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The Forecast for April 19th 2006
Welcome to The Forecast. Every Monday, Ninth Art's hand-picked team of crack comic pundits offer a rundown of some of the best, worst and most noteworthy books on the shelves of your local comic shop. BOOK OF THE WEEK: THE TOURIST Brian Wood's been around long enough for us to take him a little for granted. Whether it's as creator of some of the most distinctive, iconographic covers on the shelves, or in his explorations of his particular milieu of punk-informed urban political mythologies of the self, we know what to expect: He's the Clash of comic books. It's a particularly apt comparison. What people forget - or deny - about the Clash is that there were chunks of their career where they were just no good whatsoever, more of interest for what they meant and represented than for their work itself. Patchy debut album with lightning strokes of genius. Just plain bad second album. Wood's career so far has been similar: while you can't doubt the commitment, his assassin-bullets of stories have ricocheted away and through the chest of a passing toddler as often as they've cut down their deserving target. The thing is - in the last twelve months, Brian Wood's got good. Really good. There's the suspicion (and hope) that - following the Clash metaphor - he's approaching his LONDON CALLING. Between SUPERMARKET, LOCAL and DMZ he's writing three of the best serial comics currently available, each obviously cut from his sensibility's cloth while being diffuse enough in the details to justify their own existence. At the moment, it seems he can do no wrong. THE TOURIST is the test to see how true that is. If you look across Wood's history, his short OGNs are the general weakest point. For example, the COURIERS books tried to kick back and just have fun - but none of them have really kicked or been particularly fun, with a cast of somewhat tedious sociopaths just hurting each other until the page count runs out. If there was any one comic that made me decide the Action Movie On Paper approach to the OGN was hopelessly misguided, it was THE COURIERS. Which leads us to THE TOURIST (Image). It centres on Moss, the eponymous tourist, who is travelling through a fishing village when his past catches up with him. He's a Special Forces operative turned drug smuggler. The dilemma's clear - the town that has harboured him and taken him to their bosom (literally, in the case of his lady love) versus his own dirty neck and a load of money. This humane centre alone is a good sign, perhaps suggesting a marriage of the personal sensibilities of DEMO and LOCAL with his more flamboyant action side. And Toby Cypress' atmospheric art, capturing both the desolate rain-whipped atmosphere of the North Sea and the hardness of hard men doing hard things, is another real attraction. Here's hoping postcards coming back from this destination reading, "Wish You Were Here". WOO WHO There's nothing I dread more in this world than a Bank Holiday. It's Good Friday as I write this, and I can already feel the treacly claws of aching summer ennui digging into my heart. I could barely get out of bed this morning, even with the promise of many fine comics to motivate me. I tried to break through my reverse seasonal affective disorder by gorging on comics. Amongst other things, I dove into the deep end of licensed comics with the collected edition of Panini Comics' most recent DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES strips, released in time to capitalise on the new series (if not the new Doctor). DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES epitomises the best and... well, if not the worst of licensed comics, then certainly some of the weakest. The stories feature the Christopher Eccleston incarnation of the character, and move with the same boundless energy as the television programme. While the dialogue occasionally rings less than true - despite the presence of series writer Robert Sherman - the characterisation is more or less spot-on. The Doctor isn't quite as haunted or desperate for distraction as he was in the TV series, perhaps - though companion Rose Tyler is - but his resolve, ingenuity and childlike glee have arrived intact. DOCTOR WHO is, fundamentally, a horror story, where people are menaced by existential torment, dark desires and cruel supranormal forces. The comic never shies away from this, while retaining the knockabout humour that stops the show from being too cheesy or grim. The artwork can make or break a licensed comic. At worst, the characters are drawn from reference photographs, sacrificing vivacity for veracity, or the artist can't quite reproduce the characters' faces or mannerisms. IDW's CSI-axis books have been better at capturing the essence of Grissom, Caine et al, even if some of the female cast members went up a cup size. The art on DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES, by Mike Collins, John Ross and David Roach, does a fine job of replicating the grinning mania of Christopher Eccleston's Doctor, though it takes the artists a little bit longer to get the hang of Billie Piper's face, dominated as it is by that generous mouth. The DOCTOR WHO ADVENTURES strips are clearly a labour of love. Such a comment might seem like an apology for mediocre comics, of course, but the stories are genuinely lovely, and sparkle with the magic and invention of the television series. The £6 magazine format may not be the best for the material in the long run - there's enough for a sub-£10 trade paperback, here - but on a gloomy Bank Holiday weekend, when life seems like one long awkward pause - it's the perfect prescription. [Matthew Craig] EVERYTHING OLD DC's trade paperback programme is kinder to some characters (and fans) than others. If you want a fix of Finger/Kane BATMAN, you can have one. If you want to splash out on Grant Morrison's DOOM PATROL, you're more than welcome. Some characters are less well-served, however: fans of cult classics such as AZTEK would have to plunge into the back issue bins to complete their collections. And while fans of the modern version(s) of Wonder Woman might be happy with their lot, woe betide anyone who wants to read a story from the character's Silver Age incarnation. The flagship characters - Superman and Batman - are represented by a shelf-buckling array of books. From the CHRONICLES line, which collects the earliest adventures in full, chronological colour, to hardcover collections of modern stories such as BIRTHRIGHT and HUSH, there's a little bit of something for everyone. People inspired to try Superman comics by this year's blockbuster movie will be spoiled for choice. However, some books will no doubt stand out from the crowd. This week sees the publication of the latest volume of the by-the-decade sampler series, SUPERMAN IN THE EIGHTIES, and it couldn't have arrived at a better time. The 1980s saw Superman in a state of flux. Coming off his earlier movie success, Superman started the decade a newsreading demi-god with a large and bizarre(o) extended family, and finished it as a Marvelised character with a real human soul and a streamlined supporting cast. In between, of course, Superman went through the first INFINITE CRISIS - and I feel dirty just typing that qualifier - which means that this is really a tale of two Supermen. There isn't much of a throughline to the book, though, as the stories that cover the transition between pre- and post-Crisis have been collected elsewhere (in the DC UNIVERSE and MAN OF STEEL paperbacks). Instead, the stories encapsulate the differences between Old DC and New DC. This might suit the dedicated fan more than the casual reader, who may be jarred by the shift in tone. Superman has gone through a number of small- and large-scale reboots since these stories were first published (including the current One Year Later storyline), but none so crucial as this. Unfortunately, as a historical document, it may fall short on one important score. While the book features some well-regarded stories, such as Cary Bates' 'The Miraculous Return of Jonathan Kent', Wolfman and Kane's creator tribute 'If Superman Didn't Exist...', and the first post-Crisis meeting between Superman and Wonder Woman, it fails to include any examples of the post-Crisis Lex Luthor. Turning the character from a sci-fi supervillain into an untouchable Machiavellian was an inspired choice, and remains the more-or-less default version of the character to this day. It seems a shame to leave Lex on the shelf in favour of the asexual blob version of Supergirl - a character who has been thoroughly steamrollered by the Captain Yesterday Brigade. Minor gripes aside, SUPERMAN IN THE EIGHTIES is a showcase for some of the best artists ever to work with the character, from Curt Swan to Jim Starlin. It would make an ideal gift for the new or returning Superfan, driven to read more about Bryan Singer's messianic movie star. [Matthew Craig] THE SHIPPING LIST FOR APRIL 19th 2006: Shipping details come courtesy of Diamond. Visit the Diamond website for the latest information, as the list is subject to change. DARK HORSE FEB060058 CONAN BOOK OF THOTH #2 (OF 4) $4.99 DC COMICS FEB060258 BIRDS OF PREY #93 $2.50
IMAGE FEB061769 COYOTE VOL 3 TP $12.99
MARVEL FEB062003 ANNIHILATION NOVA #1 (OF 4) $2.99
OTHER PUBLISHERS NOV052978F 11TH CAT VOL 2 GN $10.95
The Ninth Eight are Matthew Craig, John Fellows, Kieron Gillen, Alistair Kennedy, Zack Smith, Andrew Wheeler, Ben Wooller and Bulent Yusuf. 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. |