Blah Blah Blah Comics Blah (3/25)
Blah Blah Blah Comics Blah (3/25)
Mar 25For a change, my comics diet lately hasn’t been just pleasant regurgitation from the big two, but some actual new comics, with first issues and everything. Does this mean I have indie cred? Probably not–I still bag and board.
This time: Comic Book Comics, RASL, Nearly Infamous Zango, Criminal v2, and I think that’s probably about it, really.
Comic Book Comics #1 is a good read, full of information presented in an entertaining way, but it’s not a very good COMIC, if that makes any sense. The art by Ryan Dunlavey is fantastic–packed with lots of clever, biting humor–and the script from Fred Van Lente plays off the art well, deadpanning the narration even as the images offer sly gags to the reader. Unfortunately, there’s little sequential art really happening here, more like illustrated prose. It’s a minor complaint, because this is still a great read packed with detail and framing the hugeness of comic book history in an entertaining, accessible way. But there it is–this comic book about the history of comic books isn’t the best example itself of a comic book.
Criminal (Vol. 2) #1 is really just more of the same from Ed Brubaker and Michael Lark, which is to say, very good (if not outright great) crime noir. I was reading this in floppies, then switched to trades since I found the stories easier to follow in one large chunk; with this relaunch and a focus (at least at first) on single-issue stories, I’m back with the floppies, not just for the articles in the back but just to support a damn fine book.
Noir is a genre packed with tropes, and anyone with even a passing knowledge of your average cop show knows at least a few of them. So it’s not really about the story, but the mood; it’s not about the characters so much as it’s about the people who occupy these roles. Brubaker and Lark together do an exceptional job of bringing these tropes to life and not really making them feel new again, but just making them breathe with reality and empathy.
Nearly Infamous Zango #1 is a true sit-comic–setup, punchline, and return to status quo. You can’t judge it on the cleverness of its storytelling so much as you can on the quality of its jokes. That said, it’s a funny comic with a smart-ass premise–former supervillain as mildly depressed shut-in, struggling in vain to recapture past glories. Writer and artist Rob Osborne makes a lot out of contrasts between the outlandish realm of comic book supervillainy and the mundane reality of the average couch potato’s existence–the remote needs batteries, these chips are giving Zango indigestion, and there’s a crazed monkey on the loose with a giant claw for a hand. I like the way Osborne uses expressions to punch home the gags, and I like the setup enough that I’m on board for more.
For me, the best aspect of RASL #1 is the tactile, visceral way in which Jeff Smith depicts his lead character’s sci-fi adventures. This process of hopping between alternate dimensions–it hurts like hell. It takes a toll. RASL straps on these outlandish rocket-like tubes, along with a mask that makes his face look like a manhole cover, and he slams his way through these unseen metagalactic barriers; on the page, it feels like using a hammer to execute quantum physics, and it’s enormously powerful. I’m very excited to see where this story goes but even moreso, I’m excited to explore RASL’s life and world, and to see this dynamic of excruciating fantastical science fiction taken to whatever its logical extreme might be.
That’s all I got. What do y’all think–I have a suspicion somebody reads this here blog sometimes, but you’re all so durn QUIET.
