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CBG SATELLITES
The ADD Blog by Alan David Doane
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Before the reviews, I wanted to mention the latest The Comics Journal (#273) for its wonderful, and dare I say important interview with graphic novelist Eddie Campbell. Not important because of his upcoming The Fate of the Artist, though that looks like one of the better graphic novels of the year, already. Not even important because of his previous Alec and Bacchus graphic novels, or even his collaboration with Alan Moore, From Hell, the best graphic novel ever. I mean, it’s not really that important that you like the guy’s work, though I do, very much. What’s important about the interview is that Campbell is such a thoughtful subject, someone who is always trying a different approach, a different way of solving problems and creating more complex problems when the others are solved. Campbell cuts through the toxic “comic book culture” that keeps the industry small in sales and respect within the larger culture of popular media. Here’s but one example of his fresh way of looking at things: “It doesn’t matter whether the damn thing (story) has previously appeared. Is it the best book of the year or not? Fuck whether it’s appeared in some form or it’s serialized. If a real novel has been serialized in the newspaper, or a women’s magazine before…If it’s been read out completely on Oprah or whaver. That’s all just part of how you get the stuff out. It’s only in the stupid comicbook world is this a ‘reprint.’ Fuck off.” Makes sense, no? The occasional profanity aside, Campbell just comes across as a very sharp guy who has given a lot of thought to the state of the industry and the cultural civil war going on between those who want comics to continue to evolve and those who don’t. He’s funny and charming, and what’s more, interviewer Dirk Deppey really shines. He obviously has a great affinity for Campbell’s work and so the interview is a sparkling conversation between bright people rather than, well, a typical interview. Galaxy alum and Bluesman writer Rob Vollmar fills in the only real gap in the interview with an appreciation of Campbell’s Bacchus.
Wolverine: Enemy of the State Vols. 1 & 2
I read the first half of this particular Wolverine serial on my computer, actually—free downloads for me and probably the same price for the person who provided me access to his server. At that time, about a year ago, it was kind of comforting to be able to keep up with nearly every superhero comic if I wanted, just to see if anything interesting was going on. Well, in fact there was. While I stopped downloading most of the superhero comics within months, and all downloading entirely a few months after that, I did remember that this Wolverine story was a lot of fun, and, fair’s fair, I bought both hardcovers when the time came. I don’t know if this is the best-written Wolverine story of all time – the emotional elements are superficial at best – but I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a Wolverine story more, or for that matter, a Marvel comic. The basic premise is that Wolverine, trying to find a Japanese friend’s kidnapped boy, is overcome and almost killed by ninja cult The Hand, and while he’s out of it their partners in a huge evil scheme, the terrorist organization Hydra brainwashes him. The living weapon is then set to take down S.H.I.E.L.D. and kill a lot more superheroes and villains, to be used as zombie soldiers for Hydra. Hmm, that doesn’t sound like a very basic premise, does it? There’s a lot more story to go, and the loopiness of Millar’s plotting is a big part of the appeal, though it should be said that he somehow manages to make everything fit together pretty well. There is a definite sense of Millar-as-fanboy where he throws in things just because they’re cool, like Wolverine taking on a Great White shark, but you know what? It is cool, at least when drawn by the all-star team of Romita, Jr. and Janson. Having to draw (okay, swipe) some of the images for my shark-loving son, I was especially reminded of the mastery Janson brings to just about every project he does. Trying to replicate in pencil the effects he achieves with his brush is really instructive, though of course, futile. Anyway, one thing I really enjoyed was how Millar was able to depict so many corners of the Marvel Universe in a cohesive fashion. I could believe that this Wolverine could team-up with Elektra, butt heads with Nick Fury, have friendships with the X-Men and The Thing. And unlike some other popular writers who “give the people what they (think they) want,” Millar tosses in a lot of interesting ideas here that end up sticking. I loved the obsolete Nazi relic Baron Strucker treated as not just obsolete, but a cuckold to a creepy old woman who has apparently been pulling strings of important men for over a century. And while a few people were upset that X-Man Northstar was killed by Wolverine and then resurrected as a villain, I honestly thought it was the only time the character has been interesting at all. You always wanted to like him, because it must’ve been tough to be the only gay superhero in the Marvel Universe, but being a tentative, compromised symbol is hardly the same as being a character. Millar putting zombie Northstar to use killing rednecks is a pretty funny gag, and one of a few sly bits of social conscience in the story. I can’t say this story is for everyone, or a “superhero story for people who don’t like superheroes,” even though apparently Garth Ennis dug it, but for teens and up (it’s really violent), it’s crammed full of suspense, wit, and some terrific action sequences from the artists. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Mort Grim
I, for one, wanted more than a peek, but Bedrossian is correct that that is all we get here. Fraser’s figures are fine—like Dean Haspiel if he was raised in pre-Revolution Russia—but there is no story here. A trucker dies in an accident but doesn’t realize he’s dead, and Mort Grim, the Grim Reaper on the Electra Glide, has to convince him, as a sympathetic waitress lends a hand. With captions and more dialogue, it may have made it as a Ghost Rider fill-in short in Marvel Comics Presents in 1988. But Fraser presents his three minute read as a langorously paced, awkward effort in a two-color process that culminates in a poorly-staged action sequence, followed by two scenes of pretentious dialogue. Grim tells the dead trucker that “there is no justice here,” and those who purchase this comic will agree. I really need sleep more than I need to hack out a review of a book that demands more, David B’s Epileptic, so that will be next week. Some manga, too, as I’ve been lax about that. On a lighter note, I hope I never get too fired up about the comics culture wars that I don’t get a kick out the kind of enthusiasm in a fanzine like Comic Effect, which is now up to its 44th issue. I really liked Jason Sacks’ essay championing Jerry Siegel’s notoriously awful Brother Power, the Geek. Sacks didn’t convince me, but I liked it anyway, and the rest of the issue is good, too.
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Wolverine as a character has lost a lot of interest for me over the years. I think much of this has to do with his overuse in the Marvel Universe and Marvel Comics titles, which arguably didn’t hurt Spider-Man’s appeal as much, at least for me. Wolverine is more of a loner, and also his killing ways clash too much with most of the other heroes. Still, I do like the character, and he’s one of the few good Marvel characters in which Stan Lee, Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko did not have a hand.
When you’ve been doing this reviewing thing long enough, you develop an ability to read between the lines of hype and blurbs and pull quotes. It should be noted that I read Rebecca Bedrossian’s back cover endorsement after I’d read the book, but now everything falls into place. When she says, “Strong, graphic, dynamic – three necessary ingredients for a successful comic,” you might find yourself asking, rightly, “What about the story?” When she praises his “hard-edged, bold approach to art” as a “natural fit for this graphic narrative,” you may wonder if “graphic narrative” is a way around having to claim this thin piece of confusion, clichés and motorcycle fetishism as a story. She also cites Fraser’s lifelong love of comics and motorcycles as evidence of talent at creating a motorcycle-related comic. Finally, she claims that Fraser “builds suspense with powerful figures at the same time giving us a peek into his endless imagination.”