Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 250
Reading YOUR Comic
OH HELLO FAM
I’m in Philadelphia today. And sick!
The normal day for this newsletter is Sunday and I haven’t hit that in weeks. But I’m gonna slowly close the gap. Next week will be Monday or Tuesday and then we’ll get back to Sunday.
I don’t have a ton in the way of deep thoughts to share this week. I’ve just read comics in a van. So, here we go:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION (COMICS)
Before I begin, let’s make an important thing clear to even the most intentionally confused reader. The goal here is to direct readers to these comics. I don’t think that’s achieved with indiscriminate praise. If I hate your book, that doesn’t mean I’m pushing people away from it. A lotta different types of people read this newsletter and many do not share my sensibilities. Also of note, any failing I find in your work is only because I am very aware of the same missteps in my own. In the words of Mission Of Burma, “I’m not judging you, I’m judging me”
Ok.
Let's not bury the lede. Shin'ichi Sakamoto's INNOCENT Omnibus 1 is the best thing I'll read this year. It's lurid, rich in themes, and masterfully delivered. My favorite Kazuo Koike / Goseki Kojima work is SAMURAI EXECUTIONER, so perhaps I just have a 'thing.' Some of the same instructional aspects found in that series are given time here. Ever wanted to heat sulfur for the purpose of torture? INNOCENT has got you covered.
In 2024, like most people, I'm victim to a withered attention span. I will put a 22-page comic down in the middle of reading it. So for me to rip through an omnibus on a van ride is no small thing. After a slow(er) start, the series delivers fully and beautifully on its first payoff. The young executioner does his job and the following half-dozen pages are some of the finest storytelling I've seen in years.
From there, the series goes a place I don't relate to and am almost never invested in: family legacy / lineage drama. In most work, this is where I check out. But in this case I was disappointed when I had to put the book down so I could pee. I was gripped. Yes, the story is engaging, but truly this is a victory of execution (no pun). The non-literal moments (some diegetic in the respect they are dreams, others pure cartooning flourish) are brilliant.
This is a great looking, great reading, great feeling title. It rewards you for riding along with it, refuses to spare you, and always follows through. Some will be moved by its story, but as a guy who writes comics I am moved by its craft.
LUNAR LOUNGE #1 was one of my on-a-whim purchases at the Mississippi shop I visited a few days ago. I’m grateful this store is willing to take chances with shelf copies of small titles. It means those of us who don’t check the catalogs can still trip over interesting work. LUNAR LOUNGE was not a complete success, in my view. And I’m sure the creators know it. Because its failures are ones we’re all very self-conscious about. Exposition is the nemesis of good storytellers, and it feels bad any time we’ve gotta force it into our work for the sake of space. And we’ve all been there.
Those clunky panels bring the book down slightly, but it’s still a compelling enough horror setup. Seemingly a retreat/conference/initiation rite for werewolves. Writing by Tyler Marceca is pretty good. Art by Mirko Colak is pretty good. Prolly worth checking out for the horror fans.
VAMPIRELLA #666 by Priest and Gunduz was impenetrable for me. I admired its casual but character-expanding sexuality. Really does a fine job establishing tone in that respect. But everything else felt like I was dropped so deep into a story that I had no hope of putting pieces together. Vampirella and her friends seem like they could be graduates students, but they’re actually teachers or… something. I’ve never connected with Priest’s work, and that trend continues. But I did enjoy the clubhouse “actual friends talking as if they know each other and not just for the readers’ benefit” feel of the thing. Gunduz does (duz?) a solid job. It’s a bit paper doll, but I think that’s the feel the book was shooting for. So, success.
HARRIET TUBMAN: DEMON SLAYER #1 was a must-buy for me. At first glance this may be the most tasteless title I’ve seen in my life. And I was a regular digger of porn comix long boxes when shops still had those, so I’m not easily impressed.
But on inspection the comic is not offensive, it simply adds a period piece element to the blaxsploitation genre. The plot is not great. The art is not great. And the panel-to-panel storytelling is occasionally challenging. But Crowson and Ellis do manage something here. Amateur charm. And I don’t mean that literally, because I don’t know their resumes and I’m not seeking to insult them. I’m just saying this book feels like an excited amateur’s swing at action horror. It’s a full comic of pages that take place in ONE location. And that location is not engaging or particularly visual. The characters are one-dimensional and announce their intentions in a purely unnecessary fashion. It’s borderline outsider comics (not to be confused with outlaw comics or comix"). I found some charm to the whole thing.
I should say the use of the n-word going from hard ‘r’ to soft ‘a’ on the same page, both said by white characters, threw me a little. I have to assume it’s meant to affect a southern accent, but it just gives readers something to trip over and slow our experience.
SLOWBURN #1 by Masters / Minotti is a capable STRAY BULLETS-inspired crime story that mostly lands. The art is stiff in places though it occasionally hits a mood. The writing falls into the aforementioned exposition trap at times, but in a different way than LUNAR LOUNGE. Instead of giving us too much in a dialog balloon, we’ve got characters recounting too much of the story to themselves.
The characters are unlikeable, intentionally and with enough craft that we’re not wishing them misfortune. It reminds me of the setup for the film DON’T BREATHE, which I enjoyed.
I’m not sure the Centralia setting is enough to carry the series, but I get the impulse to set it there. A crime story you can end with a villain falling into a fire pit has an appeal.
PETROL HEAD #1 by Williams / Parr is among the most complete efforts I’ve seen in a minute. Which doesn’t mean it entirely works for me, but does make it almost impossible to slam. It looks slick. It reads well. So you’re really just left with preference. “Do I like this world they’ve created?” and “Do I like these characters?” That’s it.
One storytelling issue I have is the main character being called Petrol Head, because that’s what drivers are called and the crowd doesn’t validate him with a proper name. I get it, it’s like calling a character ‘Driver’ but it just causes momentary confusion and doesn’t land as intended.
KILL YOUR DARLINGS by Parker / Sheridan / Quinn is a gamble. The setup is so familiar I found myself agitated. I was turning pages thinking “another goddamn ‘child with unfortunate home life retreats to a fantasy world’ story?” But the final page (which I think needed more emphasis) pushes it into new and edgier territory. So, remains to be seen. Maybe it’ll go interesting places. And of course all transgressive work needs something familiar to twist. Quinn is doing good work, so you’re along for the ride regardless.
THE ONE HAND by V / Campbell felt heavy to me. Physically. Sometimes a lotta pages isn’t the selling point creators believe it is. V misses as often as he hits for me, so having MORE opportunity to lose me felt like a miscalculation. But this issue had me. It’s a rather straightforward detective story set in a shitty future. Alright, I’m in.
Campbell makes some smart layout choices and the character acting is solid. And even though the setting is a bit grim, you’re not in danger of getting bored. At no point did I wanna put the book down. Which sounds like faint praise, but thick issue 1s are sometimes asking too much of the reader.
AND THAT’S IT
You got no insights, nothing smart, just some thoughts about books I read. I hope you read them too. Until next week, when I’ll (hopefully) have something intelligent to say. I’m following a story/scandal that has some small crossover into comics and maybe I’ll give my thoughts on it… if I can do so without setting my professional life on fire. Stay tuned. Do for self.