Where’s the difference between inspiration and temptation?

Whispers tpb
Image Comics
Creators: Joshua Luna
Release date: June 2014

Welcome back! As promised, here is a trade I recently enjoyed from Image Comics. I picked this trade up a few years ago with no foreknowledge of the story at all. If memory serves, this was an impulse buy to fill out an order for the free shipping; something with a price tag that made it worth a chance at the time. The cover depicts a statue of an angelic figure with a cracked face and a demonic visage peeking out. Based on that alone, I made a few assumptions about the plot that were only sort of accurate.

I was very pleased to finally read this trade one recent afternoon. I very much enjoyed the plot, and several of the twists and turns of the story took me by surprise. As usual, I won’t spoil those plot twists here. I tend to shy away from too many plot details on this blog; if I happen to praise a book here you haven’t read before, I hope my words might inspire you to seek it out and try it yourself rather than me spoiling the possible enjoyment you might feel after reading a new title for yourself.

The story in Whispers — which collects a done-in-one limited series — centers on Sam Webber, a young man with a number of controlling fears and phobias. To his surprise, Sam suddenly manifests the ability to leave his body when he sleeps. During these journeys, Sam cannot be seen or physically affect the natural world, but he can influence the behavior of people he knows. The scene above depicts his second out-of-body experience when Sam “visits” his mother, a woman who was emotionally abusive to Sam as a child and who now leads a lonely, miserable life.

Experimenting with what he can and cannot do while undertaking these astral journeys, Sam must fight the temptation to influence his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Lily, who has just gone through a personal family tragedy. Sam also stumbles onto a dangerous situation with another former girlfriend, Vanessa, whom Sam further endangers despite his good intentions. Sam also begins experiencing visions of total strangers behaving in purely evil ways.

Will Sam be able to save Vanessa from the perilous situation she now finds herself in after Sam’s “intervention"? Will — or should — Sam try to influence Lily to either win her back or get some form of closure? And should Sam somehow act on the demonic visions he is seeing with growing frequency? Exploring each of these questions was an engaging read. If any of this sounds remotely interesting to you, you should give Whispers a try.

Pricey but worth the cost of admission

Friend of the Devil hardcover: A Reckless Book
Image Comics
Creators: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips
Release date: April 2021

Welcome back for another great comics read recommendation. This time out I’m offering up the second hardcover original graphic novel to chronicle the adventures of Ethan Reckless, the latest invention of writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips. This creative team has my full confidence; they’ve produced a couple comic series that, while not among my absolute favorite reads, were still solid tales. But they have also produced titles like Scene of the Crime, Criminal and Kill or Be Killed, some of the best comics, in my humble opinion.

The new Reckless series is a little different than these creators’ past offerings. Instead of being released in single-issue format, then later collected in trades, these are full, done-in-one hardcover OGNs, a new one released every few months. That means these books have a little more hefty price tag than most of the comics and trades I usually buy. But again, this creative team has earned my trust, and so far, the Reckless series has not disappointed.

Much of the action in the stories takes place in the 1970s and 1980s, and the action is very reminiscent of television private detective fare from that same era, but told with a definite modern sensibility. So far, both adventures have gone in some very dark directions. This latest volume is more than the surface missing persons case it appears to be as Ethan Reckless follows the trail through various cultists, neo-Nazis and worse. If you enjoy shows like “The Rockford Files” or “Mannix,” then you will like these tales. But also, if you just like a good story that is hard to put down until you’ve finished it, then this still might be just the read you’re looking for.

Let's get this project funded

Mike Grell has a new Kickstarter campaign that launched March 22. The project promises the return of his popular character, Maggie the Cat, and if successful, the conclusion to a story which began in 1996 and has yet to be finished. You can find out more about the Kickstarter campaign here.

I've discussed before how I first became aware of Mike Grell's storytelling and artwork with his Green Arrow miniseries, The Longbow Hunters. From there, I discovered his earlier work on The Warlord and later Jon Sable, Freelance.

Maggie the Cat began as a secondary character in a Jon Sable story, but the character proved to be popular with her creator and readers. It would be easy to dismiss Maggie as a Catwoman knock-off for someone who has not read her stories. But the character is much more than that in Grell's hands.

Maggie is an American woman who married into the British aristocracy. Her husband is now dead, which is no great loss in Maggie's life. But much of her family's wealth and possessions have been scattered. She becomes a very accomplished cat burglar in an attempt to reclaim the various heirlooms and crosses paths with mercenary Jon Sable several times in his comic.

In the mid-1990s, Grell moved over to Image Comics, where he launched such series as Shaman's Tears and Bar Sinister. Image was also home to Maggie the Cat's first solo series in 1996. But the limited series was cut short by the comic implosion in the mid-1990s. Only the first two issues were published, and Maggie's solo story was never completed — until perhaps now.

In her solo story, Maggie is coerced by the British secret service into helping them thwart a terrorist plot. She is teamed with an SAS agent who bears a striking resemblance to a famous Scottish actor who portrayed an equally famous fictional British spy. This first Kickstarter project promises to update and re-release those first two issues with additional pages in a single volume. A few months later, a second Kickstarter will finally resolve the storyline. And based on response to these two volumes, more Grell Kickstarter projects may soon follow.

I encourage you to go check this project out at the link above. It's already well on its way to being funded, but if you have an interest in the storyline and are in a position to do so, I also encourage you to support the project. Grell is a proven writer and illustrator with a long history in comics. He has more stories to tell; let's give him an outlet to do so!

Will there or won’t there be more? I hope there will

Near Death Vols. 1 and 2
Image Comics
Creators: Jay Faerber, Simone Guglielmini and Ron Riley
Release date: 2012

I guess I’m on a bit of a dark kick when you consider the last post was about the Netflix version of the Punisher and now this one is about a story about a hitman called Near Death. But it wasn’t planned that way. Instead, it all came about rather serendipitously.

I won’t go into my whole explanation of how I listen to podcasts here. In short, just know that I listen to a lot of older shows when I have a chance to listen. And sometimes, I will be inspired to try a book based on a podcaster’s thoughts and reactions to it. Such was the case recently when I heard a 2012 podcast review of the then-current Near Death series.

The series is about a hitman who gets shot and dies. Turns out his death was very brief but had a dramatic impact on the man. While dead on a makeshift operating table, the hitman sees what he believes to be hell. He comes back willing to do whatever it takes to balance the scales of his life in an effort to avoid ever going back to that place again. His solution, try to save people’s lives rather than taking them, ideally saving one person for every one of the many lives he’s cut short.

The concept piqued my curiosity. So next time I was placing my monthly order with my online comic shop, I decided to look for and found two collected editions of the series available among the back issue stock. I added them to my order and went on with my life. Then I got a small surprise the next month when I placed my next pre-order. There among the new solicits from Image Comics, the publisher of Near Death, was a solicitation for a forthcoming third trade. I added that to my order, and when the first two trades came, I set them aside to wait until I had the third in hand, too.

Obviously, I didn’t stop to consider the math of the situation right then. If the series was new in 2012, why would it just now be reaching the point of a third trade collection? I didn’t delve into that question until another month had passed by and I received word that the third Near Death trade had been canceled by the publisher. No mention of whether it was merely being delayed and would be resolicited or canceled due to lack of interest/orders.

So I finally researched that timing question. Turns out the 11 issues collected in the first two trades were the only issues of the ongoing series published before Near Death went on hiatus. The third trade I had seen solicited was intended as a standalone original graphic novel that would continue the story. If successful, a series of one-shots might have been the future of the stalled story. I certainly hope more are forthcoming as this is a great story. And the art is great, too. Artist Simone Guglielmini reportedly said he was trying to mimic the style of books like Criminal and Gotham Central, both of which I liked. So no surprise I like Near Death, too.

Markham, the hitman in the story, has few friends. That’s not surprising for someone who makes his living killing people. He does have a large number of work contacts, though. Many of those work contacts are less than thrilled by Markham’s change of heart when he starts saving people by thwarting some other hired killers’ efforts. Most heroes who work on behalf of others do so with the assistance of the police. That doesn’t work so well for Markham who is known as a contract killer by many law enforcement officials. All of these factors make it very challenging for Markham to live up to his new mission in life.

Near Death is written in an episodic format, with most issues being done-in-one tales. But Markham’s universe slowly grows over the course of the 11 issues as some folks who benefit from Markham’s new savior tendencies become recurring characters. Along the way, readers are given glimpses here and there into Markham’s past — nothing major, but little vignettes that help flesh out his character. And Faerber does his best to keep the story interesting, throwing some twists and turns I did not see coming. Many of the stories call into question conventional wisdom of right and wrong. This is the kind of story that leaves you thinking after you finish reading.

I’ll definitely be watching for future Near Death stories, and I sincerely hope I don’t have to wait long. This is a story worth telling and one I very much would like to continue reading. Can you hear me, Image Comics?

Update: Maybe Image Comics can't hear me, but Jay Faerber did. He tweeted this response to my tweet about this blog post when it went up: "We’re planning a new Near Death-related graphic novel. Stay tuned...!" So more is coming!

Great characterization makes for a great narrative

Kill or be Killed Volume Four
Image Comics
Creators: Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips and Elizabeth Breitweiser
Release date: August 2018

 I have come to trust this creative team. Ed Brubaker is a great writer with a number of my favorite stories under his belt from Captain America to Detective Comics to Gotham Central to Velvet. He and Sean Phillips have also proven themselves an adept duo with past collaborations such as Scene of the Crime, Criminal, Fatale and Fade Out. And Elizabeth Breitweiser has also been an important ingredient in many of the above successes, adding nuance and mood with her colors. So it is no wonder I enjoyed Kill or be Killed, an incredible series by this creative powerhouse team.

But I’ve always been more of a story guy even though I certainly like the mix of words and art that comics provide. And as good as Phillips’ art and Breitweiser’s colors are in this series — and they are valuable contributions to the whole — the writing is what clinched the deal with me when I got and read the first trade collection of this series.

I liken Kill or be Killed to “Ozark,” a Netflix original series that dropped its second season a few months ago. In a nutshell, “Ozark” is the story of an accountant and his family caught up in working for a Mexican drug cartel and trying to stay alive while doing some truly horrible things along the way. Jason Bateman plays the father, and Laura Linney plays his wife. Neither were perfect people before they got caught up laundering money for the cartel they come to work with. There is validity in saying there are no likable characters on the show. And yet you find yourself rooting for various characters to succeed in what they are trying to accomplish. They are so well written, it is possible to see yourself in them just enough to wonder, “What would I do in that situation?” or “Would I be able to commit murder or have someone killed to protect my family?”

That is how Brubaker writes Dylan Cross, the main character in Kill or be Killed. Readers’ introduction to Dylan — before we even know his name — is of him catching not one but two men by surprise and killing them with a shotgun. This is on the first page. The next two pages show the masked gunman proceeding to kill several more people in the same office, home, we don’t know where. There is very little dialog beyond the startled shouts of the men Dylan kills and caption boxes with Dylan’s narration, spoken directly to the reader. Obviously, the pictures are showing a violent person committing horrible acts of violence. But that narration draws the reader in, shows them a friend who has a story to tell, a story they want to continue reading despite the violence depicted.

I liken Brubaker’s writing skills, at least in this narrative, to Stephen King’s. King does not always follow the conventional rules of writing prose. His sentences are not perfect. His structure is sometimes lacking. But King creates characters readers want to know, want to learn about. He creates characters people want to read about. Ones they relate to. That is part of Brubaker’s skill as well. Dylan doesn’t always do the “right” thing or the “smart” thing. He isn’t even that sympathetic a character sometimes. But you still care what happens to him.

Dylan’s story — mixing elements of crime fiction and commentary on social ills, mental health issues, relationships and life — grabbed my imagination, and I had no hesitation in ordering the second, third and fourth volumes as they were solicited. I did not know the fourth volume was the final arc until a few weeks before it hit the stands. I avoided spoilers, but I saw an article that indicated the series had ended with issue No. 20, as planned, and that the forthcoming fourth trade would contain the final issues. That only added to my anticipation of reading the final chapters. That fact, combined with the long six-month delay between trades, made me decide to re-read the first three trades right before reading the final one. I wanted to refresh my memory of all the parts of the story as I read the ending, and the earlier portions were a quick but enjoyable read the second time around.

A lot of writers mess up the ending these days. Television programs leave loopholes for future story possibilities in the hopes they get renewed. Limited comic series merely lead into the next limited comic series. And I understand the profit motive behind that mentality. But it makes us afraid to end a story, to put a final period on something. That doesn’t happen here. Dylan’s story has an end. And it is a good, solid ending. One well worth reading.

Creative. Educational. Entertaining. And a Little Bit Scary.

The Tithe Vol. 3: Samaritan
Image Comics
Creators: Matt Hawkins, Atilio Rojo, Troy Peteri, Elena Salcedo, Bryan Hill and Carey Hall
Release Date: September 2017

This will not be the first time I've mentioned this title on the blog. I covered the first trade collection and why I was interested in giving the series a try here. The series is the story of a hacker who is working to attack the corruption rampant in many of this country's mega-churches. It is not an attack on any specific religion or even on faith in general. One of the two FBI agents also central to the plot is a devoutly religious man, and the character is not presented as foolish or a zealot simply because he is a man of faith. Rather he is shown to be an intelligent, caring individual who also takes issue with the corruption the hacker, Samaritan, is targeting. That's intelligent, thought-provoking writing that uses real-world events and situations as a springboard for story ideas.

I liked that first trade so much, I was happy to learn that not only would there be a second volume, but that the writer, Matt Hawkins, and the illustrator, Rahsan Ekedal, had another series they collaborated on titled Think Tank. I decided to try Think Tank, which had three existing trades at that point, while I waited for The Tithe Vol. 2 to come out. I absolutely loved that series, too, although that's where the scary description comes in.

Think Tank follows the life of a young man named David Loren. Loren is a genius, so much so that he is recruited at the age of 17 by the government to come work for them. Loren is one of the people responsible for creating a lot of the tech the government uses, often for clandestine purposes and military applications. In exchange, they provide Loren with anything and everything he needs to live and work because they keep him under close wraps on a military base he is not supposed to leave. He has limited contact with the outside world — although often more than his handlers realize — and often gets bored with his work, the limited minds around him and the general sameness of his day-to-day existence. Not to mention he has increasing qualms about how the officials around him use his developments. So Loren has a tendency to go a little rogue.

Much like The Tithe, Think Tank is very intelligently written, and the stories leave readers with a lot to think about. Adding to the narratives is Hawkins' insistence on using real tech currently in use by the militaries and the governments of the world — not just our own — in his stories. I can't say for certain about the individual issues, but every one of the trades from both series have had extensive material, citations, internet links and other research to show the true applications behind the ideas in Hawkins' stories. The fact that some of this tech is real and not just the subject of a riveting fictional story can be a little scary at times.

But wait, there's more. (You remember I said these stories were thought-provoking and intelligent, right?) Both The Tithe and Think Tank inhabit a shared universe. Loren and his core supporting cast did not appear at all in The Tithe Vol. 1. And Samaritan and her core cast did not appear in the first couple trades of Think Tank stories. But some of the background politicians and other ancillary characters in Think Tank did appear as background characters and politicians in The Tithe. I confess, I did not catch those minor characters' crossovers until I read the solicits for a book called Eden's Fall. That book was co-written by Hawkins and Bryan Hill, and it was Hawkins' name that first caught my attention. But reading the advance solicitation material clued me in that this limited series would combine elements of all the Edenverse titles — Think Tank, The Tithe and a third series called Postal I hadn't previously been aware of. So I got Eden's Fall, and it also was great. That single trade is set in the environs of the Postal series, but also includes major characters from Think Tank playing a role, and could easily be billed as The Tithe Vol. 2.5. That's because events in Eden's Fall occur as a direct result of things from The Tithe Vol. 2, and the aftermath of Eden's Fall leads directly into the events in The Tithe Vol. 3.

Some readers might be getting skittish at this point. "Whoa, do I have to read all of these titles to make sense of any single story? That can get pricey!" I understand that fear, believe me. Many intra-company crossovers these days leave you with only part of the story unless you buy all the related crossover titles and one-shots, sometimes bits and pieces that are only very loosely related to the whole, but nonetheless important if you want a complete story. And I agree, that if you are already reading The Tithe, you kind of need to read Eden's Fall or you'll get lost between The Tithe Vols. 2 and 3. But Think Tank stands quite well on its own, and Think Tank is not needed to read any of The Tithe. All you really need to know about any crossover characters is given to you within the book in which they appear. Reading both series has given me a better understanding of some behind the scenes events in either book. But neither is critical to understanding the other. Which is how such crossovers should be handled, giving the decision-making power "to buy or not to buy" entirely to the readers.

Having said that, I liked The Tithe enough to try Think Tank — now up to five trades, the latest of which was a little weaker than the first four, but still good — to stick with The Tithe itself through three trades — all very great reads — to try and love Eden's Fall and now, finally, to go back and try Postal, the book Hawkins co-writes with Hill. That's the one Edenverse title I haven't read yet, but I like the others enough and the brief glimpse I got of those characters from the Eden's Fall collection, that I'm willing to try this series too — which currently has six trades available. What cemented my desire to take the plunge and try Postal, too? Both the Eden's Fall trade and The Tithe Vol. 3 trade included the first full issue of Postal for readers not familiar with the series. In fact, the Eden's Fall trade include the first issues of Postal, Think Tank and The Tithe, giving new readers an idea of what they could expect from the beginnings of each of the characters involved in the Eden's Fall story line. That's good cross-promotion. Not just, "If you liked this title, try our other products," but "If you liked this title and are interested in our other products, here's a free sample before you buy."

I know this post is light on specifics from any of the various titles. I always try to shy away from major spoilers, when possible. But I've also tried to give a sense of what the series I've read are about. I can't speak to Postal in depth yet since I haven't read those beyond issue No. 1. But if what I have said about The Tithe, Think Tank or Eden's Fall has piqued your interest at all, I think you'll enjoy them. And I like each of those series enough to try a fourth title by the same writer. These are definitely good comics!

Have A Little Faith

The Tithe Vol. 1 tpb
Image Comics
Matt Hawkins, writer/co-creator
Rahsan Ekedal, artist/co-creator

I like to try new things when my budget allows. Both my comics-buying budget and my typical pull list have shrunk considerably of late. But I still keep my eyes open when ordering my usuals for things that pique my curiosity.

This series, as might be obvious from the title, involves religion. But it was also solicited as a unique heist story. Either of those two topics alone would likely catch my eye. Combining the two made me very curious. But I was also guarded. Every storyteller wants potential readers to see his or her story as unique, but not all of them are. Matt Hawkins and Rahsan Ekedal have taken familiar elements from familiar genres and crafted a tale that, while maybe not so unique, is still a heck of an engaging read that is well worth your time.

A mysterious hacker group named Samaritan gains access to a Federal Bureau of Investigations list of mega-churches and the related founders currently under quiet investigation for fraud. Then Samaritan members gather proof of the illegal activities, often faster than the federal authorities can, and sometimes even uncovering additional crimes along the way.

Finally, Samaritan stages an elaborate robbery of each targeted mega-church, stealing vast amounts of cash donations while simultaneously revealing the truths it has uncovered about the church and its hypocritical leaders. The stolen cash is then distributed to a variety of charitable organizations, turning the group into modern-day Robin Hoods and winning them huge public support.

The two FBI agents heading up the initial fraud investigation — Jimmy Miller and Dwayne Campbell — are diverted to uncovering the members of Samaritan and shutting them down. The two agents couldn't be more different. Miller is the tech guy wrestling with his duty and a growing appreciation for the methods and accomplishments of Samaritan. Campbell is more of a people person who fears the escalating antics of Samaritan are going to get people hurt or killed if the group isn't stopped.

In the hands of lesser creators, all of this might boil down to an all-out condemnation of organized religion. There is certainly no shortage of real-life mega-church founders who have ended up in disgrace for their actions. But Hawkins and Ekedal take a different approach. They don't shy away from the evils committed in the name of religion. But neither do they condemn all religion or all religious people with one broad stroke. Rather this is an examination of a number of things people put their faith in and some of the possible benefits and consequences of such faith.

I expected to try The Tithe, hopefully enjoy it, then walk away from what I thought was a collected limited series. Imagine my happiness at finding that not only did I really enjoy reading this title, but it is an ongoing with a second collected volume to be solicited soon for an April release. In the meantime, I think I'll try to check out a previous graphic novel series by these two, Think Tank. If they are anything like this volume, I expect to be impressed.


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I apologize again that the posts have been so irregular of late, but if you enjoy reading this blog, you can get more by liking my page on Facebook and/or following me on Twitter. And of course, if you are looking for a good deal on some of the comics I am selling off to make room in our house, please check out my main Steve's Comics For Sale site or the StorEnvy version of the site.

It's A Little Different, But Hey, It's Free

Who doesn't like to get free stuff?

One of the places I look for comics or trades at what I consider to be a good price is eBay. And on auctions that I've won recently, more and more of the sellers seem to be of the generous variety, including some freebies in with the items I actually bid on, won and paid for. Some don't, and that's OK; as long as you get what you paid for, you can't really complain about not getting more. But it's a nice surprise when it does happen, and like I said, it has been happening a little more often of late.

Once in a while the freebies might be making up for a mistake: for example, the wrong stuff was accidentally shipped to you. Then by way of apology, the seller ships out the right stuff and tells you to just keep the incorrect stuff as a peace offering. But more often than not, it's simply an extra comic or two slipped in with whatever else you ordered.

Being on the receiving end of this has prompted me to do the same when someone buys comics from me. I don't always have the extras on hand, but I try to include some extras when I can. Single one-off issues work great for this, I've found.

When I receive these freebies, I usually read them regardless of whether I've heard of the title before. It is a great way to find some gems I would have otherwise missed, although admittedly, such gems can be rare. With one recent order from an eBay seller, I was surprised to find the box contained a couple trades and half a dozen or so single issues I didn't order. Thinking my order had been accidentally packed with someone else's, I immediately contacted the seller who assured me the extras were just bonuses. This was the first time I received such bounty from one seller, to be sure. I haven't read all of the books yet, but was surprised to find several gems in the bunch that have me looking for the rest of the respective series. All of the extras in this instance were Image books, and here is just a bit about some of the ones that piqued my curiosity:

The Adventures of Apocalypse Al No. 1 (2014)
J. Michael Straczynski, writer
Sid Kotian, artist
 
This is a fun little book that combines detective fiction, supernatural creatures and events and no small amount of humor to very enjoyable effect. The lead character is private detective Allison Carter, the latest in a long line of investigators specializing in preventing the end of the world. In just this first issue alone, Al thwarts a would-be demon raiser, gets a tip from a dead friend, has a late-night meeting with a very creepy dude while she's in her underwear and makes a number of unscheduled jaunts to alternate realities, and this is just the set-up for this story. Yeah, more please!

The Bakers: Babies and Kittens (2007)
Kyle Baker, writer and artist

This 100-page hardcover is a whimsical little cartoon story of a family that wants to get a cat. At least Mom and the three kids do, but Dad is allergic to the critters and forbids it. But the kids think some kittens they find are cute, and Mom has seen a mouse in the house. Adorable hilarity ensues. This book is very similar to a child's picture book although there are nuances to the story that only adults will get, so I enjoyed this one with my 3-year-old daughter who agreed the babies and kittens were quite cute! This was a complete story unto itself, but I understand there are other The Bakers stories out there I might have to try.

Infinite Vacation No. 1 (2011)
Nick Spenser, writer
Christian Ward, artist

Now this tale seems like the kind of story that could make your head hurt if you try to think about it too much. The premise is that the characters here live in a world where they can buy their way into alternate realities for a price. Having a crappy day? Jump over to another reality where your day is going much better. The possibilities for change are limitless, and changing his circumstances with a few clicks is what Mark, the lead character, is used to. That is, until Mark starts to notice that his alternate selves are dying off. And not just a few of them. A whole lot of Marks are dying. What's up with that? I'm a little curious to find out.

Imperial No. 2 (2014)
Steven T. Seagle, writer
Mark Dos Santos, artist

This last one was a little more bizarre than the others because of being dropped into the story in the middle instead of at the beginning, but I think I got the gist. Imperial is a superhero looking for a replacement. Mark (Yeah, another guy named Mark.) has been chosen. But not only is Mark not very interested in the job, he's much more focused on the fact that he's supposed to be getting married to his girlfriend, Katie. That doesn't stop Imperial from showing up and bringing danger into Mark's life. This one looks pretty interesting too.

I guess all these freebies are going to cost me something after all!

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If you enjoy reading this blog, you can get more by liking my page on Facebook and/or following me on Twitter. And of course, if you are looking for a good deal on some of the comics I am selling off to make room in our house, please check out my main Steve's Comics For Sale site or the StorEnvy version of the site.

I Seem To Be On A Black And White Kick

True Story, Swear To God: 100 Stories (2004)
AiT/Planet Lar
Tom Beland, writer and artist

I don't remember when or where I first heard of Tom Beland's autobiographical True Story, Swear To God series, but I must have heard good things that made me curious to give the series a try. So a few years back, I purchased the first 10 issues of the second volume of the series.

I didn't know at the time I bought these issues from Image Comics that they were from the second volume of the series, but the first issue played catch-up, recapping how Tom met his fiance, Lily, on a trip to Orlando, Fla. Tom, from the Napa Valley, fell in love at first sight upon meeting Lily, who hails from Puerto Rico.

The rest of those 10 issues detail the point in the pair's relationship where Tom has relocated to Puerto Rico to be with Lily and must get used to a new culture and strange language. It's a funny, romantic, easily relatable story told in an entertaining way. And Tom's art is simple, clean and cartoony, and his characters are very expressive.

I wanted to read more of the story, so I recently went looking for issues from the first volume of the series and found the Image collection True Story, Swear To God Archives Vol. 1. Along with that volume, I also saw this trade, True Story, Swear To God: 100 Stories. While the Archives book collects the entire first volume of the title, originally self-published by Tom about meeting Lily and the early days of their relationship, the 100 Stories volume is a little different.

When Tom first met Lily, he was working as a cartoonist and page designer at a local newspaper. The cartoon strip Tom produced bears the same name as his eventual comic book series, and covers much of the same territory: his family, daily life in the Napa Valley, his budding relationship with Lily and his experiences learning about the Puerto Rican culture. The only major difference is that instead of a single, continuing narrative like in the comic book series, the True Story strip is more random slices of life.

This collection made me laugh and nod my head in shared understanding just as much as the True Story, Swear To God comic series, both volumes. My life is not identical to Tom Beland's, but the experiences he shares are told in a way that emphasizes the universal experiences we all go through. Pick up any of his books, and if you don't feel something, you're no longer human!

Here are a few more samples to enjoy:

Does This Story Ever End?

A Distant Soil
Image Comics
Colleen Doran, writer and artist

As my monthly buying has slowed recently, I've been making an effort to hunt down more things I've made notes about in the past — things I wanted to try at some point, most often books I'd heard good things about, but that I didn't have time or money to pursue at the time. One such title was A Distant Soil created, written and illustrated by Colleen Doran.

Doran is known primarily as an artist who has worked with writers such as Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis, Peter David, Joe R. Lansdale and Keith Giffen. I personally have seen her work in books like Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story, Teen Titans Spotlight, Star Trek and Valor from DC Comics and Marvel Icon's The Book of Lost Souls written by J. Michael Straczynski. She is also a writer, but I haven't read anything else penned by her at this point.

I don't recall now — and wasn't in the habit of writing down — where it was that I heard or read about A Distant Soil. Most likely, it was from an episode of Word Balloon or from a column written by Andrew "Captain Comics" Smith. I tend to think it was the latter as I don't recall a Word Balloon episode featuring Doran, but I might be wrong. Anyway, one note I did write down is "similar to Aquaman." Having now read the majority of A Distant Soil, that comparison puzzles me unless it maybe refers more to similarities with Peter David's The Atlantis Chronicles — a title I own but have not yet read. Once I read Atlantis Chronicles, I'll know if maybe that was the comparison made and my note was only slightly in error, or if the two series are nothing alike and my note was just an example of who knows what.

But getting back to A Distant Soil, I recently decided it was time to finally check this series out. I purchased the three trades I found at a good price, and once they arrived in the mail, I sat down to read them and see just what this series was about. It was not what I expected, but it was good.

The Volume 1 trade, titled The Gathering, collects the first 12 issues of the Aria Press version of the series. It serves to do just that, gather and introduce readers to the majority of the large cast of characters that make up this sprawling sci-fi/fantasy epic.

First, we are introduced to Jason and Liana Scott, 17 and 15 years old, respectively. The teens have spent most of their lives since being orphaned at a young age living in a mental institution. There's nothing wrong with the youths. Both possess paranormal abilities that the authorities can't explain, including a shared telepathic rapport with each other, and so their young lives have been filled with experiments, poking, prodding and confinement.

In the latest of a series of escape attempts, Jason and Liana run into a street gang and a gruff but compassionate cop. The cop, Tony Minetti, and the leader of the street gang, Brent Donewitz, have an uneasy friendship, and the two agree to help the Scott teens lay low for a while. And that's when the aliens show up.

It turns out that Jason and Liana have their unique abilities because their father was secretly an alien fleeing his home planet, Ovanan. A huge Ovanan warship, the Siovansin, has come to hunt down the teens on behalf of the Hierarchy, the rulers of Ovanan and its vast empire of worlds. Of course, there is also a contingent of the aliens onboard the Siovansin who are sympathetic to Jason and Liana's plight and who hope to enlist their aid in overthrowing the sadistic Hierarchy.

What isn't quite so expected is that even the resistance movement onboard the Ovanan warship is splintered into different factions, sometimes to the point that they get in each other's way. Minetti and Brent help Liana escape with two of the sympathetic aliens, Rieken and D'Mer, while Jason is captured by the Hierarchy minions.

The Hierarchy tries to use Jason to find Liana, and in the process, they seem to kill the teenager. However, he is not beyond the healing abilities of Ovanan science. While in the care of the Siovansin medical staff, Jason's body is captured by one faction of the resistance. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Rieken and D'Mer recruit Liana, Minetti, Brent and nine others to their faction of the resistance and attempt to sneak back aboard the Siovansin.

That is a very nutshell synopsis of the first trade and its cast of dozens of characters. The narrative — which text pieces in the volume explain Doran created while still a child herself — is very complex, but still engaging. Doran's artwork, presented here in black-and-white only, is detailed and quite pretty to look at. I stumbled over some of the characters' appearances in these early scenes because so much of the clothing worn by the humans is very dated to some of the most outrageous '80s styles. That took me right out of the story on a number of occasions, and I thought about giving up on the story a number of times early on simply because the costuming was so jarring to me. But otherwise, I have no complaints about the art, and subsequent volumes take place mostly aboard the Siovansin, where even the humans are wearing Ovanan clothing to blend in, so that problem is eliminated.

One other thing that gave me pause in this first volume was an advertisement in the back of the book soliciting the five trades that collect the complete A Distant Soil saga. Up until this point, I'd believed I had the entire story in the three trades I'd already bought. I tried to do some more research into the series and learned that the first A Distant Soil comics were published by WaRP Graphics and the series lasted for only nine issues. Creative control and rights issues led to a split between WaRP and Doran, who tried to start over with another publisher only to have problems there as well. She finally started over a third time, self-publishing under Aria Press and combining some old and new story elements. Then in 1996, the story continued at Image, the publisher also responsible for the trade collections.

The second and third trade volumes — The Ascendant and The Aria, respectively — advance the story with all characters aboard the Siovansin. The resistance faction holding Jason revives the young man and sets him up to assassinate the god-like figurehead of the Hierarchy in exchange for information about his father. Rieken and D'Mer continue to plot with their human and Ovanan allies to overthrow the Hierarchy from within, relying heavily on Liana's help. Some characters are slain along the way and many, many more are introduced.

I managed to track down a copy of the fourth trade collection with the help of my local librarian. That volume, Coda, sees one faction of the resistance discovered and wiped out and the stakes for Liana, Jason and the others raised to impossible levels as the entire planet Earth comes under threat.

There are a few parts of Doran's narrative that feel overly lengthy, but again, the overall story is an engaging one that I would like to finish. The art only gets better and more stunning with each issue. The only problem at this point is I can't seem to find that fifth and final trade collection, Requiem, available anywhere I search. I'm not even sure the fifth volume has ever been published. In fact, I am not even certain if Doran has completed the series in single issue form at this point. Do any of my readers know any more about this series, whether or not it has been completed, and if so, where I might get my hands on the final volume of the story? Leave me a note in the comments if you can help shed some light.

My Faith Pays Off

Lazarus Vol. 1: Family
Image Comics
Greg Rucka, writer
Michael Lark, Stefano Gaudiano, Brian Level and Santi Arcas, artists

I count Greg Rucka among the writers whose work I usually tend to enjoy. I can't say I've read everything he has produced, but I am a fan of many of the things he brought to the mythos of Batman and Superman while he worked on Detective Comics, Gotham Central and The Adventures of Superman. His run on Wonder Woman is one of my favorite runs on the character and one I consider a definitive take on the Amazon princess. Not limited to DC, I also very much enjoyed his work on Black Widow over at Marvel.

I enjoyed his take on these characters so much, I decided to try his Queen & Country series from Oni almost a year ago. I purchased the entire run of that series in one lot, read it over the course of a few weeks and loved it just as much. Rucka is incredible at writing strong female leads, and I enjoyed the adventures of Tara Chase in Queen & Country enough to make the jump to one of Rucka's Q&C prose novels, "A Gentleman's Game," which was a solid, enjoyable read, as well.

Somehow, though, as much as I enjoy Rucka's writing and watch for his name when I'm placing my orders each month, I completely missed Lazarus when it debuted in 2013. I had no idea it was coming out and no idea what to expect from the series when I finally did learn of its existence. I don't even recall for certain now how I first heard the title without knowing more about it; perhaps I just stumbled across it looking for something else. But this first volume was pretty cheap by usual trade pricing standards, likely because it collects only four issues of the title instead of the more common five, six or more. Nice price. Greg Rucka writing. I decided to give it a try even though I knew not what to expect.

When the trade arrived, I could see by the simple yet dramatic cover that we have another female lead, likely a tough one as she is shown with a bullet hole in her forehead and a rather annoyed expression on her face. This does not appear to be a lady you want to mess with, especially if being shot in the head only pisses her off.

When I sat down to read the book, however, I became a little nervous. If there's teaser or descriptive copy on the front or back cover of a book, especially one like this I'm completely unfamiliar with, I always read that first. Gives me a clue what I'm in for. All of the recommendations were good; no surprise there. But one of them called this title a "clever spin on dystopian fiction." I tend not to like dystopian fiction. Too depressing. Why can't we all get along? Why can't the future be bright and happy?

But then I read the descriptive copy. It promised a world split along financial lines — wealthy families, the few who work for them, and everyone else, the majority, called "Waste." The meaning behind "Lazarus" was also explained. Each family has one individual responsible for defending the family, protecting it. That person is called the family's Lazarus. I was intrigued, and I trusted Rucka enough to dive in, hopeful once again.

So I read the trade. This isn't the kind of comic I might normally choose to read, but I'm glad I did in this instance. These four issues pulled me into this world Rucka has crafted — our world but not quite. This first arc gives us just the barest glimpse into how things work in this world, but it was enough to pull me in. I don't want to spoil any details for anyone who hasn't read Lazarus yet, so I'm kind of light on story specifics, I know. Suffice to say that there is a great deal of intrigue hinted at in these first four issues, and a very rich, complex series of relationships just within the handful of characters we are introduced to at the outset. Much, much more seems to be just under the surface. And I, for one, am looking forward to uncovering more of this world.

Pass The Popcorn; I'm Ready To Watch

Velvet 6
Image Comics
Ed Brubaker, writer
Steve Epting, artist

Another short post today. I've praised this series before, and it continues to be a solid read.

Ed Brubaker is crafting an intriguing story about a former spy who re-enters the game after one of her colleagues turns up dead. Complicating her search for answers, Velvet Pendleton quickly finds herself framed for the murder she is trying to investigate. And along the way, she is finding out that much of her life has revolved around lies she never suspected as untrue before. It is a story that I was quickly sucked into and am thoroughly enjoying.

Add to that Steve Epting's wonderful, cinematic art, and this series is like watching a favorite old action movie for the very first time.

In fact, my only real complaint about this title to date has been the lag between this issue and the previous one. This title seems to be following the Image trend of taking a break from the single issues during the month that a new trade comes out. If it gives the creative team a break, that's great; but I want my Velvet every month, if possible.

Again, It's More About The Living

The Walking Dead tpb Vol. 19 "March To War"
Image Comics
Robert Kirkman, writer
Charlie Adlard, artist

More bad stuff happening for Rick Grimes and crew. As usual, not everyone in Rick's latest blended group is satisfied with the former policeman's leadership. Despite the internal challenges, Rick, Jesus from the Hilltop community and King Ezekiel have agreed to join forces to eliminate the threat posed by Negan and his band of Saviors. The three make their plans for an attack and begin to train those among their ranks less used to fighting. But it is key to their plans to keep the attack a secret until they are ready to move.

That all goes out the window when Negan makes his regular visit to Rick's community for supplies and tribute several days early. A conflict breaks out before Rick's, Jesus' and Ezekiel's forces are ready, and things do not go well for our heroes in this latest volume.

There are a few scenes in this trade where a group is traveling from one place to another when they encounter a few zombies that have to be dispatched. Each instance is dealt with matter-of-factly while unrelated conversations continue. Most all of the real action of these issues, as is typical of this series, concerns the living and how they act and react to each other.

That is what keeps me coming back to this series trade after trade: a zombie apocalypse might have kick-started the events, but it is no longer the primary motivation or driving force of the series. Living, breathing humans are. Cruel, compassionate, helpful, savage humans. And Kirkman just keeps ramping up the tension and drama, book after book.

With A Pedigree Like This, It Has To Be Great

Velvet 1
Image Comics
Ed Brubaker, writer
Steve Epting, artist

I tend to be more of a story fan; be it comics or prose, if the writing is good, I'm in. I confess, I haven't read everything by Ed Brubaker, and I have read a few titles by him I haven't cared for as much as others. But for the most part, if he wrote it and I didn't buy it, it was because the subject matter didn't grab me more than anything else. Brubaker has had some fantastic runs on some titles I've really enjoyed, titles like Batman, Daredevil, Gotham Central, Scene of the Crime, and Criminal. His writing is full of rich characters he makes come alive with his talent for dialogue, and Brubaker has a knack for making his characters feel like real people. They don't always do what you want them to do, but you can believe that they would act as he portrays them.

Just because I tend to notice writing credits more doesn't mean I ignore art credits. There are a number of comics artists that I very much like and whose name on a project is a definite plus. As with Brubaker, I haven't read every single book Steve Epting has worked on, but I have enjoyed very much the ones I have read. I first became aware of Epting's name during his all-too-short collaboration with Dan Jurgens on Aquaman in 1999-2000. Epting's art next caught my eye when he moved to CrossGen and supplied the art for Crux and El Cazador. Epting just has a crisp, realistic art style I appreciate. His figures are dynamic, and his panel layout is clear and easy to follow.

These two creators came together in 2005 to relaunch Captain America for Marvel Comics. I like superhero comics, so I mean no disrespect when I say that their run on Captain America didn't feel like a superhero comic -- it felt superior. They took Cap's association with S.H.I.E.L.D. and made the title an espionage book. It wasn't straight-forward spy versus spy, but damn close. Both the writing and the art combined to give the book a cinematic feel. That mixed with the high adventure; the human drama of re-inroducing Cap's former partner, Bucky Barnes; the simple decision to have Steve Rogers appear without his Cap costume so much of the time alongside former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and girlfriend Sharon Carter all worked to make this feel like a very real drama playing out on a worldwide scale.

More of the same is what I hoped for when I first heard of Velvet, the new Image title by this same creative team. And that is what we are getting, judging by this debut issue.

Velvet Templeton is the secretary/head assistant for the head of a secret British spy organization. Think Miss Moneypenny from the James Bond franchise. Only Velvet is so much more, as she so skillfully demonstrates when several of the organization's top agents are killed.

It seems that Velvet was herself the super-spy in previous decades before being assigned to a desk job. But just because she is currently riding a desk doesn't mean this lady can no longer cut it in the field. She begins by conducting her own investigation into the first murder, that of Jefferson Keller, Agent X-14. Before long, Velvet finds other dead agents and is framed for the murders. And all of this is in just the first issue!

Merry Christmas to everyone celebrating the holiday! See you again, Friday!!

How Could I Have Doubted Rick?

The Walking Dead Vol. 18: What Comes After
Image Comics
Robert Kirkman, writer
Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn, artists

Things looked very bleak for our band of survivors after they ran afoul of a street gang named the Saviors in the last collected volume of The Walking Dead. Some truly brutal things had happened courtesy of the Saviors' leader, Negan, and Rick truly seemed defeated. He agreed to turn over half of everything his group had to the Saviors in exchange for their "protection," thus falling in line as several other nearby communities of survivors had previously done.

It truly seemed like Rick had no other choice, that Negan had the upper hand. Even a number of Rick's own followers believed the former lawman was broken. Which is exactly what Rick needed to ensure that Negan and the Saviors would also fall for the ruse. Rick's real intent, this volume reveals, was to bide time and learn all he could about the Saviors, where their base was, how many men and weapons they truly had at their disposal. Once that was made clear, it all made perfect sense, so that I felt bad for believing less of Rick.

And this volume does reveal a lot of details about how the Saviors live and how Negan maintains control of his crew. The man is easily as insane as the Governor, although Negan's insanity manifests itself in vastly different ways. Unfortunately, things do not proceed exactly as Rick hoped when he started his plan to buy time and gain information. Rick does indeed gain some information and some much-needed allies, but as often happens in real life and with this ragtag band of survivors of the zombie apocalypse, some unforeseen curves are thrown into the mix. Just one of those curves is when 12-year-old Carl, disgusted by his father's apparent capitulation to the Saviors, decides to take on Negan's crew single-handed.

Hard To Keep Up With But Worth The Effort

The Perhapanauts: Danger Down Under 1-5
Image Comics
Todd Dezago, writer
Craig Rousseau, Lauren Monardo Gramprey, Matt Wieringo, Eric Henson, Matthew Dow Smith and Christian D. Leaf, artists

This is a quirky little book that comes out in limited series form every once in a while and then disappears for a bit. There have been three multi-issue minis, all later collected in trades, and several stand-alone issues and one-shots before this series. The first two minis and trades -- First Blood and Second Chances -- were under the Dark Horse imprint before Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau moved their creation to Image Comics.

I think a series of limited series is preferable to an ongoing monthly in some cases, especially when the character is not as well-known or established or the creators need more time between story arcs. Tell the story you have in mind and then stop until you have another idea or more books in the can. It doesn't work quite so smoothly for this series, however, because the title is told as if it was an ongoing. Take the end of this five-issue mini, for example. As the title implies, much of the action in these issues takes place in Australia. Technically, at the end of issue five, none of the characters is still in Australia, and I very much doubt that they will be returning there any time soon. However, the situation that took them to Australia is not yet resolved. In fact, a pretty major plot thread left dangling by the third mini, Triangle, is not advanced in this fourth mini until the very last page, and it is really more of a teaser of things to come than a resolution. So the story is very much an ongoing.

To further confuse things a little bit, if you are buying Perhapanauts in singles, each issue contains two or three stories -- the main, and one or two backups, often by other artists to give main artist and co-creator Rousseau a break, I assume. Sometimes those backup stories serve to expand on some detail in the main story, but other times they might be a completely separate tale with no relation whatsoever to the main. That can get even more confusing if you're reading the series in trade and have to figure out why these side-trip stories are placed in between chapters of the main story.

Once you get used to those idiosyncrasies of Dezago's writing, however, this is a very fun read filled with colorful characters. There are five main characters when the Perhapanauts series starts out, all agents of a secret organization named BEDLAM, the Bureau of Extra-Dimensional Liabilities and Management. Arisa is the leader of Blue Team and a psychic. There's also Molly, a teenage ghost; Choopie, a video-game playing, blood-sucking chupacabra; Big, a genetically enhanced sasquatch; and MG, the enigma of the group about whom little is known. There is also a Red Team led by an ex-Marine named Peter Hammerskold. Other members of Red Team include the Merrow, a sea sprite, and Karl, a mothman able to instill fear. There are also multiple BEDLAM bases around the world, so other agents may show up from time to time, many of them human, but certainly not all of them.

So what exactly does BEDLAM do? They track down things that have accidentally or by design arrived in our world from other planes of existence, be they alternate universes, parallel dimensions or simple tears in the fabric of reality. So the reader never quite knows what Dezago and Rousseau are going to throw at the Perhapanauts. So far they've crossed paths with cryptids you might have heard of such as gremlins, the Jersey Devil and even Karl's people, the mothmen. But there have also been a number of other scary things like a chimaera, an aswang, a tatzel wurm, the Dover Demon and a growtch.

If you are interested in the bizarre and enjoy some humor mixed liberally with your drama, this is a book you should check out.

This Is Why I Like Trying New Titles

Astro City: Knock Wood and Justice Systems (Astro City tpb Vol. 5: Local Heroes)
Homage Comics/Image Comics
Kurt Busiek, writer
Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, artists

Last time out, I discussed my positive reaction to the first two trade volumes of Astro City. I felt I had a good handle on the series after reading those first two and could discuss them at least semi-intelligently. But when I decided to buy some trades to try out the series, I found a good deal and bought the first five. That left me with more to read after writing my last post.

The third collection, Confession, breaks the done-in-one tradition of the title to present a longer narrative about the Confessor and his sidekick, Altar Boy. It was a very good read, presenting some familiar archetypes and taking them in new and unexpected ways. The same goes for the fourth trade, The Tarnished Angel, collecting one longer narrative, this time looking at an aging villain in the Astro City universe. Again, a nice read I very much enjoyed.

That brings us to the fifth trade, Local Heroes. This collection returns to the shorter standalone or two-part tales about various heroes in the Astro City universe, this time focusing on a different era in time for each of the narratives. And, in all honesty, this trade is proving a little harder to get through. Maybe I'm tired of Astro City and ready to move on to something else for a bit -- time to cleanse the palate, so to speak. The stories here aren't bad, just not holding my interest as well.

Until I came to this two-parter, the sixth and seventh chapters in this collection of nine. This one had me VERY interested to see what was going to happen, which was a pleasant surprise to find.

This tale is a courtroom drama, not the kind of thing one expects to see in a comic book format very often. The central character, Vincent Oleck, as often is the case in these Astro City tales, is a nonpowered individual, a defense attorney in Astro City during the mid-1970s. Oleck is representing the son of a mobster in a murder trial. The young man, obviously not a nice man at all, is accused of beating his girlfriend to death during a fight at a local restaurant in front of several witnesses. Oleck has no doubts that his client is guilty, but it is his job to defend his client to the best of his ability. To add to Oleck's pressure, the mob boss is less than happy when the prosecution begins its case and things look pretty open-and-shut.

Oleck finally gets an idea the night before he is to begin presenting his case to the jury. It is a novel strategy that could only have a chance in a world full of people used to superheroes, and to Oleck's surprise, the gambit seems to be working. And that is when Oleck's real problems begin. No more details on this tale because I don't want to spoil it. Instead, I encourage you to seek it out and read it for yourselves. A reader doesn't need any other reference to follow this story; Busiek does a great job of giving all the relevant information right there in this story. But it is a gripping story that left me wondering about the outcome from the first few pages. But then, I should have expected more than the surface drama from this story; it says right there on page one that it is a horror story!

Truly Great Story-Telling

Astro City tpb 1: Life In the Big City/Astro City tpb 2: Family Album
Homage Comics/Image Comics
Kurt Busiek, writer
Brent Anderson and Alex Ross, artists

I've been curious about the Astro City books for a while now. It can be daunting, however, to know there is already a huge backlog of stories published when considering something new. And there were always other books that I was more certain about to fill my time. In the past, Astro City had been published sporadically, as a series of smaller minis and such, rather than as an ongoing book. But a while back, it was announced that an Astro City ongoing was ready for launch; it debuted last month, in fact. I decided it was now or never for taking the plunge, so that if I liked the series, I wouldn't just be getting farther and farther behind. So I recently went on the hunt for some of the earliest trade collections.

The conceit of this series is that superheroes are the norm on this world. They've been around for decades, and the general populace is pretty used to their existence and their adventures. That isn't to say that the average person is bored by superheroes. Just not as surprised as we might be if one suddenly showed up in our world. Many of the stories are typical superhero fare, but told from the perspective of the everyday person on the street, the office workers whose day is disrupted when a super-powered fight breaks out near their building, for instance. Or still focusing on the superhero, but more on the mundane aspects of their lives when not fighting to save the city or world. The very first story gives us a glimpse into the life of a hero named Samaritan, kind of a Superman analogue. He dreams of being able to fly. The power of flight is one of his heroic abilities, so why does he dream about flying when he goes to sleep at night? Because during his waking hours, he is always flying at super speed from one crisis to the next, never having the luxury of enjoying just floating among the clouds.

Another story focuses on the youngest member of the Furst Family, a multi-generational group of heroes. Astra can convert her body into pure energy, so she is a valuable member of this superhero group, which also includes her parents, an uncle and a great-uncle. With all of the adventures Astra has been on, she can talk fluently about battle tactics and multi-dimensional realities. But this pre-teen girl has absolutely no contact with other children her own age, doesn't know what kinds of programs they like to watch on TV or what kinds of music they listen to or even what kinds of games they might play during recess.

These are the kinds of things that set this series apart. Busiek is excellent at looking for the human aspect of superhumans. And because all of these characters are his own creations, even if a certain plot device might be familiar territory for comic books, you are never quite certain when a character might be affected in a new and interesting way. Because these aren't corporate-owned characters who can't undergo real, lasting change, anything could and does happen. But that ability to find the human quality in all of these characters -- powered or not -- makes it easier for a reader to relate to what is happening to the characters. We've all felt like an outcast or uncertain how to proceed in a given situation or not quite up to a task before us. By connecting with these characters on an emotional level, the reader is pulled into the story.

For simple economic reasons, I'm still not likely to pick up the new Astro City ongoing in single issues, but from time to time, when my budget allows, I would like to return to this world to read more of these incredible adventures in trade format. They're simply that good.

This Is What Graphic Storytelling Should Be

Scene of the Crime Deluxe Edition hardcover
Image Comics
Ed Brubaker, writer
Michael Lark and Sean Phillips, artists

You'll care about these characters -- they're that well written -- but don't get too attached because many of them won't make it through the stories alive.

I like a lot of what Ed Brubaker produces. He tends to bring out the best in the superheroes he writes, but he truly shines writing everyday people. One of the first series where I really took notice of his work in particular was DC Comics' Gotham Central. That series, with just a very few cameo exceptions, left out the superheroes in favor of focusing on the detectives in Batman's hometown, and Brubaker and co-writer Greg Rucka wrote those folks well.

From there, I signed on for Brubaker's Criminal run with Sean Phillips at Marvel Icon. Here the focus was on criminals, but in a world without superpowers. These are everyday lowlifes -- bank robbers, con artists and ne'er-do-wells. In this series, I found myself feeling sympathy for, and even cheering on, many of the hard-luck cases who filled the pages of Criminal.

All of that is what led me to this Scene of the Crime hardcover. The miniseries by this name is not Ed Brubaker's first comics work, but it is his first work for DC Comics, originally under the Vertigo imprint. The main mystery presented here, "A Little Piece of Goodnight," was intended to be the second case in an ongoing comic series, Brubaker explains in the text piece at the end of the volume. Instead, the editors chose to lead with this tale, and before it was concluded, the ongoing became a series of minis, then just the one story.

The only exception was a short story titled "God and Sinners: A Scene of the Crime Christmas Mystery" which was written for a Vertigo anthology book that printed a few months before Scene of the Crime No. 1 debuted. It is the only other story published to date featuring the main characters in the Scene of the Crime universe -- young private detective Jack Herriman; his uncle, Knut Herriman, a semi-retired, semi-famous crime-scene photographer; and Knut's girlfriend, Molly -- and it is also included in this volume.

The fact that these two stories are the only Scene of the Crime tales to see print so far is one of the many crimes detailed in this book. Jack not only gets to the bottom of the main mystery in "Goodnight," but readers are also treated to much of Jack's own back story and motivations, something Brubaker says he planned to reveal over the course of the ongoing series, little tidbits at a time. It is good that he knew the series wasn't going to be able to continue and could rework all of Jack's story into this single tale. Jack's personal story is every bit as interesting as the missing person case he is hired to solve and the larger plot his investigations uncover along the way.

Once again, Brubaker has crafted an incredible narrative that leaves me wanting more of the same. There is little one can say about a book to more highly recommend it than that. And this tale is also beautifully, grittily illustrated by Lark and Phillips, two frequent collaborators of Brubaker's.

Finally A Chance For Peace

The Walking Dead tpb Vol. 16: A Larger World (Collects issue Nos. 91-96)
Image Comics
Robert Kirkman, writer
Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn, artists

Things are settling down somewhat in the walled community just outside of Washington, D.C., as the residents there come to accept Rick Grimes as their new leader. However, another winter has set in and supplies are running dangerously low. Larger groups are being sent farther and farther away in an attempt to find food, medicines and other necessities. In their world, it has now been two years since the zombie apocalypse began, so even canned foods are becoming scarce, and what does still remain is fast approaching or already past its intended expiration date.

While confronting these challenges, the community must face another surprise: a lone scout approaching their enclave. The newcomer, Paul "Jesus" Monroe, is armed and a very capable fighter. He claims to represent a community of more than 200 survivors on the other side of Washington who are interested in establishing trade with other communities, but Rick and company have learned not to take such scouts at face value. Eventually, Jesus manages to convince Rick to come back with him, talk to their leader, and see what is what in the Hilltop community.

Of course, once Rick gets to Hilltop, things are not exactly as Jesus said they would be, but Rick still sees potential in forming an odd sort of partnership with this new group. Now he just has to convince his people to go along with the bargain.

Another great installment in this ongoing series. One almost believes that a true, new beginning might just be possible for these people. Of course, having said that, this IS still an ongoing series and as we near issue No. 100, you just know something major has got to be waiting in the wings to mess that dream up.