Jessica Farm Vol. 1
by Josh Simmons
Fantagraphics, 104 pages, $14.95.

Josh Simmons first began this book in December of 2000 with the goal of drawing one page a month. The second volume will not be completed until 2016, and the final volume (of a projected seven) won’t be out until 2050, by which point, as some reviewers have noted, many of us will likely be dead, myself included. It’s no joke to say this series will literally be his life’s work.

So yes, it’s another one of those books, one equally if not more obsessed with methodology and experimentation than plot or characterization (though there’s certainly enough of that in here to satisfy). No doubt to the casual reader it all sounds very gimmicky and I suppose to a degree it is, though I think the book largely surpasses it’s gimmicky publishing premise to offer up something haunting and wholly original. (more…)

Most Outrageous: The Trials and Trespasses of Dwaine Tinsley and Chester the Molester
by Bob Levin
Fantagraphics Books, 200 pages, $19.99.

This was a tough book for me to review. I kept finding myself sitting down at the computer to type only to be possessed by a desperate desire to write about something else.

It was also a tough book for me to read at times, the main reason no doubt being that the assumed name author Bob Levin picked for one of the main characters in this sad tale is the same as my young daughter’s.

Yet Most Outrageous is one of the most moving, compelling and important books Fantagraphics will publish this year, not because it advances the cause of comics or offers some great sequential art revelation or shines some light on a heretofore little known but great artist — it’s really only tangentially about comics. Rather, what makes it great is the way it touches upon issues of how art and life intersect in often ugly ways, how families members can damage each other in unforgivable ways, how the ghosts of your past can reappear in ways you never expected and how heartrendingly clumsy our legal system is at uncovering the “truth.” (more…)

Marian Henley emailed me earlier this week in regards to my recent review of her new graphic novel The Sweetest Jewel and asked if I would post the following:

I just read your review of my book and wanted to correct a factual error.  I wasn’t inspired by the current popularity of graphic novels and memoirs to do this book - my first graphic novel was published by New American Library in 1987, so I kind of arrived early at the party.  But, as you no doubt know, the genre was mostly shunned at the time.  Frank Stack took my book seriously and gave it a perceptive review, but otherwise the reaction was, “We don’t review comic books.”

Fortunately, the situation has changed, as your fine career reviewing graphic literature can attest.  You’ve probably got more books to review than you can handle, and I do thank you for taking the time to read mine.

For the record, while I stand by my critique of her book, I in no way meant to imply any sort of cynical bandwagon hopping on Henley’s part, but rather to suggest that the recent rise of interest in graphic novels and memoirs is what allowed her to get her story published. That’s hardly clear from my wording, however, so I’ve edited the passage for clarity’s sake. My apologies to Ms. Henley.

A couple of weeks ago, we were chatting about Star Trek comic books. As noted earlier, I am awfully fond of certain DC and Marvel journeys through the Trek universe. It occurred to me that I had not read any of the more recent IDW stuff. To correct that glaring oversight, I picked up IDW’s trade paperback Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Space Between.

This TPB collects all six issues of the The Space Between miniseries.

When evaluating Trek comics, I look for three primary elements to guide me:

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The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story
by Marian Henley
Springboard Press, 176 pages, $21.99.

This is a new, and I think first, graphic novel from Marian Henley. I wouldn’t be surprised if her name doesn’t ring any bells, though I suspect you may have seen her work once or twice before. For a long time (1981-2003), she was best known for the comic strip Maxine, one of those weekly, “single woman takes on the world,” proto-”Sex and the City” type alternative strips that could be found in magazines like Glamour and dealt with the standard fare like men, relationships and shopping.

Now she’s attempted to tell the story of how she, in her 40s, adopted a child from Russia and finally married her long-term boyfriend at the same time her father was terminally ill.

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“Adults always say ‘that can’t happen’ or ‘that’s impossible’ and things like that. Their minds are totally stuck. But we know that anything can happen. That’s why we’ve managed to survive.” — The Drifting Classroom, Vol. 3

When I was a young child, I would occasionally be possessed by the fear, nay, the certainty, that my parents were not only not really my parents. but were monsters in disguise. When my back was turned, when I was asleep, when my attention was diverted, they would take off their masks like Scooby-Doo villains and reveal their true selves. I imagined them looking a lot like the Joker.

I knew such a thing was outright impossible. I knew that my parents loved me and that people didn’t really look like the joker in real life. But still, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I mean, what if?

It’s a fear that manga-ka Kazuo Umezu innately, intuitively understands. That basic, nightmarish childhood dread, that not only are things not what they seem, but that at any minute a curtain might be pulled and everyone and everything you trusted is not only disinterested in your benefit, but is actively plotting your destruction. (more…)

Typhon Vol. One
Edited by Danny Hellman
Dirty Danny Press, 192 pages, $24.95.

This is the latest and third anthology to be edited by Danny Hellman, a.k.a. “Dirty Danny,” the first two being volumes one and two of Legal Action Comics, produced expressly to get the word out about (and perhaps net a dollar or two for) Hellman’s legal defense against a $1.5 million lawsuit brought against him by Ted Rall.

With the lawsuit having withered away, at least for now (as noted in this interview with Tom Spurgeon) Hellman seems to have focused his energies on producing a more ambitious collection, the net result of which is Typhon. Appreciably larger and in full color, it’s a considerable step up from the last two books. I might even dare to say that it’s pretty excellent, a rock-solid compendium of known and little-known talent, that blend together extremely well. (more…)

Flight Explorer, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Kazu Kibuishi, Johane Matte, Kean Soo, Phil Craven, Jake Parker, Steve Hamaker, Ben Hatke, Rad Sechrist, Bannister, and Matthew Armstrong
Villard Books: $10.00

I’m not convinced that there’s a need for a version of Flight that’s specifically aimed at kids, but I’m sure glad there is one. I’ve only read two of the Flight anthologies and I’m struggling to think of anything in them that I wouldn’t read to my six-year-old. Some of the material may go over his head, but that happened in Flight Explorer too. That doesn’t mean we didn’t enjoy the heck out of it though.

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In case you haven’t guessed by my lack of posting this week, I’m on vacation, which means you get a smattering of short reviews this week as I attempt to do as little work as possible. (more…)

I had been aware of Diana Tamblyn’s comics for some time but for some reason hadn’t really made an attempt to engage her work until she sent me a batch of her books a month or so ago. Part of that may have to do with the nature of Tamblyn’s work itself. Although she has a very distinctive style — bold, thick lines, and an intriguing, almost off-beat blend of caricature and photorealism — she’s by no means a flashy artist, certainly not in her delineations or in her pacing and structure. That holds true for her choice in subject matter as well. She tells, simple, slice-of-life stories about everyday characters that focus more on small moments and quiet scenes than big narratives and weighty metaphors. That lack of, for want of a better word, pizazz, may initially make Tamblyn fade into the background, but judging by the progressive quality of her work, it’s not a place she deserves to be. (more…)

Halo and Sprocket, Vol. 2: Natural Creatures
Written and Illustrated by Kerry Callen
SLG; $8.95

First thought on receiving a review copy of the book in the mail: Uh oh. I haven’t read Volume 1 yet. I’d better see if I can get that one sent to me so I can review it first.

First thought on reading the letter that accompanied the book: Hmm. It’s been five years since Volume 1 came out. There are probably a lot of folks who haven’t read that one. Maybe I should just dive in and see how it reads to someone new.

First thought five pages into the book: Reads really well, actually.

On the back cover of the book, Randy Lander calls Halo and Sprocket “the perfect sitcom.” With all respect to Lander, I disagree; mostly because that description raises expectations that I don’t know if Halo and Sprocket is trying to meet. I tend to judge comedies on one thing only: how much they make me laugh. And while Halo and Sprocket is cute and charming and insightful, I didn’t find it uproarious or side-splitting. Nor do I think it was intended to be.

Maybe what Lander meant by “sitcom” (I haven’t read his full review) has more to do with the book’s format. It’s not a narrative with a plot; it’s a series of short stories about a young woman who lives with a robot and an angel. More Casper the Friendly Ghost format than Owly, if that distinction makes sense. The stories are all delightful and funny, so yes, “situational comedy” is definitely an appropriate label, but again, you won’t be struggling to breathe from laughing too hard. You’ll be smiling though. Widely.

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Milton Caniff’s Steve Canyon: 1947
Written and Illustrated by Milton Caniff
Checker; $14.95

Review by Michael May

I don’t know why it took me so long to pull Steve Canyon off my review pile. You’d think a series about the globe-trotting adventures of a tough-guy pilot would be something I’d dive right into.

No, actually, I do know why. It has to do with occasionally catching a Steve Canyon strip in the paper as a kid and not being that into it. An essay at the back of this volume explains why that might have been. During Viet Nam, readers’ attitudes about the military had changed so dramatically that Canyon’s martial adventures became unpopular. According to the essay, “Caniff’s patriotism was outweighed by his other primary instinct – that of a newspaperman in the business of selling papers.”

The essay goes on to say, “Distancing himself somewhat from the day-to-day scripting, the adventurousness and exoticness that the strip had always offered fell away in favor of the interplay of the Canyon family of characters as they were subjected to detective style plots in an increasingly domestic setting.” That sounds a lot like what I remember reading as a kid. No wonder I wasn’t excited. (more…)

Rob Hanes Adventures #11
Written and Illustrated by Randy Reynaldo

Rob Hanes Adventures is an infrequent comic, but it’s one that I look forward to. Like Jeff Smith’s Bone, I cut Randy Reynaldo a lot of slack on his release schedule because I know he’s doing it a) as a labor of love, and b) all on his lonesome. And RHA’s “complete story every issue” policy means that I’m not having to remember plot threads from three or four months ago when I pick up a new one.

RHA is a great concept. Rob works for a global investigations outfit that sends him all over the world to get involved in all kinds of adventures. One issue may have him trying to solve a cozy mystery in the English countryside, while the next issue finds him deep in the jungle or stopping a mad scientist. Reynaldo has complete freedom to tell whatever kind of story tickles his fancy at the moment. That means that the series is always fresh; always surprising.

In the most recent issue (#11), Rob is fighting a pirate ring with ties to a fictionalized North Korea. Unfortunately, it’s not one of the stronger issues in the series. For one thing, while the pirate ring operates in part from a junk in Chinese waters, it’s really not a band of high seas raiders. This group is more interested in things like counterfeiting money and making a profit from other people’s copyrights.

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Review by Michael May

Tiki Joe Mysteries: The High-Stakes Patsy
Written and Illustrated by Mark Murphy

Let’s get the Hawaiian Dick comparison out of the way first. You hear “tiki” and “mystery” in the title and of course you’re going to make the connection, but Tiki Joe Mysteries is nothing like B. Clay Moore’s “tropical noir” series (except that both are awesome). Hawaiian Dick is Robert Mitchum in a South Pacific setting. Tiki Joe Mysteries is set in Las Vegas. It’s Frank, Deano, Sammy, Joey, and Peter. The tone is completely different. It’s like comparing Ocean’s Eleven to Macao.

“The High Stakes Patsy” is just one of two stories in the book, but it’s the longer one. The first story, “The Pay Off,” only takes up a quarter of the book and serves as a sort of prologue to “Patsy.” “The Pay Off” sets up the Tiki Joe concept by showing how a protection racket tries to strong-arm nightclub owner Tiki Joe. Unfortunately for the mobsters, Joe is a former marine and his current band at the club all served under him in WWII. Joe does report the matter to the police, but since the police are too busy chasing major hoods, it’s up to Joe and the boys to take care of things themselves. Donning tiki masks for anonymity, the group of them uses its military training to push back on the racketeers. In “Patsy,” they put on the masks again to catch a ring of jewel thieves.

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Flight, Volume 5
Written and Illustrated by JP Ahonen, Graham Annable, Chris Appelhans, Bannister and Grimaldi, Matthew Bernier, Scott Campbell, Svetlana Chmakova, Tony Cliff, Phil Craven, Michel Gagné, Steve Hamaker, Kazu Kibuishi, Kness and Made, Sonny Liew, Reagan Lodge, John Martz, Sarah Mensinga, Ryan North, Richard Pose, Paul Rivoche, Dave Roman, Israel Sanchez, Kean Soo, and Joey Weiser; Edited by Kazu Kibuishi.
Villard Books; $25.00

I’ve got some catching up to do on the Flight series. I read the first one ages ago when it came out, but various other reading obligations prevented my getting Volumes Two through Four. There’s nothing like a free review copy to renew your interest though, and now that I’ve read Volume Five, I very much want to go back and read the ones that I missed.

Volume One was unique and beautiful, but as with most anthologies, not all the stories were successful. At the time, I still thought it was one of the best anthologies I’d ever read, but there was room for improvement. For one thing (whether this was the fault of the book or my own misinterpretation, I’m still not sure) it seemed like every story in Volume One was somehow tied to the theme of flight or flying. At some point since then, I’ve read somewhere that “flight” isn’t the focus of the anthologies anymore, if it ever really was in the first place. So, with Volume Five, I felt freer to just enjoy the stories on their own terms without trying to read a unifying subtext into them. Possibly as a result of that – but possibly as a legitimate increase in quality as the editor and artists have grown and matured – I enjoyed every single story in the latest volume. Certainly some of them affected me more deeply than others, but each of them affected me in some way. I wasn’t tempted to brush off or dismiss any of them. And together, they form a harmonious package that’s absolutely lovely.

The anthology opens with Michel Gagné’s “The Broken Path.” It begins as a beautiful, silent fantasy about the inhabitants of an alien world who are trying to save themselves from an oncoming meteor. The action is easy to follow, even when it involves magic spells and otherworldly solutions to the crisis. But I say it “begins” as a fantasy, because by the end it’s become more than just that. It’s a touching story about sacrifice, gratitude, and love.

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Sixteen Miles to Merricks and Other Works
by Barnaby Ward
Frogchildren Studios
208 pages, $29.95.

There’s a lot to like about this debut graphic novel from Ward and Frogchildren Studios, a company that, according to their Web site, primarily deals in producing video games and animation. Brandon Graham is listed as one of the staff artists.

That’s not too surprising since Ward, the company’s art director, seems to share many of the same artistic and storytelling sensibilities that Graham and some of their fellow contemporaries like Ashley Wood have, namely a loose but very controlled delineating style, a taste for the surreal and an interest in world-building, no doubt forged from reading back issues of Heavy Metal, and obvious love of drawing pretty girls (also no doubt forged from HM). (more…)

The Good Neighbors, Book One: Kin
Written by Holly Black; Illustrated by Ted Naifeh

I want to live in the worlds Ted Naifeh creates. His work on Courtney Crumrin, Death Jr., and Polly and the Pirates is playfully dark. Reading those books is like watching old Universal monster movies and Errol Flynn swashbucklers, only without any of the camp or silliness that later became associated with those things. All of the wonder; none of the absurdity. Anytime I see Naifeh’s name on a project, it immediately gets my attention. (more…)

[Yeah, I know the title of this post has almost nothing to do with the movie, but I couldn't resist.]

The Dark Knight is the best Batman film ever made.

That’s not really saying much, mind you — each of the others, including Batman Begins and the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, has its own set of flaws. However, The Dark Knight is also among the best superhero films ever made. The only others in its class are Superman* and Spider-Man 2 – and Peter Parker, if not Steve Ditko himself, would recognize the choices made by the principals at movie’s end. Next to the sprawling urban crime drama skillfully executed by director/co-writer Christopher Nolan and a fine ensemble cast, Iron Man (no slouch itself) looks like a toy commercial.

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