So this one is a little unique as far as spoilers go. This post is about the graphic novel called Marvels which was published by, you guessed it, Marvel back in 1994. The story is written by Kurt Busiek and the art was done by Alex Ross. The reason this one is unique as far as spoilers go is because the graphic novel comprises of four smaller story arcs that cover major well known events in Marvel's storytelling history. So to know about these events is not to spoil the story. Instead the power of the story comes from how an ordinary every day human citizen of New York City reacts to these events.
Marvels centers around a reporter and photographer named Phil Sheldon living in New York City in the Marvel Universe. Phil has no powers and no direct connection to any Marvel heroes or villains. He is an everyday normal guy trying to make a living and start a family. And that is the power of this story. It takes the larger than life characters and story arcs that comic fans know and love and forces them to be examined by someone who isn't privy to the personal lives of these mythic heroes. Phil doesn't see the conversations or battles between the characters of Marvel. He doesn't know who the Green Goblin or Spider-man are and why they are fighting. Instead all he sees is a normal person like himself caught in their crossfire. He doesn't know how Reed Richards got Galactus to spare Earth all he knows is a silver guy is telling everyone Galactus is coming to devour them all. He doesn't know Wolverine or Mystique personally he is just a regular human who sees people with bizarre powers stirring up a lot of fear on both sides.
When I read this story the sheer power of it felt like a tidal wave. It reframed how I saw these famous comic story arcs and made them more personal and human. It took out the action and adventure and left only the heart behind. It examines what happens when we see larger than life people and events play out and how they can affect our faith, beliefs and values.
I highly recommend this book for Marvel fans because it takes new perspective on milestone events in that universe. I also highly recommend it for people who don't read comics. Because you don't need to know who the Human Torch is or what Sentinels are to get this story and it's message. The story takes the point of view of someone who also doesn't know these characters and allows the reader to journey into why these storylines are so universal and impactful. It helps you understand in a very abstract way why comics are so beloved and the power that they can hold as a medium of storytelling.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Indie Comic Recommendations
So my comic reviews have all been about popular mainstream comics that, lets face it, most comic book readers have read(or at least heard of). So I wanted to switch it up and give some recommendations on small indie comics I have had the pleasure of reading. Again no spoilers.
1. First Law of Mad Science #1: Written by Oliver Mertz and Mike Isenberg; Art by Daniel Lapham
This is a story about a scientist, named George Baker, who in the not too distant future has revolutionized how humanity lives with his inventions. His family consists of his equally successful archeologist wife, Emma and their young son Hank. They also have an A.I. robot that is their adoptive daughter who is named R.A.I.CH.E.L. George's latest invention called 'cyber eyes' is a great success until a year after their release to the public strange things start happening with them. The first issue bounces around quite a bit but you can tell their just moving pieces around to get everything set up for a wild ride. I especially liked the dynamic of R.A.I.CH.E.L. She has quite the biting personality and I saw a lot of potential with her. This story offers scientific adventure and mystery that definitely peaked my interest for more.
2. Kodoja Vol. 2 #1: Written by Keith Foster; Art by Rory Smith
I jumped in on this one with the start of Vol. 2 but based on what I read I will be going back for Vol. 1 The story is revolves around a Kaiju-sized super weapon named Kodoja that goes rouge and causes mayhem and destruction. Monster battles aplenty in this series with the humans scrambling to try and survive and stop the monsters from destroying everything in sight. Vol. 2 has a mystery component as well surrounding a mysterious word that keeps appearing and no one knows what it means. This series felt like a summer blockbuster to me in the best possible way. It was a what a popcorn flick should be in my opinion but in comic form. And if you do for some reason decide to start with Vol. 2 like I did you don't really miss much. They do a great job bringing everyone up to speed in the first issue. If you are fan of monster melees like me then definitely check this one out.
3. Machine Girl #1: Written by Matts; Art by Sergio Monjes
This is the story of young woman named Megan who lives with her dad on a planet full of bizarre interplanetary beings. She competes in a gladiatorial arena for money. She keeps winning the fights and it is making some unsavory characters very upset. Also she keeps having screws pop out of her head for some odd reason. The story is basically set around the mystery of who or what Megan truly is and how she ended up on this planet. This story drew me in almost solely because of the main character. There is something about the sweet natured spunk of Megan that just makes you care and root for her to come out on top. Even if you aren't quite sure how exactly everything fits. And honestly who does in life :)
4. The Skeleton #1: Written by Salvador Sanz; Art by Salvador Sanz
This is a fresh interesting take on the whole zombie apocalypse thing. In this particular story zombies aren't the undead. Instead they are people who got infected by a new kind of virus from eating the cattle that carried it. The virus turns people into insatiable meat eaters whose very physiology changes so they can consume huge quantities of meat. They become addicted to meat of any kind even eating each other. It is all they think about and all they care about. The survivors are all vegetarians trying to not get eaten at any cost. I found it a very interesting twist on the zombie trope. Any zombie fans or fans of apocalyptic survivor tales should definitely check it out. It seems to hold promise for a lot of interesting character interplay as well.
1. First Law of Mad Science #1: Written by Oliver Mertz and Mike Isenberg; Art by Daniel Lapham
This is a story about a scientist, named George Baker, who in the not too distant future has revolutionized how humanity lives with his inventions. His family consists of his equally successful archeologist wife, Emma and their young son Hank. They also have an A.I. robot that is their adoptive daughter who is named R.A.I.CH.E.L. George's latest invention called 'cyber eyes' is a great success until a year after their release to the public strange things start happening with them. The first issue bounces around quite a bit but you can tell their just moving pieces around to get everything set up for a wild ride. I especially liked the dynamic of R.A.I.CH.E.L. She has quite the biting personality and I saw a lot of potential with her. This story offers scientific adventure and mystery that definitely peaked my interest for more.
2. Kodoja Vol. 2 #1: Written by Keith Foster; Art by Rory Smith
I jumped in on this one with the start of Vol. 2 but based on what I read I will be going back for Vol. 1 The story is revolves around a Kaiju-sized super weapon named Kodoja that goes rouge and causes mayhem and destruction. Monster battles aplenty in this series with the humans scrambling to try and survive and stop the monsters from destroying everything in sight. Vol. 2 has a mystery component as well surrounding a mysterious word that keeps appearing and no one knows what it means. This series felt like a summer blockbuster to me in the best possible way. It was a what a popcorn flick should be in my opinion but in comic form. And if you do for some reason decide to start with Vol. 2 like I did you don't really miss much. They do a great job bringing everyone up to speed in the first issue. If you are fan of monster melees like me then definitely check this one out.
3. Machine Girl #1: Written by Matts; Art by Sergio Monjes
This is the story of young woman named Megan who lives with her dad on a planet full of bizarre interplanetary beings. She competes in a gladiatorial arena for money. She keeps winning the fights and it is making some unsavory characters very upset. Also she keeps having screws pop out of her head for some odd reason. The story is basically set around the mystery of who or what Megan truly is and how she ended up on this planet. This story drew me in almost solely because of the main character. There is something about the sweet natured spunk of Megan that just makes you care and root for her to come out on top. Even if you aren't quite sure how exactly everything fits. And honestly who does in life :)
4. The Skeleton #1: Written by Salvador Sanz; Art by Salvador Sanz
This is a fresh interesting take on the whole zombie apocalypse thing. In this particular story zombies aren't the undead. Instead they are people who got infected by a new kind of virus from eating the cattle that carried it. The virus turns people into insatiable meat eaters whose very physiology changes so they can consume huge quantities of meat. They become addicted to meat of any kind even eating each other. It is all they think about and all they care about. The survivors are all vegetarians trying to not get eaten at any cost. I found it a very interesting twist on the zombie trope. Any zombie fans or fans of apocalyptic survivor tales should definitely check it out. It seems to hold promise for a lot of interesting character interplay as well.
Monday, March 5, 2018
Art by Kevin Miller Story by yours truly
Hello,
So Kevin Miller and I met on the face book group called Independent Creators Connection(ICC). He posted a drawing he did of three characters one day from his mind that I thought looked cool and had a lot of potential. He was gracious enough to allow me to come up with a story for them and posted the story with the sketch he drew. You can see it at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140385652820869/permalink/846397612219666/?notif_id=1520206131454766¬if_t=group_post_mention&ref=notif
Let me know thoughts. Would love to hear them!
So Kevin Miller and I met on the face book group called Independent Creators Connection(ICC). He posted a drawing he did of three characters one day from his mind that I thought looked cool and had a lot of potential. He was gracious enough to allow me to come up with a story for them and posted the story with the sketch he drew. You can see it at
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140385652820869/permalink/846397612219666/?notif_id=1520206131454766¬if_t=group_post_mention&ref=notif
Let me know thoughts. Would love to hear them!
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Who watches the Watchmen?
As always I will not be discussing specific spoilers but if you want to go in completely fresh knowing nothing about Watchmen(like I did) which is how I would recommend doing it if you haven't read it yet then don't read this till you read Watchmen.
I was lent the graphic novel Watchmen by a former co-worker of mine over a decade ago. He was shocked I was a comic book reader and had never read it and we both agreed it should be remedied. When I returned it to him he asked me what I thought. My response was derived from a famous Simpson's character. It went as follows: "Worst superheroes ever." To which my co-worker replied something along the lines of: "Uh, well, yea but that's not really the point." I knew it wasn't the point. The themes, discussions, ideas, ect. that were brought up and delved into within the pages of Watchmen were too much for me to sort through and explain at that time(still have trouble pinning them down).
The point I was making to my co-worker was that the story was never meant to be taken and digested as a simple thrill ride or good guys vs. bad guys tale. If it was just a simple tale of superheroes trying to save the day then the only reaction would be "Worst superheroes ever." And to be honest at the time I didn't like the book because it was just too challenging and too complex and I tried to resist it. I was forcing myself to take it superficially. As I realized the full power of stories in life I grew to respect Watchmen more and more. You have to look at Watchmen as what it is trying to say underneath the costumes and fight sequences. Watchmen, more than any other comic book I have read throws that in your face. It forces the reader to take its story as more than surface depth and gets them to think and have an emotional reaction to what unfolded in the lives of the characters. And that's great storytelling.
Watchmen is a graphic novel consisting of 12 parts that were published in the years 1986 and 1987 by the comic book publisher DC. It was written by Alan Moore(the same writer of V for Vendetta) and the artwork was done by Dave Gibbons and it was colored by John Higgins. The story is about a group of superheroes trying to solve the murder of one of their own community. To say any more than that I feel would be a disservice to potential readers of the story. Those who have read it know that there is so much more going on in the story. As we get to know these characters we see the world through their eyes and it's not always an easy thing but it is very rewarding. Moore himself stated that the main characters in Watchmen represent "radically opposing ways of seeing the world". And that is the beauty of Watchmen. There is no simple answers. There is no right and wrong. There is no pure good or pure evil. It lays beyond all that. It requires us to consider how we want to see the world. It puts the responsibility on the reader to make up their own minds and carry through as they see fit.
In an era when we are constantly bombarded and deluged with information maybe we need to remember stories like Watchmen that ask us to see things through different lenses and form our own opinion on what we want our world to be like.
I highly recommend Watchmen for anybody who wants to be challenged by what they read. Anyone who likes critical thinking and looking at things in different ways will be very pleased with Watchmen. And even if you aren't a comic book reader I recommend it because it reads like a cross between a pulpy detective story and a Russian novel, just with pictures.
I was lent the graphic novel Watchmen by a former co-worker of mine over a decade ago. He was shocked I was a comic book reader and had never read it and we both agreed it should be remedied. When I returned it to him he asked me what I thought. My response was derived from a famous Simpson's character. It went as follows: "Worst superheroes ever." To which my co-worker replied something along the lines of: "Uh, well, yea but that's not really the point." I knew it wasn't the point. The themes, discussions, ideas, ect. that were brought up and delved into within the pages of Watchmen were too much for me to sort through and explain at that time(still have trouble pinning them down).
The point I was making to my co-worker was that the story was never meant to be taken and digested as a simple thrill ride or good guys vs. bad guys tale. If it was just a simple tale of superheroes trying to save the day then the only reaction would be "Worst superheroes ever." And to be honest at the time I didn't like the book because it was just too challenging and too complex and I tried to resist it. I was forcing myself to take it superficially. As I realized the full power of stories in life I grew to respect Watchmen more and more. You have to look at Watchmen as what it is trying to say underneath the costumes and fight sequences. Watchmen, more than any other comic book I have read throws that in your face. It forces the reader to take its story as more than surface depth and gets them to think and have an emotional reaction to what unfolded in the lives of the characters. And that's great storytelling.
Watchmen is a graphic novel consisting of 12 parts that were published in the years 1986 and 1987 by the comic book publisher DC. It was written by Alan Moore(the same writer of V for Vendetta) and the artwork was done by Dave Gibbons and it was colored by John Higgins. The story is about a group of superheroes trying to solve the murder of one of their own community. To say any more than that I feel would be a disservice to potential readers of the story. Those who have read it know that there is so much more going on in the story. As we get to know these characters we see the world through their eyes and it's not always an easy thing but it is very rewarding. Moore himself stated that the main characters in Watchmen represent "radically opposing ways of seeing the world". And that is the beauty of Watchmen. There is no simple answers. There is no right and wrong. There is no pure good or pure evil. It lays beyond all that. It requires us to consider how we want to see the world. It puts the responsibility on the reader to make up their own minds and carry through as they see fit.
In an era when we are constantly bombarded and deluged with information maybe we need to remember stories like Watchmen that ask us to see things through different lenses and form our own opinion on what we want our world to be like.
I highly recommend Watchmen for anybody who wants to be challenged by what they read. Anyone who likes critical thinking and looking at things in different ways will be very pleased with Watchmen. And even if you aren't a comic book reader I recommend it because it reads like a cross between a pulpy detective story and a Russian novel, just with pictures.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)