E-MAIL THE AUTHOR

Breakdowns -- Frenetiquette

September 25, 2003

The column continues to be challenging to me, in good ways. This past week has found me not reading much, or more accurately reading a couple longer trade paperbacks that took a while to finish (and indeed it would be nearly impossible to actually read all of one of the books reviewed). Also, in a much-needed change of ownership for my comics shop, quite a few items have turned up missing from my pull list. So what I expected would be a financially devastating week, with SANDMAN: ENDLESS NIGHTS and ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN and NEW X-MEN hardcovers has turned out to be cheap, as the latter two didn’t come in at all and the former was snatched up before I got to the shop, without a copy saved for me. Though I’ve been disappointed so far with 1602, Gaiman is still a good writer, and I was looking forward to it. And to be honest, it is one of those books where a reviewer wants to weigh in on it the sooner the better. Oh, well, maybe next week.

In order to fill a little space, and re-present some reviews I did for another website over a year ago, I looked at the archives only to find that, to my dismay, I kinda sucked a good deal of the time. Maybe I’ll think the same when I look back at this in a year, and if so, I guess that means I improved. It was amusing to read that I was initially ambivalent about Morrison’s early NEW X-MEN, since I now think it’s mostly pretty terrific, and that my review of Daniel Clowes’ EIGHTBALL #22, now widely acknowledged as one of the best single issues of a comic ever, was overly concerned with Clowes’ (and Chris Ware’s) depicted bitterness about comics reviewers and collectors. Talk about taking things too personally.

Speaking of that issue, though, Sean Collins has some comments on it at this late date, and—even better—he really seems to get what I was going for with the Paul O’Brien interview last week, which is rewarding. I’ve gotten lots of good feedback on that, in fact, so that makes me all the more encouraged to continue the series with another four (or more?) reviewers of various stripes and voices. I’d like to be able to do it weekly, and I can, but I’m dependent on the schedules of the interview subjects, so I’m guessing I’ll have to run an interview every other week on average. My only complaint about the whole thing is that now I want to be interviewed my own damn self. I guess that’s egotistical, but then, so is a column. I could be reviewing sandwiches and it would still really be all about me (juicy, fat-rimmed meat rolled to give the appearance of substance and depth; doughy, seedy, and oozing tangy sauce when squeezed).

THE SLINGS & ARROWS COMIC GUIDE (Second Edition) Edited by Frank Plowright. Slings And Arrows Publishing. $39.95
For years, I’ve wondered why there wasn’t a comprehensive guide to comics that actually offered some critical analysis, and it’s an exceedingly pleasant surprise to find it’s existed, and is not back in print in a new, up-to-date edition. Almost every comic you can think of is in here, current up to about six months ago, which is an extraordinary achievement in itself. That the reviews are addictively readable, informative and lacking in pretension just makes this book an essential addition to any comic reader’s library.

Want to know about the high-and-low-points of 60-plus years of BATMAN? You’ll find them in just a couple of small-type pages, clearly delineating the character’s various incarnations and what the title’s writers and artists brought to the mix. Editor Frank Plowright has wrangled a dozen reviewers, give or take, into covering the breadth of comics history with honest opinions but a consistently professional, even tone.

One interesting feature, that actually leads to exceptions to that consistent tone I wrote of, are summaries of smaller press publishers such as Alternative Comics, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, etc. The Top Shelf entry goes beyond mere difference of opinion to vindictiveness, with much of the spleen vented against James Kochalka. Kochalka’s work is often insubstantial, true, but it’s hard to justify dismissing THE SKETCHBOOK DIARIES as being primarily concerned with eating McDonald’s fast food. I mean, at least acknowledge all the references to cunnilingus! Seriously, these steps outside of reasonable criticism are few and far between, the Top Shelf example notable mainly due to the fact that Top Shelf distributes this book. Few readers will take offense to a given review that it will obfuscate just how obviously invaluable this tome is. Sure, it’s hard to justify dropping forty bucks on a softcover full of text (and a small but attractive section reprinting favorite comics covers), but read these samples and decide for yourself how useful this book is.

DOOM PATROL ARCHIVES VOLUME 1 by Arnold Drake, Bob Haney, Bruno Premiani and Bob Brown. DC Comics. $49.95
The Doom Patrol debuted in MY GREATEST ADVENTURE in 1963 and were successful enough to take over that title, yet sales would drop enough within four years that the series was cancelled, with a rather shocking finale that let Drake and Premiani kill off their characters (Haney wrote half of the first appearance of the DP and created Negative Man). This is much like what happened to Marvel’s UNCANNY X-MEN, where the series didn’t quite catch on and faded out after a few years. Of course, the X-Men were revived and became the most popular team book of all time, with countless spin-offs, but other than a seminal Grant Morrison revamp in the late 80s, there have been no DP series of any lasting importance. This is the good stuff, never to be repeated.

As one reads this collection of MY GREATEST ADVENTURE/DOOM PATROL #80-89, the parallels to the Lee/Kirby X-MEN of that same year are astounding. The wheelchair-bound leader, in this case The Chief, a bearded, wealthy genius. Rita Farr, Elasti-Girl, who, like the X-Men’s Jean Grey, is the one female on the team, and who has something of a crush on The Chief, just as Jean did on Professor Xavier. The Doom Patrol are also a team of misfits, fighting to be accepted by the world as more than “freaks,” yet they are more publicly known than the X-Men and respected for their abilities. There’s a non-mutant Brotherhood of Evil, consisting of Madame Rouge, The Brain and talking gorilla Monsieur Mallah. And, as with Professor X and Lucifer, The Chief has an old nemesis, General Immortus, whose hatred for him puts the team in mortal danger.

Immortus debuts in their first appearance, once we get the origins of Elasti-Girl (a distaff Ant-Man/Giant-Man); Negative Man (a being of “radio-energy” flies out of Larry Trainor’s body for just 60 seconds, able to reach high speeds and do things without any harm coming to it); and Robotman (race car driver’s brain transplanted into orange metallic body; initially named Automaton) out of the way. The story quickly begins a tradition of somewhat wacky pseudo science played straight and thrilling, as Immortus seeks a device that turns any fuel into atomic fuel, which could destroy the world. Immortus is a great villain, having the usual megalomaniacal but really seeming to enjoy himself. The first story also establishes that Premiani’s art is so good that it will save even the few clunker stories in here. His line is elegant, extremely delicate in the inks, and the device of leaving the team in silhouette for much of the first chapter is brilliant, as it instantly signifies to the reader that the team is eccentric and demand to be taken on their own terms.

“The Nightmare Maker,” their second adventure, has a fascinating premise—that an old Nazi has mentally imparted everyone but Robotman with the memory of an alien invasion. It’s plenty silly in parts, but also suspenseful when no one will believe that Robotman’s version of the event is the truthful one. An outsider even among his teammates, this only emphasizes that character trait.

Characterization is spare but consistent throughout, as Drake writes Larry Trainor/Negative Man as a condescending jerk to Robotman, but with genuine affection for Rita, though he can never let her see his face, he thinks. Rita, like Invisible Girl of that time, fills all the female roles in the series: mother, sister, object of affection, but it’s refreshing when the guys exclude her from a dangerous mission to the center of the Earth and she ends up saving them and proving her mettle. Robotman is much like the Fantastic Four’s The Thing, self-pitying and caustic, but with a hero’s heart, while The Chief is wonderfully depicted as a stern father who’s always going to surprise you with some startling secret.

The soap opera aspects are spare and, aside from the budding Larry/Rita romance, don’t go anywhere, which keeps the pace of the stories swift and exciting. Themes of hopelessness (will anyone ever think of them as anything but freaks again?) and loss of control (past the 60 second limit, Negative Man needs to be wrangled to return to Larry; Cliff “Robotman” Steele is compelled against his will to serve a returning Immortus) dominate, and this slightly more sophisticated, darker tone makes appealing sparks with the grotesque creatures (sea monster, snow beast, the “Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man”) and exotic weapons and locales flowing from Drake and Premiani.

Immortus dominates this volume, appearing three times. The second appearance gives Premiani the opportunity to draw some Egyptian artifacts, but it’s hard to accept the plot. Immortus is smart enough to come up with a better way of getting richer than all the trouble it takes to find these lost ruins full of gold statues. How does one sell those, anyway? But the penultimate issue collected here, The Chief’s origin, is a Silver Age masterpiece. We learn why The Chief still fears Immortus, while at the same time we appreciate The Chief’s courage and resourcefulness, letting himself die so that a robot can remove the explosive Immortus had implanted in his heart, then having that robot revive him again, which leads to the loss of the use of his legs when the operation takes longer than planned. With DC’s customary stellar production and a warm introduction by Drake, this is a great collection of unique and thrilling 60s comics, worth even this hefty price tag.

DUMPED by Andi Watson. Oni Press. $5.95
Fans of Watson’s BREAKFAST AFTER NOON may notice those lead characters in supporting roles here in this latest bittersweet romance from him. This one involves Binny, a sweet but curious type who falls into bed with a headstrong, drunk girl at a party, and from these mundane and inauspicious beginnings emerges an actual re-lay-shun-ship. Watson doesn’t take the easy way out of giving us a couple of adorable types saddled with incongruously bad mates they need to slough off. No, they’ve got their own unique and believable issues, such as Binny’s fascinating hobby that’s really indicative of his stunted emotional state. With both of them decent people who somehow have the means to wreck things (she’s more the problem here, but he’s no saint), there’s a lot of tension and heartache on the page. Watson has obviously let the story cook and the characters grow before he ever put pen or brush to paper. His knack for observational detail is astounding, and I was more touched by this than 99% of what passes for romantic drama on the big screen. The themes are universal here, but I’d recommend this especially to anyone who enjoyed HIGH FIDELITY or BOX OFFICE POISON.

THE BIRTHDAY RIOTS by Nabiel Kanan. NBM Publishing
$14.95
An assured and pensive graphic novel, this is clearly not the work of an angry young man. Kanan approaches this tale with life experience and a familiarity with the compromises one must make as an adult. There are compromises in haircuts and jobs, compromises in where you live and send your children to school. Most importantly, we compromise our core values, sometimes knowingly and sometimes by blinding ourselves, wrapping the decision in an idealized, romantic bow.

The main character in this story is a clean-cut, middle-aged family man working on a campaign for a London mayoral candidate. Years back—years that melted away before he knew it—he was a happy young father and professor. A hero to his little girl with his attention and promises and an inspiration to his students with his antiauthoritarian rhetoric.

When we meet him, he’s working on the campaign, having taken it because he believed in the candidate and in the idea of changing the system from within. His daughter has become estranged from him because he and his wife don’t support her cause: finding a place for London’s gypsy population, or at least allowing them to squat where they are. In protest of this, the man’s former student wages a hunger strike, while he himself grapples with a stressful campaign, his daughter, and the advances of a coworker, all of which stem from the various compromises he’s made in his life. The key here is that he’s at a stage where he can either go on compromising himself and his values, or do something to stem the tide.

While this is certainly heavy material, Kanan gives it a wonderful treatment, beginning with great, saucy marital humor, and of course the attempted seduction is extremely sexy. What I found masterful was that the story wasn’t the melodramatic moment a good man is faced with abandoning his values, but rather about a man whom we learn already has made these compromises and mistakes, who’s not sure where to go from there. This is a believable man, not just a symbol, and it makes his story that much more poignant. There is also a lovely mystical side to it that is there if you want to think about it, but not pounded home or overdone.

AMERICAN SPLENDOR: UNSUNG HERO by Harvey Pekar and David Collier. Dark Horse Comics. $12.95
Not representative of Pekar’s usual curmudgeonly, autobiographical comics, this is instead the story of Lt. Robert McNeill’s experiences as a black Marine in Vietnam. Pekar shapes the story, but it’s narrated in McNeill’s voice, which is modest and thoughtful. He has a good perspective on his largely miserable, pot-addled and anxiety-ridden time, and he seems to have been a likeable average guy in his unit, something of a mediator. The three chapters of this story are all entitled “Robert McNeill,” so one must presume the UNSUNG HERO was an editorial decision, especially since Pekar does not play up McNeill’s heroism, nor in fact does McNeill. There are occasions where the soldier goes beyond his duty, and plenty of times where he avoids it or is too high to be anything but a danger to himself and others. The warts-and-all approach is admirable, and in this story we get perhaps a truer picture of the war than many other accounts, but it also serves to lessen the drama at times. This is also not helped by Pekar’s need to jam every anecdote he can of McNeill’s tour of duty into what amounted to three issues of comics, so that there isn’t much space for tension to build, nor for weighty scenes to pause for emphasis. The most drama ever created happens in the third chapter, as McNeill tries to avoid danger in his last few days before he gets to go home, and his method is, while perfectly understandable, frankly cowardly, or at least not heroic by any definition. Collier is also uneven here, excellent at some faces and the landscape but unsuited to drawing action, as he has a poor command of anatomy and dynamism. Again, the lack of glamour or heightened realism is honest and admirable, but combined with the shambling, matter-of-fact story, makes the book less than essential. In principle, I’m all for more diverse stories in comics, but I’m not sure what point Pekar was trying to make here.

Next Week: Well, I’ll cover HONOUR AMONG PUNKS for sure, not certain what else. Hope to have another comics reviewer interview up as well.

Chris Allen

If you would like a book or graphic novel reviewed, please send to:

1451 River Crest Rd.
San Marcos, CA 92078

E-MAIL THE AUTHOR | ARCHIVES