Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Uncategorized Stuff to buy on Free Comic Book Day
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Wed, Apr 28, 2010 at 8:37 PM
Nothing will stop you, on this Saturday's Free Comic Book Day, from barging into your neighborhood comics shop, snapping up the free titles and going on your merry way. It would be good form, however, to spend some time browsing and, ideally, purchasing something: the celebration was invented to drive traffic to the comics store. Here are some suggestions of new and recent graphic novels worthy of attention: feel free to add your own in the comments.
Other Lives by Peter Bagge (Vertigo). With the hilarious anthology title Neat Stuff and the definitive Gen X comic Hate, Bagge proved to be the single funniest comic book artist of the 1980s and 1990s. Without the anchor of a single ongoing title, his work has been more irregular in the past decade, but he makes a remarkably mature and accomplished comeback with his new self-contained graphic novel, Other Lives. Bagge takes his trademark drawing style, marked by rubber-bodied, emotionally transparent characters, and applies it to the rich, relevant theme of how modern life, particularly the Internet, can fragment the concept of identity. One of Other Lives' main characters, for instance, presents the face of a family man at work, but in fact he's a divorced gambling addict who lives in a motel and maintains an elaborate interactive fantasy life in an on-line community called "Second World." Other Lives builds to a half-convincing ending and Bagge relies a little too heavily on dialogue to drive his narratives. Otherwise, it's a powerful and insightful narrative that proves Bagge can be a wise social critic as well as a comedian.
Wilson by Daniel Clowes (Drawn & Quarterly) Terry Zwigoff's terrific film adaptation of Clowes' Ghost World stories may have made the creator of the comic book Eight-Ball more famous than Bagge, but they're both witty contemporaries who joined forces in the early 1990s with "The Hate-Ball Tour." Over the years Clowes has downplayed his gift for absurdist imagery and deadpan comedy, although he cracks plenty of rueful jokes in Wilson. The title character turns out to be a boorish, unemployable crank who practically exults in his poor social skills: he proclaims his love for his fellow man in one moment, then snaps "For the love of Christ, don't you ever shut up?" at a poor bystander in practically the next breath. Each page of Wilson is its own scene, often with an abrasive punchline, but the antihero's failed attempts to form human connections suffuse the book with melancholy. When Wilson suffers a family tragedy, he returns to the old neighborhood and weeps on the little league pitcher's mound, hinting that Clowes applies the pace and structure of Charles Schulz's "Peanuts" to a midlife crisis of meaning. Wilson may be a little one-note, but its an affecting work that suggests a thaw in Clowes' sense of humor.
120 Days of Simon by Simon Gärdenfors (Top Shelf Productions) The Marietta-based publisher launched a "Swedish Invasion" this year by publishing reprints of Scandinavian graphic novels. Perhaps the highest-profile, most engaging title is this ribald diary in comics form. Rapper/cartoonist Simon Gärdenfors recounts his exploits couch-surfing across Sweden as he spends four months crashing with fans and strangers he meets on-line. Gärdenfors' unapologetic pursuit of hedonism doesn't make him particularly likable: he claims to be falling in love with a nice woman, but still wants to get as much sex as possible on his travels. Nevertheless, readers can find vicarious excitement (and occasional dismay) as he takes a beating, takes hallucinogens, engages in bogus pagan rituals and more. He draws himself and his surrounding in a highly stylized, child-like fashion - his alter ego on the page looks a little like Shoney's Big Boy with five o'clock shadow. Perhaps he wants to project an image of juvenile innocence, but the one-night stands come across as kind of creepy. Nevertheless, you needn't approve of Gärdenfors to get a kick out of his book. (Top Shelf's other Swedish Invasion titles include the disturbing surrealism of The Troll King and the scruffy confessional Hey Princess.)
Plus: This month, the AMC Channel (home to "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad") begins filming a pilot for a proposed series of The Walking Dead, writer Robert Kirkman's ongoing series about a George Romero-style zombie holocaust. (Frank Darabont is reportedly tapped to helm the pilot.) The first chapters take place in and on the outskirts of Atlanta, and while the premise may seem familiar, Kirkman expertly draws out the drama in the human survivors' frayed emotions.
For expertly rendered, straight-up superhero fare, consider award-winning writer Ed Brubaker's The Death of Captain America. In this compelling, gritty espionage-style series, Cap's friends and allies try to unravel the mystery that brought down the United States' most emblematic hero. A Captain America film is scheduled to be released next year, so consider it an exciting form of homework.
And keep your hipster credentials renewed, consider sampling Bryan Lee O'Malley's manga-style Scott Pilgrim books about lovelorn musicians and their wild adventures, ahead of Edgar Wright's film adaptation, coming out in August.
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