It was another short list this week. And fortunately, a couple of the things I talked about last week had their counterparts come out this week, offering the opportunity to dig a little more.
Spoilers ho!
Detective 841 - Paul Dini offers up a one-and-done Mad Hatter story, complete with beginning, middle, and end. While I recognize it is the nature of serialized publishing to have stories that extend over a period of time, good story-tellers can advance an overall arc while telling self-contained episodes in the arc, completing a story and leaving some threads to be advanced in the ongoing stories. Dini does this with the Mad Hatter, giving us a new situation, developing that situation, coming to a crisis (in the literary sense, not in the DC Universe sense), and then giving a solid denouement. And once again we see the detective facet of Batman in the forefront of the story--using his skills to unravel the mystery at hand.
Contrast this to the most recent issue of Batman which was a series of nearly hallucinogenic flashbacks, revealing very little new about the character, offering perhaps some insights into the current incarnation, bit not advancing what appears to be a major story-arc, Batman suffering from a heart attack while in the clutches of a sadistic new nemesis. Again, this is not to say that wherever Batman ends up is not interesting, but the getting there feels rather tedious. Detective remains sharp and crisp, each story pulling the reader in and delivering, with almost every issue. Dustin Nguyen's art takes some getting used to, but it is serviceable and does not get in the way of the story, which is the very least we can expect from an artist.
A note for the future of these two series: this weekend Dan Didio announced at the annual retailers' meeting that the upcoming "Batman R.I.P." arc in Batman will not be crossing over into the Detective series (the actual quote from http://newsarama.com: "you’ll have “Batman: R.I.P." in Batman, along with another major and separate storyline in Detective"). This announcement comes in the middle of a discussion about the continuity all coming together for Final Crisis in 2008. Seeing that the assumed death of Batman is to be balanced by an important story-line having nothing to do with the death of Batman actually makes me feel worse even less optimistic about the continuity actually coming together. I guess we'll find out in about three months.
Fables 69 - Last week, I talked about the disappointment I feel for Jack of Fables, especially balanced against its companion title. And this issue of Fables just highlights the strengths of this title. Chapter Nine of "The Good Prince" brings the resolution of a stroy-arc that has run for most of a year, and it does it triumphantly. Flycatcher has gone from being the amnesiac janitor in Fabletown city hall to the savior of all the fables, when he defeats the primary army of the opposition. And to its credit, I doubt many readers could see this conclusion coming, given the end of the last issue, wwhere it appeared that all hope was gone.
Along these lines this is the first issue in the story-line where the effects of the events in Fabletown were not revealed, but Flycatcher deserved the lion's share of the pages. And the events of this issue are so big, the full impact could not be adequately covered anyway, leaving the repercussions to be worked out in future issues of Fables. The few reactions we get to see are crucial to the ongoing story of Flycatcher and offer a Kay-esque promise of stories that continue long after the scenes that held the reader's attention have passed.
While often light-hearted and even whimsical in tone, Fables perfectly balances the worlds-spanning importance of events while reminding the reader that these characters are based on whimsy. In fact, it is the background of whimsy that makes the serious events that much more poignant. Meanwhile, Jack of Fables uses whimsy as the background for just being mean-spirited. At any rate, this story arc deserves mention for the Eisners come July. Given the minimal interaction I have had with Bill Willingham in San Diego (he graciously accepted my thanks for using characters from The Faeire Queene in his story-telling, actually carrying on a short conversation about the beauty of those stories rather than rolling his eyes at the geek boy nature of my praise) and given the care he appears to put into the stories, according to his panels, I admire his talent and skill immensely. And he seems like just a good guy. How much fun would it be to sit in on a story session with him and artist Mark Buckingham?
Along with Detective and Booster Gold, this has become a destination comic each month from DC.
Justice Society of America 12 - Perhaps freakishly, I am thrilled as much by the Golden Age characters in the DC Universe as I am by the more modern ones. The Justice Society and it sister titles have long been a favorite of mine, probably because the 80-page giants I used to read had back-up reprints of those really cool stories. The stories of the Seven Soldiers of Victory and Justice Society somehow resonated with me for the sense of family among the characters that often felt missing from the Justice League stories also carried in those giants. In later years, All-Star Squadron carried that tradition further. So imagine my delight to see the cover of this issue of Justice Society, complete with an African-American man in green and yellow.
Yes, there is a new Amazing Man, complete with fascinating back-story and historical perspective. In some ways, I wish some stories could be told of the history that the original Amazing Man, grandfather of this new one, and the place he took in the society around him. According to the flashbacks, he used his powers for social justicve, becoming a companion to Martin Luther King, a role this new Amazing Man continues. Storylines of the original's struggles, handled tastefully as this introduction was, could be fascinating and powerful story-telling.
This issue also serves as the introduction of a new character in the DC Universe, Lance, who turns out to be a descendant of FDR. This one is less promising, although having a character currently serving in the military could open up some story-telling possibilities as well. There is also the introduction of the villain for this arc, Gog, whom I should have suspected all along given the presence of the Kingdom Come Superman. Things are building up nicely for some huge stories, but then, Geoff Johns has always been skilled at the build-up, including his personal touchstone, a single-panel final page with a twist in the story-telling. And I have written before of my findness for the action-filled clean lines of Dale Eaglesham's art.
The only concern I have for this title is the cast approaching the size of the roster of the Legion of Super-heroes. Eighteen menbers are included in the roll call, and four new characters are introduced in the pages of this title. And they all have such fascinating back-stories, I have no idea how any of them are going to get any build-up over time. But it promises to be a fun ride for a while.
All-New Atom 20 - The last issue written by Gail Simone feels a little rushed, as the villain behind the events of the last 19 issues is revealed, fought, andthen defeated. Given Simone's apparent love of the DC Universe, the revelatoin that Chronos is the bad guy makes perfect sense. But the time it takes to defeat his plot feels disproportionate to the build-up to get to this point.
There are also a couple of miscues concerning the Black Mercy plant used against the Atom. For instance, the dean wears a Black Mercy as a boutoniere but is unaffected by it. Meanwhile, the Atom not only knows he is under its influence but is able to fight it off. I like the new Atom, but I find it very hard to believe he has the willpower of Batman, and more than Superman, just because "everything he wants" is already in his grasp. That's a romantic notion but not likely to be true, given the history of human happiness.
But I understand the need to have the great storyline wrapped up by the writer who originated it. And I loved finding out that Head and friends actually have their own bodies. All the threads of the story were pulled together nicely in this conclusion. I don't know Rick Remender's work, but I do know I'll miss Gail SImone's work.
Note
The Permanent Damage link over on the left navbar has a really good entry on one of the traditions of comic history, the thought balloon and how it has been abused and is being gently redeemed in current comic story-telling. In fact, Grant talks about a few other comic traditions as well, and I find it is a refreshing introduction to some of the details of the craft of writing comics that newcomers may not know and oldsters take for granted. Good good stuff.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
The Sarantine Mosaic
This is a selection I have read for my book group, so I will not go into a lot of detail, although I certainly could.
The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay is actually two books, Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors. In many ways, I think this story may be the epitome of Kay's writing; everything comes together in a powerful way. Sometimes when I am proselytizing Kay, I am asked what makes him such a remarkable writer. There are many aspects worth talking about, but it is his characterization that seems the strongest to me.
In this case, there is a putative main character, Crispin, with whom we spend more time than any other character. His history is given and his current position--his career, his outlook, his thoughts--are revealed through fairly standard means. But over the course of the two books, Crispin changes and grows, sometimes glacially slow and sometimes lightning fast. But Kay's artistry can be seen by recognizing that the changes are never forced or dramatically misdirected. Over the course of the novel, we get to know the characters so well, that the seeds of the changes they undergo are fairly apparent upon hindsight. Crispin goes from being a disaffected artist uncaring about anything but his family (and barely them) to one who is actually optimistic, though cynically so. His incredible intelligence is explicitly described by the narrator, but then we see it used repeatedly until it becomes a little bit of a trope. Because a person can't generally choose to turn their intelligence on and off, and so a character shouldn't be avle to either. And then Kay twists hard, causing Crispin to make a fairly simple mistake, yet having revealed the possibility of the mistake early on and thus not failing to keep Crispin's characterization stable. And a great part of that mistake is based on Crispin dealing with someone that he himself admits may be even smarter than he is.
In fact, Kay's characterizations stretch credibility with this point: all of the "main" characters in this novel are supremely gifted at what they choose to do, whether it be architecture, chariot-racing, or governance. All of the characters are lovingly crafted with tremendous depth revealed to the reader in stages, just as the facets of any personality surface cumulatively. And standing at the center of it is Crispin, bewildered and bewildering in his time. As I read, I admired the craft of all these brilliant people, feeling more and more removed from their world, given the improbability, in my mind, of their coming together. Then as I pondered real-life reflections of this powerful a web of acquaintances, I realized that it's true in the real world as well: smart people tend to come together into their own circles.
And while Crispin stands at the center of it all, he is the perfect representative of ourselves in the story. He has travelled to a city he has only heard of and has to learn how to deal with its citizens and its culture much as a reader of a new novel has to learn the nuamce of the place his reading takes him. And Crispin has to be smart, or else the plot's movements would remain mostly unrevealed to him and his readers. Unfortunately, Kay used "tapestry" as a title in an earlier series; otherwise it would be a better metaphor for the connective relationships that bind the characters. From an outside point of view it is a mosaic, but somehow "mosaic" feels static in comparison to "tapestry." The Sarantine world is anything but static.
As I have alluded to, The Sarantine Mosaic is incredibly powerful for many reasons, and well worth the time it takes to read it. And while Crispin's isn't the only point-of-view we have throughout, it is the most powerful, adn the one we both begin and end with. We feel his joy and the depths of his sadness, not just because Kay describes them but because his character is so well-developed that, like any for other friend, we can predict his emoption before events cause Crispin to feel them himself.
The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay is actually two books, Sailing to Sarantium and Lord of Emperors. In many ways, I think this story may be the epitome of Kay's writing; everything comes together in a powerful way. Sometimes when I am proselytizing Kay, I am asked what makes him such a remarkable writer. There are many aspects worth talking about, but it is his characterization that seems the strongest to me.
In this case, there is a putative main character, Crispin, with whom we spend more time than any other character. His history is given and his current position--his career, his outlook, his thoughts--are revealed through fairly standard means. But over the course of the two books, Crispin changes and grows, sometimes glacially slow and sometimes lightning fast. But Kay's artistry can be seen by recognizing that the changes are never forced or dramatically misdirected. Over the course of the novel, we get to know the characters so well, that the seeds of the changes they undergo are fairly apparent upon hindsight. Crispin goes from being a disaffected artist uncaring about anything but his family (and barely them) to one who is actually optimistic, though cynically so. His incredible intelligence is explicitly described by the narrator, but then we see it used repeatedly until it becomes a little bit of a trope. Because a person can't generally choose to turn their intelligence on and off, and so a character shouldn't be avle to either. And then Kay twists hard, causing Crispin to make a fairly simple mistake, yet having revealed the possibility of the mistake early on and thus not failing to keep Crispin's characterization stable. And a great part of that mistake is based on Crispin dealing with someone that he himself admits may be even smarter than he is.
In fact, Kay's characterizations stretch credibility with this point: all of the "main" characters in this novel are supremely gifted at what they choose to do, whether it be architecture, chariot-racing, or governance. All of the characters are lovingly crafted with tremendous depth revealed to the reader in stages, just as the facets of any personality surface cumulatively. And standing at the center of it is Crispin, bewildered and bewildering in his time. As I read, I admired the craft of all these brilliant people, feeling more and more removed from their world, given the improbability, in my mind, of their coming together. Then as I pondered real-life reflections of this powerful a web of acquaintances, I realized that it's true in the real world as well: smart people tend to come together into their own circles.
And while Crispin stands at the center of it all, he is the perfect representative of ourselves in the story. He has travelled to a city he has only heard of and has to learn how to deal with its citizens and its culture much as a reader of a new novel has to learn the nuamce of the place his reading takes him. And Crispin has to be smart, or else the plot's movements would remain mostly unrevealed to him and his readers. Unfortunately, Kay used "tapestry" as a title in an earlier series; otherwise it would be a better metaphor for the connective relationships that bind the characters. From an outside point of view it is a mosaic, but somehow "mosaic" feels static in comparison to "tapestry." The Sarantine world is anything but static.
As I have alluded to, The Sarantine Mosaic is incredibly powerful for many reasons, and well worth the time it takes to read it. And while Crispin's isn't the only point-of-view we have throughout, it is the most powerful, adn the one we both begin and end with. We feel his joy and the depths of his sadness, not just because Kay describes them but because his character is so well-developed that, like any for other friend, we can predict his emoption before events cause Crispin to feel them himself.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Comics for 30 January
A sad week in a way--the last issue of Y the Last Man came out. I have to admit I like the idea of a series knowing where it intends to go in a limited run and then actually making it. But then Y has had superior story-tellign and art throughout its run, with only a few miscues. My only gripe with this issue is that I wish soa badly it had come out a month after the last issue, so it didn't feel so much like an after-thought for the rest of the series.
It was a good run, and Brian Vaughan has pretty much guarantted anything else he writes I'll at least take a look at. Thank you for the good work and all the heart.
Now as for the rest of this week's comments....
Spoilers ho!
Jack of Fables 19 - You know in the movies,where they have to convey a lot of action in a little space, so they do short little montages that give just the gist of what the characters do in that space, usually with little snips of humor and expedited character development? That's what this issue is, as Jack and the gang go travelling through Americana, the land of American fables. And the montage effect does such short shrift to the overwhelmingly cool concept of Americana that I just hated this issue.
I think I could understand the montage thing if the series had somewhere to go, a scene to be at by a certain issue. And maybe it does, but thus far, this single issue sums up my bad feelings about the series--a whole lot of picaresque wandering that has very little to do with the ongoing plotlines also taking place in this work, in Fables. In Bill Willingham's hands, I imagine Americana could be its own title, and a darned good one, but the concept here is hurried, with only minor tastes of the potential inherent in the idea. I honestly have no idea where the story is in a hurry to get to.
The art, as always, is quite good. Russ Braun's pencils and Andrew Pepoy's inks are excellent story-telling tools, and the colors by Daniel Vozzo are clean and crisp and a powerful addition to the story-telling stew. It really is the story that is the weak point, and that is surprising to me. I'm likely to give this just a few more issues to see if the whole thing can find a direction, but if something doesn't happen soon, I'm dropping it from my list.
Batman 673 - Say what? An entire issue of flashbacks and hallucinations as the result of Batman having a heart attack? Clearly this issue is setting us up for something down the road, but it just doesn't feel right. That is, the flashbacks are okay and no horrible retcons, but it just doesn't make sense for Batman to have a heart attack without warning. Yes, I'm sure it happens to other people, but Batman is in such peak physical condition that it seems unlikely that he wouldn't have any symptoms he might suspect. And I recognize that it is possible that this new villain, the Third Man, may have caused the heart attack by using some drug with his attack, but we've never even really heard of this guy before. Why wouldn't Hugo Strange use a heart attack inducing drug?
It just sort of feels random, which has been my concern with Batman of late, especially since the Joker prose issue. I think I'm a pretty close reader, but I'm not finding any clue these things are coming up. And you know that would be okay too, I think, if the impact unexpected plot movements can have were used to do something artistic. But nothing seems to happen as a result of these almost arbitrary directions. And Morrison's writing in Batman is definitely hurt by the inevitable comparison to Dini's Detective where there seems to be a goal with the story-telling.
Morrison is writing the blockbuster storyline later this year "RIP Batman," but I can't decide if that is gong to be a gimmick or a real storyline. This also has to do with my recent comments on DC's overall direction. Maybe if the idea of Batman's heart attack propagated though some other titles, like Justice League, I'll more easily accept what's going on here. Right now, however, I'm not really optimistic.
Black Adam 6 - Well, we finally find out what the magic word is, and it turns out Captain Marvel is right. Adam would never have guessed it if he hadn't stumbled over it. And by the end of this issue Isis is alive again, with no memory and very little self-control...and Adam thinks she is dead, and because of his own mistakes to boot.
While a little cliche in comic circles, the series ends in a good space for more Black Adam stories. His character has been extremely well developed in the last few years, first in the paes of JSA and then in 52. He is a character capable of so much good and yet so much evil, and usually those characters always land on the light side. Peter Tomasi does a fine job adding story elements to this saga, and I hope that we will get to see it continued somewhere.
Death of the New Gods 5 - Two things really jumped out at me with this issue. First, the retcon of the origin of the Source is delightful, in part because of the narrator being the Source itself. It also helps the bizarre history of Kirby's Fourth World fits much better with human history as we know it as a result of this retcon. And I have to admit, once I read that the Source had been weakened by being split from its darker half, I knew immediately what that darker half was better known as. No wonder Mr. Miracle has so much trouble controlling himself. I did find it pretty hokey, however, to continue to hide the identity of the Godkiller with a silhouette colored by a huge question mark. With all the build-up, it betterbe a huge reveal, or else this is just becoming a nuisance.
The other thing I noticed is the tremendous unevenness of the art. The pencils are being done by writer Jim Starlin himself, with Matt Banning and Art Thibert splitting inking duties. There are panels where the artwork is exquisite--powerful and delicate all at once. And then there are panels that are hideous, with ham-handed inking resulted in lop-sided faces and features. I would guess the inker for the good stuff is Art Thibert, but that is only based on his reputatoin as an artist, and I admit to not knowing Matt Banning at all. But I could be wrong. Whoever is doing the lop-sided stuff needs to stop though.
It was a good run, and Brian Vaughan has pretty much guarantted anything else he writes I'll at least take a look at. Thank you for the good work and all the heart.
Now as for the rest of this week's comments....
Spoilers ho!
Jack of Fables 19 - You know in the movies,where they have to convey a lot of action in a little space, so they do short little montages that give just the gist of what the characters do in that space, usually with little snips of humor and expedited character development? That's what this issue is, as Jack and the gang go travelling through Americana, the land of American fables. And the montage effect does such short shrift to the overwhelmingly cool concept of Americana that I just hated this issue.
I think I could understand the montage thing if the series had somewhere to go, a scene to be at by a certain issue. And maybe it does, but thus far, this single issue sums up my bad feelings about the series--a whole lot of picaresque wandering that has very little to do with the ongoing plotlines also taking place in this work, in Fables. In Bill Willingham's hands, I imagine Americana could be its own title, and a darned good one, but the concept here is hurried, with only minor tastes of the potential inherent in the idea. I honestly have no idea where the story is in a hurry to get to.
The art, as always, is quite good. Russ Braun's pencils and Andrew Pepoy's inks are excellent story-telling tools, and the colors by Daniel Vozzo are clean and crisp and a powerful addition to the story-telling stew. It really is the story that is the weak point, and that is surprising to me. I'm likely to give this just a few more issues to see if the whole thing can find a direction, but if something doesn't happen soon, I'm dropping it from my list.
Batman 673 - Say what? An entire issue of flashbacks and hallucinations as the result of Batman having a heart attack? Clearly this issue is setting us up for something down the road, but it just doesn't feel right. That is, the flashbacks are okay and no horrible retcons, but it just doesn't make sense for Batman to have a heart attack without warning. Yes, I'm sure it happens to other people, but Batman is in such peak physical condition that it seems unlikely that he wouldn't have any symptoms he might suspect. And I recognize that it is possible that this new villain, the Third Man, may have caused the heart attack by using some drug with his attack, but we've never even really heard of this guy before. Why wouldn't Hugo Strange use a heart attack inducing drug?
It just sort of feels random, which has been my concern with Batman of late, especially since the Joker prose issue. I think I'm a pretty close reader, but I'm not finding any clue these things are coming up. And you know that would be okay too, I think, if the impact unexpected plot movements can have were used to do something artistic. But nothing seems to happen as a result of these almost arbitrary directions. And Morrison's writing in Batman is definitely hurt by the inevitable comparison to Dini's Detective where there seems to be a goal with the story-telling.
Morrison is writing the blockbuster storyline later this year "RIP Batman," but I can't decide if that is gong to be a gimmick or a real storyline. This also has to do with my recent comments on DC's overall direction. Maybe if the idea of Batman's heart attack propagated though some other titles, like Justice League, I'll more easily accept what's going on here. Right now, however, I'm not really optimistic.
Black Adam 6 - Well, we finally find out what the magic word is, and it turns out Captain Marvel is right. Adam would never have guessed it if he hadn't stumbled over it. And by the end of this issue Isis is alive again, with no memory and very little self-control...and Adam thinks she is dead, and because of his own mistakes to boot.
While a little cliche in comic circles, the series ends in a good space for more Black Adam stories. His character has been extremely well developed in the last few years, first in the paes of JSA and then in 52. He is a character capable of so much good and yet so much evil, and usually those characters always land on the light side. Peter Tomasi does a fine job adding story elements to this saga, and I hope that we will get to see it continued somewhere.
Death of the New Gods 5 - Two things really jumped out at me with this issue. First, the retcon of the origin of the Source is delightful, in part because of the narrator being the Source itself. It also helps the bizarre history of Kirby's Fourth World fits much better with human history as we know it as a result of this retcon. And I have to admit, once I read that the Source had been weakened by being split from its darker half, I knew immediately what that darker half was better known as. No wonder Mr. Miracle has so much trouble controlling himself. I did find it pretty hokey, however, to continue to hide the identity of the Godkiller with a silhouette colored by a huge question mark. With all the build-up, it betterbe a huge reveal, or else this is just becoming a nuisance.
The other thing I noticed is the tremendous unevenness of the art. The pencils are being done by writer Jim Starlin himself, with Matt Banning and Art Thibert splitting inking duties. There are panels where the artwork is exquisite--powerful and delicate all at once. And then there are panels that are hideous, with ham-handed inking resulted in lop-sided faces and features. I would guess the inker for the good stuff is Art Thibert, but that is only based on his reputatoin as an artist, and I admit to not knowing Matt Banning at all. But I could be wrong. Whoever is doing the lop-sided stuff needs to stop though.
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