Focused Totality

Friday, May 19, 2006

Thursday, May 18, 2006

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Wednesday, May 17, 2006

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Tuesday, May 16, 2006

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This Week's Releases: May 17, 2006

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Monday, May 15, 2006

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Friday, May 12, 2006

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Some time ago, a mention of "occult spies in the American Revolution" officially put The Black Coat on my radar. However, it was a Speakeasy title ... and I think we all remember how that went down. I wasn't expecting it to see the light of day until I stumbled upon it at Night Flight Comics this week, and greeted it like an old friend once thought lost. Finally, the "occult spies in the American Revolution" book would be mine!

The Black Coat is a thrilling tale of spies, pirates, magic, and derring-do set in New York, 1775. A masked adventurer fights for the nascent American cause against all manner of foe, relying on technology, a network of assistants, and his own skill, smarts, and bravery. This is pure, unfiltered swashbuckling adventure with no sense of homage, no sense of irony, no postmodern nudge-nudge-wink-wink, no sense of a mission statement being delivered. It's not the all-ages fun of Scott Chantler's Northwest Passage, but seems like its adult brother from a world where adventure comics never died. It's not overly intellectual, and doesn't feel the need to excuse it's wit and panache with a sly wink at the reader. The pirates here are actual pirates, not a pomo reference to a popular meme. Our hero can glibly say "I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me gentlemen ... I don't have time to stay and chat" as he whisks away from as exploding pirate ship, and it feels true and right and appropriate. It is pure. It is honest. It is unique.

Though there are some storytelling issues now and again, areas where I couldn't follow all the beats of the page, the overall punch of Francesco Francavilla's artwork is powerful. Jeremy Colwell's inks on the first few pages are noticeable, and really tighten up the intricacies of the art, but even when Francavilla finishes the book inking himself the tone doesn't change dramatically. It is detailed and rich with the feel of the era, but also is alive and fluid and unafraid to let the characters move. The big set pieces like the aforementioned exploding pirate ship and a rooftop battle with a monster work well, with excellent choreography and pace. Both the writing and art feel very professional and polished, and I hope the team has found firm enough ground at Ape Entertainment that we'll see further adventures after this initial miniseries is complete.

The first issue of The Black Coat is in stores now, and more information (including a some preview art, and my new desktop wallpaper) can be found at The Black Coat Website. This is good stuff, and a refreshing antidote for comic buyers suffering from Big Two Crossover Burnout. It's a great reminder that comics can be rip-roaring, imaginative fun.

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T.G.I.F.: May 12, 2006

Thursday, May 11, 2006

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52 on 52 #1

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Little Star

It's not easy being a dad.

It's also not all that hard.

Andi Watson knows this, and sets it down in Little Star from Oni Press. After drawing raves in it's original monthly release, the series is now collected in a trade paperback. There's not much extra here if you've read the series already, but this digest-sized novel is a perfect way to wrap it up as a Father's Day present when that time rolls around. And an excellent present it would make, as fatherhood is as the heart of Little Star.

With simple, cartoonish characters that have the feel of classic magazine illustration, Andi Watson tells short stories about life as an involved dad. Though some themes and storylines weave through the series, it's mainly vignettes about the challenges of fatherhood. The lead character, Simon Adams, works part-time in a porcelain factory filling in as needed after giving up a career as a designer. As a father who works at home and who is very involved with his kids, I found it all familiar: difficulties with finances, the balance of job and family, the early morning waking, and the often painful reminders that at times you're simply not Mom and never can be. The tone of the book rings true to me, as it never strays to the maudlin on either side. This isn't about the drudgery and sacrifice, nor is it a tearjerker about the beauty of parenthood. It's largely a recording, a setting-down of the thoughts and experiences of life as a father. Watson makes it clear that Simon's sacrifices are worth it, but it's not in a moment of transcendent beauty: like everything else in Little Star it is a small and balanced epiphany.

What shone for me in Little Star was the balance of it all. There's an extended section near the end of the book where Watson describes fatherhood as a "very long shopping list of contradictory emotions often experienced simultaneously", and that feeling and viewpoint saturates almost every page. This series almost feels odd in a collected format, because part of the point is that being a father doesn't all hang together. Though there's a symbolic framework here that lends it a sense of wholeness, Little Star is about the details of the day-to-day. There's no defining message there that "fatherhood is _____", rather a message that "fatherhood is _____ then it's _____ then _____ and then it's tea time". It is about the dichotomies and frictions that make fatherhood simultaneously challenge and reward. At times Little Star feels like it will spin itself apart with these contradictions, but it all manages to hang together ... just like Simon.

Little Star is a book that looks at a subject that's often far outside what comics address. Even the indy comics scene primarily concerns itself with the cares of youth, and it's great to read something that reflects my life. I completely recommend it, and hope I'll see more of Simon Adams and his adventures in fatherhood in the future.

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Wednesday, May 10, 2006

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I'm With ...

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

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Borrowed Time

Thank you, Caveman Robot! Thank you for letting Joe Infurnari out to play, and thanks for letting him work on Borrowed Time with Neal Shaffer. Infurnari was one of the winners of the 2005 Oni Press Talent Search, and that success led to his working on this Lost-style fantasy/sci-fi/mystery.

In this first 80-page digest, all we really get is setup. Taylor Devlin is a writer who's been assigned a magazine article on the Bermuda Triangle. While it's mainly a research piece, his editor wants him to get on a ship for some "first hand experience". While on board the ship ... something* happens, and Taylor needs to figure it out. He meets a few exposition delivery machines, then we hit the end of the digest.

It's hard to make a judgment at this point, as this initial volume doesn't do much beyond setting up the premise. Unlike it's format brother Northwest Passage, there's no complete arc here. There's no real sense of where the story will be going, or even who these characters really are. It certainly has a lot of potential, with a unique setup and some interesting insights into how people's mindset could change if the world was just a bit ... different**. This is all plot, all the time and even the character traits that do come to the surface seem puzzling - Taylor quickly turns to alcohol and fists, and it's unclear whether this is a reaction to stressful events or an innate character trait.

I'm not sure where Borrowed Time is headed as a series, but I am sure that this is going to be a big, well-deserved step for Joe Infurnari. It's human, detailed work that is a complete departure from his Caveman Robot style, and should attract a lot of attention from fans and publishers alike. He really steals the show with realistic characters full of emotion, and it's all in a subtle, naturalistic style that completely suits the tone of a book where everything is almost normal.***

It will take at least another volume to make up my mind about Borrowed Time. I would have liked to see the infodump spread out a bit more so that this first book contained a felt like more than an appetizer. But due to an interesting premise and some stunning artwork, I am interested enough to pick up that second volume .... but only just.

* Discussing this book sans spoilers is not easy task.
** Again ... I suck at being coy about plot.
*** ..... and yet again ....

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This Week's Releases: May 10, 2006

Monday, May 08, 2006

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Vampire Loves

It's times like this when I question the self-imposed limits of this blog o' mine. As I look around at the WeboComicsBlogoNet, I see so many barrel-bound fish being shot and I feel a twinge of envy. With the simultaneous release of the end of Infinite Crisis and the beginning of Civil War, it's time to make hay while snark sun is shining down. Even though I enjoyed them both, I could easily savage both installments of crossoveritis for 500 words apiece without breaking a sweat. But Focused Totality is about the writing exercise, and it's been said that there is no gain without the pain.

Which is all a roundabout way of getting to the difficulty of writing about Joann Sfar's Vampire Loves, another title in the impressive launch of First Second Books. I've written before about all true art aspiring "towards the condition of music", and Vampire Loves does just that. Pinning down and critiquing this book is like trying to write about a Keith Jarret solo or a song by Leonard Cohen. I'm at a loss for words beyond "I enjoyed it" or "read it, you'll like it".

It's a simple enough book, with a feel reminiscent of early Woody Allen. If Woody was just a touch less neurotic. And if Woody was not a New York Jew, but a Latvian Vampire. Ferdinand the Vampire is a simple soul who only uses one fang when biting, is careful not to kill, keeps a pathetic-looking cat, and listens to Les Freres Jacques. And he loves. He drifts from woman to woman and relationship to relationship in a search for acceptance and companionship. He can never say no, and can never make up his mind. There's a very distinctly European sensibility to the book, one that captures the clash of eras that is inherent in the Old World, but completely absent in America. Scenes abruptly shift from ancient castles to danceclubs, and includes rave parties held in graveyards that probably predate the formation of the USA. Ferdinand is adrift in time and in his relationships, at a disjoint with everything around him.

Sfar's art is a wonder, with very plain grid layouts that somehow manage to feel free and open. It's almost works musically, with a standard six-panel page establishing a backbeat for the melody of the panel's interiors. The pages flow easily, never calling attention to themselves as composition. It is art that completely exists in service to the story, and demonstrates a confidence in subtlety and simplicity that isn't often seen. It all has an ease and a peace that works perfectly with Ferdinand's constantly bemused and confused state.

All this blathering still doesn't describe the sheer pleasure I had reading Vampire Loves. So, I need to retreat to the basics: "I enjoyed it ... read it, you'll like it"

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Friday, May 05, 2006

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Birthday Giveaway Contest Winners!

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T.G.I.F.: May 5, 2006

Thursday, May 04, 2006

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Focused Linkblogging

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

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Northwest Passage

Why aren't there more books like Scott Chantler's Northwest Passage? I'm not speaking rhetorically, either ... it's a mystery why this rip-roaring historical adventure stands pretty much alone. Loosely based on the history of the Hudson Bay Company (and therefore, the formation of Canada itself), it feels like the sort of Young Men's Adventure that used to inhabit the pages of Boys' Life or most of the Young Adults section of the library as I was growing up. It's fun while managing to be educational, and Chantler has a strong sense of serial pacing, with numerous plot threads running and weaving among each other's cliffhangers.

The tone of the series is set with the descriptions given on the covers of the first two volumes: "Two-Fisted Historical Adventure" and "Pulse-Pounding Western Action". It's like Chantler had these tattooed on his hands while creating these books, because he never loses sight of that goal: a thrilling action-adventure that just happens to have a historical basis. There's no revisionist history here, and even the characterization is somewhat simple and light: this isn't a lecture, a period piece, or a character drama. The fantastic art style is important in keeping the tone with lots of rich detail in the costumes and settings, but a clear eye on action and bold characters. It's reminiscent in many ways of the blocky style used in the Dini/Timm DC cartoons with clear, bold lines and open faces that express a lot of emotion.

Has something fundamentally changed? The death of the young comics buyer is no new topic, but Northwest Passage really made me think: Is "Youth Adventure" a dead genre, where even an outstanding example is neglected? I'm glad to see that the Shuster Awards recognized Chantler's talent, and I hope to see that recognition grow as further volumes are released in this series. Northwest Passage is a great mix that hits a real storytelling "sweet spot", managing to combine fact and fiction and some larger themes while always remaining a compulsive page-turner.

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006

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This Week's Releases: May 3, 2006

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Happy Birthday To You!

Monday, May 01, 2006

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The Lost Colony

How can a book that takes place in a world of fantasy be an insightful look into American history? Grady Klein's The Lost Colony, a launch title from First Second Books, manages just that with an eye-opening look at the national shame of slavery. It's an odd thing to find in a Young Adults book with a loose, cartoony style and candy colors you could eat, but it's there.

The opening sequence (which is partially shown in animated form here) is shocking, as it presents a cute little girl who simply wants some help with her chores as she ransacks her savings to see if she has enough money to buy something she's seen some advertising flyers for. A cute kid saving money to buy their heart's dream tugs at the heartstrings, doesn't it? What about when the object of her desire is a slave? It's incredibly well presented, with an extended drawing out of her actions before her expected purchase is revealed in the first panel after a page-turn. After an initial empathy with the girl, the reader is sent into a state of shock, forced to re-evaluate not only the contents of the first few pages, but also his own opinions about slavery. There is no argument being made here that slavery isn't evil, but there is an argument being made here that it's not so easy to dismiss slaveholders as "them", as "other", as "alien". It's easy when studying history to think that people from the past were fundamentally different, or to demonize those who held beliefs that we later see to be evil. It's easy to think that every slaveholder was a monster, but that's a black-and-white viewpoint, and those are seldom true. The fact is, they were people much like us who accepted a great evil because it seemed expedient. They can be no more demonized that we should be in a generation or two, when our casual use of fossil fuel comes to be seen as a crime against humanity. The old dictum that "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it" only holds true when we realize that we could make the same mistakes.

It's shocking and compelling, and it's all the more surprising coming from the pages of this book. The goofy characters and colorful art make The Lost Colony one of those subversive reads that disguises its intellectual payload in charm and simplicity. It is addressing a lot of issues central to the history of America: slavery, racism, the "melting pot", money, technology, trade, isolationism, and more. It never feels preachy, and with some interesting storytelling techniques in play, it never feels like it's talking down to the reader.

The Lost Colony is one of the first books released from First Second, and I'd like to take a moment to discuss the production values they are bringing to the table here. Why? Because I'm an utter and complete whore when it comes to well-produced books. Eschewing the currently popular tankobon digest format, First Second keeps it's eye squarely focused on mainstream bookstore penetration with the format of their books. This is the size of a industry standard trade paperback, the kind one would find with Oprah's Book Club or any other high-profile literary paperback. The coverstock is heavy and beautifully textured, and the pages are thick and a white that make the colors really pop. Combining the merits of the literary trade and the coffee table art book, this could be the format that takes comics that next elusive step into popular consciousness.

The Lost Colony releases this week at booksellers everywhere, including Amazon.com.

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Focused Linkblogging

Friday, April 28, 2006

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T.G.I.F.: April 28, 2006

Thursday, April 27, 2006

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Desolation Jones #6

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

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Strangetown #1

WeboComicsBlogoNet, you have disappointed me. During my blogging sabbatical, you neglected a truly charming and delightful book that deserves more notice. New-to-the-blogroll Comics-and-More noticed it, but that was about it. Strangetown is a new Oni Press series by Ian Shaughnesy and Chynna Clugston that revolves around a strange girl whose origins are touched my magic, and her adventures as she begins a new life in the town of Grangeton a.k.a. Strangetown. It is flying under the radar, and it shouldn't be. This title is performing an act of synthesis that should be studied and appreciated.

Strangetown is an odd title in today's marketplace. It's neither superhero nor navelgazer nor fight comix nor "new mainstream". There's a mystery at the heart of the book, but it's not a thriller. There's the difficulty of living on your own and finding your way, but it's not autobiography. There's magic, but not much. The art isn't manga enough to be called OEL, but it's too polished and clean to comfortably fit in "indy".

In fact, it's a bit of a surprise to see this published as a "floppy". If this were in a tankobon format, it might be hailed as a breakthrough translation of manga sensibilities to Western concepts. Though the art and writing doesn't proclaim the book as a manga homage, if I were pressed to compare Strangetown to any other comic ... it would be Fruits Basket. The setup is inverted here: instead of a normal girl living with a magical family, we have a magical girl living with a normal family (of sorts). It has much the same feel, though: intimate soap opera with hints of mystery and wonder. By pulling its mythology and setting from Europe, though, it avoids the feeling of slavish imitation that often can plague OEL, as artists and writers try to imitate the culture of manga. Strangetown avoids that, and it was only on a second read that I began to see the parallels. It's not wearing its influences on its sleeve, but the manga is definitely there.

Don't believe me? Want to see for yourself? There's an excellent PDF preview available of the opening sequence at the Strangetown site.

If those first pages puzzle you and you'd like a little background (and maybe a spoiler), you could do worse than to head to Wikipedia.

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Tuesday, April 25, 2006

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This Week's Releases: April 26, 2006

Monday, April 24, 2006

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What I Did On My Blogging Vacation

I've always maintained that when I decide to close up shop here, there will be no final firework tirade. No last screed against the establishment, no lament for a lost Golden Age. I'll simply disappear.

As evinced by posts like this and this, that's horseshit of a terribly pure variety. Comics bloggery isn't publishing, it's community. I missed y'all ... but needed a few weeks to deal with lifematters. Crushing deadlines to vacations, I saw it all:

Does not the phrase "Controversial Sports Videogame Review" seem oxymoronic? Yet, in the wilds of teh IntarWub, such things exist. I, in fact, created one my own self: go, see for yourselves. Only in the strange world of the die-hard sportsgamer is it controversial to point out "the game crashes frequently".

On our way to the zoo, we stopped by 2005 Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award Winning Night Flight Comics and had a family comics day. I picked up a couple of weeks worth of books. My eldest daughter (age 6) picked up Justice League Unlimited. My youngest (age 3) used a radar known only to little girls and immediately located her purchase within seconds of entering the store: My Little Pony. I think they both made excellent choices, and we're all looking forward to a return trip on May 6th ... perhaps with some nephews in tow.

Some rehearsing was also being done, for Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. It's just a staged reading, but I hope to make a full return to the acting this fall. I'm enjoying myself tremendously. I did this role in scene study class when I was 21, and the characters' concerns about age seemed completely alien to me. I said at the time that I needed 15 years to begin to appreciate the character. 15 years later, I'm getting the chance to revisit the role and beginning to get an inkling of how the character should be done.

I missed much controversy and conversation and even the solicits. Did I notice JSA is ending? I assume it's going to relaunch immediately, but what's the story there?

It's back to full steam here this week, and I hope to get around to a look at the last issue of Desolation Jones, a review of The Lost Colony from First Second, and a partial redress of the shocking silence which greeted the delightful Strangetown.