Recently, I've been reading comic books in a much more motivated way than ever before. Maybe because Andy's come to stay, and he may be many things, but one thing he's not is unmotivated about getting his comic books. So, I've borrowed the bug, and for a few days every week, I scour the internet looking for comic books with shameless lust. I've read a fair number of comic books in the last few years, and I've been scouring the internet from fairly early on, but the difference between then and now is... attitude. I do not drink tea with my pinky raised anymore: I am a wild beast enraged as only a wild beast can be enraged; my pants have become too tight at the crotch, and the invisible pulsating forces throbbing underneath are forcing the seams; my fingernails are overgrown and my teeth are snapping! I'm on the edge! And my brain is incapable of accessing higher functions. Ever. Again.
I've been reading stray issues of superhero comic books for a long long time. Every time we'd go on holiday, or every now and then when we visited one of the old-style bookstores in Cal, I'd pick up a Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Spiderman and/or a Ninja Turtle comic book. But the problem was that it was close to impossible to follow a story arc. There'd be multiple copies of one part from a whole series, which was good for little else than the briefest of fixes, so I tried to find something I'd get more easily. There were Chacha Chaudhri, Tinkle, and even Amar Chitra Katha phases; but my fascination for a long time was the Phantom, the Ghost-Who-Walks, Kit Walker, and what a wanky film they made of that with Billy Zane and some famous chick whose name I've forgotten for the moment. But the comic myth was good. Pirates! Death! The oath taken on the dead head of the murderer! The skull cave! The tree house! Diana! Devil! The double pistols! Ooooooh! It deserves every single exclamation mark.
I tried to get into Mandrake but it didn't hold.
And then when I was twelve or thirteen, I read The Books of Magic by Neil Gaiman and I felt transformed. I wanted to read more of these stories with the fairies and blood and secrets and John Constantine - and I thought Neil Gaiman was sixty years old or something. And back then I had no internet, no Google, no fansites, nothing. So I went back to my mangy ways.
And then I read a few stray issues of the Sandman, Three Septembers and a January, and August. And then Rohan came back with his haul of comic books after his first year in America, and I started working at Seagull with all of Dr. Z's comic books there - and I got myself an education. But that was the thing. The Sandman, From Hell, The Dark Knight Returns, Transmetropolitan, Preacher, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Hellblazer, and a whole lot more - I was reading the best compiled works I could find (mostly what Rohan brought back), but I wasn't clued in to the superheros too well. So I went looking one day, still digging up the past. And I thought I'd start with Alan Moore. So I went through his run on Swamp Thing, the Superman stuff, looked up Tom Strong, Supreme, and even Promethea (which I haven't finished yet), Smax... and I loved the work he was doing. Looking at the making of the superhero myth, what makes it tick, what makes it kick, what makes it more.
At the same time, I was reading Warren Ellis' Sgt. Major William Gravel stories - Strange Kiss, Strange Killings, Stranger Kisses - which were ass-kicking fun, John Constantine on steroids, and everything was so diverse and exciting. But the thing was, that I was still borrowing comic books and reading them at a tiny rate... because my internet connection was silly and I had to rely on borrowing things on CD, mostly from Samit.
Andy's arrival has precipitated much. He downloads things from a primitive memory, almost. His childhood experience of comic books is far more intimate and he plans his excursions from that urge. He made the difference between graphic novels and comic books a little clearer for me one day when we were talking about Neil Gaiman, and he said though he liked Gaiman's work a lot, he didn't think of Gaiman as a comic book writer. I asked him what he meant by that and he said, "He's not a comic book writer, dude, he's a graphic novelist." And that makes good sense to me. There's a difference between work that's literary and work that's popular: one is cranial, and the other is carnal*. They're both expressed through this medium, and there's a greater choice of things to read. I'm not against it at all.
But I've almost stopped reading literary comic books.
I know a fair bit now (and I am suddenly intimately familiar with most of the Marvel heroes). I'm no longer reading back issues as much as following them as they release and pounding down the electronic freeways hungrily devouring everything that looks good. I get my weekly shot-in-the-arm from Warren Ellis' FreakAngels. It's six pages every week of good comic action. And it's also guilt-free because the product is free! Andy's convinced Warren Ellis doesn't sleep. The amount of material Ellis has out there every month is incredible! Right now, I'm tracking his:
No Hero - a group of superhumans in gas-masks show up and beat the shit out of badguys, rescue people from fires, maintain order in chaos, etcetera. They've all taken a drug which makes them bigger, faster, stronger, better, but over the course of time, it seems to take a lot from you - physically, mentally, spiritually. I've only read the prologue: it's being drawn by Juan Jose Ryp, and I like his art. I lie in wait for the next issue.
Anna Mercury - really hot redhead in tight leather and guns does intel wetwork etcetera in a virtual world, it seems, but not quite so virtual. There's more to it. It's futuristic but not in the simplest of ways, so read it. I'll only spoil it by trying to describe it, which I will do badly. But even if you don't get the scientific description, you will still get the guns and glory. The art is great and as I suspected, the guy's European. He draws a really clean but populated panels.
NewUniversal Shockfront - awesome superhero beginnings story. The skies around the earth go white one day, called The White Event, and four people are given four specific superpowers. They have glowing sigils of different shapes marking them out: Starbrand (for defense), Justice, (for order), Nightmask (for consciousness shift) and a Cipher (for technological leap). Each of them brings with them the necessary components for planetary change. To take us into the future. It's a superhero discussion. Very cool. Origin stories to be found in NewUniversal.
Doktor Sleepless - another futurist look. Doktor Sleepless is Jon Reinhart (or is he?) and he's come back to his old stomping grounds to, he says, destroy it. But all the things he does with little bits of technology allows a person to live outside the mainstream, or established authority, even if its only for a little while. The future is already here,but we're not awake to it, is what he's saying, because we've been expecting something else. I love it.
Astonishing X-Men - his first issue with Simone Bianchi who also drew the Shining Knight sections from Grant Morrison's Seven Soldiers of Victory. I loved her work, and when I saw that she was collaborating with Warren Ellis I had to check it out. It's about the X-Men getting settled in their new headquarters with their reduced numbers, living now in San Fransisco. But something weird is going on - there can be no more mutants because Wanda Maximoff went nuts and switched the gene off, but there seems to be something different. Check it out.
FreakAngels - go read it. It's good old sci-fi post-apocalyptic London. British sci-fi is so cool. Paul Duffield draws it. I love the colouring on this series.
Thunderbolts - actually, I've stopped following it. Or rather, I'm wondering whether I should continue reading it. I should find out who's writing it next. I downloaded all of Ellis' run, because well, it's worth reading. The Thunderbolts are ex-supercriminals who've agreed to offer their services in catching other supercriminals and outlaw superheroes in exchange for amnesty and pardon. There's politics and playacting and it's psychotic, especially because the head of the team s Norman Osborne, the Green Goblin. And heavily restrained Bullseye is his covert operative. (because the public won't take it lightly at all if this nutcase is on the loose) . Bullseye has never been this scary.
Angel: Revelations - this is an origins story for Archangel from the X-Men drawn by Adam Pollina. I like the artwork on this best because it's unconventional, it twists and bends with the wind and it can go from its flexible best to sharp and solid in no time at all. Warren Worthington is in an upper-class boarding school in America, and dangerous school politics aside, Warren is feeling strange; he's eating more but losing weight, and he's getting faster, stronger... and there's no reason why. He also has these twin bruises on his back that seem to be getting worse, and Warren thinks he's dying.
Final Crisis - the New Gods of Apokolips are being murdered and Darkseid is in the world trying to teach it the anti-life equation. Grant Morrison is writing this and it's only two issues old right now, but it has tremendous potential. I have faith because I have faith in this man. I wait eagerly for the next issue, out of crude curiosity if nothing else.
Tor - this is an old comic book written by Joe Kubert. He made his first appearance in 1953. Tor is a hyperintelligent prehistoric man. Well, hyperintelligent for a prehistoric man is what I mean. I picked to follow this up because it reminded me of the old comic books: simple, well drawn, full of personality, and unpretentious. I don't know if it's what is called a 'good' comic book, but I seem to have developed an affection for it. DC is republishing Tor, 6 issues of it, so I'm getting to read it.
Secret Invasion - this is the next big occurrence in the Marvel Universe. The Skrull Empire is attacking earth and the invasion is playing havoc with relations between heroes in this already agitated world. Directly after Civil War, Captain America's death, and the launch of the Initiative, the Skrull invasion is the last thing anybody needs. There's barely been any time to rebuild. The Skrulls keep saying that they've planned it all, including Civil War. They've been hidden among the human race, among the heroes for years, they say. Some heroes have died, revealing themselves to be Skrulls in death. Meanwhile a Skrull transport full of heroes has landed in the Savage Land. There's Captain America among them, but while most of them seem to be Skrulls in disguise, Cap seems genuine. Or is he? Who knows? Reed Richards seems to have figured something out, but he's been captured by the Skrulls and Tony Stark has been infected with something; he's also been told by a Skrull-who-is-Spiderwoman, that he is a Skrull himself, he just needs to be reminded. So all is confused.
Kick-Ass - this is one of my favourite follow-ups. Mark Millar's writing is so cool. It's honest, prosaic, light, and surprising. I'm waiting for the next issue to hit the net sometime soon. It's about a boy who decides to become a superhero. He gets his ass kicked. He does it again, but this time he succeeds in beating a way a gangload of guys. Of course, he gets good and smashed anyway. And now there seems to be other children getting in on the act. Far deadlier than he'd imagined. And they seem to be looking to him.
The Twelve - twelve B-level superheroes, a mixed bunch are captured and cryogenically frozen during the fall of Berlin in a Nazi bunker and are found recently. As they return to the modern world, they all adjust in different ways. It's a twelve issue run. The seventh is out this month. I'm interested. It's written and drawn in a retrospective way, not only in the sense of the narrative (because the story is a flashback from the first panel, so far) but also in the way the figures are drawn, their costumes, and the colouring. It all harks back. What's going on, I wonder.
Thor - same author as The Twelve, J. Michael Straczynski, Thor returns to Earth after Ragnarok because part of his soul is still human. His task now seems to be to awaken all the other gods and members of Asgard, and find for them a future beyond Ragnarok. But Loki is also back in the world, a woman now, and subverting things as best she knows how. It's being drawn by Oliver Coipel, whose work I don't know from before, but I love his work here. It's so... well-scaled. Whether he's drawing things close-in or something the size of a mountain fortress, it's clean and well-dimensioned. I sound like I'm giving him a backhanded compliment, perhaps, but I really really like the work.
All-Star Superman - Grant Morrison writing it, and Frank Quitely drawing it. I don't know what else to say. It's incredible. I went cold turkey a little while ago because the next issue's in August and I haven't had anything from this comic all through June and July!
The Boys - Garth Ennis indulges in his hatred of superheroes with this comic book. It's about a group of fairly international people, funded by the CIA to intervene and/or 'deal with' superheroes when they get out of line. All superheroes have taken accidentally or on purpose a compound called 'V' that makes them super. They manifest different powers because of the unique nature of the human body, and different doses, I guess. Anyway, the Boys comprise Billy Butcher, Mother's Milk, the Frenchman, the Female, and Wee Hughie. Wee Hughie is the newest member of this group, and they seem to have a serious hard-on for the Justice League correspondents of this universe, who're led by a bloke called Homelander.
Wonder Woman - Gail Simone is a great writer. I came across her when I was following-up Birds of Prey. She really did things with that comic book, which is about a group of women superheroes led by Oracle (Barbara Gordon), with Black Canary as the main operative, followed by Huntress, sometimes a crazed PowerGirl and Lady Blackhawk. It's damn cool. And so is her work on Wonder Woman. Terry Dodson was drawing some really lovely issues. I want him back. Wonder Woman has never looked this good and never been this exciting, for me at least. Check it out.
DMZ - Civil War has broken out in the U.S. The two sides are the Free States and, of course, the United States. Manhattan Island is the De-Militarized Zone, meaning that there are no official armies in it. It certainly isn't unarmed, and it's very very dangerous. Neighbourhoods run themselves now, and some of them are benevolent and others aren't. The city is in ruins. It's been a warzone for a long time now, and into it steps Matty Roth, photojournalist intern. He finds himself in the odd position of having to report from the DMZ about life and politics in this disaster area. There's so much.
The Walking Dead - straight up zombie story. No additions to what zombies are, in the sense that they aren't faster, hyperaggressive, superzombies but plain old shuffling feet, groaning and moaning, with a hunger for human flesh zombies. People die, they become zombies. People get bitten, they become zombies. There's no escape, there's no cure. The world as we know it is over. There are survivors. And how.
Fables - Bill Willingham with Mark Buckingham. This is relatively famous because people look to it as the next great literary work, after the Sandman. It isn't, thank god! It's literary only as much the characters are all fabulous. It's a damn good series. It does irritate me though when they get someone else to draw it other than Mark Buckingham. WHY? Leave him alone.
100 Bullets - Brian Azarello and Eduardo Risso's comic book. Great great gangster comic book. It's not really a gangster comic book, but it's dripping with noir. The world is controlled by the Trust. The Minutemen, led by Agent Graves, are their policemen, making sure nobody gets too greedy. Or are they? Something happened a while ago that changed the whole arrangement. The Trust tried to kill the Minutemen. The Minutemen disappeared, but now they're back, and all kinds of things are happening.
Batman - Grant Morrison's writing this. Go read.Now that I've been through this post, I realise that it's of little use, and given how long it is... no one will read it. I think I'll pimp it up with pictures. Later.
*I don't mean to imply that they're exclusively 'cranial' and 'carnal', just broad headings you understand. Perhaps I'm philosophically backward with my binary thinking, but I'm not blaming anyone. Yet.
