This is a painfully derivative book. An ersatz Justice League is picked off, one by one, like Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. The apparent archiThis is a painfully derivative book. An ersatz Justice League is picked off, one by one, like Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. The apparent architect of the carnage is a Joker rip off called Oxymoron, whose main claim to fame seems to be the fact he is excessively and gratuitously violent.
There are a number of scenes that lifted from much better comics. They recreate the Comedian's funeral in the rain from Watchman to no discernible purpose. The book also ramps the gore up in a seeming effort to shock by being transgressive. It just seems an immature and desperate attempt to maintain interest.
The individual members of The Alliance are devoid of anything resembling a personality. You will not care when one of them is knocked off.
The art is all over the map. There are times when it is heavily photoreferenced and traced and other times when it is OK. The artists typically sexualizes the women by giving them impossibly large and impractical boobs. He draws most women as if they double dose on Botox. The coloring is also poor. At times it is drenched in pastels and then it flips and becomes so dark that you cannot see anything.
Overall this is a poor effort and I recommend avoiding it at all costs. ...more
Ever since Saga went on hiatus, I have been on the hunt for a compelling yet slightly weird sci-fi epic to fill that hole in my heart. Fortunately, itEver since Saga went on hiatus, I have been on the hunt for a compelling yet slightly weird sci-fi epic to fill that hole in my heart. Fortunately, it looks like I may have finally found a substitute with G. Willow Wilson's Invisible Kingdom.
Volume 1 tells the story of two very different women. One is a religious acolyte, dedicated to a faith with a strong anti-consumerist slant. The other is basically the space version of a UPS driver, delivering packages for a massive corporation. When these two women separately discover evidence of a vast conspiracy, they find their lives crashing together.
The first thing I noticed about Invisible Kingdom, vol 1 is just how gorgeous the artwork is. I fell in love with Christian Ward's work during his run on Black Bolt, and he is equally well suited for this sci-fi epic. The colours are vibrant, and the alien character designs unique. I found myself pausing over several pages just to admire the pretty pictures.
But when the book really ended up pulling me in is with Willow's writing, in her exploration of power, faith, and relationships. Not to mention the story gets pretty exciting by the end! Now that our two leads are together, I am eager to see where this story goes next. This is a fantastic series starter, and I highly recommend people check it out. ...more
In Japan Gou Tanabe was primarily known for Mr. Nobody, a series concerning a mysterious private detective known only as Nobody, and his adaptations oIn Japan Gou Tanabe was primarily known for Mr. Nobody, a series concerning a mysterious private detective known only as Nobody, and his adaptations of the literary works of Chekhov and Gorky. It is to our great benefit that he has now turned his focus to the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Dark Horse has imported and translated The Hound and Other Stories and At The Mountains of Madness Vol I and Vol 2 at the time of writing. The volume being reviewed was nominated in the category of Best Adaptation From Another Medium at the 2018 Eisner Awards.
Gou Tanabe’s style recalls the work of past greats Bernie Wrightson and George Pérez. When called for he is not afraid to lay back and sink the page in enormous voids of black ink that threaten to swallow the page whole, yet at others he works obsessive details into complex, two-page spreads that likewise overwhelm one’s senses as you attempt to drink in each and every detail.
Gou Tanabe starts with “The Temple”. This is a particularly wise choice as the claustrophobic interior of a German U-Boat is already an emotionally charged atmosphere to operate within. This setting also allows him the opportunity to show the large black voids of ink that threaten to swallow the submarine whole and the exquisitely wrought details of the psychological pressure exerted on the crew within.
Those familiar with “The Temple” will note that Tanabe has moved the story from WWI to WWII. Why he chose to do this I have no idea except to note this is a rare move on his part. In nearly every other way he is meticulous in staying close to Lovecraft’s original vision.
“The Hound” is the second story in this volume and it stands out in Lovecraft’s body of work for being the first tale which mentions the Necronomicon. In addition to the Necronomicon, Lovecraft here links its authorship to Abdul Alhazred, drops lines to Edgar Allen Poe and has the characters of the story reading the works of the decadent writer Joris-Karl Huysmans: Au Rebours and La Bas. Brian Stableford has remarked that Decadence of the 1890’s didn’t die, it merely moved to America with Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. If you wish to see evidence of this, look no further than “The Hound”.
The volume concludes with The Nameless City. In this tale an explorer in the Arabian desert discovers a hideous city older than mankind and uncovers the existence of a race long lost in the swirling dust of time.
Tanabe has skillfully chosen a perfect trio of stories to begin his exploration of Lovecraft. I’ve seen people complain that they wish he had adapted “Dagon” or other works first. However, as we’ve seen, these three works have not only allowed Tanabe to highlight the psychological pressure faced by Lovecraft’s protagonists but also the transcendent terror of the vast vistas of Lovecraft’s imagination. Likewise, these three tales laid the foundation stones for what Michel Houellebecq has dubbed “the great texts”. I would argue Tanabe has utilized the “show don’t tell” dictum to demonstrate that he’s an artist as obsessed as any of the narrators Lovecraft ever dared pen and created a tome well worth your hard-earned cash. ...more
All the praise heaped upon Gou Tanabe's HP Lovecraft adaptations is fully justified. His two volume adaptation of At The Mountains of Madness is a stuAll the praise heaped upon Gou Tanabe's HP Lovecraft adaptations is fully justified. His two volume adaptation of At The Mountains of Madness is a stupendous achievement. It is very faithful to the source material and Tanabe's art is so imaginative and detailed that it is breathtaking. There are so many pages where I stopped and just took in all the intricacies of the art. This is a must buy for any Lovecraft fans and anyone interested in Japanese horror comics....more
There are some people in the world - people who grew up after an early 1970s renaissance of interest in the Marx Brothers, but before the Internet - wThere are some people in the world - people who grew up after an early 1970s renaissance of interest in the Marx Brothers, but before the Internet - whose interest in the Marx Brothers bordered on pathological, but couldn't be shared by more than a select few.
The author, Josh Frank, is clearly one of those people. The picture of him, age 12, dressed as Harpo, simply confirms the early-formed, deep-rooted love that can be felt throughout this passion project.
For those of us who have grown up in the years after the movies became readily available - after everything has become available - the knowledge that the book is closed on new Marx Brothers material has always been a source of disappointment. Folks like Noah Diamond and Josh Frank have opened that book again, and Frank has done the extra work of dragging it kicking and screaming into 2019.
As you know from reading the synopsis, Giraffes on Horseback Salad was a project that Dalí worked on while visiting the Marx Brothers in 1937. MGM took one look at it, and quite rightly ran screaming in the other direction. Giraffes on Horseback Salad could never have been made as a movie. It would have been unfilmable then, and it would be unfilmable now, even with CGI trickery. Or, if it had been made, it would have been unwatchable - a pale shadow of Dalí's fever dream.
It would never have occurred to anyone to release it as a graphic novel - even if the phrase "graphic novel" weren't still 50 years in the future. But Frank has not only discovered new, authentic Marxian material, he has presented it in a way that is distinctly modern: a sui generis fusion of 1930s surrealist art, Marx Brothers movie, and - astonishingly - graphic novel, complete with almost-superhero-style origin story. Dalí was a draftsman and painter, and the graphic novel is the right way to present this work - a procession of surrealist imagery, without any of the unnecessary verisimilitude that film would impose on it.
And it works. The Marxian voices - with help from collaborator Heidecker (and others), and liberal thievery from their movies - come across loud and clear. I wish the pages were rendered by Dali, but that's not really practical, and Pertega successfully fuses surrealism and comic book whimsy. One can easily imagine an alternate version of this story from some of Neil Gaiman's collaborators - Dave McKean or Charlie Vess, for example.
It's a remarkable book. I don't know whether it will reach beyond the intersection of people interested in graphic novels, the Marx Brothers, and surrealist art, but I'm in the middle of that particular Venn diagram, and I heartily recommend it for anyone else in here with me....more
I discovered Daniel Warren Johnson (DWJ) through his web comic Space Mullet. Space Mullet was collected into one volume and published by Dark Horse. II discovered Daniel Warren Johnson (DWJ) through his web comic Space Mullet. Space Mullet was collected into one volume and published by Dark Horse. I like his art style and he had a flair for creating compelling characters and employing humor.
Extremity is DWJ's first creator owned title since Space Mullet. His skills as an artist continue to grow, but his skills as a writer need some work. This is a very by the numbers family revenge story with far too many predicable beats. You can even see one of the major character development turns coming a mile away before it happens.
Another problem I have with the book is the inconsistent world building. The story is set in a post apocalyptic future where most technology has been lost, but the civilization that remains is in the process of rediscovering it. Most of the characters run around with swords and spears, but we clearly see that rifles and cannons exist in this world. If you have access to rifles, why would you use a sword? The use of sharp pointy weapons enables DWJ to serve up some bloody entrails ripping ultra violence, but it does not make a wit of sense if rifles and cannons are available.
The art is beyond criticism. It is absolutely stupendous. DWJ has really grown as an artist since Space Mullet and he shows his chops off here. There is a battle sequence at the climax of this volume that is rendered in mind boggling levels of detail. It is a jaw dropping moment.
Alas, the writing is not on par with the visuals. I won't be back for volume 2....more
I didn’t catch Grizzly Shark when it first came out… So I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of slapstick gore, brutal shark chomping violence and uncoI didn’t catch Grizzly Shark when it first came out… So I wasn’t prepared for the onslaught of slapstick gore, brutal shark chomping violence and uncompromising dumb-fun that would transport me to a world of utter ridiculous brilliance in a one-sitting read. The first volume of Grizzly Shark is bonkers and a helluva good time. Think Evil Dead meets Jaws and Ryan Ottley’s masterpiece in horror comedy will start to make sense… Sort of anyways.
I’ve been a fan of Ottley for quite some time now as I think his art in Robert Kirkman’s superhero saga Invincible is some of the best in the game… Maybe even the very best when all the dust settles and that series concludes in 2017. That story is in my opinion the greatest hero book I’ve ever read. So if you’ve ever picked it up, you know what kind of gore Ottley is capable of drawing and you know just how damn good he is at doing it. Grizzly Shark is Ryan Ottley unleashed – no-holds-barred. Limbs will be chomped, faces will be eaten, babies will be used as bait – this shit is insane. Don’t take it seriously and you’ll do just fine.
We literally have one page of set-up before the Grizzly Shark attacks and bites our main protagonist in half. He lives mind-you, after his father shoves him on the campfire to cauterise the wound. The two joke about him not having legs or a stomach, seconds after the devastating wound. You know straight-away what kind of silly shit you’re in for, so if you’re not into comedic mayhem where sharks that roam on land for some reason just makes sense in this world, then get the hell out. These aren’t your grandpa’s sharks you son-of-a-bitch.
I love the way Ottley draws the carnage too. You’ll have one panel of set-up where someone cuts themselves in the forest (sharks smell blood) and then a second panel below or beside it that shows the shark decimating them and tearing their body to bloody pieces. Kids aren’t off-limits either folks, so if you have an issue with that – you may run into problems. At one point our half-bodied protagonist and a giant shark-punching hillbilly rescue a baby who is now half-zombie after it was found feasting on it’s recently murdered parents in the woods. They hang it on a rope and use it to bait the sharks in an epic conclusion that will go down in history as one of the most wonderfully idiotic but brilliant endings I’ve read in years. That final punchline literally made me laugh out loud. I loved it.
Plus, you’ll get one of the best comic book battles of the year when the Grizzly Shark fights a Sea Bear. Yes – the bears live under water and so forth. That’s how this world works… There’s a moment where the shark actually scoops a pile of sand with it’s fin and proceeds to throw it in the face of the bear, blinding it momentarily. You can’t make this shit up – it’s a riot. Ryan Ottley is one of the hardest working artists in the comic industry today and his work on Grizzly Shark deserves to be read and appreciated for the pure insanity it contains in it’s action-packed and preposterous three chapters. There’s some superb behind-the-scenes art and layout as well included in the trade, so even if you bought the three issues, it’s worth grabbing the paperback. “When in doubt, Throw a baby!” ...more
The career of Rod Serling—the screenwriter, playwright, and television producer best known for creating The Twilight Zone—is traced in Koren Shadmi’s The career of Rod Serling—the screenwriter, playwright, and television producer best known for creating The Twilight Zone—is traced in Koren Shadmi’s graphic novel The Twilight Man. The young Serling, after proving his mettle as a US army paratrooper in World War II, suffered from what would today be called PTSD. Eventually, he gained entry into the world of scripting radio shows and had success with teleplays, establishing his reputation as a top writer. Trading on that reputation, he launched the anthology series The Twilight Zone, which became a classic of early television.
The strains of producing that show, along with his other television series, Night Gallery, weighed heavily on Serling, who constantly fought with television executives over censorship issues. Combined with his familiar cigarette habit, the stresses contributed to his premature death at age fifty.
Shadmi tells Serling’s story in a clever way, drawing on The Twilight Zone‘s format, trademark twists, and Serling’s own style as a narrator. The influences on Serling’s most famous works are made clear, including his amateur boxing career, his wartime experiences, and even a trip to Las Vegas. Discussions of the birth of television are limited to Serling’s career.
Shadmi’s art is expert at portraying Serling’s distinctive look, along with a number of key images from The Twilight Zone and Serling’s other work. These are strong visual reminders of the stories that cemented Serling’s legacy. The Twilight Man is an informative biography of a television pioneer....more
According to Albert Camus, “A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession.” Many critics interpret the works of Edgar Allan Poe According to Albert Camus, “A guilty conscience needs to confess. A work of art is a confession.” Many critics interpret the works of Edgar Allan Poe to be a confession—a means of purging himself of the shame he felt regarding his wife’s untimely death and his vices. As Spirits of the Dead is an adaptation, it meshes Poe’s guilt with Richard Corben’s vision. The result: new interpretations that sometimes suit, at other times rattle, the familiar frames provided by one of the founding fathers of the horror genre.
The art is extraordinary, beginning with the front cover, which depicts Poe like most of us have always imagined him: restlessly scavenging for peace in a night teeming with mystery and dread. The skulls at his feet represent the waking nightmare that was his life: a nightmare he fabricated via personal demons and sad choices.
The interior art is equally wonderful. Some of the characters are drawn with a bit of humor. For example, the narrator, Mag the Hag, provides a Crypt Keeper-esque blend of satire and disgust. “Fall of the House of Usher” contains a Roderick who resembles an aging rock star. His sister, Madeline, looks enough like him to evoke sympathy. Most of the female characters are generously endowed with ample bosom, and the nude females – even the corpses – have enviable figures.
The colors are rich and the panels fully saturated. The lack of empty visual space gives a frenzied feel to the horror, much in the way that a soundtrack enhances the tension of a thriller film. Corben’s signature style – familiar to those of us who enjoy Heavy Metal Magazine, DC Comics, and other Dark Horse offerings – is omnipresent. He interprets the grotesque in a much more straightforward manner than Poe did in the original tales and poems.
The most interesting is his take on “The City in the Sea.” Corben gives it a complex intensity that is not explicit in Poe’s poem. Corben adds racist undertones reminiscent of Melville’s Benito Cereno. It is a compelling lens through which to view the primary source.
Corben presents only the opening lines of poems. As a Poe purist, I would have liked more of the lyrical majesty and less veering off the path of the original vision, especially with a masterpiece like The Raven. Fans of old school style comics and horror will really enjoy this book. Corben’s enthusiasm for the material did encourage me to return to the original poems and stories for a hundredth read....more
Kevin Phenicle is a budding young hacker in the early days of phone phreaking. He's smart, he's shy, and he’s not really social, not close to anyone eKevin Phenicle is a budding young hacker in the early days of phone phreaking. He's smart, he's shy, and he’s not really social, not close to anyone except his grandma and his friend Winston. And he's just fascinated by computers and what you can do with them.
And all the information you can access with them, and a little ingenuity and social engineering.
Kevin in not a bad kid. He's a good kid. Even his first prison term doesn't change that.
He's in or near all the big developments in hacking over the next few decades. Except for a tendency to think stealing services from major corporations, like what is still Ma Bell for the early part of his career, he's honest, kind, respectful of others.
It's a view of the hacker world from the viewpoint of the hackers. The excesses of government responses is clearly portrayed, while the real and sometimes major damage that could be done by hackers is perhaps less clearly portrayed. It's worth noting that the totally over the top raid on a gaming company described in the story is, in fact, quite real, and as paranoically crazy as it's portrayed.
Kevin is likeable, so is the often frustrated and perplexed Winston, and the art is good. It's an interesting look at the hacker world from a perspective not often seen.
I do have some caveats, though. This book combines the real life stories of several different hackers. If the reader is an expert in hacking history, you can see where certain specific people's stories are coming through in the text, but if, like me, you don't know those stories, this book will be slightly harder to approach. The story being told is fairly unbelievable, so it loses a certain amount of value for being fictionalised. I would be curious to know what inspired Mr. Piskor to avoid doing a straightforward comics biography or series of non-fiction biographies.
Besides that one criticism that I have, this graphic novel is great comics -- which is to say that the art, pacing, layouts, "interludes" in alternative drawing styles, design, etc etc are all top notch. The book also follows a six panel grid for almost every page. It gives the book a consistent visual structure much in the same way Dave Gibbons’ use of the nine panel did for Watchmen.
If you like this book, you would probably enjoy checking out the works of Piskor's fellow Pittsburghers Brian Maruca and Jim Rugg (Afrodisiac and Street Angel). There's a similar sort of aesthetic coming out of their works.
Also, extra points for the packaging on this volume. The cover might look plain as a digital image, but the actual book looks like it was plucked out of my grade school computer lab. The computer monitor and disc slot are embossed on the hardcover and slightly raised up. It is very cool when you run your hand over it. You can almost believe that you can slide a floppy disc into the slot.
Howard Chaykin’s “Hey Kids! Comics!” focuses on comic book writers, artists, and publishers at several fictional companies between 1945 and the early Howard Chaykin’s “Hey Kids! Comics!” focuses on comic book writers, artists, and publishers at several fictional companies between 1945 and the early 2000s, tracking the history of the medium from the postwar slump through the 1960s resurgence of the Silver Age, ending with the new talent of the 1990s re-inventing the classics while film adaptations turned what was published as a disposable medium into mainstream culture.
In an afterward, Chaykin writes, “I wanted to do a roman à clef about a healthy chunk of the history of our curious and intimately tiny industry…based on common and private knowledge, salacious rumor, comic anecdote and frankly, unsubstantiated gossip too delicious to disregard, regardless of any measure of proof” (pg. 148, ellipses in original).
He continues, “We invest the material with a dee-seated and occasionally unconditional nostalgic love. This is despite the fact that many of its most creative and fabled practitioners – certainly those men and women who created the language and bult the foundations in the decades before comics achieved a measure of popular appeal – spent lives of disappointment, working in an industry that treated them with contempt, nagged by the reality of simply being not good enough to find a more legitimate way to make a living” (pg. 149).
In this, Chaykin challenges his readers to understand what comics creators went through during the years of struggle and what they now experience seeing the work they produced at six pages a day on pulp paper become a massive industry that dominates the entertainment world, while they continue to receive little if any recognition or share of the sudden profits. In terms of its topic and verisimilitude, Chaykin’s story resembles Michael Chabon’s “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” though Chaykin benefits from his perspective as an insider in the medium and is primarily focused on the comics industry, rather than using it as a backdrop for a larger narrative. His keen insight will be of interest to those considering the field or who have ever been curious about what it was “really” like during the Gold and Silver Ages of comics. ...more
It’s no secret that the gig economy is king right now. Everyone you meet these days puts in a few hours driving for Lyft or delivers sushi part time wIt’s no secret that the gig economy is king right now. Everyone you meet these days puts in a few hours driving for Lyft or delivers sushi part time with Postmates. New app services launch everyday as we discover brand new ways to parcel out our lives, one side hustle at a time. So it only makes sense that we’d figure out a way to parcel out our deaths too. This brings us to Crowded Vol. 1, published by Image Comics, written by Christopher Sebela, with art by Ro Stein and Ted Brandt, colors by Triona Farrel, and lettering by Cardinal Rae.
Crowded Vol 1 collects the first six issues of the series. Set in the city of Los Angeles, Crowded Vol 1 takes place 15 minutes in our future. It’s a time where no matter what you need, there’s an app for it. Need to borrow some cash? Why not pick up a loan with Moneyfriender! Feeling lonely? Book an hourly friend of your own with with Rentapal! Or do you just need someone in your life six feet under?
Well you’re in luck. Thanks to hit app REAPR, anyone can launch a crowdfunded assassination contract with just the click of a button. When party girl Charlie Ellison wakes up one morning, she finds that someone has placed a million dollar contract on her head. To stay alive she hires Vita Slater, the lowest rated bodyguard on the DFEND app. With an entire city of part time assassins gunning for them, this pair of mismatched women will try their best not to meet the REAPR.
From the very first page it’s clear that Crowded is a comic with nitroglycerin in its veins. The book has all the manic energy of a Tex Avery cartoon and twice the violence. Full of car chases and rocket launching librarians, Crowded stuffs frenetically absurd action onto nearly every page. That bare knuckle energy carries over into every aspect of the book. From Farrel’s vibrant color work to Stein and Brandt’s dynamic panels, Crowded never stops moving.
Of course with Looney Toon action you need an equally cartoonish cast. In this department Charlie and Vita do not disappoint. Vita’s an analog girl living in a digital world while Charlie seems like she was born with a selfie stick in her hand. In another book, Vita would fit in perfectly as a hard-boiled private eye while the self-absorbed Charlie has the social media presence of a Kardashian.
These characters do not go together, which makes watching them flail from one gun fight to the next entirely too fun. If anything, Crowded Vol 1’s biggest flaw is that it left me craving more time with its gonzo cast.
Like most stories set in the not so distant future, Crowded Vol 1 slips in some social commentary between shootouts. While Sebela’s script contains enough snark to choke a baby boomer, its satire has teeth.
Charlie’s life as a social media cog somehow led to a million dollar hit, with every one of her digital friends chipping in to end her life. While Crowded never lays it on too thick, it does show us a world where that lifestyle is the norm. Crowded Vol 1 challenges us to think while we laugh, and that’s always worth celebrating. ...more
I can't remember the last time I laughed like this while reading a comic, all the while thinking "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" every panel. Yes, it's somewhat I can't remember the last time I laughed like this while reading a comic, all the while thinking "THIS IS AWESOME!!!" every panel. Yes, it's somewhat derivative (Pam Halpert's "Bear Man" one shot comic, anyone? Bonus points if liquid shot out your nose when it hit you what I was talking about ;) ). Yes, it's a book about a mostly naked guy punching bears (only one issue has the homoerotic "bear" connotation to keep the gag running). Yes, you probably want to wear Depends while reading it.
But in all seriousness, this is one of the best, most creative, funniest, freshest, well-formulated books to come out in…well…probably forever. I wish it wasn't a five-issue series, but I can see that there are really only so many times and ways a rage machine can punch bears and have it still be humorous. I'd throw this series out there with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Watchmen in terms of its potential impact on the comics industry (one can only hope). It will be a cult classic if nothing else, but given the constant regurgitation of the same ideas and characters coming out of the Big Two these years, this really has the potential to revitalise things and shake them up a bit.
Unfortunately, if you're under, say, 35, you may need a cultural touchstones dictionary to fully appreciate it... Or maybe just go back and watch 40-50 years of TV and movies. Start with the 1960's Adam West Batman series, or at least the movie ("Bear Repellent"... Classic!).
The art is irreverent and suits the story well. The inks are restrained, except when they shouldn't be, and then they are spot-on fantastic!
No, it's not the"great American novel." It's a comic about a guy punching bears. Given that premise though, it does have a surprisingly good story line, which I won't spoil for you here.
There's symbolism aplenty, some referencing old gags, but some more serious, without necessarily meaning to be--possibly the indirect product of our current political situation. Suffice it to say, that in our current political climate, where the "Bear" is in the news every day, threatening to tear apart our society, people from all political persuasions are looking for a leader--someone with the fortitude to walk up and punch the "Bear" in the snout. Some think he's here, some think he or she will come next election cycle to get rid of the Bear-controlled politicians.
Whatever YOUR politics (or lack thereof), this is a book that EVERYONE can relate to in one of the more perilous periods in our nation's modern history. It's no easy task for a book to tackle modern politics (I get the sense it wasn't on purpose) while inspiring everyone that the "Bear" and the controlling puppet masters WILL get their comeuppance before they destroy everything. Bravo to the creative team behind this book and their message of hope that the Ursine threat can and will be contained! Again, don't take it too seriously.
Buy it for an investment. It will probably crash, but if not, you won't be able to bear the thought of what you missed!
Buy it for fun! It is truly amusing. Don't take it or yourself too seriously though; it certainly doesn't.
Buy it for the art. Buy it for the wit. Buy it to annoy your PETA coworker who keeps writing "meatloaf is murder!" on your lunch bag.
The reasons don't matter. Just buy the series. Then sit back, suspend disbelief, and let this take you back to the testosterone-fuelled comics of the 1970's, where men were men and so were the women, where bad guys were easy to spot, and pants were optional. Prepare to laugh and have a good time again with your comics....more
The Backstagers Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause introduces a charming stage crew and a mysterious world far behind the curtains. Is it good?
A serieThe Backstagers Volume 1: Rebels Without Applause introduces a charming stage crew and a mysterious world far behind the curtains. Is it good?
A series can be made or broken by the quality of its characters. Fortunately, it doesn’t take long to start falling for this cast. This is partially thanks to artist Rian Sygh, whose character designs are as varied as they are charming. Sygh doesn’t suffer from the sort of same-face syndrome that’s fairly common in comics; his characters don’t even have the same body types. Each Backstager is easily distinguishable from the rest, and Sygh does a great job nailing down each one’s personality with unique facial expressions, body language, and clothing choices.
Writer James Tynion IV also does a solid job of giving each character their own unique voice. Jory is a likable point-of-view/new kid character, although I wish he’d gotten a little bit more fleshing out in this volume. The main standout in this volume is Beckett, whose struggles with not wanting to lose his sense of agency or safety are poignant and relatable. Finding the place where one belongs is a key theme to the story, and part of its charm. Each of us is an outsider in our own way, and The Backstagers speaks to that isolation (both positive and negative) in a way that hits close to home while never becoming overly “dark.” This is a “feel good” comic in the best way; anxieties are depicted openly and honestly, and watching the cast cope and find solace is an uplifting experience.
In terms of introducing the story’s fantasy elements, this volume is promising but still leaves a bit to be desired. What we see of the mysterious, seemingly never-ending world backstage is appealing in its nonsensical nature; the physics of the school’s secret tunnels don’t make logical sense, and that’s a good thing. Physical spaces move and change form, and the creatures that live there have creative designs. The echo spiders in particular are very well-drawn. On the downside, I wish we had gotten a look into some more of the tunnels. Characters talk about adventuring deep into the backstage world, but don’t actually take much page-time to get there. I understand the need to quicken things plot-wise, but it’s hard to think of the characters as having embarked a dangerous distance when they were safe at their headquarters mere panels beforehand.
Ultimately, The Backstagers Volume 1 is a promising start to a charming series about finding comfort through friendship and discovering one’s own unique niche in the world. My main qualms with this volume revolve around what it doesn’t do; certain characters are far less developed than others, and the backstage fantasy world feels a tad underutilized. With that said, this volume only collects four issues, so it’s hard to be too upset that more ground isn’t covered. What this volume does do, it does very well, and there are more than enough charming details to make up for the story’s faults thus far. ...more
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