Locas II: Maggie, Hopey and Ray
Written & Illustrated by Jamie Hernandez
Published by Fantagraphics

Somehow, some way, Jamie Hernandez is getting better and better.  Love & Rockets, since its debut in 1981, blazed a standard for brilliant, personal and engaging comic book storytelling, and Locas, the first gigantic hardcover compilation of Jamie’s “Maggie and Hopey” stories, stands as one of the highlights of my life as a reader.  Now, unbelievably, Locas II exceeds the original’s standard.

The high concept remains the same, a continuing series of sketches, short stories and longer narratives chronicling the lives of two Mexican-American women in southern California: Margarita Luisa “Maggie” Chascarrillo and Esperanza Leticia “Hopey” Glass.  The former’s a mechanic, the latter in search of a new vocation after a run as a poor bass guitarist for equally poor punk bands.  Sometimes they’re lovers, sometimes not. In Locas II, as the subtitle suggests, Maggie’s one-time paramour Ray Dominguez steps forward to assume a leading role as well.

All three of the protagonists finds themselves in similar territory, yet uniquely their own.  Their carefree misspent youth behind them, each of the three leads finds her or himself pondering their choices, the place in the world they’ve built for themselves, and fighting against (and to gain) some level of “adultness.”  Hopey’s working through a failing relationship and about to take on a new job as, gasp, a teacher (teacher’s assistant!).  Trapped in a less-than-rewarding position as a building super, Maggie’s dealing with neurotic tenants and even more neurotic friends.  Frequent incursions from despondent childhood friend Izzy and new drama-queen-on-the-block Vivian prevent Maggie from finding any stability outside of her regular phone conversations with old pal Hopey.  Ray…, well, he’s hanging out with trouble-seeking Doyle and wrong-crowd Viv.  He longs for the comfort of his times with Maggie, but can’t seem to keep from falling in with people who are anything but easy going and low key.

Locas II then tells of three people reaching middle age, reflecting on their youthful misadventures, wondering if they’ve made the right choices, as well as how to deal with “the rest of their lives.”  Hernandez’s subtle scripting manages the delicate balance of threading surreal moments, dreams and the threat of violent wannabe gangsters (mostly of whom seem to intersect Viv’s life too regularly) through a quiet, layered and human drama.  Never dull thanks to Hernandez’s playful sense of reality and his engaging characters, Locas II dances through mid-life crises.

From sexual shenanigans to turgid professional responsibilities, the characters in Locas II confront their lives with a palpable mixture of disappointment, amazement, humor and love.  The complicated relationships between the cast, including Penny Century running from husband H.R. Costigan’s terminal illness and recollections of Izzy and Maggie’s childhoods, are never treated casually.  Each short narrative enlightens the dynamic between a set of characters, or with a character’s own self.

Always one of the business’s finest artists, Hernandez’s illustrations haven’t lost as step.  His bold, elegant line flows across each page, delineating his vision of the characters and their world.  Known for his beautiful women, Hernandez is also a master of nuanced character acting, and all the small details – from the lay of clothes to the interior of cars – are rendered with an eye to reality.  And he’s an impeccable storyteller, providing engaging “camera” work and clear, precise panel-to-panel transitions.

Even after thirty years, Jamie Hernandez continues to find things to say about life and love.  In Locas II: Maggie, Hopey and Ray, he’s crafted perhaps his most universal work to date, a saga of three people who’ve left behind the postures of their youth to stumble, unsure and hesitant, across the landscape of their adult lives.  It’s strange and scary, funny and sweet, confused and enlightening.  Locas II is a master as the top of his game, and a true comic book classic.

I only count four: As part of their WonderCon coverage, The San Francisco Chronicle has Peter Hartlaub dreaming up properties, directors and formats for a feature entitled “These 5 projects would be a comic geek’s dream.” So, for example, the first is Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing stories adapted into a live-action film by Ang Lee. Four of the five are comics projects, while Max Brooks’ prose World War Z is also on the list.

So does Ryan Reynolds have a first-look deal with every studio in Hollywood that acquires the rights to do a comic adaptation?: According to Collider, the Deadpool and Green Lantern star will also be appearing in RIPD.

Soooo is Marvel ever going to publish any Disney comics…?: Digital Spy has word that Disney will be publishing a comics tie-in to their upcoming Prince of Persia film on their Disney Press book imprint, and that it will then be serialized as a comic book series by Dynamite Entertainment. Plenty of great talent is involved.

Hey, this Super Pro K.O.! look A-OK: Oni Press has posted some nice previews of five upcoming summer-shipping books of various genres and formats.

In the best possible of all worlds, these would have been the covers for the last three issues of DC’s The Brave and the Bold: Tucker Stone shares some Batman team-up sketches, all of which are awesome…particularly the Cliff Chiang one of Batman and the protagonist of Prison Pit, whose very name is NSFW.

In brightest day, in blackest night
Let no Iron Sheik escape his sight
Let those who worship Ric Flair’s might
Beware his pythons! Hulk Hogan’s Might

….BROTHER!

Hat tip to Lew Smith of Sketch-a-rama for pointing this in my direction.

I have no idea what just transpired, but I think this is what it sounds like when worlds collide.

So the question arises, if Hogan was a member of any Corps, where would he belong?

To quote James Earl Jones: “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Comics Alliance has dropped a bombshell from WonderCon — that Greg Rucka, the driving force behind the new Batwoman, is done both with Kathy Kane and DC Comics for the foreseeable future.

CA’s Laura Hudson, who moderated the Greg Rucka Spotlight panel in which he released this news, also got some bad news about whether or not there would be an upcoming Rucka/J.H. Williams III Batwoman series, to further flesh out the character. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get to do it,” he said. Rucka will instead focus on working on his Queen & Country series, as well as a few as-yet-undetermined projects.

For those who have been living under a rock, Rucka’s Detective Comics — particularly his rendition of this new Batwoman — has been getting rave reviews (including a few from us), not to mention winning a GLAAD Media Award. Best of luck on your new endeavors, Greg!

UPDATE: Rama correspondent Albert Ching has gotten a small WonderCon update on the Mothership about the future of Batwoman, over at the DC Universe Editorial panel:

[DC Senior Story Editor Ian] Sattler: “We have plans for Batwoman.”
[DC Chief Creative Officer Geoff] Johns: “We want Greg (Rucka) to write it, but he’s focusing on his career right now.”
Sattler: “There’s no shelving.”

Apologies if this is later (and lamer) than usual…Blog@’s been under attack by insidious cyber-gremlins, as you may have noticed when visiting, depending on what browser you’re using, and the experience level of the wizard who cast protective ruins around your computer.

I thought this was one of the best comics reviews I ever read: Check out Johnathan of Living Between Wednesdays’ reaction to Blackest Night #8. So great. Of course, then I read Johnathan’s actual review of BN #8, and I realize he may have just been April Fooling in that original review. Somewhere between the two extremes of Jonathan’s reviews is Christopher Bird’s, which you can read here. I’ve only read the first page so far—I just got it started reading while waiting to post this—so here’s my review of the first page: Ha ha, it’s hilarious to think that Hal Jordan is able to quote a Latin poem isn’t it?

Roy Harper lost more than his arm…and his daughter: At least according to doctor and comics blogger Scott, who notices something missing from Harper’s chest. Of course, maybe he lost it during his hospital visit, as Dr. Scott points out that the poor, put-upon hero isn’t getting very good medical care.

I don’t like J’onn’s new pants: Or Aquaman’s turtleneck. Just in case anyone was wondering what I thought of the old characters’ new, slightly different costume designs post-Blackest Night #8.

I can’t agree with any such list missing Beverly Hills, 90210: “The Top 10 Cancelled TV Shows That Should Have A Comic Book”

[Source: Heat Vision]

With Chris Evans finally being cast as Captain America, it was only a matter of time before other roles start falling into place. Welcome to the party, Sebastian, who will portray doomed sidekick Bucky Barnes. You might have seen this up and comer on Gossip Girl or the briefly-aired show Kings on NBC or perhaps the recent comedy Hot Tub Time Machine. Ironically, he too tried out for the part of Cap, but hey, there’s no shame in the Silver Medal.

It’s been reported Stan has signed on for five films, so is there the chance that Bucky’s Winter Solider character to shine and fight against his former mentor? Only time will tell.

The First Avenger: Captain America is scheduled to be released on July 22, of next year and will start filming in Europe this Summer.

Bugs Bunny’s Easter Funnies, available this week on DVD from KidsWB, isn’t exactly a holiday special; it merely uses the premise of a holiday special as the framework for what amounts to a “Looney Tunes” clip show. When The Easter Bunny falls ill, Granny asks Bugs to fill in. When he’s contractually unable to get away from the “Looney Tunes” set, he helps her to audition and choose between  Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe LePew and a number of other members of the “Looney Tunes” stable of characters to do the job.

If you like what you’ve read so far (c’mon, how can you not?) totally check out more super cute comics at:www.sosuperduper.com!

Hey, did you read Blackest Night #8, the exciting conclusion to DC’s long-running Blackest Night event, which writer Geoff Johns has been teasing and building toward for at least five years now?

I didn’t*.

But I did see the spoileriffic David Finch cover to Brightest Day #0 that was posted on DC’s The Source blog today (below a spoiler-stopping cut, of course), which seems to indicate exactly which of the Black Lanterns have stopped being dead and returned to life after the Life vs. Death battle in Blackest Night. (UPDATE: Oh hey, The Source just posted another post on the subject, this time of a splash-panel  also revealing the characters. You can see that here, if you like).

So who are they? Who aren’t they? Do you want to know what I think about them? Do you want to let us know what you think about them? Do you want to argue about it in the comments section?

If so, join me after the jump. If not, it’s no skin off my back.

(Does that count as a spoiler warning, or do I have to actually say the words “Spoiler Warning” for it to count as an official  spoiler warning? I seem to have misplaced my Rules of Comics-Blogging Handbook in a recent move…)

(more…)

The crew behind Iron Man 2 have created this new viral marketing site called Stark Expo 2010, and it is a beaut. There’s lots of fun nods to the Iron Man universe, including a booth for Stark Industries and Stark-Fujikawa — and be sure to check out the ’70s-era message from Howard Stark while you’re there!

The countdown for the Expo coincides with the release of the film, on May 7.

Rumor mill — assemble!

April Fool’s is a tough day to cover news, but IESB is adamant that Joss Whedon is on the short list for directors for the upcoming Avengers film.

Whedon obviously has a bit of a fan following (y’know, there’s only a small site that bears his name), and he’s been well-known for his genre-heavy work like Buffy, Angel, Serenity and his superhero parody Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. He’s also had his name attached to a number of superhero properties, whether its helping out on the first X-Men movie (sadly, only two lines of his were actually kept) or helming the abandoned Wonder Woman flick from DC.

Now, clearly you’ve got to take this rumor with a grain of salt, given today’s date. Currently, Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier told MTV he was “at the bottom” of a short list for directing the blockbuster film, while Iron Man’s Jon Favreau told them he had already passed on the idea. What say you? You want Joss to round up Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Astonishing X-Men style? Sound off, ‘Rama readers!

I’m not quite sure how such a line of questioning came to be, but USA Today asked Robin Williams what his favorite comic was. His response was something I wholeheartedly approve of: DMZ.

According to the hirsute humorist, his daughter may actually be trying to option the series for a film. Warner Bros. and Vertigo, are you listening?

It Was the War of the Trenches
Written & Illustrated by Jacques Tardi
Translated by Kim Thompson
Published by Fantagraphics

There are two types of war stories: war as the great human drama, man accomplishing amazing feats in the most horrible of circumstances, or war as the great human tragedy, the ultimate loss of life without any rhyme or reason.  Tardi’s book fits very firmly into the latter category.

Published in France across a dozen years, It Was the War of the Trenches is not so much a story as a collection of scenes, segments of individual French soldiers’ lives in the World War I trenches.  Trenches is a book devoid of any glory; its protagonists are simply poor young men who join the military, suffer and die.  They’ve been caught up in a patriotic fervor or, bereft of other options, join to give their lives direction.

Showing the history and fears of its central character, each scene details how warfare runs contrary to man’s basic impetus for self-preservation.  Nobody wants to fight these battles, and few of the soldiers bear any ill will toward their foes.  Each is simply following orders, and failure to do so leads to – frequently in Trenches – the unfortunate end of the firing squad.  Tardi is able to often contrast the simple hopes of the soldiers, marriage, family, a trade, against the dilemma of their soldiering life, which leads inevitably to the loss of all their modest dreams.

Despite the intense tragedy of the circumstances, It Was the War of the Trenches feels a little slight at times.  Tardi makes good points, universal points, but several scenes feel clipped and others don’t drive as deeply into their protagonist as possible.  Although you recognize the human emotion that drives a young man to retreat when under fire, Tardi offers a too matter-of-fact presentation in certain sequences, and the firing squad caps too many segments with redundancy.

Expressive and open, Tardi’s characters are excellent caricatures, dropped amid detailed and ink-spattered landscapes that have been torn apart by explosives, shovels and rains.  The effect leaves the people, dirt-streaked and hunch-backed, expressively downtrodden, run down under anxiety and trauma. The opening 20 pages vary in layout, often using a design element to give the page an architectural appearance.  Afterward, the sequences having been created at different times, Tardi sticks to a rock-solid three tier, page-wide layout, enabling him to show the wide, scarred vistas of France.  Ink-soaked and gory, Tardi’s detailed renderings drive home the grotesquery of the war and the ordeal of the young men fighting in it.

While it doesn’t hit a home run in every section of its varied narratives, It Was the War of the Trenches creates an aura of loss, regret and terror.  If none of the individual young men Tardi tells of sticks long in the mind, rest assured that the cumulative experience of death and crushed dreams will leave its mark on every reader.