Wednesday's New Things: 20,000 Leagues

1. Alan Moore says some off the wall stuff in interviews sometimes. At this point, if he were to give a normal interview, I think people would be disappointed; the spectacle is part of the appeal. That said, with Watchmen being one of the comics waiting to greet new comics readers and the Miracleman stuff from the 80s finally seeing the light of day again, he remains relevant, even as he tries his damnedest to make us forget about him. But I can also feel interest on the wane; this is the second volume of Nemo, a sequel series to the now wildly-concluded League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and it rather snuck up on me, while the last was announced with what seemed like at least a little fanfare. These last several efforts from him have been worthwhile, at least, and looking at Top Shelf's preview, it seems like Kevin O'Neill's art remains worth at least a look. The relatively low price point for a hardcover helps, although 56 pages does seem a mite few.

2. I've been pretty dismissive of Marvel's recent relaunch strategy (AVENGERS 24.NOW = AVENGERS #1!!!1!!!), but I've liked a few things about it, notably the whole slew of new books, Ms. Marvel, Moon Knight, Magneto, that aren't just resets of books that ended in the last few weeks. Daredevil, though, is different-- I'd fallen off at some point, and rather than just keep buying a comic I didn't seem to be reading, I stopped trying to keep up, maybe 18 months ago or so. This new direction, with DD in San Francisco, is a a rehash of an old plot point from the 60s, but I remember Mark Waid's writing and Chris Samnee's art consistently being among Marvel's best (which is why I have no idea why I stopped reading.) Count me in. 

3. Speaking of relaunches, the drop in quality between this volume of Wolverine and the X-Men and the last one was precipitous-- this one isn't bad, but with the amount of excellent stuff that Marvel is putting out, it's not good enough to make the cut. I'm out. 

4. It's not just Marvel, though. The couple of years have been building to what seems to be high point in terms of quality titles from the mainstream presses (except DC, maybe-- after their own recent relaunch, the comics were so bad that I stopped reading even the one book I liked; I can't speak to present quality), and that is due, at least in part, to a flourishing of genres once dormant. Among these recurrences is the fantasy comic, of which Orc Stain and Rat Queens are supposed to be exemplary (again, I just couldn't tell you one way or the other). Based on the preview, this one, from Chris Roberson and Paul Maybury, looks like it might join them. 

Wednesday's New Things: Tinker, Tailor, Pilot, Spy

1. A couple of years ago, when Kelly Sue Deconnick relaunched Carol Danvers as Captain Marvel, I remember being interested until I saw the art, which I thought was too dark, too stiff, and too greasy looking. At the time, I wrote that it seemed like Marvel was trying to get the book canceled. Clearly, this was not the case, and they eventually handed art duties to a rotating cast that included current Deconnick collaborator Emma Rios. By the time that happened, though, I had lost interest, and moved on to other things. In the interim, though, I've started following Deconnick on tumblr, and, as down as I can be on fandom most of the time, she and the cadre that has come to be known as the Carol Corps make up a group of people who clearly care about each other deeply, just as much, if not more, as they care about Captain Marvel. Although I don't think that fellowship is necessarily for me, that a writer would be so generous to her fans makes me want to go out and support that writer, even if she was writing a book with terrible art. Luckily, that's not the case; artist David Lopez and colorist Lee Loughridge have the task well in hand. 

2. I think this is the third volume of this particular series since Ed Brubaker first launched it after the Siege story line in 2010. I have distinct memories of sitting at a Corner Bakery in Union Station in Washington DC on a Wednesday lunch break-- Fantom Planet, an excellent little comic book store, is tucked in there, too-- and reading an issue where Captain America puts on Nova's helmet. That was a fun book, but Brubaker's perceived trouble with team books sunk it from the start, I think, and it never really got going. Those stories were followed by an excellent series of issues written by Warren Ellis-- the one illustrated by Jamie McKelvie and an extraordinarily clever and complex time travel one feature Black Widow and drawn by Alex Maleev are particular favorites, but all six are excellent. After that, Rick Remender picked it up, and I kind of lost track (noticing a theme here?). I know it was relaunched after AvX, and it's now relaunching again, in what we used to call A BOLD NEW DIRECTION, written by Ales Kot and drawn by Michael Walsh, who I had never heard of but apparently did some Archer and Armstrong covers recently. Kot, who's currently also writing the very well received spy book Zero, is one of a number of hot new writers Marvel has been hiring of late, and he seems like a good fit here. Looking at the preview, I do wonder if Kot and Walsh are trying a little too hard (perhaps with editorial direction) at aping Hawkeye; several of the characters here are in common, and Walsh seems to do a passable David Aja impression. Taking a peak at this unlettered preview, that feeling only gets stronger. For whatever reason, though, Hawkeye's schedule is all screwed up (I've given up trying to read it in single issue, and am currently contemplating buying the hardcovers), and, if all Secret Avengers amounts to is Fraction and Aja lite, there are worse things in the world. Still, I think Kot may be able to find his voice in the pastiche; this will be an interesting one to follow. 

Coming Soon To A Spinner Rack Near You: The French Comics Theory Reader

From the press release: 

The French Comics Theory Reader presents a collection of key theoretical texts on comics, spanning a period from the 1960s to the 2010s, written in French and never before translated into English. The publication brings a distinctive set of authors together uniting theoretical scholars, artists, journalists, and comics critics. Readers will gain access to important debates that have taken place among major French-language comics scholars, including Thierry Groensteen, Benoît Peeters, Jan Baetens, and Pierre Fresnault-Deruelle, over the past fifty years. The collection covers a broad range of approaches to the medium, including historical, formal, sociological, philosophical, and psychoanalytic. A general introduction provides an overall context, and, in addition, each of the five thematic sections is prefaced by a brief summary of each text and an explanation of how they have influenced later work. The translations are faithful to the originals while reading clearly in English, and, where necessary, cultural references are clarified.

Process: Paul Pope

In the pretty near future, Paul Pope is releasing a new, colored version of his 1999 book Escapo. To see some more of the uncolored pages, along with a few pages with sample color, and to enter a contest to with a copy of the book, go here. 

Wednesday's New Things: Here's To New Things

1. Lots of new stuff coming out this week, so I'm going to keep it brief. Among the crop are two minis, both featuring veteran writers, Veil from Greg Rucka and Starlight from Mark Millar, and artists I've never heard of. Working with Rucka is the Serbian born Toni Fezjula, whose art has a wonderful, sacralized stained glass quality. The girl-with-amnesia-doesn't-know what she's-capable-of premise isn't exactly big news (Rachel Rising, anyone? River Tam?), but Rucka is an excellent writer, and I'm sure he'll do something excellent with it. Millar, is, of course, Millar, so your milage may vary. He's working with Goran Parlov, who, coincidentally, is from Croatia. His art reminds me a little of Paul Pope, and a little of Fiona Staples, but the colors, vibrant and not quite flat, are the real attraction. I'm probably going to trade wait both of these, but I'm tempted to buy the issues, if only so these two artists keep getting work. 

2. I'm a young dude, but I've been reading comics for almost a decade, long enough to remember when a new creative team meant a BOLD NEW DIRECTION rather than a new #1. These numbering gimmicks used to bother me, but now I guess I'm inured to it, because I've ceased to care, even though Wolverine and the X-Men ended literally last week. Latour and Asrar have some big shoes to fill, since Jason Aaron and the combination of Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw and others were responsible for one of the most consistent and satisfying superhero comics of the last few years. Every so often, particularly in the early days, the comic even wandered into greatness. I sort of feel like Latour is getting the short end of the stick here, much like he did after taking over Winter Soldier from Ed Brubaker. Readers didn't really stick around for that regime change, even though Latour is a more than capable creator, but maybe Wolverine, Storm, and the students of the Jean Grey School will be a bigger draw. Check out a preview here.

3. Another two new #1 from Marvel this week. Anything from Warren Ellis is welcome, and the idea of Moon Knight as a Fringe agent/Question take off rather than a simple Batman take off is extraordinarily intriguing. Declan Shalvey's art is clean and daring, and the fact Jordie Bellaire does not color Moon Night at all has the effect of making the character appear of the gutter rather than of the panel. It will be interesting to see if and how Ellis takes advantage of that choice. Cullen Bunn's new Magneto series has similar potential; Bunn is a known quality, but not exactly a commodity. Still, Gabriel Walta's art is minimal and marked by interesting compositional choices and the colors (again, Jordie Bellaire, displaying her versatility) are similarly understated. The recent Magneto-as-hero status quo has been ripe for expansion into a solo series, and this one has a significant amount of potential.

4. Although I think of myself as well versed in comics, I'm hardly an expert. I'm simply ignorant of too many things, my complete lack of knowledge of European and Asian comics being the most glaring hole. This is partly because of an antipathy I developed towards manga while I was in high school; I know better now. And I've recently developed an interest in Japan as a creative place. The key to learning about anything is to do it as you go along, and Jiro Taniguchi's newly translated Furari seems like as good a place as any to start; based on the life of a real 19th century figure, Furari's main character is apparently something of a wanderer, and, looking at the preview, the landscapes he wanders in are one of this book's great joys, a result of Taniguchi's thin, easy line. Call it judicious, rather than minimal. 

5. This comic looks deeply, deeply depraved. The preview reminds me of Transmetropolitan, you know, except that Spider Jerusalem was more than just a lost soul, or of Satellite Sam gone off the wall. Not for the faint of heart, I suspect, but perhaps a good way to vicariously live out certain subterranean fantasies.