30
Nov
Reviewed for MonsterLibrarian.com
Escape of the Living Dead by John Russo
Avatar, 2006
ISBN: 1592910343
Available: New & Used
This graphic novel is a sequel to Night of the Living Dead, written by the original co-creator, John Russo. The story picks up right where Night of the Living Dead leaves off. Three years have passed and life is finally returning to normal, although the survivors of the original breakout are still haunted by the events and losses that occurred then. The local sheriffs serve a warrant on a mysterious complex and find that some of the zombies from the first attack weren’t destroyed. Instead, they were preserved after the government’s experiments were supposed to be over. In an effort to escape the law, the scientist in charge has shipped all his zombie patients to a new location, and of course they just happen to get free and start running amok again.
All stereotypical aspects of a zombie tale aside, there are excellent visuals in this book, and even in such a small space the characters take on a life of their own (the near understanding of the lead zombie is particularly creepy). Readers will find all the standard bits in this book, from the unrealistically sexy useless woman in danger to characters related to said woman solely to amp up tension.
Contains: Graphic gore, nudity, language, violence
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Warning, this review will contain spoilers.
Trade Paperback: 978-0-930289-23-2, $19.99
Let’s get right to the point with this one; I just didn’t connect with this story. I found it slow, with more than half the book being world set up and a series of convoluted flashbacks. I found none of the characters sympathetic, save for Jon (and possibly Night Owl), and in fact greatly disliked many of them. I had to wonder why the whole book was spawned off the death of The Comedian, who was a rather atrocious person, and centered on Rorschach whom I strongly suspect is related to Jesse Custer.
Furthermore, I found all the stories within stories (newspaper clippings, book excerpts, the overlapping comic-within-a-comic etc.) quite distracting and mood breaking. And I admit I had a real problem with the constant reminder of the world’s prejudice and concern with Jon, spun from the fact that no other supernatural creatures existed at all and all the “masked adventurers” were merely human, when the entire climax of the story is dependent on psychics (who didn’t exist up until that point in the story.)
I also found a lot of little gripes, like Veidt’s superiority complex (specifically the idea that even though he was highly educated and raised quite privileged that by giving all his inheritance money away he somehow started his adult life on an even playing field as the rest of us), the original Silk Specter’s confusion about her near rape (okay, I’ll be honest, next to the Comedian I hated this character the most) and the second generation Silk Specter’s complete forgiveness of her mother’s constant manipulations and disapproval. While the tension of a nuclear war added to the over all world building and tension Veidt’s political and environmental psychobabble felt clichéd and, in the end, the story was not at all about politics, human evil or environmentalism, but instead was about what it means to be God and what it costs to play God.
So, all the bad stuff aside, I can see why people have been draw to this story. The sheer unlikeability and humanity of the characters is a draw (and if you’ve read my essay on Superhero Psychology you’ll know that I am draw to very flawed, very human heroes who fight to become something more). The world feel, which I would argue could have been sacrificed for more character building of the Watchmen, however I admit something would have been lost, is full and unique, stark and trying (but failing) to be beautiful. There are some striking images, but far less than in modern comics, and none as impacting as the smiley button with a drop of blood that graces the cover.
And finally I have to give the book props because it was revolutionary when it came out and it’s highly likely that part of my failure to connect was because I’ve read a lot of comics likely influenced by Watchmen and am unfairly used to many of the storytelling tools used to make Watchmen stick out.
In the end, Watchmen is a piece of classic comic culture. It’s a genre-specific equivalent to reading Shakespeare or To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Even if you don’t enjoy it, it does help build a wider view of where the genre came from and how it’s evolved.
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Paperback: 9781416961154 , $10.00
*I received this book through a giveaway at GoodReads.com
These penguins live up to their title, they’re evil, really evil. From giving Sponge Bob swirlies to invading China and doing very naughty things with razor wire it seems penguins are responsible for every pop culture, historical and religious evil known to man.
There’s very little reading to do in this book, but there will be a lot of laughing. It’s short, the humor is almost universal and the message is easy to understand. Evil Penguins isn’t the kind of book most people (other than dark humor or penguin fans) would ask for, but it’s perfect for those pesky uncomfortable gift giving situations. Secret Santas, gift exchanges with co-workers you barely know or present games at baby showers or holiday parties. The chances of a recipient not finding something inside these pages hilarious is pretty slim, and it’s likely that said person would be impossible to satisfy anyway.
25
Dec
According to ReelComix.com a judge has ruled that the rights to The Watchmen belong to Fox and not Warner Brothers (who just made the movie). Why this is all coming out today, while much of the world is drunk on either revelry or depression, I’m not sure, but rumor says that Fox wants to shelf the project, killing the movie and the buzz in one fail swoop.
To me, this makes no sense. Why wouldn’t you want to put out a product that’s going to be a blockbuster when you didn’t have to do any of the work? So are The Watchmen trailers doomed to be the greatest what if in 2008 geekdom? Or will some kind soul leak bootleg copies to the hungry masses?
25
Oct
ETA: Wordpress keeps stripping the code. You can see it on my website here.
10
Oct
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“Life’s pornographic”, a line from this issue, sums up the vibe of Death and the Maiden, from part one to this installment. This issue is very pornographic, with nude and nearly nude sexed up scenes and characters that look like blow up dolls. The story is serious though, a dark struggle between empowered women who serve a lustful goddess and men who resent the female rule of the universe and have split off and formed an effort to bring them down in the most vicious way possible.
The problem with this series is the presentation. Past the fact that the artificial look of the characters turns some people off the art does a mixed job of setting the mood. Panels looking up at Flip, our heroine, as if from the floor, in an almost up-skirt style, add to the explicit (but not necessarily erotic) feel of the story, but next page over the page might be overpowered with red, the backgrounds like a photo with the brightness turned up and the contrast turned down. It’s jarring.
At times I suspect that the visuals weigh heavier in importance than the story. It’s hard not to wonder how this series would play as a book rather than a comic where the visuals could not possibly pull away from the story.
In this issue Mr. Death is missing and Flip the cat girl (excommunicated servant of the sex goddess of Babylon) goes back to the District (where the story started) to find out where her love is. To her great dismay she discovers that Jules, Mr. Death’s archenemy and a Black Knight (one of the men who want to destroy the female rulers), is holding Mr. Death hostage. Surely Jules plans to force Mr. Death to be judged for turning on the Black Knights. Flip was exiled from the Babylonians because she was primed to fall in love, but looks like Mr. Death will be the one to pay for their love. And it doesn’t help that Jules is running a morbid, dangerous side business that makes flip and even bigger target.
There’s an interesting theme of Flip, since she’s a Cat Girl, being hopelessly attracted to the the people who would be the cruelest and most using of her, and yet she has to hold herself together if she wants to save the man she loves.
Moving from a strip in Murky Depths magazine to its own comic series has opened up this world to more depth and emotion. Despite the jarring visuals the story is interesting, super sexual and energetic, which is what keeps me reading.
22
Jun
The movie was fantastic. So much better than the Ang Lee BS fest. Not just on the level of action either. They managed to make this movie both quite character driven and exciting, action wise. It was nicely paced and fun with plenty of comic book-ish shots (which is the one thing I did like about the first movie, and here they did it better, especially in the final fight between Abomination and Hulk.) We all liked that the theme of this Jekyll and Hyde story and it came off clear enough that even the kids picked up on it.
They also showed the Hulk as a primal, angry being, particularly in the final fight where the brutality spins out of control. And the conflict of the god-like Hulk who is powerful enough on his own having to face, essentially himself, only with military training and the true heart of a monster kept me interested.
Little things, like mythos jokes and the real life “of course” moments of two college kids catching a fight between Hulk and the military on cell phone cameras definitely added to the fun. Over all, it’s fun, it’s fantastic. It’s not quite the same as Iron Man, but then the whole Iron Man mythos has a soul that Hulk doesn’t. Bruce Banner isn’t looking to save the world, and his powers are caused by an accident. He isn’t the hero that runs toward danger, who acts like a shield between the bad stuff and the average person. He’s the one who tries to mind his own business, only stepping up to the plate when either the ones he loves are in direct danger or there’s absolutely no other option.
It’s the base story that prevents this movie from being on the same level as Iron Man or the first Spiderman movie. But with that taken into consideration it’s worth the full price of the ticket and has been put on my must own list.
24
May
Part four of Death and the Maiden moves outside of the restrictions of a magazine strip and into a space of its own. It features full color pages of the same surreal, near pornographic art that can also be found in the first three sections (in Issues 1-3 of Murky Depths).
The Black Order and the whores of New Babylon are caught up in a war of pornacracy and gendercide. In the midst of it all Flip, an outcast whore from New Babylon falls for Mr. Death, an outcast from the The Black Order. With the expanded space Calder has the chance to not just catch new readers up on the premise, and expand the world tenfold, but Flip and Mr. Death also face down metal-lined clones determined to carry out the sentence of execution on them for their crimes. A spot of action takes the comic out of the reflective and pushes boldly forward.
Calder “pornographizes” (his word) our vanilla world, from the inside out, creating a skewed world of up the skirt shots and Barbie-doll bodies. Death and the Maiden is like no other comic, veined with social commentary and cloaked in unrelenting sex.