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Things To Come: Previews March for comics shipping May 2005
One of my greatest guilty pleasures is currently airing in the United States on Fox, and that's American Idol. Every week I get a horrible, vicarious thrill in watching talented (and not-so-talented) contestants parade their singing abilities to a national audience and slowly get trimmed down until only one remains. It's a franchise that started in the UK with Pop Idol and has been replicated all over the globe. (Comic Book Resources even held two rounds of their very own Comic Book Idol to find the best undiscovered comic artist.) Sitting on my couch with a bag of popcorn, the latest issue of Previews, and a strong belief that a final two of Nadia Turner and Anwar Robinson in this year's "American Idol" would be ideal, I couldn't help but wonder what would happen if we had a version where the comics themselves performed for an audience. As host Ryan Seacrest proceeded to go off the deep-end throughout the results show, the idea wouldn't leave my head, and the next thing I knew... well... SUPERMAN: THE WRATH OF GOG TP by Chuck Austen and Ivan Reis
There are so many genuinely good collections that DC Comics could publish this month. Why they've chosen to instead solicit a compendium of quite possibly the worst Superman stories of the past five years is truly beyond me. "For Completists Only" doesn't even begin to sum up the badness here. IDOL RESULTS: An audition so bad the judges openly mock it for several minutes before the show mercifully cuts to a commercial. ULTIMATE ADVENTURES: ONE TIN SOLDIER TP by Ron Zimmerman and Duncan Fegredo
Wow, I'd forgotten all about Ron Zimmerman and his reign of terror at Marvel. Maybe that's what Marvel is hoping, too; this thinly disguised version of Batman and Robin in Marvel's 'Ultimate' universe had some drop-dead gorgeous art by the underrated Duncan Fegredo, and some of the most transparent, cringe-worthy scripting by Zimmerman that I can remember. I'm not entirely sure why Marvel decided the world is begging for a collection of ULTIMATE ADVENTURES, but then again, there's a lot about various companies' publishing strategies that leaves me confused. IDOL RESULTS: A beautiful contestant who shatters camera lenses as soon as the singing begins, the voice is just so bad. Viewers around the world are simultaneously enthralled and horrified. SHADOWHAWK #1 by Jim Keplinger, Jim Valentino, and Carlos Rodriguez
Third time's the charm? The first incarnation of Jim Valentino's SHADOWHAWK was in many ways typical of the books of the early '90s, full of non-ironic ultra-violence and thoroughly bad writing. Kurt Busiek gave the character concept a swing years later with the short-lived but entertaining THE NEW SHADOWHAWK, and now Jim Keplinger and artist Carlos Rodriguez (with additional co-plotting by creator Valentino) are giving the character another chance. The idea of a legacy hero learning the ropes from his deceased predecessors isn't a bad one by any stretch of the imagination, and this could be fun... but given the book's history, it's got an uphill battle to fight based on that original series. IDOL RESULTS: Auditions well enough to move on to the next round, but quickly vanishes from people's television screens after getting compared to an earlier, much less talented contestant that evokes bad memories for all involved. ACTION COMICS #827 by Gail Simone, John Byrne, and Nelson
This is a tough call. Gail Simone's a great writer, and people who've been reading her BIRDS OF PREY know that she's someone who can tackle a DC Universe book and use all of its options in a way that's inviting to both new and long-time readers. What I'm not crazy about is John Byrne being the penciller for her run on ACTION COMICS; I've been less and less impressed with his art over the years, and the cover image looks terrifyingly bad. (Who knew Superman was a midget?) This is going to be a book where I may have to just brace myself for an assault on my eyeballs in order to enjoy Simone's scripts. IDOL RESULTS: Makes it to the semi-finals only to wash out in the first round of the television audience voting; the host ruefully noted that while the voice was good, the outfit was so hideous that it probably kept people from phoning in their support. STRANGEHAVEN #18 by Gary Spencer Millidge
The best series you're (probably) not reading. No, really. Millidge's STRANGEHAVEN is fantastic; what started as the story of a teacher whose car crash leaves him stranded in a quiet little English village is an entrancing web of intrigue and mystery as the quirky inhabitants of Strangehaven balance infidelity, secret societies, and true love with missing persons and disturbing collectors. Add in photo-realistic art that comes across as fresh and natural and, well... why the heck aren't you all reading this book? It's just so darn good that it should be a crime that people ignore it. IDOL RESULTS: Critically acclaimed from its very first appearance, yet vanishes early on in the audience voting. Television writers point to the lack of votes as sheer stupidity on the part of the viewing audience. AMAZE INK/SLAVE LABOR GRAPHICS SERENITY ROSE VOL 1: WORKING THROUGH THE NEGATIVITY TP by Aaron A
Good solicitation copy will catch my attention, and SERENITY ROSE is easily this month's winner in the category of books I now have to check out based on the description: "When you can float through the air and conjure up monsters out of ectoplasm, you're bound to attract attention... Come stare at Ms Serenity Rose, local witch, as she spends the day dodging goblins, goths, and a bad case of social phobia in the spookiest lil town in America." Add in an eight page preview on Slave Labor's website and I've already fallen in love with Aaron A's art, to boot. It's got a great shaded pencil look that provides a lot of texture and depth, to say nothing of the character designs. You see? A good solicitation really does make all the difference. IDOL RESULTS: The general public is terrified of the contestant, with more socially conservative viewers muttering "devil spawn" under their breath. Doesn't make to the finals and vows revenge in the form of a curse. Half the state of Iowa mysteriously vanishes the next morning. SIRIUS ENTERTAINMENT AKIKO POCKET SIZE VOL 4: STORY TREE and VOL 5: BORNSTONE'S ELIXIR TP by Mark Crilley
I absolutely love Mark Crilley's AKIKO. It's a fun adventure saga of a young girl who goes to the planet Smoo and ends up having to save everyone else's bacon on a pretty regular basis. What makes AKIKO stand out is that Crilley is able to transmit a real sense of fun to the reader, from the character interactions (Akiko's supporting cast is a riot from beginning to end) to the crazy situations they end up in. From rescuing a kidnapped prince to shopping for a new moon for the planet Smoo, anything and everything is possible. Sirius is reprinting AKIKO as a series of "pocket size" collections, and if they bring in new readers, I'm all for it. IDOL RESULTS: The youngest contestant to appear on the show, ultimately sent home wrongfully because of age discrimination. Goes on to prove everyone wrong in the years to come and makes everyone wonder how they'd let this slip through their fingers. FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST VOL 1 TP by Hiromu Arakawa
I know almost nothing about FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST, save these important facts:
1. It's about two alchemist brothers, one who accidentally loses two of his limbs, while the other is transformed into a metal being. It's not much to go on, I know, but I'll give it a try. This series has such a huge following that if nothing else, it'll give me a reference point to figure out from this point on just what the heck everyone else is talking about. IDOL RESULTS: Shows up and is lost in the shuffle in an accusation of being 'too similar to other contestants'. Ultimately ends up with a hit career overseas before finally coming here to reap the rewards of stardom. SUPER F*CKERS #1 by James Kochalka
James Kochalka writing and drawing a superhero book, the name of which Previews won't print? Yeah, just digest that for a minute. Then look at the solicitation, which mentions that the group members smoke one of their teammates' slime drippings, and that the plot of the first issue revolves around people trying out for the team even though auditions aren't until tomorrow. This is going to be utterly nuts; Kochalka's particular brand of insanity is always appealing, and this should be no exception. Or, as the description puts it: "This book is outrageously funny, vibrantly colored, and out of control. Just like America." SOLD. IDOL RESULTS: Shows up naked to the auditions, yet performs flawlessly. Is finally ejected from the competition for 'inappropriate behavior' while continuing to entertain viewers and tabloid publishers alike. BOLLAND STRIPS, by Brian Bolland
Most people in comics know of Brian Bolland through his work on covers, wowing people over the years with his lush figure work on titles like WONDER WOMAN and THE INVISIBLES. More savvy readers no doubt remember his rare interior work in comics, like THE KILLING JOKE and CAMELOT 3000. It's a rare breed that remembers that Bolland's written his own strips as well. His "Actress and the Bishop" strips in the anthology A1 were nice, while his scratchy, stripped-down "Mr Mamoulian" was a regular exercise in silly fun. Having all of Bolland's solo creations in a hardback book (including a new 20-page "Actress and the Bishop" story, hurrah!) is definitely something that Bolland fans will want to pick up. IDOL RESULTS: Wows viewers from the very first appearance, then mysteriously vanishes partway through the competition due to extreme slowness in the dressing room. Decides a weekly competition isn't the best path to stardom and instead gets a yearly special. EMBROIDERIES GN by Marjane Satrapi
I almost missed this on my initial read through of Previews, thanks to Marjane Satrapi's name being left off of the solicitation. (After her PERSEPOLIS books became such a huge hit you'd think they'd have made sure to mention Satrapi's name.) This book sounds pretty amusing, showcasing Satrapi's skills of both biography and humour to write a story about the sex lives of Iranian women, as the characters discuss their own histories, offer up tips, and try to keep up appearances. Satrapi's a really talented creator, and this glimpse into the world of Iran's women promises to be as entrancing as her own life story of PERSEPOLIS was. Highly recommended. IDOL RESULTS: Ignored by many of the show's regular viewers and fails to win the competition, yet goes on to have the biggest mainstream career out of anyone to ever appear on the show. Sophisticated and intelligent viewers are completely unsurprised. THE STARDUST KID #1 by JM DeMatteis and Mike Ploog
All right, I admit it. I never read JM DeMatteis and Mike Ploog's short-lived series ABADAZAD. Yes, I know that it got great reviews, and Disney liked it enough to pick through the bones of CrossGen's corpse to make sure they could get the rights to the series. But for whatever reason, I just never read an issue. Now they've got a new all-ages mini-series which is about... well, I have no idea what it's about, since its solicitation is quite possibly one of the least helpful ones I've read in a while. (Apparently a kid wakes up and the world is different. That's all I've got, folks.) I've heard enough nice things about DeMatteis and Ploog's last collaboration that I promise to give this one a try, though. Fair? IDOL RESULTS: A huge fan base pushes the contestant far, but ultimately its "all ages friendly" reputation and lack of grit means it just can't make it all the way to the end. Twenty minutes after the results show airs, four different production companies are already calling with offers of contracts. THE THREE PARADOXES by Paul Hornschemeier
Paul Hornschemeier's been a favourite creator of mine ever since I encountered his work on FORLORN FUNNIES, and books like MOTHER COME HOME and RETURN OF THE ELEPHANT have cemented that opinion. His new graphic novel, THE THREE PARADOXES, sounds to be a strange mix of metafiction and autobiography as it tells the story of Paul the artist working on a story called "Paul the Magic Pencil", only to abandon this story of creation in order to photograph the places in his early childhood that affected him so much. Sound complex? It probably is, and yet in Hornschemeier's hands it will still come out easy to read and incredibly natural. One of the brightest young creators to come onto the scene in the past decade, easily. IDOL RESULTS: The judges' favourite contestant, who surprisingly exits the competition as the third runner up. Your friendly neighbourhood Things To Come columnist sobs uncontrollably for hours before cursing everyone who didn't vote for THE THREE PARADOXES (despite loving all of the remaining contestants) and wonders just what the nation was thinking. TOP TEN: THE FORTY NINERS HC by Alan Moore and Gene Ha
I've been literally waiting for this book for years, but you know what? It's going to be worth it. Alan Moore's TOP TEN, a police story in the city of Neopolis where literally everyone has some sort of super-ability, was a real joy to read. Gene Ha's art was great with its intense detail, even as Ha fans couldn't help but think that as beautiful as the book was, it would be even better if Ha wasn't trying to meet a monthly deadline. The advance looks at this prequel graphic novel about the founding of Neopolis shows that Ha's used the extra time here very much to his advantage; this will quite possibly be Ha's best work to date. TOP TEN is one of those rare books that really has heart, and getting to take another journey into this world makes me jump up and down for joy. IDOL RESULTS: Blasts through the semi-finals and most of the finals untouched, only to get wiped out when the show drops from three to two contestants. Armchair critics theorize this has to do with its vague similarity to one of the other two finalists, and the sheer amount of talent left in this final three. WALT & SKEEZIX VOL 1 TP by Frank King
If you'd told me a decade ago that this book would be one that I'd rub my hands for in anticipation, I'd reply that you were crazy. Growing up, the comic strip GASOLINE ALLEY never grabbed my attention, seeming like just another one of those serial soap opera strips that went nowhere fast. Then Drawn & Quarterly Volume #3 reprinted some of Frank King's original strips and I understood what all the buzz was about. King's art reminds me a bit of Will Eisner's groundbreaking work on THE SPIRIT, using the medium of comics to experiment and entertain simultaneously. Each Sunday strip was a genuine work of art, exploring new ways to visually entertain the reader even as it continued to tell a story. I'm really thankful that publisher Chris Oliveros and editor Chris Ware are bringing us this first of hopefully many collections of King's work; just as THE COMPLETE PEANUTS over at Fantagraphics is showing people just how great Charles M Schulz's early sequential art really was, WALT & SKEEZIX will no doubt introduce an entire new audience to King's genius. IDOL RESULTS: The real wild card of the show, coming out of nowhere to make it all the way to the final round thanks to its ability to constantly entertain and surprise the audience. In the end it's a more modern, popular favourite that keeps WALT & SKEEZIX from taking the official "winner" slot, but no one will forget this performer any time soon. GOTHAM CENTRAL: HALF A LIFE TP by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark
Finally! The amount of time between the first and second GOTHAM CENTRAL trades is almost criminal (no pun intended); this police procedural set in the shadow of Batman is quite possibly DC Comics' best ongoing series. Greg Rucka and Michael Lark really pull out all the stops here in a storyline that won both an Eisner Award and a Spectrum Award, as Detective Renee Montoya's private life is suddenly exposed to the public eye. It's a sharp story with gorgeous art, and I can't imagine anyone not liking this book. (As an added bonus, two related stories written by Rucka and starring Montoya are included as well.) IDOL RESULTS: The winner by a landslide vote. DC Comics looks properly mortified that they had such a fantastic gem lurking in its back catalogue. Greg McElhatton writes reviews for iComics.com, and has also written for anthologies, magazines, web sites, and technical manuals. Ninth Art endorses the principle of Ideological Freeware. The author permits distribution of this article by private individuals, on condition that the author and source of the article are clearly shown, no charge is made, and the whole article is reproduced intact, including this notice. Back. |