Comics commentary from our podcast regulars.
Harvey Pekar’s latest (posthumously published, but perhaps not his final work) is “Cleveland”, telling the story of Pekar’s hometown and his place in it. While perhaps lacking in some of Pekar’s strong points, it’s nonetheless a compelling read. Joseph Remnant’s art is by and large a great take on Pekar’s vision. Tim and Kumar discuss.
Comics Reporter interview with Joseph Remnant
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A retrospective exhibit of the art of Katsuhiro Ootomo was recently held in Tokyo. Ootomo‘s work Akira is what inspired Mulele to come to Japan and learn to draw manga, so the exhibit was a chance to soak up inspiration and reflect on his current state of affairs. Patrik W, also an Ootomo fan from way back, attended and enjoyed. For Tim, not an Ootomo reader, it was a chance to see what he’s been missing. Discussion ensues.
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Over the years, Mulele has mentioned his Elbis project several times on the show. Created for Illustration Friday, developed for (but rejected by) Kodansha, the spiritual kittycat’s story has found a home on paper thanks to DWAP Productions. This week, Mulele explains how the project started and developed, and where he’s headed from here.
Then, we catch up with DWAP‘s Dale Wilson, about how he picked up Elbis, as well as his new site BuyIndieComics.com, and the state of indie comics in the States.
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Written by Alan Moore.
Illustrated by Jacen Burrows.
Avatar Press, 2010.
This book is several things.
It is a kinky H.P. Lovecraft worshiping Cthulhu Mythos pulp story, with endless name checks. It is a raw, meaty slab of new Alan Moore story. It is a meta-narrative that discusses the possibilities of linguistic based psychedelic experience. It is some high concept, dark science fiction short story. It was a piece of work made to pay off Alan Moore’s tax bill.
In my opinion all of those statements are true. This is an example of why Alan Moore is a master craftsman. The panel layouts, pacing and dialogue are top notch. Burrows’ art is excellent. The ideas that are at work here are intellectually rewarding and inventive. The stories mirror the Weird Tales formula that they are based on, down to the morbid endings that push the indescribable horror by just showing their effects, their aftermath. Continue reading Review: Alan Moore’s Neonomicon
I recently bought the video game Batman: Arkham City and was amazed by the content. Batman: Arkham City involves Gotham City being taken over by the villains that Batman has sent to Arkham Asylum throughout the years. The Batman villains have taken some of the residents of Gotham City hostage and some of the Gotham City Police officers hostage.
Batman: Arkham City begins with a segment where Bruce Wayne is making a speech. While he is speaking, Vikki Vale is shown reporting on the speech. In the middle of Bruce Wayne’s speech, he is kidnapped by Hugo Strange’s henchmen. Bruce Wayne is then taken to a room and tied up in a chair. Then Hugo Strange begins to talk smack to Bruce Wayne. From there the game starts. When the game starts, you have to use your XBOX controller to get Bruce Wayne to escape from captivity in the chair. The screen will give you hints on what buttons to push in order get Bruce to rock back and forth in the chair. Rocking back and forth will get Bruce to fall and break the chair, thus escaping from captivity. Once you get him to break out of the chair, Hugo Strange’s henchmen will start running in the room to give Bruce Wayne the beatdown. It will be your job to fight off the henchmen. Once you defeat the henchmen, you will have to find the rocket that Alfred will send to Bruce. This rocket will have the Batman suit in it for Bruce to change into. From there, you will be able to put Batman into some serious action.
What makes Batman: Arkham City so great is the fact that players of the game can choose to go anywhere they want. Players can choose the outcome of the game by going anywhere in Arkham City. Wherever you go in Arkham City will depend on what happens.
Each villain has their own section in Arkham City that that villain owns. Each villain’s territory is guarded by their henchmen. When you are far away from a villain, you will encounter thugs that have bats. The thugs with baseball bats are easier to defeat. However, if you get close to a villain, you will encounter henchmen with guns. The thugs with guns are a lot more difficult to defeat. You will have to use more of a strategy to take down thugs with guns by using smoke pellets. Once you get Batman to use the smoke pellets, you can get Batman to hide in the smoke and capture the thugs one by one. Doing this takes a long time to do because Batman will have to use his harpoon to hang from the top of buildings and swoop down on the gun armed thugs. You have to wait until the right time to get each thug.
The thing that really makes Batman: Arkham City stand out is the fresh new takes on the Batman characters. Batman: Arkham City does a good job at mixing elements from the Batman comics and all of the Batman movies.
In Batman: Arkham City, The Joker is supposed to be dying from a fatal illness. As Batman runs through Gotham City, you will overhear people talking about The Joker dying. There are also parts in the game where you can see the Joker’s sickly looking face. Just like in the cartoon Batman: The Animated Series, The Joker is voiced by Mark Hamil from Star Wars. Also, Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman in Batman: The Animated Series, also voices Batman in the Batman: Arkham City video game.
The interesting thing about The Riddler’s voice is that it sounds just like Jim Carrey in the movie Batman Forever. However, The Riddler is voiced by Wally Wingert, who did work on the cartoons Family Guy and The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.
The Penguin is a villain that had a very good makeover in this video game. In this game, the Penguin has an English accent. This works considering The Penguin’s proper look. Another makeover for The Penguin a change in his monocle. Instead of a monocle on The Penguin’s eye, he has a piece of a broken beer bottle lodged in his eye. Other characters featured in Batman: Arkham City are Barbara Gordon, Harley Quinn, and Bane.
If you lose at a certain level, you will hear some very harsh words from the villain who owns the territory you where in when you lost. This will definitely motivate you to play the game over again.
All of the different elements taken from everything related to Batman makes Batman: Arkham City a great buy. The game will have you playing for hours with riddles that you will not want to stop trying to figure out.
Even amidst the anything-goes craziness of the early Image years, Sam Kieth’s The Maxx was an outlier. While it included some superhero tropes, it wasn’t really a superhero book, nor was it like much of anything else on the market, then or now. While it definitely has its weaknesses, Kumar and Dana confirm this week that it was absolutely mind-blowing…and emotionally affecting.
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FLASHBACK! Tim and Brandon discuss “Fables” vol 1 and the Fables graphic novel “1001 Nights of Snowfall”, along with a detour into ’90s Marvel! (Originally published January 1, 2007)
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FLASHBACK! Repeatedly collected and published since it went into the public domain, Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo is perhaps the most celebrated comic strip of the early 20th century. Peter Maresca, whose Sunday Press republished all the Nemo strips at their original size a few years back, talks with Tim about what’s good and bad about the strip, and the influence it still has on modern comics. (Originally published September 28, 2009)
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Imagine a Disney movie with tons of cheesecake and commentary on how religion can be used to control a society. It would look an awful lot like Sky Doll, by Alessandro Barbucci and Barbara Canepa. Originally published by Soleil in France starting in 2000, it came out in English from Marvel in 2008. While there has been an anthology book and a sketchbook, the main series has apparently never been completed, but don’t let that dissuade you from reading this very compelling (not to mention gorgeously drawn) volume. Tim and Rashad explore.
Another take from Charley Parker
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Alice from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Wendy from Peter Pan, and Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz meet in a hotel in Austria in 1913 and perform almost every sex act conceivable with each other, animals, objects, relatives, consenting and non-consenting minors, and numerous combinations thereof (it’s all just lines on paper, folks!) nearly non-stop for 240 pages. Close to 20 years in the making, Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie’s Lost Girls is perhaps the most ambitious, lavish, and beautiful project of Moore’s career. And yet, does it all amount to mere slash fiction? Or, on the contrary, is it so intelligent that it sabotages its own pornographic objectives? Or is it, in fact, impervious to criticism? Kumar and Dana turn up their trenchcoat collars and slink into the grimy back room to discuss.
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