The Existential Adventures of the Superfisters
We were on the fence, at first, about the new Mr. T comic book series. But then we turned a page and witnessed our hero entering an evildoer's lair by crashing through a brick wall, and all our reservations fell away. Sure, it's ridiculous, cheesy, and a little confusing. But it just wouldn't be Mr. T otherwise. As James at Isotope Comics pointed out to us, Mr. T's never sold out, never changed, never updated after all this time. And so there's a strangely appealing consistancy to his comics -- he's at his best when stomping around, making ludicrous declarations about drugs and The Hood. Sadly, there's also a bit more introspection than we would have liked -- contemplating the nature of his own existance was never T's strong suit.
Before we forget to mention: Grant Morrison, superheroic comic creator extraordinaire, will be in town at Isotope Comics on Friday, February 10th. Do. Not. Miss. This.
The REAL comic news this week, though, is that Newsarama has made available a 32-page preview of Gunned Down, a comic anthology that features work by our very own local hero, SFist Jeremy. Of course we give Jeremy's work a huge thumbs-up, but even if we weren't bestest buds we'd still be wrapped up in his compelling story about the dangerous adventures of a famous escape artist. Gunned Down just got picked up my a major distributor, so it'll be available wherever fine graphic novels are perused.
After the jump: Superman stops loafing around, squiggly substance abuse, some silly thuggery, and Hugo Weaving (aka Agent Smith, aka Mitzi Del Bra) plays a heroic terrorist. Sorry for the lack of a comic recap last week -- we were busy painting our nails.
One of our favorite things about reading comics is, when we're finished, giving them away. That is, extrapolating our friends' tastes, figuring out who would enjoy what, and deciding what books ought to be read by whom (and which books ought to be retained and consulted for their what-not-to-do value). Unfortunately, this means that we're going to have to purchase about a hundred and thirty copies of V for Vendetta, because we want to give it to everyone we know. The book was written by Britons Alan Moore (whose excellent "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" books were later mis-adapted into a dreadful film) and David Lloyd in the 80s, inspired by the Conservative Party's authoritative grip on power in their country; it envisions an end to the millenium in which England, cowed by a nuclear war that devastated much of the Earth, submitted to fascist rule. All is dark and grim, until one messianic man -- maybe a genius, or maybe crazy, or maybe evil, or maybe godly -- embarks on a campaign of noble terrorism to end the surveillance and control weilded by the government, and to "return the rights of secrecy and privacy to you, its loyal subjects."
Goosebumps went up on our skin when we read those words; considering the chicanery our own government's been up to lately, the relevance of V's philosophy has never been stronger. Another good reason to read the book: it's soon to be a majormotionpicture (starring all of Hugo Weaving except his face, Natalie Portman's attempted British accent, and the Wachowski brothers' moebiussy philosobabbling). The trailer looks schlocky, but the douchebags at Ain't It Cool give it a thumbs-up; either way, the book is always better than the film. Especially in a case like this, when it's hard to imagine a better book. it's the best story we've read/watched in years -- book, comic, TV show, or movie.
We could go on and on about V for Vendetta; it's an intellectually dense book with tons of complex ideas, some good and some bad. For example, we cheered "right on!" when London's surveillance network was disabled; like good obedient progressive-libertarians, we naturally oppose the incarcertaion of an entire population within a panoptic prison. But then we were working late at the office, and the dark hallways and silent cubicals started to really freak us out; and we took great comfort in knowing that there was a security guard somewhere in the building, keeping watch over our office and ready to spring into action should we be felled by an intruder, a falling filing cabinet, or a heart attack brought on by anxiety.
Enough of that. There are no eternal truths or universal rights debated in "The Goon," a cinematic series about a muscley toughguy and his shrimpy sidekick, brimmming with the flavors of a 1930's gangster movie, plus silly 1950's sci-fi, plus quirky 1990's disaffected irony. There's some emotional depth here -- such as when The Goon experiences a childhood trauma, rendered in lush sepia -- but mostly there's just good loopy fun involving a zombie priest, a giant monster who drags undersea explorers to her home and then pleasures herself with them, and a mad scientist made of gold who is defeated, in part, by a can of creamed corn. Non-sequiturs like this make us sigh with unmitigated pleasure: "The Goon's been on our heels every time we get three blocks off Lonely Street! If it hadn't been for that unexpected herd of migrating orangutants that mysteriously burst into flames, he would have got us last Wednesday!"
Uh-oh; we've got to take it down again with some more heady philosophical issues. In Superman: Peace on Earth by Alex Ross and Paul Dini, the man of steel takes on world hunger. It's not as easy for him as, say, stopping a stampeding herd of elephants. Unlike natural disasters and gangsters, world hunger has no easy cure. He may be Superman, but he can't feed everyone; he can't come back every day with more food; and he can't stop cruel leaders from depriving their people of the food that he brings. There's not much of a story here -- such is the style of Alex Ross books -- and in the end, Clark Kent resolves that complex problems can only be solved through universal human cooperation. So ... good luck with that. As always, the art by Alex Ross is epic and stunning; it's a worthy read for the evocative visuals alone.
Last -- and, we're afraid, least -- is Joe Casey and Tom Scioli's "Godland" series. The concept: an astronaut/frat-jock is imbued with superpowers by mysterious aliens, and reluctantly teams up with his grousing sisters to fight wacky villains. The bad guys we stand behind 100% -- a floating skull atop a robot body that seeks to use alien blood as a mind-altering narcotic? That's rich! But what bogs us down is when "Godland" tries to pull what V for Vendetta manages to pull off much more deftly: philosophy. It's just ... not ... that ... interesting. While V is able to apply its esoteric ideas about natural liberty to an ongoing story, the relationship between "Godland"'s preoccupation with personal growth seems wholly disconnected from its meandering story about reluctant heros and selfish villains. That's a shame, because those elements could complement each other well. But they're in over their head, with awesome ideas that, denied a strong story, atrophy as soon as they hit the page.
Whew. Thanks for sticking through this one-week-late, longer-than-usual comic roundup. See you next time, Earthlings.