Friday, March 24, 2006

Marvel: Civil War



I love this picture. Steve McNiven is a giant among artists. I might actually be excited enough to buy Marvel's Civil War series. Bring it on!

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Frenzy from the Vaults! Hawkman

I'm still trying to iron out the format and content for this blog, as well as figure out how to write about comics. Very, very few of my friends are fans, so I don't really talk about comics a lot, even though I love them to death. (Of course, my family might have something else to say... I do talk comics a smidgen. Just a smidgen, I swear!)

From time to time, I'll cherry pick an old comic from my collection and give it read. Today I picked Hawkman #20 from 1994.



Hawkman #20, Stalking the Skies!/Clash of Wings
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: William Messner-Loebs
Penciller: Steve Lieber
Inks: Curt Shoultz
Color: Buzz Setzer

The story starts out with a odd, monochromatic scene at the Adler Planetarium. An elementary school teacher points out Hawkman to her class. As she talks a blue rodent-shaped aura swirls in the air around her. Soon, Hawkman notices the aura, and slices into the teacher with his throwing blade, killing her. The school-kids react with shock, as Hawkman raves to himself "you're all avatars" and proceeds to slice up the kids, off-panel, of course. Whew! On the facing page, we see that all of this is Hawkman's dream, as he lays in his bed in his civilian identity, Katar Hol. His mother walks in the room, and calms him down after he comes to his senses. She goes back to bed, and we see a beautiful shot of Hawkman in the air the following day. He stands with wings outstretched in the sky of Chicago, bouncing a chunk of wood off the flat of his blade.

After receiving a fax that his assistant Lefty hands him, Hawkman is joined into the sky by another winged superhero, Black Condor. After performing displays of knife throwing skill, Hawkman and Black Condor fly to the museum mentioned in the fax. Black Condor explains why he came to Hawkman. Seems his powers and flying ability are the result of his grandfather's experiments (creepy!) and he's come to Hawkman to receive training in the ways of heroism. Hawkman says that he doubts what he has to offer, and they arrive at the museum. An archaeological mission has uncovered a mysterious meteor with the ability to disintegrate whatever touches it. Inexplicably it shoots out a ray of energy which possesses a scientist and transforms her into a humanoid lion. She rampages through the lab, dispatching police officers right and left as Hawkman and Black Condor match her blow for blow. When Hawkman and the scientist reach a standoff, Katar counsels her to let go of her rage. She lets the energy flow through her, and the lion disappears.

After reading hundreds of comics, this story no longer seems extraordinary to me. When I first received it, it blew my mind. It came in a bundle given to me by a Marvel Zombie friend. The exciting world of the super-mortals, the mysterious otherworldy objects, and the stunning art all captivated me. The violence was a shock and a surprise, and the resolution of the story was way stranger than I expected. The comic came out of an era that is now unpopular, and most of the continuity from this era is now being dismantled. Honestly, I don't care. No matter who's behind the mask of Green Lantern, Hawkman, or Flash, I can still read the back issues whenever I want. And isn't that what it's all about?

Monday, March 20, 2006

Doing Church



We've been having some really weird weather up here in Rockford. One day it's really nice, almost warm, and the next the temperature had plunged back down again. One day last week I went outside and there was a kind thick layer of snow on my car. It was really wet stuff, real fluffy snow that you could easily brush away with a snow brush.

Yesterday morning I got up in a weird state: both restful and tired. Blame it on a nap taken right before bed, the night before... I got out the door about 10:20, and drove down to church. I went to New Direction Missionary Baptist Church down town. Its an odd shaped, federalist looking building squeezed between a Walgreen's and a US Bank. I went in a side door, and wound my way around the building, finding all the signs saying, THIS WAY TO THE SANCTUARY. As I got closer and closer I heard the bounding drums, and booming voices of a black gospel choir. The music and sermon blended into a harmonious whole, giving a message from God, that actually started to feel like a message from God, warm, mysterious and powerful. Sharp as a two edged sword.

The sermon was about Leah, Jacob's #2 wife, and how she had 3 sons in the hope that each one would cause Jacob to love her. None of them did. Finally by the time she had her fourth son, Judah, she turned her eyes to God, and blessed him in spite of her loveless relationship with Jacob. Judah was an ancestor of Jesus.

It's got me thinking about comics, and the curious fact that church services are something I've rarely seen comic book. As a Christian from a young age, they are definitely something I'd like to see. I don't have a life that's all that unusual, so its strange to think something so much a part of the fabric of my life isn't represented in my graphic fiction. The only examples I can think of are a strip drawn by David Heatley in the McSweeney's Comics Edition, and a scene in a recent issue of Optic Nerve. Not exactly the highest profile comics, huh?

Saturday, March 18, 2006

The Mechanics of a Comic Story, pt. 2



Okay, I just read the last post and thought to myself, "Boy, that's the boringest thing I've ever read!" And it's not 'boring' in the sense of "I just worked on something creative, and now I immediately hate it!" ---it was really boring. I went into an absurd level of detail on miniscule things without writing the payoff of why they matter, and I used a tone, that was... (what's that word?) pedantic. ugh. The alternate title for this post should be: Reasons Why I'm Not a Professional Writer.

I just looked that word (pedantic) up in a dictionary, to see if it meant what I thought it did. It doesn't. (again, I'm not a professional writer...)

anyway, I think I'm gonna try and pick up the pieces and keep writing, in lieu of being all emo and stuff...



Even though I'm a child of the 90s, I do like reading old comics. Old comics from the 50s and 60s can be creaky, overwritten, and lacking in point, but they can also be solid gold when they're done right. (Case in point, the EC Science fiction and war stories) Even at their most plain-vanilla, comics of the 50s can be great, if merely for the shining moments of unintentional comedy. For a prime example, look at the hero of (in a booming voice...) "The Man Who Hated Good Luck"

He's a solid, levelheaded man with a solid levelheaded name: Don Barker. When he first comes to the door to greet a visitor, he's dressed in a button down shirt, sweater in vest and slacks. Apparently, Mr. Don Barker is dressing down today. It makes me think of all the episodes of the Dick Van Dyke Show I've watched, and the questions they made me ask. Did every one really dress up so much in the late 50s? While he speaks, his teeth are (of course!) clamped down on his trusty pipe.

Jane, the narrator of our story, begins the action by visiting Don Barker, who immediately turns to the TV to watch the lottery drawing. He then proceeds to tear up his winning lottery ticket to the shock and dismay of his lady friend. Because of her reaction, he goes on to explains his reason for being, (in a booming voice...) "The Man Who Hated Good Luck!" While spending a day in the park, Don saw a runaway horse about to run over a stranger. In an instant, Don runs and hurls the stranger out of the way. The stranger, who is mysteriously dressed in a long cloak, asks Don how he can repay him for saving his life. Don asks for a stroke of good luck, and the stranger agrees to give him what he wants, with a condition. Don Barker will be the recipient of 4 instances of good luck, each greater than the last. In order to receive the greatest boon, Don must turn down his first 3 strokes of luck. After the lottery ticket, workmen at Don's house discover a chest full of pearls, which he gives to a neighbor. In the third bit of luck, Don inherits a castle in England, which he must immediately visit to own. At first the temptation is too great, and Don packs up a plane with Jane in tow. After seeing an ominous face in a cloud bank, Don turns around, and starts to lose control. The plane plummets into the sea, and Don drags the helpless body of his female friend to the shore. After embracing on the wet sand, Don realizes that he's found the greatest good fortune of all: the love of a lifetime!

It it a corny story? Well yes, it obviously is. Did I enjoy it anyway? Yes. Would I have been annoyed if the other forty stories in Showcase Presents: House of Mystery weren't twenty times better?

Definitely.

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

The Mechanics of a Comic Story



One of the great advantages of the current era in comics is the massive number of worthy old comics that are back in print. I may take it for granted, but it truly is amazing that I can currently walk into a store, and if I choose to do so, buy affordable collections of old Metamorpho, or Killraven, or little Lulu. Frickin Little Lulu is back in print! As is Astro Boy... as is... 60s Green Arrow... as is the original Spider-Woman... as is Samurai Executioner.... But I digress.



As promised in my last post, today I'm taking a good look at the nuts and bolts of comics, with a look at a few things I've read lately. The first example we'll use is a story called Sir Greeley's Revenge, drawn by Frank Springer. The art is very nicely drawn, with expertly spotted blacks, and a slight scratchy illustration style common to the 1970s. The script is by long term comic book Scribe Otto Binder. As a point of comparison, we'll use The Man Who Hated Good Luck, drawn by Doug Wildey from a script by the ever prolific Unknown. Sir Greeley's Revenge was originally published in House of Mystery #181, 1969, and The Man Who Hated Good Luck was originally published in House of Secrets #17, 1959.

In the garage of comic book creation, a lot of the nuts and bolts will change over the course of ten years. The balance of words and pictures, the role of words in each panel, the number of panels per page, the shape and size of panels, the variability of panel size, the variability of "camera zooms", balloon placement, intro and ending routines, and sound effects lettering all change. Some of these are big things (size and number of panels), some of them are small things (intro routines and sound effects). But interestingly enough, even the small things are important in the final analysis. If a handful of these small elements all change at the same time, as they often do, the final effect is unmistakably different.

Let's run the numbers. The Man Who Hated Good Luck clocks in at 6 pages. Sir Greeley's Revenge, though it doesn't seem any longer, is actually twice as long (12 pages.) The Man is 33 panels long, while Greeley's is 52 panels long. Divided by page counts, that gives The Man an average of 5 and a half panels per page, and Greeley's an average of 4 and a third.

The Man has very regular panels, although rarely a perfect grid. Every page except the first and the last uses a three-tiered page of panels. It has exactly one page-deep panel, and one page-wide panel. The text is in the form of captions, speech balloons, and thought balloons, sometimes using all three in the same panel. Only one panel features no balloons of either type, but it does have a caption.

Greeley's shows a little variation in the shape and placement of panels. The pages have either two, three or four tiers of panels, though all the panels are still rectangular. In a now near-universal practice, it opens with a full page splash panel (unheard of in 1959). The story features 13 page-wide panels, and although it has some very thin, tall panels, not a single one is page-deep. (I'm not counting the splash page, of course.) The story uses speech balloons, thought balloons, and captions, though it does favor speech balloons over the other two. Greeley's has one wordless panel, showing the orphan protagonist chopping firewood with an axe.

Both stories have strong similarities: they're both obviously talky, and feature lightweight characterization. But the differences between the stories point out the changes that comics were going through, which only became more pronounced through the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

Next installment of The Mechanics of a Comic Story: More analysis of Sir Greeley's Revenge and The Man Who Hated Good Luck, featuring attention to plot! Drawing style! And more!

Monday, March 13, 2006

This just in: Comics Change!

I've been reading comics from widely different eras, just in the last week. I've been reading current American comics (see my last post), current Japanese Comics (Nodame Cantabile, natch), and Early 70s American Comics. The Early 70s stuff is the House of Mystery reprint volume, which not only reprints the original stories that series had in 1968-71, but also double reprints, some dating back to 1958! What have I noticed? Though comics don't seem to change much in terms of story or genre, (or at least change very slowly) the aesthetic changes are HUGE!! By examining the nuts and bolts of the form, you see that not only do the drawing styles change, all the storytelling and design choices can, and ususally DO change, just within the space of a few years!

Wow!

Maybe I'll have to do some analysis and tell exactly what I've noticed in a future post. Blogging aint no picnic, lady!

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Fear Agent, Next Wave, Sea of Red




Yesterday I went to the Comic Shop before work (I work second shift) and I picked up 3 books. The books were Fear Agent #3, Nextwave #2, and Sea of Red #8. I could have got much more, but I had to get to work, and I was trying to limit my spending. Yasee, I had just recently purchased Showcase Presents the House of Mystery, and had also bought the best of the Spirit trade paperback that DC put out. I haven't finished the two graphic novels, but I eagerly devoured the three single issues. (Nextwave I read before work, Fear Agent and Sea of Red I enjoyed after, in the wee hours of morning.) Perhaps this is why the old 20 page pamphlet form hasn't, and won't go away. There's something undeniably satisfying about reading something so convenient, as well as short and sweet. I know I'm not getting a real story, and merely a chapter instead, but that's okay. (Nextwave came close, but there's a difference, however small, between a two part story and a done-in-one.)

Fear Agent and Sea of Red both seem committed to the 6 issue+ arc length, but each single issue also delivers something of a satisfying unit. I came in cold near the end of a Sea of Red arc, but I enjoyed it anyway (Of course, you're mileage may vary. I'm the only person I've ever met with such a strange method of reading comics.) It prbably doesn't hurt that all three comics had very, very enjoyable art. Nextwave and Fear Agent feature some great light hearted action cartooning, and Sea of Red is great with the slightly confusing, yet very moody scribblings of Paul Harmon. Now if only I can get those GNs finished, so I can buy some more comics!!!

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Links for March 1st

Megatokyo moves to DC
What successful comic is part of both the webcomics trend, and the OEL manga trend? Megatokyo.

Steven Grant on Speakeasy
Good analysis for anyone interested in the business of comics (creators, editors, publishers, and aspiring pros) Steven Grant examines the closing of Speakeasy comics.

NYC Comic Con
Chris Butcher has some insightful comments on manga, and a refreshing report on the New York Comic Convention.

Train_Man
Viz announces that they are publishing a three volume manga of Train_Man, which started as the first novel created from online chat transcripts. It's about an Otaku (nerd) who rescues a girl from an obnoxious drunk on the train, and the romance that follows. Its been turned into a TV show AND a featurre film, and has been made into FOUR different mangas.

Foreign Comics Fun
Comics Should be Good reviews one of the buried treasures on my book shelf, The classic Euro science-fiction comic Valerian.