The Wednesday Comics Experience

You might be in a recession if: you see someone kicking a can down the street and you ask them what they are doing and they say "moving."

You might be in a recession if: you wave around a popsicle and call it air conditioning.

You might be in a recession if: your comics are shorter, printed cheaper, and still cost four dollars.

But seriously folks... Wednesday Comics is the much hyped newspaper throwback style comics where each creator takes one page per issue. As I alluded to jokingly above, the big problem with Wednesday Comics is the strange combination of quality and shoddy production. The quality of these high-profile creators' stories makes you want to tear into the thing, but being confronted with an actual newspaper is like being forced to solve a complex puzzle from another solar system. I remember watching my Dad navigating a newspaper as a child and being amazed at his skill in handling that bulky paper. I never got the chance to really master is because, you know, newspapers are dead and all, but now my time has come and I'm too worried about ruining it.

The first issue of Wednesday Comics was an exciting experience. Opening up for the first time and seeing a sad Commissioner Gordon staring at you, or a giant Kyle Baker Hawkman will make nearly any comics fan giddy. The stories themselves are really varied in tone and with all the creators working with a new format, it's awesomely overwhelming.


BATMAN by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Eduardo Risso
"Every time I turn this on, it's like I'm signaling failure." A pretty bold kick off of the first comics you open up to when you unfold the pages. This comic is definitely one of the highlights of the collection. It uses up its page to perfection to introduce us to the story but also to tell its own contained story. If this page was the only page in the whole story, it would somehow make perfect sense.

KAMANDI by writer Dave Gibbons and artist Ryan Sook
This is another really solid page. It tells Kamandi's origin in a simple and direct way. It reminds me of reading an actual action newspaper strip like The Phantom. The art does a great job of making Kamandi and his world look like a contradiction of modern and savage. When he turns around in the last panel with a gun in his hand it's a real surprise. Interesting the story begins after the death of Kamandi's Grandfather.

SUPERMAN by writer John Arcudi and artist Lee Bermejo
Bermejo's art takes center stage here and seeing it in this oversized format is easily one of best parts of the whole collection. The gleaming city of Metropolis and Superman's reaction to the telepathic question from the Madman's Mott-like alien are exclamation point bookends to the comic. The words and panel are chosen carefully enough to be a sort of comic poem. It's strange to me that this of all the comics was picked up by USA Today. This page is so quickly paced that it might not even seem worth it to someone who isn't a comics fan--it's mainly an exercise in art and comics grammar and hero mythology.

DEADMAN by writers Dave Bullock and Vinton Heuck and artist Dave Bullock
This is another origin set-up story. It's a little peculiar because his origin is in the title and also in the comic itself. The art here is pretty good--the Deadman in the center being a stand out highlight. This one seems like it will pick up as the story progresses.

GREEN LANTERN by writer Kurt Busiek and artist Joe Quiñones
Good Green Lantern stories are pretty hard to come by, so when I was looking at teasers for Wednesday Comics and saw the art I was pretty excited about this one. The intro box was good giving the story a timeless sort of feel but the rest of the story didn't really back it up. With nothing really notable standing out on the page, it doesn't seem to utilize the format well. The last panel has got me a little hopeful for future installments though.

METAMORPHO by writer Neil Gaiman and artist Michael Allred
Probably the biggest disappointment of the bunch. Allred's art is Allred but Gaiman's writing ruins it. While most of the other comics are mostly homage to the newspaper format, Gaiman goes for more of a campy/satirical approach. Gaiman just seems confused by the format and just decided to write a regular comic story and have it read a page a week, instead of inserting natural breaks.

TEEN TITANS by writer Eddie Berganza and artist Sean Galloway
The origin/explanation of the Titans as a group is solid, but this page falls apart with the Trident character. The art is decent enough, especially the Titans, through the ages does a good job of showing them in their different incarnations developing fluidly. It falls apart with the story and the panels get confusing towards the end.
ADAM STRANGE by writer/artist Paul Pope
Paul Pope is already a master at telling short cut off stories (see: Spiderman Tangled Web) so his Adam Strange is well paced. His art style is definitely modern, even "indie" by some standards, and the first half of the story plays into that showing Adam Strange waking up in his bed and hanging out a little in his house. The second half of the page plays with the sort of camp stuff Gaiman was trying but Pope pulls it off. Strange rattles off a list of sci-fi jargon that just comes off as completely genuine. Pope's art and the calmed introduction of Strange's character allow Pope to do this kind of sincere distance well.

SUPERGIRL by writer Jimmy Palmiotti and artist Amanda Conner
We'll have to wait to next week to see how this one really pans out. Supergirl plus animals is a good mixture but nothing really happens here.

METAL MEN by writer Dan DiDio and artists Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez and Kevin Nowlan
Didio goes for camp too, but pulls it off because he just goes for it instead of trying to be too clever or above it all. The joke with Gold being part of their stash and talking to them is actually funny so it works.

WONDER WOMAN by writer/artist Ben Caldwell
Here, Caldwell jams about three pages worth of story into one page. I think it utilizes the format well and the art is really interesting. Having this sort of prequel Wonder Woman, totally modern and neon, makes a sort of weird sense. It's a nice change from the sword-bearing killer that Wonder Woman has turned into recently.

SGT. ROCK by writer Adam Kubert and artist Joe Kubert
Six huge panels of Sgt. Rock getting beat up looks really awesome. These guys obviously know what they are doing. No surprises here but reading Kubert--Joe at least--is all about this kind of hard-ass craftsmanship.


THE FLASH by writers Karl Kerschl and Brenden Fletcher and artist Karl Kerschl
This one sort of suprised me. It divides the page into two separate strips. The Flash's strip is completely action but it's done well with the Flash using and explaining his power in a coherent way that sometimes doesn't happen with the Flash. The panels at the end are well done, enhancing the effect of the Flash's compressed time. The second strip is about his girlfriend Iris done in an Apartment 3G style. Kerschl also changes the art slightly giving it a more dramatic/romatic focus. The combination of the two works really well and makes the other one better. Kind of like a real relationship.

THE DEMON AND CATWOMAN by writer Walter Simonson and artist Brian Stelfreeze
I like where this is headed. Both have these snobby personalities that actually play well into each other. Nothing too spectacular about the panels but the art is good especially the shadow panel of Catwoman. How Catwoman is ever going to tangle with Etragon should be interesting.

HAWKMAN by writer/artist Kyle Baker
Hawkman is similar to Batman and Superman pages by being a story into itself. Told from the point of view of his birds, the story gives insight into Hawkman's strength of character as a leader. It's also a look into the mindset of soldiers of any sort of autocratic governing system and how they value strength and purity. The art is simple but really effective. It matches the tone of the story and takes complete advantage of its format. Even the colors seem to be complimented by the paper.

Haunted Tank #1

The old Haunted Tank series was about a contemporary soldier named Jeb Stuart that's protected by the ghost of J.E.B Stuart, a Confederate General. I've never read it and it's probably pretty cool but a little dumb and whether you're a P.C super-sensitive type or not, the concept that the descendant of Confederate soldier protects one of his ancestors in war--implicitly drawing a connection between the Civil War and later wars--is a least little bizarre or, "problematic" as they like to say at Liberal Arts school.

So what Marraffino wisely does is base the comic around these "problems", comment on them, switch it up, and still keep the pulpy fun and some of the jingoism intact. The first thing the story does, after a totally bad-ass appearance by J.E.B Stuart manning a tank and shooting up some insurgents, is make an interesting connection between the Iraq War, America's aggression, and the sectarian violence going on in the Middle-East. Following an quick origin story that's a little sloppy (the transition's made by a soldier literally asking J.E.B "What's your story anyway?"), J.E.B explains his devotion to the South in a way that side-steps slavery: "When a foreign power seeks submission of one's sovereign state, an indistinguishable hatred fuels inexhaustible defiance." The implication of that defense by J.E.B, whether justified or not, is that it's the same mindset working throughout the Middle East.

Again, it's hard or maybe just too early to fully parse this connection out, but it certainly makes the connection between modern times and the Civil War more complex than they apparently were in the original incarnation of the series. Marraffino moves on though, not giving the irony of J.E.B's word as he's standing in the desert with soldiers fighting a war based a great deal on American aggression too much importance, instead interrupting it with a black soldier (named Jamal) who attacks J.E.B's support of slavery and the ugly violence that it entailed. It's one more quick, important aside that the original series presumably didn't touch upon that sorta needs to be addressed and Marraffino's smart to get it all out of the way, even if it feels a bit jumbled.

Ultimately too, the jumbled nature of how plot points and ideas are conveyed isn't a big deal because the comic's based on an insane premise in the first place and also, there's worse things for a comic book writer to do than stuff too much into an issue. Plus, it all pays off and the lack of subtlety's forgotten when the hook of the series--a genuine shocker--is revealed. J.E.B explains why he chose the tank he's chosen to haunt, explaining it's his "sacred duty" to protect his "descendants in battle" and he puts his hand on the shoulder of the white soldier. Two frames reveal the last names of the soldiers, the white one (Johnson) and the black one (Stuart). In a really funny panel, in which General J.E.B Stuart's eyes turn to shocked little circles, he realizes that indeed, his descendant is Jamal Stuart. The shock's equal on Jamal's part who tells J.E.B to beat it.

And it's this point where the comic gets really complex and not just like, smart for a comic book. Jamal and J.E.B are equally surprised and perturbed by their connection, for different reasons yes, but this kind of plurality is refreshing as it doesn't stop or fall back on simple, stock characters to represent a race or ideology. You start to see all of these weird connections between how the characters are represented, as J.E.B's dialogue is written with a slightly exaggerated Southern Gentlemen accents (all "mah" and "ah") immediately recalling the unfortunate trend in comic to make all black characters speak with verbs that end with the "g" and fill-out their sentences with "Yo" or "dog". There's also some fun reversals of expectation. The black guy's name is the typically "black" name of Jamal, but he's hardly racist or accidentally-racist caricature, he's the Sergeant, the guy in charge.

He's also illustrated with a little more subtlety too. Artist Henry Flint does some wonderful work throughout, finding this balance of realism and rubbery fun, and he takes the time to differentiate faces and ethnicities in fairly impressive ways. The Middle-Eastern soldiers, despite being in the comic mainly to be shot-up or beheaded by J.E.B, aren't drawn to look anymore menacing or scary than anybody else- they've got the same resigned calm on their faces as American soldiers, even as they praise one another during battle. Flint's got a tough job ahead of him, as almost the entire issue takes places in the middle of the desert with only sand and horizon as background, but he focuses on intense, detailed close-ups full of dots of dust and the realistic wrinkles of clothes and gear, and then will leap to a beautiful but still raw-looking wide-shot. Put it this way: After browsing the book's art a couple times, I'm actually disappointed I grabbed the Joe Kubert cover and not Flint's own.

If Flint's work was a little less conventional, he'd be ready for the Seth Fisher award in terms of occupying this weird space of being realistic but cartoon-like expressive and ready to surprise you at every page-turn. That's the perfect art for this book too because Frank Marraffino's update on this DC war comics classic is both faithfully sincere and aware of the inherent absurdity of a story about a tank haunted by a Confederate Civil War general. Brilliantly too, Marraffino plays off of that classic series in a way that I hesitated spoiling for you, but since it's hinted at on the cover and really will bring smart readers that may have dismissed this comic over to the fold.

Belated B-Day Wishes to Joe Kubert

Joe Kubert turned 82 yesterday, we forgot. Happy Birthday, Joe!

***Here's a Madman pin-up that doesn't seem to already be on the internet. Madman hatched from an egg with this weird God-like Tor with an Amish beard character hovering over-top? Awesome and sort of what Mike Allred's series is all about.


***One aspect of Kubert's work that seems to be forever overshadowed by his ridiculously consistent and brilliant illustration, is his writing. One foot's firmly planted in the over-excited language of old comics, but Kubert's writing has a hard-edged poetry to it too, like the writing of old crime and pulp novels, from which of course, a lot of the "comics" style of writing came from in the first place. He hits a sentence or two in every book that's perfectly written and his narration especially, always has an odd, complicated interaction with his images. He's a great, ego-less storyteller, so often, just by the art, exactly what's going on is really clear and as a result, his narration adds a strange, emotional level to what's going on, it's more than informative and it's more than internal dialogue too. Here's a pretty hilarious caricature of Kubert:


***
Kubert's writing often has a resigned inevitability to it and his art's fairly realistic, but he has a brilliant imagination, best exemplified in the weirdo creatures and monster he creates. Similar to the stuff I was blabbing about above--the tension between the words and the image--the creatures seem even more alive and surreal because Kubert's writing generally go for realism.

Joe Kubert's Tor: "A Prehistoric Odyssey"

i. Procuring the Initial Goods
Right now, Joe Kubert’s Tor: A Prehistoric Odyssey is my favorite monthly comic. I purchased issue #1 on a whim, in a very awkward situation. During the time when I was trying to find Beanworld back issues and graphic novels, I visited my hometown comic store, Superior Comics in Dover, Delaware. As the middle-aged, borderline autistic sales clerk is looking up Beanworld issues on some irrelevant comics message board, I fumbled for something to buy on the new release shelf. Ultimately, I decided on the first issue of Final Crisis because Grant Morrison was writing it and the first issue of Tor (“The Outcast”) because I liked the art. I was just happy to just get the fuck out of there without feeling bad about not supporting the store. I never finished Final Crisis and didn’t read Tor #1 until about a month ago, when I read that issue and the next three in one shot; I couldn't wait for the next issue--#5, “The Sacrifice”--and was additionally dissappointed when I found out it came out the week following Labor Day, delaying its release to Thursday. Thursday also happens to be the day when I am in class for almost the entire day from 8am to 5:30 pm. I sat through my last class that day knowing that Tor #5 would be waiting at my apartment!

ii. The Inner-Workings of Issue 5
Upon reading, I concluded that it is my favorite Tor issue yet! Judging from the blue tinge in the stones on the cover, I half expected that there may be something happening with ice. 100% Incorrect. Tor four ended with a cliffhanger; Tor was being held hostage by these violent troll dudes. In addition to his hostage status, the trolls were also detaining his buddies, charcoal chic and baby friend troll. In this issue, it becomes apparent that the trolls were baiting a group of raptors to the tied up friends with fruits and vegetables. When the raptors appear, Tor tricks them into biting him free from the vines binding him. Once he’s free, he frees his buddies and then, fights off these raptors. While fighting, the trolls, who are hiding in the tree above, drop a club to assist him in his fight. There is an internal problem within the troll clan; the shaman leader says that Tor is evil but the lower class trolls think he can’t be evil if he endangers himself for others. The lower class trolls push the shaman out of the tree. After defeating the raptors, the remaining trolls want to know if he will be their leader. Tor makes it clear that the job is not for him. The issue comes to a final cliffhanger when Tor, charcoal chic, and baby friend troll start their journey beyond the mountains, back to Tor’s home, when a shadow large enough to block out the sun comes over them.

iii. Tor on the Cover of Tigerbeat
There is only one more issue left in this series and that sucks. I’m excited to formally find out what this huge-ass thing is because Kubert’s monsters are great and always fit perfectly with the plot. More subjectively, I’ll be sad to see the series end because Tor is one sexy dude with great fashion sense. His little loincloth is just ratty enough to be bad-ass instead of homo and his boots…HIS BOOTS. The boots are great because they are like sacks around his feet with straps that keep them tied higher on his leg; high-top moccasins. The only thing I can liken them too is some Tatooine desert shit. Furthermore, his muscles are not TOO muscular; he’s ripped but it’s in proportion to his body and doesn’t give focus to just his arms, but I digress...Kubert’s writing is essentially what makes Tor attractive. Writing the comic from a third person point of view helps to look at Tor objectively. Kubert’s writing as well as Tor’s actions indicate his intelligence and capability. Males inevitably take on perceived roles in communities (i.e. social roles) which is one way that females judge the quality of males. Tor does, in my opinion, the best thing which is to differentiate himself from the group in a positive way and he does, by being a smarter, more efficient outsider. Looking at things from this perspective is something I learned in my behavioral ecology class and I think I can find some truth in it but I think that’s for another discussion.

iv. Goon Babble For Goons
Kubert is a great artist and thus far, his style works cohesively throughout issues of Tor. It has enough lines to be truly “action packed” but doesn’t add an extra level of distracting detail. He keeps his colors within a spectrum and collectively, its all very tonal. Green and brown being the most prominent colors in the comic, they are always used in dull shades. The greens never seem to have more than about 15% yellow and extra white. Likewise, the brown shades go light on the red which overall, adds to the cool tone of the colors. As I am considering the color theory of Tor, I’m finding it interesting to consider how the colors are connoted with being old or prehistoric. It seems to me that throughout the four issues, the covers have been increasing in blue hue. The first cover has brown stones around the outside and a very warm, reddish-brown tone. Not only do the stones change in color from issue to issue, but also the actions in the center of the stones becomes increasingly busy. The increased levels of whites used in the color scheme, is what I think, is key to keeping the colors “old”. As we age, pigment leaves our hair. As clothing is washed and worn, pigment fades. Maybe this is obvious but I think it plays a major role in setting the stage for the “prehistory odyssey”.

v. The "Special Features" Are Very Special
In a few of the issues, there are these really incredible, mixed-media type splash pages/dream sequences wherein Kubert extends the art of Tor beyond just really great comics illustration. I call them the "special features". The “special feature(s)” of issue #5 are full-page, mixed-media drawings of Tor’s fears. I’m going to go ahead and make a maybe stupid guess about what he uses in these pictures. I think that these are drawn directly on the light brown colored paper using ink for the fine lines, watercolor for the paint, and white conte crayon for the white highlighting.
I think that the aspect that I really like most about the drawings is they don’t hide the complications and connectedness of fears. Fear is essentially foundationless (maybe this is just goonbabble, now). Things become increasingly scary as you realize their connectedness to other details and this seems to be expressed though the gelling of the drawings within the frame In combination with the words, the fear is truly represented. The drawings also serve as a great contrast to the art, color, and frame-full pages that make up the rest of the issue.


vi. Joe Kubert Is An O.G
September 18 marks Kubert’s 82nd birthday and A Prehistoric Odyessy may just be the last thing he ever produces. Born in 1926, he moved to Brooklyn, NY from Poland with his family shortly after he was born, arriving just in time for the depression. He was lucky enough to be born into a family that encouraged his drawing abilities and he landed his first gig when he was almost twelve years old, making 5 dollars a page. In 1976, he was started his three-year technical school for cartoonists. In 2008, it’s just hard for me to imagine a man of 82 years having such a steady hand. Maybe that is ageism but it just seems phenomenal to me that someone who is so old would still have such a passion and understanding of his craft. Kubert certainly won’t die having copped out on anything.

xxx. BONUS FEATURES

a. TOR IN FASHION
Givenchy Boots from the Autumn/Winter 2008-2009 runway collection that are similar in overall shape and idea, Tor's less structured moccasin boots but still strappy


You know...sometimes you see a bitch and you like, "damn, why her headband all down?" Then, you may be like...well, Chloe Sevigny's headband was like that in Vincent Gallo's Brown Bunny. But really, it's TOR. And he had a REASON. His shit was MANGEY. Anyhow, next BONUS feature.

b. MONIQUE'S SEXIEST TOR PANELS