Graphic Novel Review Week

When the Fables books first started to come out, a friend of mine told me about them, suggested I’d like them, and so I bought the first few issues.  My friend was correct…I did like them.  I thought (and think) of them as one of the best concepts for a comic book/graphic novel series that has come forward in a very long time.

For those who aren’t familiar at all with the concept, the series takes existing characters from myths, fables, and fairy tales and puts them in the modern world, with all the knowledge of their ‘other’ lives.

This book actually contains two stories.  The first, which takes up one-third of the book, is titled “A Revolution in Oz.”  This story is told in three page increments which I suspect means it was a short tag-on story at the end of each comic.  The art, by Shawn McManus is wonderfully ‘odd’ – I’m not sure what is a better way to describe it.  It comfortably captures the strangeness and frightening aspects of Oz.  The story is definitely suitable for a tag-on story in a comic series, but I will admit I grew tired of it before it ended.  The story here is that tiny Lily Martagnion leads some friends, including Jack Pumpkinhead, on a mission to rescue her boyfriend, Bufkin (a monkey), Prince of the Revolutionaries.  Parts of the story were quite fun, such as the Lollipop Killed sequence.

The rest of the book is taken up with the Snow White story, in which Prince Brandish appears, making a legal claim as Snow White’s husband, and ensnares her in magic.  Snow’s current  husband Bigby Wolf fights for her release and some terrible things happen.  Snow does get free from the magical ensnarement (thanks in part to her sister) and she faces off against Brandish herself.

It’s a well-plotted story, though it does seem to take a little more time than seemed really necessary, but I was definitely hooked and wanted to read it all the way through.  The art is strong and appropriate for the genre.

In my ARC version, the Oz story came first in the book, and because it went on quite long (one-third of the book) I wondered if we were going to get to the ‘real’ story.  Anyone not familiar with Fables may struggle to get through the Oz story.

Looking for a good book?  Fables is a great concept for a graphic novel and whether you’re a long-time fan or this is your first look, there’s a lot to like in this volume of the book.

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Fables, Volume 19: Snow White

author: Bill Willingham

artists: Mark Buckingham and Sean McManus

publisher: Vertigo

ISBN: 1401242480

paperback, 168 pages

Graphic Novel Review Week

Not long ago I reviewed a graphic novel written by Chris Roberson titled Masks, in which some masked crime fighters from the late 1930’s worked together.  Now, Roberson has stepped in to the future (from the 1930’s) to the late-1950’s-mid-1960’s era.  If you think about the fact that masked crime fighters were the popular media figures from the 30’s, what might you think of as popular in the late 50’s?  Action/adventure spies!

Roberson here writes a nice homage to the James Bond era with this book, Codename: Action, complete with sexy femme fatales and numbers instead of names and criminals of the egghead variety on remote islands!

We start with new agent (called “Operatives” or “Operators”) 1001 teaming up with legend Operator 5 to figure out who is replacing world leaders with doppelgänger, and why (presumably to start the next world war).

Roberson manages to include The Green Hornet and Kato, as well as a costumed superhero called The American Crusader.  Both are very appropriate to this era as The Green Hornet made the cross from the pulps to radio to television, and the costumed superheroes began to make their appearances at about this same time.   Together, these three types of crime fighters blend together to create what the superheroes become, a topic which Roberson weaves in to the story superbly.

The artwork by Jonathan Lau is quite nice and captures the mood and style of the period.

And while I like what Roberson has done, creating new-but-recognizable characters and given us a glimpse at how our crime fighters have morphed from one variety in to another, this particular story felt lacking to me.  The story got just a little out of control (although, in retrospect, it’s still in line with the ‘wackiness’ of the era and the whole atomic age) as it reached the climax and when it finished I thought…”that’s it?”  While it clearly opened the door to future stories (or a future series), this was a self-contained, concluding story, which I greatly appreciate.

The book concludes with the script for issue #1 of the Codename: Action comic and a cover gallery and a character guide for the artists.  These sorts of bonuses are becoming fairly common in graphic novels.

Looking for a good book?  Codename: Action Volume 1 is a solid, steady graphic novel that honors the period of spy movies but doesn’t quite rise above the mediocre plotting of those same spy films.

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Codename: Action Volume 1

author: Chris Roberson

artist: Jonathan Lau

publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

ISBN: 1606904760

paperback, 128 pages

I’m a sucker for anything 3D, I admit.  While I received an ARC digital edition of this through NetGalley, I had no problem with the 3D effects as I have my own collection of 3D glasses:

I think this book is mostly a concept book.  Clearly the 3D is a major portion of the concept, but if we take that away as simply a gimmick, what else do we have?  We have a story that is simple.  George Joyner is a mid-level businessman in the future.  While he’s not particularly successful as a businessman, he’s less so as a husband and father.  He hopes he can ‘man up’ by being a bit of a savior to the attractive babysitter, and this takes him on a journey.

The story is very simple and I’m not convinced that it would stand up on its own and be a strong story without any art.

The art is also very simple, though this simplicity, within the frame of the story, comes off as ‘efficient’ and helps define this futuristic world.  Simplicity doesn’t mean simple.  This is austere and lovely.

The 3D is a nice enhancer.  The sense of depth in a traditionally 2D format is always appreciated by me when it is done well, and this 3D conversion is solid.  I did have some issue with some of the word balloons which did not seem to be incorporated in to the conversion process and sometimes it interrupted lines and created an incorrect break in the depth.

I enjoyed what I had here, but I wasn’t committed enough to the project that I’d have to be sure to get the next book in the series.

Looking for a good book?  This 3D graphic novel has some really nice, efficient and austere art, though the story is a little bit wanting.

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The Joyners in 3D

author: R. J. Ryan

artist: David Marquez

publisher: Archaia Entertainment

ISBN: 9781936393

hardcover, 136 pages

Graphic Novel Review Week

Wow. *wipes sweat from brow* That was intense!

I couldn’t say when I last read an Aquaman comic or graphic novel (if, in fact, I ever have), but I would say that this was a wonderful start.  Under the helm of writer Geoff Johns, we have here a story of high drama, enriched by strong visuals in the art of Paul Pelletier.

Author Johns knows how to work a story and what makes ideas and concepts ‘big.’  A story reaches us, the readers, when we can relate to it, and we tend to relate to stories about people.  This is fully a story that is relatable.  People; men and women looking to restore what was once theirs.

But the story reaches out to big concepts and themes because the people here are kings and queens and possibly even gods.  While their desires are often the same as ours (restoration of things lost and peace and comfort and happiness), the battleground is larger (in this case the seven seas).  It is a powerful talent that Geoff Johns has, to take grand stories that encompass all the oceans (or all the galaxies — as was the case with his work on Green Lantern) and still tell stories that touch the fiber of what it means to be human.

In this story, Aquaman (Arthur Curry) learns a bit about his claim to the throne.  He is not, it would seem, heir to the throne of the seven seas … that claim belongs to Atlan, who makes a return visit to try to gain the throne back.  Also appearing is Arthur’s brother, Orm (aka Ocean Master), who is portrayed as extremely loyal to the throne and becomes a very sympathetic character.

Complicating the story even further is a foe called The Scavenger — a very appropriate title given recent news that junk from the surface has reached the depths of the ocean that is only just being discovered by scientists.

As the story builds and Aquaman faces these foes as well as fighting for and against the surface dwellers for peace, he has to rise above the petty fights to maintain the sense of decorum that his role as king demands.

The art of Paul Pelletier, Sean Parsons, and Rod Reis is absolutely gorgeous.  The full-page and double-page spreads are worth the price of admission here and truly enhance the story.  Having grown up on the comics of the 1970’s and ’80’s there’s been a sense of power missing from many comics and graphic novels lately.  While the art is often slicker and more detailed, it often has not felt ‘right’ to me.  This has that right feeling.  I’ve already gone through, just to thumb the digital pages, to soak in the art some more.

I do tend to think that a graphic novel, an accumulation of comic book stories telling one major story arc, should be conclusive, and this one isn’t, quite.  There’s a cliff-hanger here, making sure we’ll pick up the next book.  Given the quality of the story and the art, that cliff-hanger isn’t necessary.  We’ll buy the next one just to get more of what we’ve been through!

Looking for a good book?  Geoff Johns’ story and the art of Pelletier, Parsons and Reis in Aquaman, Vol. 4: Death of a King are spectacular.  If you’ve ever wondered what the fuss is all about with super-hero comics, then this is a great entry.  If you already enjoy graphic novels, this one is not to be missed!

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Aquaman, Volume 4: Death of a King

author: Geoff Johns

artists: Paul Pelletier, Sean Parsons, Rod Reis

publisher: DC Comics

ISBN: 1401246966

hardcover, 192 pages