Dark Horse Noir

A couple of weeks ago, in one of my Already Tired of Tuesday posts, I'd mentioned that I had ordered the brand new Dark Horse Noir anthology from my shop.

I don't know if I've ever really written about this here, but I adore crime stories in all their forms- detective and con stories in particular, but I mostly just adore the crime genre. It makes sense, therefore, that crime comics, in taking on one of my favorite genres in my favorite medium, have a very special place in my heart. Somewhere in between my first exposure to the genre (the brilliant 100 Bullets) and the latest issue of Criminal I became fascinated by the notion of crime-themed sequential art, and I've been slowly looking into as many examples of the genre I can find.

When I heard about the Noir anthology, I was pretty excited, particularly because I heard about it on Jeff Lemire's blog. That Lemire (who seems to be everywhere these days) had contributed a story to the collection was reason enough to buy it- that Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Brian Azzerello, Gaberial Ba and Fabio Moon had contributed stories and pictures to the book was just sort of icing on the cake. Well, a lot of icing on the cake. And maybe a cookie and a milkshake on the side.

I digress. When I went to my store on Friday to pick up my books from the last couple of weeks, I got a chance to look at the collection- and it's fantastic. I mean, first of all, just take a look at the design: its unbelievably beautiful. Really, just look at the cover- it's understated and yet powerful, just like a good noir story. You get everything you need to know about the anthology by just looking at its cover- and then you turn it over, to see if you missed anything, and you find the back. Now, it doesn't look as nice here because I couldn't find an image file of it on the internet, and so I had to scan it, but that isn't the designer's fault. Here, too, the look is wonderfully powerful and understated- mostly black, with a little bit of grey and white. The details you could divine by looking at the cover can be read on the back, as well as that fantastic list of creators, several of whom I will be checking out solely based on their work in the anthology.

The design is so striking that even if I hadn't have known any the names on that list, I probably would have bought it anyway. The team at Dark Horse clearly put a lot of work and thought into this, and I felt it was appropriate to commend them for it before we began to work our way through the anthology itself.

Now, the beauty on the outside doesn't stop there. It's a damn good-looking book through and through, and if you can find it in your shop I urge just to flip through it so you can see what I mean. The art is, on the whole, unbelievably fantastic. The artists I mentioned above (Lemire, Ba, Moon, and Phillips) put in their usual brilliant work, but I was also struck by David Lapham, Kano and Steven Gaudiano (working together on one story), M.K. Perker, and Eduardo Barreto. I think I've named every artist in the anthology save four (I only left out Hugo Petrus because the Alex De Campi story he's illustrating is incomprehensible) and even those artists are pretty good- just not quite as good.

Part of what makes the stories in the anthology so damn worthwhile is, like any noir story worth its ink, how unbelievably complex they are. Take Perker's story, The Albanian, for instance: it manages, amazingly, to be absurd, terrifying, serious, heart-warming, and a little bit disturbing all at the same time, and all of these different aspects complement each other brilliantly. Somehow, the protaganist turns the murderous rage of an office worker into a little boon for his son- the morality and sense of this desicion is left ambiguous, and that's part of why it's so effective. The Perker story is also notable if only because it's one of six (eight, if you count the Fillbach brothers and Brubaker/Phillips, who work together so well and have worked together for so long that they might as well be one entity at this point) stories written and illustrated by the same person- this is interesting to consider, because it makes me wonder how the process changes when this is the case and, furthermore, why it lends itself so well to the noir genre.

I don't know about most of the other artists who worked by themselves in Noir, but I do know that Lemire works best when he's by himself, and "The Old Silo" is unbelievably good. It's got the atmospheric and moody feel typical of Lemire's work, and the rural setting he's so fond of, but it advances beyond that- while he's dealt with moral ambiguity before, he's sort of shunted it aside: here, it's full blown and incredibly finely focused. It's surprising that he hasn't written a story quite like this before because he's so incredibly good at it.

In fact, all of these creators are incredibly good at it- Dark Horse picked a fine stable of writers and artists for this anthology. This review is already pretty long, and I don't want to spend a whole lot more time talking about individual stories, so I'll just bring up two more. The Brubaker/Phillips story is wonderful (at this point, I expect nothing less), and it further proves that Sean Phillips may be the best crime comics artist there is (with the possible exception, of course, of Eduardo Risso). "21st Century Noir" has everything a good noir story should (the femme fatale, the gorilla, the double cross) and a little bit more, and it's worth every panel. Finally, the Azzerello/Ba and Moon story is the crowning jewel of the collection- the twin artists are some of the best working in all of comics, and their work is consistently mindblowing and (despite the fact that what I'm about to say goes without saying at this point, I'm going to say it anyway) Azzerello is among the genre's best writers- the twist at the end of "The Bad Night" is so unbelievable that I had to read it twice just to make sure I had interpreted it correctly. It shows that the writer has guts and, furthermore, that he knows exactly what buttons to push.

I really can't urge you enough to pick up this anthology. At $12.95 it's vastly underpriced for the quality that's inside, particularly if you like crime stories. At the very least, just take a look at it. I promise it will be worth your time.

Actually, the A Stands for Awesome.

I knew it.

I knew Reborn was going to get better. It had to. Brubaker and Hitch are, to say the least, among the best in the business. I have no idea why the last issue of the mini was so damn mediocre, and I have no idea why the art was so unbelievably terrible, but Reborn #4 is a very significant improvement over what I saw last month.

The art, in particular, is a lot better. There's no Namor in this one, so I can't really compare anything to that horrifying image from last month, but the figure-work on the whole is about a thousand steps in the right direction. It still isn't perfect- there are a couple images of Steve that, for whatever reason, aren't quite right- but it is pretty good, and there are several Cap and Bucky in WWII pages that are just fantastic. The way the story is being told through the art, too, has improved immensely. Despite the fact the last issue was such a misstep, I'm glad to see it's not turning into a pattern: Brubaker's story really deserved better, and it certainly got it.

Now, as far as that story goes; it got better, too. Every piece of the puzzle is beginning to come together, and the final roles of each of our players is beginning to become clear (and, in some cases, they already have). Although Brubaker's scope had appeared too broad (and, by the way, I can't believe I was worried about that) he appears to have it well in hand and the story seems to be hurtling towards a conclusion that's going to rock parts of the Marvel Universe- or at least specific corners of it.

For the first time since the end of the first issue, I feel like Reborn is going to be a worthy conclusion to what came before. Hopefully, it's just going to continue to get better.

So, now rape is funny, Mr. Crumb?

I've never been quite sure what to think of R. Crumb. Yes, I understand that he is considered the father of underground comics. Yes, I really enjoyed his interpretation of Metamorphosis when I read it for class last year. Yes, the Genesis project sounds really interesting. All of these things are good and make him an interesting man but I could never shake the feeling that having dinner with him would result in me punching him. Crumb is famous for drawing overtly sexual women in demeaning roles. And despite all the great things this man has done for the world of comics, I'm not going to lie-- I've always found him to be completely sexist.

However, I honestly never expected this. During a public interview at the University of Richmond, Francoise Mouly spoke with Crumb about some of his drawings of women that could be negatively interpreted. Mouly, according to a report of the evening by Ben Towle, tried to give Crumb a chance to say that Crumb's portrayals was actually a way of showing "sensitivity" towards women and the way they are viewed. Instead, something else happens:



"Next on the screen was Crumb’s two-pager, “Don’t Touch Me” (from Snatch #3) which depicts an apparent rape, followed by the “punch line” in the last panel: “I never get to come!” In a rare bit of almost-regret (maybe? almost?), Crumb recalled showing this strip to a woman he knew and being genuinely surprised by her horrified reaction. Mouly wondered though if it wasn’t his intention to shock. “I intend to shock–but I don’t want them to run away in horror!” he replied. The discomfort in the room became almost palpable when he glibly remarked about “all women having rape fantasies, right?” and mentioned that “even Freud said all women were masochistic.” Then, after a moment, “Let’s move on…” "

Wow. Just wow. I do not even have words for how disgusted I am by this. Not only does Crumb make rape the butt of a crude joke but he goes as far to say "all women have rape fantasies." My god. R. Crumb, I have one thing to say to you: go fuck yourself. I am a woman and I do not have rape fantasies. A comic like this could have taken the high road- it could have been actually portraying the way that people demonize rape victims to the point where those victims believe that the rape was their fault, that they wanted it. Instead, Crumb is basically stating that he agrees with that opinion! All women clearly want to be raped and so it's their fault when it happens.

I don't care about his reputation, I don't care about his awards, I don't care that tons of people kiss his feet everyday- R. Crumb is a pig and has lost all of my respect.

Gorga's Looking Forward to Wednesday 11/4/2oo9

Oh my god this week is a shitload of shit I've got to buy...

First, the maybes...
"Batman: Widening Gyre" #3 of 6
Issue nĂºmero two of this series was a bit disappointing but I think I'm going to try for the long haul. We'll see what this issue has in store for me.

"Black Widow: Deadly Origin" #1 of 4
This interview on Marvel.com with the mini-series' writer Paul Cornell makes this sound WONDERFUL. I will be taking a peek here.

"X-Men Origins: Iceman"
This series has been hit or miss in my opinion. The Jean Grey issue was amazing. The Beast issue blew more than it had any right to. We'll see.


Then, the definites...
"Assault On New Olympus: Prologue" one-shot
Not only is this a Spidey appearance, but it's also the beginning of a crossover event. Seeing as how I almost wrote my college dissertation on crossover events...

"Atomika" #11
Oh ho ho! The penultimate (yes, I know what that means) issue of this magnificent series.

"Strange Tales" #3 of 3
I enjoyed "Strange Tales" #2 more than #1 (as you'll find out when we get to reviewing it) so I'm excited for this last issue.

and lastly:
"the Amazing Spider-Man" #610

Now I ask you, how amazing is this?

(Click the image to make it open, legible, in a new window. Click here to see the program from whence it came.)

A Spider-Man issue. On the top 10 in THREE slots.
And it's the end of a story-arc picking up threads from the Clone Saga, the supposedly most reviled Spider-Man storyline of all time.
Wow. Just... wow.

UPDATE: 11/9/2oo9
I can now show you my haul, because I now have my books:
Why did I wait so long to pick up my books? And why so many? Because of the 25th anniversary sale at St. Mark's Comics, that's why! Among the many remarkable things about St. Mark's Comics: when they declare a sale, even their brand-new-THIS-WEEK'S comics go on sale. 25% off for 25 years on St. Mark's Place. I went with Clare, as it is her favorite shop in the city and she was home for the weekend!

Yeah, I broke and bought the "Sugarshock" one-shot. They even had that damn elusive "Cowboy Ninja Viking" #1 I've been trying to find. If you've been following the blog, you've probably gotten the feeling that I talk about picking up indie books and then never do. Well, that's because often I get to really buying the thing and I say "Ugh, this doesn't look like it's worth my money" and I end up buying most of my indie stuff at awesome conventions like the MoCCA Fest where you can meet the creators face-to-face and your encouraged to almost read the thing right there. These books look gorgeous and fun. So I bought them.

Meanwhile, at the Pull List of Clare!- 11/04/09

Hey all. So I'll actually be getting my books this weekend so expect a review from me in the next week! Maybe it'll be Batman, maybe it won't be. Maybe it'll be Superman! (It'll probably be Superman Origins #2).

This week's damage isn't that bad. An even split between the two big companies- three each, totaling six comics.

From Marvel this week we've got The Amazing Spider-Man #610. I've been enjoying the Ben Reilly story-arch so I'm expecting to like this one. Then we have Deadpool Team-Up #899. I really loved all the various Deadpool Team-ups in the last few issues of Cable/Deadpool, and this is written by Van Lente so I'm expecting a good time. Finally, wrapping up Marvel is Captain America: Reborn #4. Hopefully the art will be better this issue but I'm not holding my breath. Still, I love Brubaker so I've got to stick with it.

All the three DC books I'm getting this week I'm really looking forward to. First is Batman: Widening Gyre #3. I have been LOVING this mini-series. It's been fun and it's really great to see a Bruce Wayne Batman story. So, I'm excited to read this! Next is Superman: World of New Krypton #9. I've liked the New Krypton idea from the beginning and this has been my favorite book out of all the Supes books. Finally there is Doom Patrol #4. Now normally I'm not a Doom Patrol monthly girl. I've been thinking of picking up the series in trade. However, this is a Blackest Night tie-in which I'm looking forward to. Plus, this issue comes with a Sinestro Corps ring! Exciting!

Till next time, my darlings!



Dune!

I think I've probably indicated in the past how much I simply adore Paul Pope. His Adam Strange strip in Wednesday Comics was consistently one of that book's highlights, and every other thing of his I've read, I've simply adored.

Now, it turns out, that he's drawing comics based on Dune for Dustin Harbin's Dune Book Club- and they are unbelievably fantastic.

I read Dune for the first time in middle school, and although it was one of my favorites then, I haven't really gotten a chance to tackle it since. These Pope illustrations, though, seem to capture the spirit of the work as I remember it- would it be too much to ask, Mr. Pope, for you to just sit down and adapt the whole thing? Please?

There are other fantastic illustrations up on Harbin's blog, and if you're into Dune it really is worth checking out the book club part- its convinced me to read the book again of winter break.

Bear Down!

Some of you may know that I love football. Not only do I love football, but I also love my Chicago Bears- although they often break my heart.

With this in mind, I was pretty excited to learn that the Bears Pro-Bowl outside linebacker Lance Briggs (to the right) has a comic blog and, furthermore, is writing a comic.

It's a little bizarre, but if gets published I will almost certainly check it out- if only so I can say I own a comic written by one of the NFL's best OLB's.

Bear Down!