Robert Campanella
Colourist: Jason Wright
Letterer: John Costanza
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
This book features the origins of Cassandra “Cass” Cain, an Asian-American teen, raised to be a trained killer by her assassin David Cain. Cassandra has an uncanny knack for reading body language, at the expense or learning to read, write or speak. She can understand your thoughts, emotions and intentions by watching your body and to all intents and purposes, body movement is her language, like English, French, Russian, or Japanese is yours. Her dear old Dad chose to re-wire her brain in this way by not allowing her to hear spoken language for several years. This approach also left no room for socialisation, so Cass has no idea about normal human interaction.

Cass escaped from Cain and is now the latest in a long line of wards for the ever brooding Batman, and first wore the Bat-symbol during a yearlong crossover event between the Batman family of books called No Man’s Land. No Man’s Land saw Gotham City destroyed by an earthquake and become completely isolated from the rest of the USA. Batgirl proves herself worthy and is given the costume by the original Batgirl, Barbara Gordon, now known as Oracle, after Cass saved Barbara’s father, Police Commissioner James Gordon.

The events of Silent Running collects the first issues of Batgirl’s solo series into one neat volume. Whilst her origin is already partly established, there is enough room for Peterson and Pucket to craft exactly the kind of story that engages us as new readers. We hit the ground running, and it is re-established within the first twenty pages exactly who our Batgirl is, how she came to be, and what she might one day become.

Essentially, this book is about heart, about challenging preconceptions, the idea that we are not our parents, disability, and how to overcome barriers in the face of adversity, how to find your inner strength and voice.

Welcome to the neighbourhood Cass!

What's good about it?
Within the visual storytelling medium of comics, you’d be forgiven for a mute character might not sound like the most interesting of protagonists and it might not work, but please, bear with it, if you do you will not be disappointed!

The ease at which you find yourself drawn into the adventures of this new and shiny Batgirl are a serious credit to the writers and art team involved, and the story flows effortlessly.

The exposition is cleverly crafted through a variety of ways, for example, flashbacks are used to great effect, giving us glimpses into the horrible past that this young seventeen year old girl has endured. Speaking characters are used to excellent effect, whether its Oracle explaining to those of us who were late to the party who Cass is, or Batman seeing a lot of himself in the young and troubled Batgirl. The flow of the book is never lengthened or distorted by the fact that our heroine is both illiterate and unable to speak more than about ten words - something which perhaps changes and evolves, with the character. Cassandra is never a victim who takes things lying down, she will always overcome.

The relationship between past and present Batgirls is something born out of circumstance, and whilst an awfully convenient-pairing of the old Batgirl with the new, this is a situation which sees two heroes with disabilities (not to mention two of the only disabled characters I can think of) serving as an excellent entry into the world of Batman. Whilst their relationship is not always easy - they certainly have their differences, there also seems to be a great deal of mutual respect, Oracle comes across as very protective of her successor and gives Batman a good telling off or two which is always fun to see.

This new Batgirl is definitely a reflection of the world in which she lives; Gotham is a dark, twisted place which seems to breed serial killers and rapists at an unsustainable rate. She is in no way a “Robin” type character, all bright colours, pirouetting and swinging through the night, always ready with a flippant comment. This is a Batgirl for the new millennium, a silent and deadly shadow of the night. This is not just a sidekick, but a more than capable equal, perhaps this is why Batman’s portrayal often comes across as callous and harsh. Maybe he is so hard on her because he sees a reflection of himself.

What's bad about it?
As a fan of this series in its entirety I do find it perhaps a little harder to fill in this section, there are a few things that I guess would appeal less to some people out there. In essence Cassandra, like the mythological figure with whom she shares a name (intentional or not), was a character born out of great tragedy, a victim of child abuse who carries a lot of emotional baggage. Some people out there may find her a little off-putting.

The flashbacks are often brutal and graphic, and show just how warped our heroine has been throughout her life - comparisons between a girl she saves and her own memories of her father left me in a bad mood, but this is one of the reasons I like this book - it is challenging. It isn’t always a comfortable ride, but it is well worth the journey, to see this character grow and evolve is a beautiful thing.

One thing I would say however, some of the plotting upon re-read seems a little heavy handed, I don’t want to give away spoilers here, but in particular look out for a very convenient super power being used by a new character in a time of need.

What's the art like?
I have to admit, when I first started reading Batgirl, I wasn’t a massive fan of the art, Damion Scott’s style seemed better suited to more upbeat books, but any reservations I had were quickly and easily dispelled. To the point where I am still a massive fan of Mr Scott.

The art I feel takes a very “Marmite” approach and people either seem to hate it or fall in love with it. It is highly stylised and somewhat manga/cartoonish in its approach. It is a thing of substance, a thing of beauty: Scott’s batgirl is a deadly acrobat whose ballerina like elegance lends itself well to the action within. Another thing worth mentioning, despite not being able to see her face, Scott is graced with the story telling chops which allow us as readers to always know what Batgirl is feeling. She is emotive, powerful and expressive.

The inking of the book provided by Robert Campanella is massively influential in creating the overall tone of the book and meshes perfectly with Scott’s pencils, and Jason Wright’s colours. The palette to which we are treated is often muted, it’s not all technicolor rainbows and sparkles, and lends itself perfectly to this story set within the grim and gritty streets of Gotham City.

Other infomation
ISBN: 1563897059

Price: This is out of print, so on Amazon it's currently quite expensive. I would recommend payign upt o £15 for it.
So, what next? For the non too casual reader (it will take a lot of time and in some places effort) I would urge you to track down Batman No Man’s Land, but be aware, this isn’t for the faint hearted, this is a LONG story, but in my opinion, worth a shot if only to glimpse a peek at the girl who would eventually become Batgirl.

Next in the Batgirl saga:
· Volume 2: A Knight Alone
· Volume 3: Death Wish
· Volume 4: Fists of Fury

Unfortunately some of these books are now out of print and not always easy to track down from Amazon , I would recommend checking your local book store/comic shop.

Editor's note: As an interesting follow on from Jamie's review, I wanted to point our readers towards a couple of other bloggers' views on Cass regarding whether or not she is disabled. In this post Debi (who is also our newest contributor!) argues for Cass being considered a linguistic minority and not disabled. Joel Bryan follows Debi's post up with this one, where he compares Cass to people learning foreign languages.

I'm not taking an official stance on this, I'm not certain offhand whether or not the books address the issue of how her brain is set up (it's been a while since I read them), but I can certainly see the reasoning behind classing Cass as a linguistic minority, akin to a Deaf person who's first language is a Sign Language.

Cassandra Cain generates a lot of love in comic fandom and if you wish to find out more about her I suggest you read those posts and the responses to them! But mostly, please go find one of her books and fall in love with her as we all did!

Vixen: Return of the Lion

2011-07-13T12:00:00.002+01:00

Writer: G Willow Wilson
Artist: Cafu
Inker: Bit (finale)
Colorist: Santiago Arcas
Letterer: Rob Clark Jr
Publisher: DC

What's it about?
Vixen, or Mari MccCabe, is a member of the Justice League of America (or JLA, Earth's protectors). She has a totem which allows her to access the mophorgenic field and channel the abilities of any animal on earth - speed of a cheetah, strength of an elephant, flight of an eagle etc.

Born in Zambesi, a fictional African country, she has lived in America for many years. Now, she has discovered more details about her mother's murder. This information takes her back to Zambesi and the village of her birth to investigate and seek revenge on the killer. Mari finds herself answering other, unexpected questions - where does she fit into her old village life? How did she become the person she is now? What can she do about the rot circling her childhood home village?

Vixen: Return of the Lion is a story about Africa, about preserving community, about roots, about the strength in allies and the need to protect your own. It's about finding and grounding yourself.

What's good about it?
Recently featured in our characters of colour series, Vixen is an extremely powerful member of the Justice League of America (JLA). This book showcases her talents and abilities and ably demonstrates why she's got a legion of fans.

Upon my first read of this book, I was somewhat annoyed that the JLA had such a prominent role, feeling that their presence took away from Mari's story. Then I re-read it, and thought about it some more. The JLA's actions, roles, interactions really don't diminish Mari. It remains her story and instead, they act as a counterpoint to her homelife. The JLA represent one part of Mari's identity, Zambesi another. Mari is struggling to reconcile these aspects of herself, but in the end comes out on top. That is not a spoiler - she's the hero of the story, you can expect her to finish on a high.

But what I really, really love about this book is the art. So we shall change format order and segue into...

What's the art like?
Beautiful. Breathtaking. Peaceful, calming, energising and (for those of us who haven't been to Africa and can only imagine it) incredibly evocative of dry, dusty summer heat. It feels fresh, and natural, and the balance between Cafu's pencils and Arcas' colours is just perfect. The colours have a similar feel to Christina Strain's work, as seen in Runaways, Spider-Man Fairy Tales and Marvel Fairy-Tales.

The lines aren't precise, but they are measured. There's a gentleness to them that is also quite precise, if that makes any sense. They get across everything they need to, without being overwrought or heavy. All characters have a sense of grace and poise about them. It's delightful.

I'm a fan of art showing wide, sweeping plains, so there are several panels in this which make me very very happy.

The cover is by Josh Middleton, who also supplied the covers to the monthly issues which are included within this book. Middleton's work is lovely, he's got a gentle style and an eye for anatomy. Vixen's breasts are pretty prominent on the cover, but they are drawn and shaped realistically for a women that size and in that position.

What's bad about it?
Eesh, what a difficult question. I guess the main thing that might put people off is Wilson's refusal to shy away from politics. Some people may find her dialogue a bit 'in your face'. If you want escapist fantasy, far from everyday life, this isn't for you.

Other information
ISBN: 1848565798 or 9781401225124 (Amazon isn't too clear about which one is the current English language edition)
Price: Also unclear. Expect to pay between £8 and £12.

If you want to read more of Vixen, she appears in the several JLA books, of which Return of the Lion complements. Listed in reading order, these books are:
Justice League of America: The Tornado's Path
Justice League of America: The Lightning Saga
Justice League of America: Injustice League
Justice League of America: Sanctuary
Justice League of America: Second Coming
Vixen: Return of the Lion
Justice League of America: When World's Collide

The next 3 issues of this series, numbers 35 - 37, also had Vixen on the team, but these have not been collected into trade. If you wanted these issues you could find them on ebay, in your local comic shop's back issue boxes, or as digital comics from the Comixology application. The covers look like this:

<--- Issue 35 Issue 36--->

Issue 37 below.

Or if you don't want to pick up a full book, I can also recommend one particular issue from this series, which is Justice League of America #11 (collected in The Lightning Saga trade), and is all about Vixen and a character named Red Arrow. It's a standalone story and it's brilliant.

G Willow Wilson has also written some other comics, one of which is a fantasy story called Air: Letters from Lost Countries.