the big book of the week

• Detective Comics #858 [00:53]

mainstream

• Arkham Reborn #1 (of 3) [06:24]
• Blackest Night #4 (of 8)[11:45]
• Green Lantern #47 [17:51]
• Superman Secret Origin #2 (of 6) [20:59]
• Punisher #10 + Dark Reign: The List – Punisher [25:15]
• Fantastic Four #572 [36:05]
• Dark Avengers: Ares #1 [38:17]
• Ms. Marvel #46 [42:27]
• Ultimate Comics: Armor Wars #2 (of 4) [48:03]
• Ultimate Comics: Avengers #3 [1:01:01]

indie

• FVZA #1 (of 3) [1:13:53]
• Ignition City #5 (of 5) [1:20:43]
• Abe Sapien (One Shot Wonders) [1:25:48]

lightning round

• Northlanders #21 [1:30:07]
• The Boys #1 [1:32:05]
• Invincible Presents Atom Eve & Rex Splode #1 (of 3) [1:33:33]

trades [1:34:41]

• Wolverine Old Man Logan HC
• GI Joe Cobra TP
• Sandman The Dream Hunters HC

Just back from my local comic book shop. More superhero books than I normally buy for some reason:

Chew #5 – John Layman and Rob Guillory (Image): The final issue of this fun little read about an FDA agent who gets psychic impressions from whatever he eats (including severed fingers and deceased pets). Doesn’t take itself seriously, which I like in a comic.

Ignition City #5 – Warren Ellis, Gianluca Pagliarnai (Avatar): About time this one comes out.  I love this series, but Avatar’s publishing schedule is giving me a headache. I guess these smaller press outfits (Boom! and IDW included) operate like the golden age of comics publishing – you get it when you get it. My series review is posted here.

Fantastic Four #572 – Jonathan Hickman, Dale Eaglesham (Marvel): The first arc by the new creative team. It’s really a Reed Richards solo story. The jury is out for me until the story is complete. I gave the Millar/Hitch a try, but abandoned that one two issues in because it wasn’t really doing much for me. I like my FF cosmic adventures and domestic strife.

Guardians of the Galaxy #19 – Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Wesley Craig (Marvel): Kang the Conqueror’s still around? I grabbed this one totally on a whim. I loved what Keith Giffen did with the team in Annihilation Conquest. There’s no Rocket Raccoon (presumable he’s dead?) but I was sold on Cosmo the dog. I’ll be curious to see if it’s still as much fun as Giffen’s run.

Die Hard Year One #2 – Howard Chaykin and Stephen Thompson (Boom! Studios): I don’t usually go for licensed books, but this one intrigued me based on the write-up on the Living Between Wednesdays blog. Definitely a slow build with the introduction of far too many characters. I’ll be interested to see how issue #2 unfolds.  But I definitely prefer Brubaker and Phillips’ Criminal for a good crime/heist story.

Astro City Special: Astra #2 – Kurt Busiek, Brent E. Anderson (Wildstorm): The latest entry in the Astro City family. The book goes monthly starting with the next issue that comes out. I’m debating whether to keep picking this one up. It’s not at the top of my list, but it’s definitely not at the bottom (unlike the latest New Mutants series, sorry).

Madame Xanadu #16, cover

And finally Madame Xanadu #16 – Matt Wagner and Amy Reeder Hadley (Vertigo): New arc. The original creative team is back. Sexy magic – the best kind? Includes a preview of Luna Park, which look wicked.

Unfortunately, Northlanders #21 was sold out. I really enjoy Brian Wood’s DMZ, but haven’t tried this series yet. Based on some pencilled pages posted on the Vertigo blog recently, I thought I’d pick up this new arc.

The Joe Shuster Awards are tonight at the University of Toronto campus. Admission is free. They’ll also have a booth at the Word on the Street festival tomorrow.

As I look at the nominee list, I see names of a half-dozen talented artists and writers working on everything from mainstream books to indie projects who I didn’t realize were Canadian. And there are more French-language titles than I had expected. The Apocalipstix and Les Nombrils (nominated in 2 categories) sound intriguing. I’ve been meaning to check out Northlanders – just waiting to clear through my stack of trade paperbacks before I get into too many new series.

by Brian Wood (writer), Davide Gianfelice (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Travis Lanham (letters)

For those that don’t know, Brian Wood’s Viking-themed Northlanders works in completely isolated story-arcs.  As a result, this trade actually functions more like an original graphic novel.  Wood has actually pushed for Northlanders trades to be without numbering for this very reason.

Sven the Returned is the first of these tales and in some ways, it shows.  Much as I felt regarding the first trade of Wood’s other Vertigo series, DMZ, much of this book reads like a bit of a feeling out process on Wood’s part, as he gets used to his own series.  While that’s not to say that the writing is sloppy, it does mean that everything feels a bit simpler and more straightforward than what Wood normally produces.  In fact, this book feels much more basic even than later Northlanders issues.  While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, the fact remains that most of this book feels like little more than a gloriously violent, historical actioner following a fairly standard revenge plot.  While it definitely does succeed on this level, I don’t think we would have been wrong to hope for more.

Worse still, for most of the book, none of the characters are particularly nuanced.  Sven himself is essentially the unstoppable badass warrior who also wins through having a sounder tactical mind than his opponent.  Meanwhile, although his battle expertise does lead to some engaging captions, Enna is not anything particularly unique.  The same goes for the tyrannical Gorm, his murderous henchman, and Sven’s old flame…who is pretty much as stereotypical an “old flame” character as you can get – a seductress who now belongs to Sven’s enemy.  Meanwhile, you have Enna, who spends the majority of the book as the typical silent femme fatale.

That said, despite this simplicity, there are nuances.  Sven’s use of Gorm’s superstition and religious beliefs to terrorize his nemesis is well-done, leading to one of the coolest, and goriest, scenes of the book.  The clash of the old with Sven’s modernity is a nice touch.

Now, at this point, this trade may sound like a mediocre book worthy of being passed over.  That may very well be the case for the first five issues of this eight-issue collection.  However, in issue six, the book takes a sudden, massive upswing in quality in a manner so ingenious, that it reminds us of what Wood is capable of.  Wood essentially has Sven call out his own graphic novel.

Sven, around issue six or seven, comes to the realization of how pointless the entire book has become thus far, in its typical Viking characters and standard revenge/money centred drive.  Wood thus turns the graphic novel on its head by essentially having Sven call the entire tale into question.  When he does, the intelligence and depth of the book skyrockets.  Sven becomes much more of an individual and far more unique as a character, while the somewhat bland plot of earlier is completely abandoned.  The simple revenge plot is dumped by Sven as being meaningless and small and the book suddenly takes on a completely different plot, one that is far more grandiose and ambitious, treating issues of nationhood, solidarity, and culture.  Gorm becomes an afterthought, and old enemies now become friends, as their stereotypical rivalry of earlier is done away with when their roles and relationships come to be redefined by a new plot.

It’s unfortunate, however, that Wood uses a little bit of deus ex machina to create such a shift in the book.  It takes the arrival of a greater enemy in an event that is just far too perfectly and conveniently timed.  But given how much the book improves subsequently, I can’t gripe too much about this.

While the story’s quality may be divided down the middle, I can however say that Davide Gianfelice’s art is consistently amazing.  I’ve always loved his work and this book bears his trademarks.  Oddly blending an indisputably cartoony look with harsh, realistic environments and a good amount of piss and vinegar, it’s a very strange mix that leads to a wonderful contrast and a perfect balance.  That such a cartoony style is able to carry such maturity and grittiness frankly baffles me.  Gianfelice’s sprawling splashes of Orkney landscapes are also an absolute marvel, evoking a sublime effect combining awesome barrenness and sweeping beauty.  Dave McCaig’s colouring is also perfect for Gianfelice, adding a sort of grainy texture to the entire trade.

Ultimately, this is a rather strange book.  It carves out a very simple action story with simple characters and a simple plot and bumps along as such for the first 60% of the book.  Then, in the last three chapters, Sven, and hence Wood, essentially dump this all in the trash, openly criticizing it for its simplicity, meaninglessness, and pointlessness before switching to a plot/conflict that is far more grand.  This doesn’t change the fact that the first 60% of the book are nonetheless nothing special, but I do have to admire Wood for his gall and what appears to be metafictional self-criticism, as a character takes apart his own story and builds a better one.

Grade: B

*This trade collects #1-8 w/ covers.  I also recommend hunting down #20, which is a one-shot revisiting Sven and Enna several years after the events of this book.

-Alex Evans

Show Notes:

indies
INCOGNITO #6 [01:51]
IRREDEEMABLE #6 [06:14]
HOTWIRE #4 [10:45]
NORTH 40 #3 [14:21]
SWEET TOOTH #1 [15:50]
CHEW #4 [20:25]
NORTHLANDERS #20 [28:50]

mainstream
ULTIMATE COMICS: SPIDER-MAN #2 [31:46]
GHOST RIDERS: HEAVENS ON FIRE #2 [44:10]
EXILES #6 [50:08]
MARVEL ZOMBIES RETURN #1 [51:08]
STRANGE TALES #1 [55:15]

trades
BATMAN: GOTHAM AFTER MIDNIGHT TP [61:15]
WONDERFUL WIZARD OZ HC [64:24]

http://www.mediaf!re.com/?c1wjtmd0iii

by Brian Wood (writer), Davide Gianfelice (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: A few naive young warriors hear the tale of Sven the Returned and decide to prove their worth by killing a legend.

What’s Good: As he often does in Northlanders, Wood again makes characters and readers mirror one another. The young warriors who go out to find Sven years after hearing his tale are like us, readers;  seeking Sven out again by buying this issue, exactly one year after the conclusion of “Sven the Returned.”

Anyway, much as was the case in that first arc, there’s a lot of action here, all of it brutal.  Once again, although he may be older, Sven is the battle-hardened badass, quick-witted, experienced, and both smarter and better trained than his adversaries.  The bloodshed is enjoyable and the narration makes it all the moreso, sharing Sven’s thought process, blow by blow.

Perhaps the coolest thing in this issue though, is Wood’s writing on fiction itself, or rather the formation of legends.  Sven’s final tactic this month is essentially to rewrite himself into “Sven the Immortal.”  It truly is a case where fiction supercedes life, as through establishing his own legend and his own character. Factual or not, Sven transcends reality. This comic is essentially a battle between fiction and reality, where the former overshadows the latter and the writer wields ultimate power.  Sven’s life serves to be nothing more than a series of roles, some real and some told.

This comic also again features an espousal of unity.  Where the first arc centered around the idea of nationhood, this book feels much more intimate, focusing instead on family.  Less grand perhaps, but also a lot tighter and more conducive to a one-shot.

Davide Gianfelice is just as good here as he was earlier on Northlanders. Delivering his patented blend of cartoony and gritty, this is Gianfelice at his best.  His sprawling images of the Orkney landscape are also haunting and sublimely powerful, but this time, he also gets the chance to draw some more urban environments, which prove to be no less daunting or impressive.

What’s Not So Good: On the art front, I found some of Gianfelice’s action scenes later in the book a little confusing.  I understand that he’s attempting to capture Sven’s “battle fury,” but he leaves just enough clarity to make me think that I perhaps I should know exactly what’s going on.  Instead I just get shots of Sven hitting someone or other in some manner that isn’t comprehensible.

At times, I also felt that the book was just a little bit rushed as Wood attempted to cram everything within the 22 pages limit.  In particular, I felt that having no space between the first attack and the boys’ later revenge wasn’t the best idea and would’ve perferred a bit more of a denouement.

Conclusion: A fun revisiting of an old character that can be enjoyed both as an accessible actioner and a more complex take on the nature of myth and legend.

Grade:  B+

-Alex Evans

Escrito por Brian Wood, Ilustrado por Ryan Kelly, Colores por Dave McCraig, Publicado por Vertigo.

Hace 8 meses atrás, mencionaba por primera vez este cómic de Vertigo (subsello de DC Comics) en este blog. Y hace algunas semanas salió a la venta el Volumen 2 de esta serie que abarca los números del 11 al 16 de la serie regular. En este TP, no regresa nuestro héroe del primer volumen (Sven), sino que tenemos uno nuevo (Magnus). Es decir, la historia es totalmente autocontenida y de hecho, ni siquiera necesitas haber leído el volumen anterior. Quizás lo único que necesitarias saber es: Northlanders es una historia de vikingos con muchisima sangre y gore.

En este volumen, Brian Wood construye una nueva historia de vikingos de la nada. Y a diferencia de la volumen anterior, en esta ocasión toma como tema principal el enfrentamiento de culturas. La línea temporal de esta historia se desarrolla cuando las colonias vikingas se establecen en Irlanda en el año 1014 AD. Magnus, es un irlandés, que se rebela ante los colonizadores que han estado robando y matando a su gente, así que decide cobrar venganza al matar las colonias vikingas cerca de Dublin. Lord Ragnar Ragnarsson es enviado a investigar esos crimenes.  Mientras Magnus huye junto con su hija Brigid, Ragnar y sus hombres siguen el rastro sangriento que Magnus ha dejado tras de sí.

La historia es muy bien contada, al centrarse en el choque de culturas y principalmente en la persecución de Magnus por Ragnar. Me gustó mucho la forma en como es tratada y como te va enganchando e involucrandote en la historia. Una cosa que hace magníficamente Wood es colocarte en el momento, es decir, el lector va situandose en el momento social, económico y político de la época en la que se desarrolla la historia.

El arte de Ryan Kelly es fenomenal. Lo que más me gustó son las escenas de pelea, desde la primera cuando Magnus y Brigid se enfrentan a una jauría de perros rabiosos hasta la última. Mucho gore,de hecho de masiado, pero (al menos yo) sentí que no se hace abuso de ello. Lo único que hace es reflejar el calor de la batalla. Pero puede ser demasiada sangre para lectores que odien el tema de la sangre. Se recomienda cautela ya que es una lectura exclusivamente para adultos.

Northlanders Vol. 2: The Cross + The Hammer es una lectura agradable, simple, con muchas peleas, mucho gore, muy bien escrita por Brian Wood y genialmente dibujada por Ryan Kelly.

NOTA: Esta serie la reseñeré cuando vaya saliendo en trade paperback.

Northlanders #20, release September 2, 2009

Writer: Brian Wood
Art: Davide Gianfelice
Cover: Massimo Carnevale
Publisher: Vertigo

When we last saw Sven at the end of NORTHLANDERS Vol. 1, he was in exile on a remote island with a brand-new family and questioning if he truly managed to escape the dangers of the mainland. “Don’t worry,” his wife Enna had said. “There’s no one coming.” Well, after several decades pass, the epic story of “Sven, The Returned” is on the lips of poets across the land. And now a few mercenaries have decided to look him up…

I do my best to review all of the comics I read each month. But what I never write about, unless they end up on some list, are the comics I read in trade. So, I thought I’d recommend a few of the better ones. You care about my recommendations, right? Of course you do!

Asterios Ployp

Do you like David Mazzucchelli? Name doesn’t sound familiar? You read Batman: Year One and Daredevil: Born Again, right? Yeah, David drew those. Now, he’s flying solo, writing and drawing his masterpiece, Asterios Polyp. I don’t want to oversell it or anything, but you REALLY should give this book a chance. The art alone is worth the price of admission, and the book isn’t that cheap. Still, even if this is your first foray into the world of comics without spandex, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Ghost Rider: The Last Stand

Though it wasn’t quite the great, Grindhouse fun that comprised the first Aaron-penned Ghost Rider trade, there’s still plenty to enjoy here. It’s a bunch of guys with flaming skulls duking it out, and the fate of heaven it at stake! You’ll get that refreshing Aaron flavor too. His creative spark elevates this somewhat conventional material.

Northlanders: The Cross + The Hammer

The first Northlanders trade, Sven the Returned, made my top ten list last year, but the beauty and downfall of Brian Wood’s Northlanders is that it’s a series of stories, and just because one is good, doesn’t mean another will be. But Brian Wood is a good writer. So, it’s no surprise that this second story is excellent too. Like Sven’s tale, The Cross + The Hammer is deceptively simple. Think “Road to Perdition” meets “Baveheart” and you’ll have a good idea of what you’ll find. It’s the twist that comes near the end that really makes this arc something special.

 Parker: The Hunter

I’ve never read Richard Stark’s books. I’m illiterate. Heh. That joke never gets old. Anyway, I’m here for Darwyn Cooke, and you should be too. It’s not Marvel or DC; so it may not have come up on your radar. If you need more than Darwyn Cooke to buy a book, rest assured, this is a good Darwyn Cooke comic. I don’t have to tell you that it looks amazing, but Cooke also has an ear for noir; real noir, not the crap that Hollywood tries to pass off as noir. We’re not really sure if we like any of the characters, even by the end. Still, Cooke delivers the goods, and a sequel is scheduled for next year.

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye

This hasn’t been released in trade yet. I’m not sure if it ever will. Sales were embarrassingly low, especially considering Morrison’s name was attached at a time when Final Crisis and Batman: RIP were selling like hotcakes. Morrison fans, you’ll like this too! Yes, it’s weird, but it’s not as esoteric as Final Crisis or Batman: RIP. Morrison and Stewart are on the top of their game. This sequel is every bit as great as the first installment, and that was pretty great! So, please, just buy the floppies. Give Vertigo a reason to print the third part and complete the trilogy!

For more comic goodness, go here.

[Yes, I'm a week behind. Comic-Con was crazy. Pretend you're a time traveler. This week's list coming soon.]

[Oh and the previous list's late-shipping Citizen Rex #1 is now available. So go get it too!]

Never read a graphic novel before? Haven’t read a comic book in years?

Here’s some brand new stuff coming out this week that I think is worth a look-see for someone with little to no history with comics. That means you should be able to pick any of these up cold without having read anything else. So take a look and see if something doesn’t grab your fancy. If so, follow the publisher links or Amazon.com links to buy yourself a copy. Or, head to your local friendly comic book shop.

Disclaimer: For the most part, I have not read these yet, so I can’t vouch for their quality. But, from what I’ve heard and seen, odds are good they just might appeal to you.

The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson #1 – $2.99
By Roger Langridge
32 pages; published by Boom! Studios

Roger Langridge’s celebrated run on THE MUPPET SHOW comic book begins a new, zany arc! Scooter discovers old documents which reveal that a cache of treasure is hidden somewhere within the theater…and when Rizzo the Rat overhears this, the news spreads like wildfire! Meanwhile, Animal’s acting very strangely—he’s now refined and well-mannered!

Ah the Muppets! Without the voice-acting and puppetry, it’s hard to believe this is any good, but it’s gotten a lot of positive reactions. Should be good for kids of all ages! Here’s a preview for sampling purposes.

Northlanders, Book 2: The Cross + The Hammer – $14.99
By Brian Wood & Ryan Kelly
144 pages; published by DC Comics’ Vertigo; also available at Amazon.com

The second NORTHLANDERS collection, featuring issues #11-16, takes place during the tail end of Viking rule in Ireland. A series of mysterious murders and arsons against wealthy citizens leaves the Viking occupiers worried that a potential uprising might ignite. When surprising details involving the crimes are revealed, though, their jobs become much harder! Once again, writer Brian Wood teams with artist Ryan Kelly (Local) for an intriguing, gorgeously rendered peek at the inner workings of society.

If you haven’t read Northlanders Book 1: Sven The Returned, don’t worry about it. Each volume of this excellent series tells its own story largely unrelated to each other except that the stories are set in the Viking age. If you have even a passing knowledge of Vikings, you know enough. Great stuff but not for the kiddies. Those Vikings didn’t mess around. (And Sven The Returned is excellent.) (Oh and Brian Wood didn’t mind posing with Barbie at last year’s Comic-Con, so he has eternal cool points with me.)

Kaboom – $14.99
By Jeph Loeb & Jeff Matsuda
128 pages; published by Image Comics; also available at Amazon.com

COLLECTED FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!
The ground-breaking adventures of Geof Sunrise and his amazing transformation into inter-dimensional defender Kaboom! Witness the birth of an amazing new hero as he struggles against the forces of Scarlet! The Nine! And his first date! Can Geoff save the world and make it back in time for his own birthday party? Written by JEPH LOEB (Hulk, Ultimates 3) and illustrated by JEFF MATSUDA (X-Men, Batman Strikes!) KABOOM! introduces an amazing world of magic and monsters that has not been experienced before or since this series exploded onto the scene 10 years ago!

Collecting KABOOM 1-3, KABOOM PRELUDE and the KABOOM CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. Tons of character designs and sketches from the dynamic pencil of JEFF MATSUDA as well as a covers gallery with work from TIM SALE, ED McGUINNESS, ROB LIEFELD, ADAM POLLINA, and KERON GRANT!

Underhanded Plug Alert!: Jeph Loeb was interviewed in our documentary Dig Comics, which has just been accepted in the Vancouver International Film Festival!

Wow, that was sleazy. Who would do something like that?

Anyway, quite a few comic readers from the 1990s remember this comic fondly as a fun and adventurous comic with a dynamic art style. Here’s an interview about this collected edition. It includes a closer look at some of the artwork.

Road to Revolution! – $10.99
By Stan Mack & Susan Champlin
128 pages; published by Bloomsbury USA; also available at Amazon.com

You can’t make history without making a little trouble!

Nick is an orphan who gets by on his wits and whatever he can steal. Penny is the daughter of a tavern owner and knows the meaning of honest work. Though from completely different backgrounds and despite their instant dislike for each other they do have one thing in common: They both want the British out of Boston! When a chance encounter brings them together, Nick and Penny see a way to help the patriots. But first they’ll have to earn the trust of some of America’s great revolutionaries, including Paul Revere and Dr. Joseph Warren, and muster the courage to confront innumerable dangers.

Action packed, laced with humor, and visually dynamic for today’s readers, Road to Revolution! cleverly intertwines fact and fiction for an unprecedented view of American history.

This is probably the most interesting release of the week for me. This is the first in a series of books under the banner of The Cartoon Chronicles of America. This book has been getting good reviews. It’s a shame the publisher doesn’t have the book on their website, along with a peak inside the book. Fortunately the writer has a page up on his website at StanMack.com. It always astounds me when publishers go to the trouble and expense to publish something, but then make the creators do all the heavy-lifting of the marketing. To be fair, the publisher probably sent out the review copies, which helps. Anyway, that’s beside the point. This looks like a great book and I want a copy. Great for history buffs who don’t mind having some fiction weaved into the facts.

by Brian Wood (writer), Danijel Zezelj (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: Three women fight for their lives, making a final stand at an abandoned keep.

What’s Good: I loved this issue just as I’ve loved this arc overall, so it’s hard not to repeat what I said in my review of #18.   It’s a gripping tale of feminine solidarity in an age of raping and pillaging; a one of a kind story that hits the brain and the heart. Viking tales are almost always exclusively male in focus, an unfortunate continuance of that masculine-centric time that seems to have been furthered in hindsight rather than questioned.

Indeed, the fact that these three women are at the centre of a Viking tale is perhaps why they are under threat. They take centre stage, while the typical barbarians are left as faceless adversaries. Wood has given us a tale that focuses on female characters fighting for their place and their independence and that those arrayed against them are a horde of indistinguishable males that are out to take what is theirs.

Wood also assails Christianity  this month. I always like it when writers or commentators quote obscure, and socially horrific, passages of the Bible. It’s so utterly jarring to hear a book so central to our culture be so retrogressive and opposed to that very culture.

However, Wood’s greatest achievement this month, more than last, is his effective blend of myth and reality. No, this isn’t a Gaiman-esque tale of Odin showing up in disguise to save the day. Rather, Wood shows how reality, or “real life,” reflects myth and that the two sustain and mirror one another. The last page is genius for this reason, as is the depiction of one of our characters’ escape from the fortress. In that escape, Wood flirts with magical realism, blending myth and super-naturalism with reality so closely, that until the end of the comic, even I wasn’t sure if the character in question wasn’t more than human.

Also, Danijel Zezelj’s art is nothing short of fantastic.  Dark, shadowy, and horrendously bleak, it suits the mood of the book to a tee.  Indeed, Zezelj’s style strikes one as a vision rather than the movie or cartoon look that a lot of comics go for.  I also found it much easier to tell the characters apart, which was a bit of an issue last month.  McCaig does simply awesome work on colors as well, adding even greater emotion to Zezelj’s art by working heavily in monochromatics. The main color of every scene perfectly reflects the action, and more importantly the state of mind, being represented.  The battle scene in particular is set in a glorious array of reds and oranges.

What’s Not So Good: There are a couple lines where the religious commentary feels a little ham-fisted, as though Wood feels he has to spell out his points for the dullards who need to be fed, and it ends up losing some of the subtlety.  Also, what the heck is with the continual use of “pigfucker?”  Why that one profanity?

Conclusion: Very minor quibbles aside, this book is simply awesome.

Grade: A-

-Alex Evans

This week, the mild-mannered podcasters deliver a powerful review of Brian K. Vaughn’s Runaways, the story of 6 kids who find out their parents are super-villains… and Run Away (But obviously it isn’t as simple as that)! Also this week, the latest installment of “Sam Bitches a lot” involving Jesus Christ: In the Name of the Gun, the scariest trades of the week (most flesh/blood/soul/vampires/werefolf comics combined in a single week!), Alex describes his new love for Gotham Central, and Mike gives a quick look at Neil Gaiman’s Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader!

But wait! Let’s not forget our newest piece of Masterpiece Comic Book Theatre with a reading from Eric Powell’s The Goon!

Tune in and enjoy!

Dowload Here!

Habran pasado ocho años desde que lei el ultimo comic respetable basado en los tiempos medievales, el mismo es una saga situada en el 870 A.D cuando un basto territorio de Inglaterra estaba bajo dominio Vikingo, ya desde el vamos al observar la portada, esta obtuvo mi atención de lleno, quizas por mi gusto por el estilo del comic europeo, quizas por el tratamiento de su linea artistica, lo cierto que una vez que lees un capítulo no puedes dejar de querer comerte el siguiente, esta bien tratada historia esta escrita por Brian Wood y dibujada por un sin fin de conocidos ilustradores europeos. La historia ya va por el numero #19 en el pais sajón, obviamente el comic esta escrito en perfecto ingles, pero en foros especializados de comics y como no en Taringa! se pueden conseguir los capitulos traducidos al español para nuestro regocijo, asi que ya sabeis desenvainad vuestras espadas y entrad a la refriega que hay lugar para vosotros!

Sitio Oficial

by Ivan Brandon (writer), Nic Klein (art, letters, design), and Kristyn Ferretti (letters & design)

The Story: Finn and Egil face the consequences of their actions.

What’s Good: From its basic design to the artwork itself, this book is one of the most gorgeous comics on store shelves today.  The fact that this book is $2.99 is unbelievable.

The art is a perfect blend of painting, modern indie comic, and cartoonish; stylized and beautiful, it’s a sight to behold.  I love Klein’s mastery of lighting in the book; it’s clear that he’s painting a world without electricity, as when it’s night, one gets a real sense of the firelight that is relied upon as everything takes on a dark orange hue.  I also reallyenjoyed Klein’s use of color to depict mood, with everything going a light red in moments of tension or violence. With creative panel layouts and large, impressive splashes, this book does the painted form proud.

There is however a story at work here, as Brandon continues to establish the voices of his characters.  This month, we really get a sense of the “crime fiction” element of the tale.  King Bram sounds like a mob boss and Brandon’s depiction of the Viking lifestyle sounds increasingly like that of the gangster lifestyle taken up by immigrants in the early twentieth century.  The wild and naive ambitions of the young, the difficulty of leaving the life behind, and the Grandfather’s wish that his grandsons do not enter the life of crime carved out by their father all make this comic sound a hell of a lot like a gangster movie.  Brandon is clearly making his generic standing clear this month, and the comic is all the more intriguing for it.  Meanwhile, for the second month in a row, Brandon ends his book with a final scene that packs an emotional wallop.

What’s Not-So-Good: This is a quick read.  Gorgeous painted artwork and single page splashes unfortunately mean several pages with little dialogue.  This also unfortunately means that at the end of issue 2, we still don’t have a real idea of what the plot of the series is.  I just didn’t quite feel that enough happened in the span of these 22 pages.  At times I even felt like the comic became more of an artbook than a comic, which isn’t necessarily a good thing.  It felt as though the comic needed a few more pages to get more done or to flesh more out.  I like what we got but I feel that we needed more of it.  This comic just doesn’t seem to have established a direction for itself yet.

This normally wouldn’t be so annoying really, but the fact that Viking is a bi-monthly title makes it somewhat crippling.  Having waited two months to get an issue that still doesn’t see a major thrust is somewhat frustrating. So little happened this issue and we still will have to wait until the end of August for #3.

Conclusion: A solid book that nonetheless feels a little light.

Grade: C+

-Alex Evans

So I’ve told you that my favorite author is Amy Hempel, right? Let me share with you what is possibly my second favorite author (though it’s a tight knit cluster towards the top of great literature, the post modernist), Don Delillo.

I’ll make this simple and easy…

Name: Don Delillo.

Born: November 20, 1936 in New York.

Died: Thankfully not yet. He’s 72.

Best known novel: Either White Noise or Underworld.

Last published novel: Falling Man, about a survivor of 9/11. The title, of course, is based on this classic image:

Which is entitled “The Falling Man” and was taken by Richard Drew at 9:41 AM on September 11, 2001.

Next novel: Omega Point is the title, which is… so very intriguing. It’ll be his 15th novel. It’s scheduled for release in February, 2010, which is too far away.

Plot description: “A young filmmaker visits the desert home of a secret war adviser in the hopes of making a documentary. The situation is complicated by the arrival of the older man’s daughter, and the narrative takes a dark turn.”

from here.

Things that primarily inspire him: “Abstract expressionism, foreign films, and jazz.” Also, the things we do to history. And the things that history does to us in return.

Themes he likes/keeps returning to in his work: rampant consumerism, novelty intellectualism, underground conspiracies, the disintegration and re-integration of the family, and the promise of rebirth through violence (from wikipedia, but wikipedia is right). Also, mass media pollution, the collision and interchangeability of words and images, and the draining of meaning and context from an event as our lives are filled up with more and more simulacra.

Writers who cite him as a major influence: Bret Easton Ellis, Jonathan Franzen, and David Foster Wallace.

His place in the world: Harold Bloom has named him as one of the four major novelists of his time, the other three being Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Phillip Roth.

His humble beginnings: The world of advertising. He wrote image ads for Sears Roebuck amongst others but eventually quit to start his writing career, including his first novel.

About the start of his writing career, he said: “I did some short stories at that time, but very infrequently. I quit my job just to quit. I didn’t quit my job to write fiction. I just didn’t want to work anymore.”

Forays into film: Only one screenplay so far, for a film entitled Game 6, about the 1986 World Series. The script was written in the 90s, but the film (I don’t know when it was actually produced) came out in 2006, and stars Michael Keaton (who would later go on to do a shitty looking thriller entitled White Noise that has nothing to do with the Delillo book), Griffin Dunne, and Robert Downey, jr. and has a score by Yo La Tengo. The story is classic Delillo.

Theatre: He’s written four plays, two of which, The Day Room and Valparaiso, I’m happy to say I own and have read. The other two, Love-Lies-Bleeding and The Word For Snow, I have not yet.

Just a few of his awards: The National Book Award (for White Noise) and the Jerusalem Prize, which is given to writers who deal with the themes of human freedom, society, politics, and government. And he also won the 2009 Common Wealth Award for Literature.

from here.

The first line of Underworld: “He speaks in your voice, American, and there’s a shine in his eye that’s halfway hopeful.” The opening prologue of the book was also released as it’s own novella, with the separate title, Pafko At The Wall.

Some real talk from White Noise: “All plots move deathwards.”

Musical name checks: Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes, Rhett Miller, Luna, and a band called Too Much Joy. Also, the band called The Airborne Toxic Event got their band name from White Noise.

The first line of Great Jones Street: “Fame requires every kind of excess.”

Don Delillo, as depicted by Brian Wood. From here.

One of my favorite quotes from his books #1: “I don’t want your candor. I want your soul in a silver thimble.”

Fictionalized version of him: blogs for The Onion covering last year’s election.

His three favorite things: “Silence, exile, and cunning. And so on.” Also, paraphrasing James Joyce.

The criticism: There’s been a lot. While there can be no argument that Delillo is a smarter author than a large majority out there, many would say that his books tend towards being over stylized and perhaps a bit intellectually shallow. I think that argument is fair in certain cases.

More criticism: George Will described Delillo’s Libra, which is a study of Lee Harvey Oswald, as “sandbox existentialism,” and then added that the book is an act of “literary vandalism and bad citizenship.”

Delillo’s response to Will: “I don’t take it seriously, but being called a ‘bad citizen’ is a compliment to a novelist, at least to my mind. That’s exactly what we ought to do. We ought to be bad citizens. We ought to, in the sense that we’re writing against what power represents, and often what government represents, and what the corporation dictates, and what consumer consciousness has come to mean. In that sense, if we’re bad citizen, we’re doing our job.”

One of my favorite quotes from his books #2: “History is the sum total of the things they aren’t telling us.” So true.

One of my favorite passages from his books: “I went out on the terrace. Automobiles were moving across Central Park, ticking red taillights trailing each other  north and west and toward the darkness and the river, headlights coming this way, soft orange, the whistling doormen. The park’s lamplights were dull cold steady silver. I was wasting my life.” From Americana, his first novel.

What he’s said about his first novel: “It’s no accident that my first novel was called Americana. This was a private declaration of independence, a statement of my intention to use the whole picture, the whole culture. America was and is the immigrant’s dream, and as the son of two immigrants I was attracted by the sense of possibility that had drawn my grandparents and parents.”

The above quote was from an interview that was referenced on a great site about the author: Don Delillo’s America. It’s a really good resource about the author.

Where’s a good place to start with Delillo: White Noise. Start there and enjoy it. Read about the book here and here and here.

One last thing, how is “Delillo pronounced?” Like this: Duh Lih Lo.

One last great quote from Don Delillo: “Years ago I use to think it was possible for  novelist to alter the inner life of the culture. Now bomb-makers and gunmen have taken that territory. They make raids on humn consciousness. What writers used to do before we were all incorporated.”

by Brian Wood (writer), Danijel Zezelj (art), Dave McCaig (colors), and Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: With their village destroyed and their husbands butchered, three women, treasure in tow, run for their lives.

What’s Good: Brian Wood continues to show what can be done with a Viking comic.  Make no mistake, this is a clearly feminist text and yet, perhaps thanks to its gory Viking historical base, Wood makes it one that is accessible to the everyman rather than off-putting. While it’s emotionally heavy stuff, it’s more action-packed and inviting than it is didactic.  That said, the feminist base makes this issue feel more intellectually substantial, more engaging, and more complex than a comic filled with guys getting stabbed in the gut with pointy sticks.

What Wood gives us here is a story concerning three women fighting for independence in a world where such a thing is not only non-existent, but unthinkable.  It’s essentially three women learning that masculinity is entirely a social construct, as they wage war not merely with a group of murderous vikings, but in so doing, with the nastiest of all patriarchies.  Our three characters appropriate the masculine in a fight for freedom that is definitely stirring stuff.

It’s all the more hard-hitting due to Wood once again flexing his muscle when it comes to writing narrators.  Here, he establishes a unique, highly personal and memorable character voice for the comic through the use of narrating textboxes.  The textboxes expertly pull the reader in, causing you to really connect with the plight of our three protagonists.

Of course, it’s not just about those three characters.  As is often the case with Northlanders, Wood always makes these personal trials seem like a reflection of something more, a battle that concerns an entire culture.  Certainly, the bookending quotations help establish this feel.

As for the art, Zezelj’s work is attractive, stylized stuff.  Dark as hell, abstract, and filled with fluid and creative layouts. It really helps move the plot along and  convey the fact that this is NOT a good place for the women.  In fact, Zezelj’s art makes the comic’s world feel not only threatening, but downright hostile.  Full of shadows, malevolently leering faces, and nondescript, bordering on inhuman looking Vikings, it’s a place out of nightmare for our maidens.

What’s Not-So-Good: Unfortunately, Zezelj’s stylized work is also something of a double-edged sword in this otherwise fantastic comic.  Due to how heavy the inks are and how bloody dark the colours are, it’s occasionally difficult to tell our three protagonists apart.  Zezelj seems aware of this, giving each of them different hairstyles as something of a cheap aid, but it still is confusing at times.  At one point, even Wood’s narration joins in on the confusion, leading me to momentarily struggle to remind myself who WAS narrating.

Conclusion: “Consider us Odin’s wolves, here to send you to your nailed God.”  That’s just a sample of the cerebral badassery on offer here.

Grade: B+

-Alex Evans

I have to be honest. Months ago, I leafed thru several of the previous issues of Brian Wood’s NORTHLANDERS and didn’t feel very compelled to hop on this particular Viking barge. I did, however, relent with issue 17–a stand-alone story featuring the stunning, kinetic art of Vasilis Lolos. I am a big fan of Lolos’ PIRATES OF CONEY ISLAND and of Brian Wood’s DEMO, LOCAL and THE TOURIST, so picking this up was a no-brainer.

Basically, this issue tells the story of a Viking duel, a subject that tickles my interest in the details of single combat and of the mind-set of fighters. The narrative reads like a fight color commentary from the Viking ESPN. It’s a bit jarring to take in because it’s done in a modern tongue, but once I got used to it, I was completely enthralled. I recommend this issue to anyone wanting to dip their toes into non-superhero comics. Now I’m going back to the beginning of this series. This might be the onset of Viking Fever for me. Check out the NORTHLANDERS Blog.

by Brian Wood (writer), Vasilis Lolos (art), Dave McCaig (colors), Travis Lanham (letters)

The Story: Two vikings, champions for their respective lords, meet in a battle to the death on an icy plain.

The Good: Wow. Just wow… This issue is truly a work of art and a testament to what a writer can do with 22 pages. It is an experimental done-in-one that succeeds in everything it tries to accomplish.

If you’ve not read Northlanders before, this issue captures the spirit of Wood’s view on Vikings. It encapsulates the very paradox that Wood continually traverses in this book, that bizarre mixture of bleak nothingness and warrior heroism. The comic perfectly presents the life of the Northlander as being one that is both paradoxical and cyclical. Is the Northlander’s life glorious in its purity and simplicity, or is that very purity nothing more than a facade for meaninglessness? At the end of the issue, astute readers will realize that an answer to this question is never really given, nor should one be. The whole viking existence is defined by this ambiguity and ambivalence.

Wood achieves this message through a stunning balancing act in his writing. Containing more or less no dialogue, Wood makes extensive use of a narrator through various text-boxes. The narrator’s tone again showcases the strengths of Northlanders; the voice is at once very contemporary and understated, while somehow capable of channeling the spirit of a grizzled veteran raider. The information that this narrator relays is an incredibly diverse array of biographic information of the characters, the nature of viking life itself, technical (well-researched) details regarding viking weaponry and tactics, and finally, quotations from the sagas. What you ultimately get is a feeling that the very specific (these two warriors) comes to be representative of something much larger than Viking life itself. In turn, it comes to be an expression of fundamental aspects of human nature. It’s remarkably intelligent, stunning work.

All the more impressive is how this juggling actually lends itself to a chronological progression. The comments on viking life in general go from the young conscript, to the grizzled raider, to the retired farmer wishing for it all to end. Which in turn mirrors the details of one of the warrior’s (Egil) own life, a bold 16-yr-old raider turned broken down warrior.  It’s all remarkably cyclical; it’s a rise and decline in an uncaring world that maintains the same pace regardless.

The Not-so-Good: Despite the art fitting Wood’s writing incredibly well, Lolos’ art may prove divisive.  If you demand hardcore realism and detail in your comics, you won’t find it here. Lolos’ style definitely has a “sketchbook” feel, seeming to intentionally throw modern comic “polish” to the wind for a book that is neither modern nor polished. In the end, Lolos’ art manages to keep pace for the most part by really fitting the tone of the story:  it’s ugly, brutal, and, thanks in no small part to McCaig’s colors, very, very bleak.  It’s not complex or refined in the slightest, but then, neither is the viking.

Conclusion: An astonishingly good comic that shows what can be done with 22 pages.  This may very well go down as one of the best single issues of the year.

Grade: A

-Alex Evans

Mainstream Weekly:
DC
Detective Comics #855 [00:51]
Blackest Night: Tales of the Corps #3 (of 3) [09:04]

MARVEL
New Avengers #55 [13:27]
Secret Warriors #6 [19:57]
Marvel Zombies 4 #4 (of 4) [25:14]
Wolverine Noir #4 (of 4) [29:36]
ULTIMATUM: Spider-Man Requiem #2 (of 2) [31:04]
ULTIMATUM #5 [35:11]

Independence Day:
AVATAR
Ignition City #4 (of 5) [54:13]

VERTIGO
Northlanders #19 (The Shield Maidens: Part 2) [59:12]

TH3RD WORLD STUDIOS
The Stuff of Legend #1 [1:01:30]