On this episode of the CBMFP we sit down with the creator and writer of Swerve, Jon Judy. He shares with us the some of the steps that he went through to make this book a reality. We chat about some “rasslin”, comics, the business and everything in between. So sit back and enjoy this look into what it takes to make comic book magic (It made my miniseries of the of 2012). You can get Swerve digitally here and look for the trade to be released in February!
Review: Resident Alien - Vol. 1: Welcome to Earth
If you’re of a certain age, you’ll remember the movie-turned-TV show Alien Nation. Veiled beneath your bog-standard buddy cop yarn, the movie (and then show) explored a world wherein aliens had already come to Earth, but instead of trying to replace us with pod people or bursting out of/deeply probing our chest or anal cavities, respectively, these aliens just kind of ... well, got on with it, really. They learned English, got jobs, paid their bills and taxes, and integrated into society as best they could. It was essentially every Republican’s worst nightmare. When I first picked up the first trade for issues 1-6 of Dark Horse’s Resident Alien, a series which originally debuted in theDark Horse Presents title, I just expected the same kind of story. You could forgive me for doing so after seeing cover and solicit art for the book, which showed your classic grey-skinned, wide-eyed alien cold chillin’ in varying scenes of everyday Americana. But despite sharing similar DNA, Resident Alien is nothing like Alien Nation. In fact, it’s a whole different being.
It starts out familiarly enough, telling the story of an alien who crash-lands onto Earth. However, instead of revealing himself to the masses, this alien hides among us. Using his outer space mental mojo, he tricks every human into seeing him as Harry Vanderspeigle, a retired specialized doctor of Dutch descent whose name sounds like a funny word for genitalia.
Adopting a solitary and aloof demeanor, Dr. Vanderspaceman has settled with his secret into the idyllic environs of Patience, USA. Our story begins when his privacy is interrupted by Mike, Patience’s Chief of Police, who asks Harry for his medical expertise within the recent murder case of local sawbones, Doc Hodges. Agreeing reluctantly, Harry assists the police, but is later hoodwinked by the mayor of Patience into filling in for the deceased while a replacement doctor can be found. This, of course, goes against his plan of keeping his big purple head down. Interject your own penis joke here.
While seeing his patients in ... Patience, Harry finds himself lulled into a sense of contentment in life among the locals, developing a strange affinity for these “transparent” beings, “reading” them like tabloids and growing ever more interested in both them ...and the murder which put him in their presence. The plot thickens when, in short order, the murder is followed by another, this of a local old curmudgeon, whose grizzly end was savagely wrought, according to an eyewitness account, in the bedroom by a naked man with a sewing needle. Take that, CLUE.
Throughout this first arc, we follow Harry as he alternatively investigates (and eventually, in a way, solves) the murders in his capacity as town doctor, and recounts via flashback his fiery arrival on Earth three years ago. We also get a glimpse of a shadowy, possibly governmental group of black-suited gentlemen who have found his ship and begun the process of looking for him.
Personally, I really enjoyed this book ... but I’m not exactly sure why. In one sense, it reminds me of Brokeback Mountain. Bear with me here. Like gay cowboys in an otherwise somewhat banal story, an alien in this setting at first seems like a bit of sensationalism just to spice things up. But for some reason, in this case, that small element, that surreal little twist, works well within this small town whodunnit framework.
I’m not sure if it’s completely necessary, as the story, penned by writer Peter Hogan, is intriguing enough without an alien. The writing stands on its own merit as fun and infinitely easy to read, presenting as it does a fully-fleshed world of characters, each of whom speaks with a natural, comfortable cadence. It does, however, provide interesting perspective as an outsider looking in, particularly during those moments when Harry analyzes his environment and situation; the best scenes within the work. Meanwhile, the art by Steve Parkhouse, while being nothing special in particular, is consistently endearing, lending itself to this setting and setup with a simple, down-home style that isn’t afraid to get its feet wet in the fantastic.
The big murder reveal at the end is admittedly quite muted, and comes across as pretty random and uninteresting, but at the same time - and whether or not this is a good thing is up for debate amongst you Bastards - the murder, and the true identity of its conductor, proves to be secondary to this alien’s simple life in town and his constant worrying about being discovered therein. That is the important story here, after all, but it makes you wonder why Hogan included a murder mystery at all when its payoff comes across so hollowly.
Still, Resident Alien sets itself up nicely for future story, not only with Harry’s continued tentative attempts at integration, but also with the spooks who are out to threaten it, not to mention the one person who could undermine it: Native American nurse, Asta. Apparently, being the daughter of the local shaman allows her to be in touch with her spirit animal or whatever enough to begin to see past Harry’s clever mental ruse. Hijinks, no doubt, shall henceforth ensue.
In the end, just like Doctor Vanderspeigle is with my fellow humans, I am, despite myself, fascinated by this story, and will continue reading to see what happens next.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Peter Hogan
Artist: Steve Parkhouse
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $14.99
Release Date: 2-27-13
Episode 64: It Just Got A Wee Bit Ranchy In Here
This week we cover the drama that is the Superman legal woes. Then there are some big Marvel fans that want the Avengers Arena comic to stop being so lame. A new publication out of the UK, Titian Comics and A-1 team up. All of this and so much more! Books that we cover are Luther Strode #2, Joe Palooka #2, The End Times of Bram and Ben #1, Repossessed #1. We are here, the time is now and CBMFP is GO!
Episode 63: The Random Guy With The Box Of 90's Comics
Well it’s the first CBMFP of 2013 and what better way to start things off then talking about Marvel in 2013! There is SO much news!! I hope you like monster trucks because we’re talking about them. We cover some Guardians of the Galaxy news. Also please help writer Peter David in his time of need by picking up his work. Oh George Lucas is getting married and there's some Aspen news and so much more!! Comics that get covered is Colder #3 and our "hardcore indie corner pick" Chinatown CBMFP #63 in 2013 is GO!
Review: Chinatown
Chinatown is a project that I actually supported on Kickstarter. It had an interesting art style that caught my attention and a mysterious story to support it. Over the holiday’s I was sent my digital copy for supporting the series and I wanted to review it to increase awareness about the book for its official release in stores, but also because I’m dying to talk about it. For starters the comic doesn’t follow what I would call traditional storytelling techniques. Now that doesn’t make it bad by any means, but it does make for an abstract reading experience at times. The comic opens up with Amy and Lucy sitting in her room. She asks Amy if she wants to see the devil and explains that it’s something her mom told her. The two girls put their shoes on the opposite foot with their back to her full-length closet mirror and count to three. The story Amy’s mom told her says that if they bend over and look between their legs into the mirror they’ll see the devil. We cut away though never knowing what they saw.
After that we follow Dr. Lau as he arrives at Pigsy’s BBQ for a meal. He talks to the owner’s son Travis for a bit, but the conversation is rather dry. Wu the owner of Pigsy’s comes out to chat with Lau and we learn a few things about the struggling area. Lau is trying to get a community center built to revitalize the dying area and we also discover that Wu’s daughter Samantha hasn't come home in a few days. From there we bounce back to the kids again and meet Damon. A kid that doesn’t believe in god because his glasses don’t fit his head, but the kids are interrupted by a strange starving dog barking at them. Amy’s parents tell everyone that they need to get inside because of Samantha’s disappearance. It’s clear that the town is very uneasy about the young girl that’s missing, but what evil will they invite inside to rid themselves of the one haunting them?
Obviously I haven’t gotten to the juicy part of the story, but that’s why I said in the beginning that the structure of this book is very different. It has a deliberately slow pace so that it can build up the day-to-day life within Chinatown. Then when it switches gears and becomes abstract and crazy you have a baseline for the weirdness. There are a lot of visual metaphors and really great scenes. A lot of it isn’t spelled out for you; you just have to take what you want from the story at times. There is one scene with Lucy in particular that explains a lot of what’s happening in the plot, but also breaks down the character types as well and was probably my favorite scene of the book.
I really enjoyed the story and though there is still a bit of a mystery left to the story, it was really good. The opening’s pacing and structure was very good. The two girls taking and counting down leads right into the title page and it was very impactful and gave the impression of a movie or animated film opening. Really the parts that were the strongest were the strangest parts of the story. The other thing about the writing is that it isn’t overbearing with the dialog. Sure there are characters moments in which they rattle off a monologue, but a lot of first time creators fill the page with dialog that is more of an exposition than anything else and that doesn’t happen here.
The character designs really steal the show and it was the original reason I was drawn to this book. There’s this mixture of proportions that look un-natural, but work perfectly for the story. Wu has a huge head that while matches his frame and build, makes him look weird and different from the other people. There are plenty of other examples of large heads and small bodies throughout the series. There’s one scene in which Lau goes into Pigsy’s and sees everyone looking like an animal or insect and it’s spectacular. It was my second favorite scenes as literally everything in the place changes, from the backgrounds to the people. It was a strong visual scene that tells you a lot of the story without a single line of dialog to do so. In fact that’s the strength of the story for that scene as the conversation is completely normal, while the visuals are anything but.
I really liked this story and after you read through it once, it actually becomes a faster read the second time around. That’s when you can pay even more attention to the visuals and beginning seeing the many layers of the mystery involved in the story. Currently, you’ll only find the book in the Chicago area unless you were a Kickstarter supporter. You can check out their site though and find out how to request the book for yourself.
Score: 4/5
Writer: Wesley Sun Artist: Brad Sun Publisher: Sun Bros Studio Price: $19.99 print, $5.00 digital Website: Sunbrosstudio.com
Review: Princeless Vol. 1 - Save Yourself
Princesses are usually nothing more than plot devices; they play the role of "damsel in distress" as they captivate our hero with their beauty and little else. Princeless is absolutely nothing like the previous sentence. In fact, by the second page it’s clear that this is going to be a very different story and by the end of the first issue/chapter you will know that this is something special you’re holding in your hands… its comic history. This is by far one the most accessible comics I’ve ever read; it’s not only enjoyable for both adults and children, but also it’s something that any gender can enjoy. The first page is a fairy tale opening, as a mother readers her daughter a story that’s similar to Rapunzel, Shrek or half a dozen other fairy tales. A fair-skinned princess is rescued by a handsome prince once he’s finished slaying the dragon that guards her. After finishing the story we find a dark-skinned mother and daughter sitting on the daughter’s bed. The young girls name is Adrienne and she goes off on the story calling out all the plot holes and flaws with the concept. She tells her mother that her and her dad better not lock her up in a tower when she turns 16.
The next scene we find Adrienne finishing her sentence locked in a tower with a dragon outside guarding her. The dragon’s job is to eat anyone that’s comes calling on her and she’s very good at her job. Currently she’s eating two knights that have failed to slay her while Adrienne looks on. She warns the dragon named Sparky that eating so quickly will give her heartburn and keeps her up all night, but Sparky doesn’t listen. Adrienne takes to writing in her diary in order to keep her wits about her and we’re treated to a bit of a back story about how she got locked in the tower after all. Her thoughts are interrupted though as another suitor Prince has come to call on her. He calls her “fair” which upsets her as she goes off on him about the proper meaning of the word and then tells him to read a book if he doesn’t get eaten first.
While the prince flees for his life Adrienne pokes around under her bed and finds a sword hidden there. She gets excited, but soon Sparky is standing at her window looking her over. She tries to hide it, but she’s busted. She asks Sparky if she can keep it and soon enough she’s practicing with it in the yard outside of her tower. At night she breaks the news to Sparky as she tells her of her plan to escape pretending to be a prince and tells Sparky that she needs to come with her since staying will only mean her death. She grabs the left over armor and Sparky torches the tower. There’s no turning back as Adrienne sets out to save her sisters from a life trapped in a tower under her father's rule.
The writing is just fantastic. The plot is well-crafted and it’s quite clear that this is going to be a long epic journey broken up into different chapters; and that’s perfectly fine. I actually think it will help the series in the long run as new readers will always be able to grab previous book volumes and jump on and never be scared away by a high issue count. Besides the plot being great the dialog is very engaging and rewarding. There is a flair of modern awareness to the story, but the sentence structures are more accurate compared to the era in which classic fairy tales were first written. This gives the book a wonderful charm and makes the characters very likeable. Adrienne’s intelligence isn’t to be rivaled and I love her quick wit and ability to correct others even in the middle of a dire situation.
Another thing that amazes me about this story is that writer Jeremy Whitley has managed to do something that even female writers fail to do. There is no damsel in this story. Often times when there is a female lead they are actually just taking the role of the “Prince” and saving a man who is weaker than them. You can look no further than several volumes of Wonder Woman (pre-New 52) and Ms. Marvel (Pre-Captain Marvel) to see prime examples of this. Sure there are in fact real damsels in the story, but Adrienne is going to liberate them to a life of their choosing rather than marriage. This story portrays Adrienne as the strongest female comic book character to be created in decades in my opinion.
The art is the absolute best choice for the book. There’s this really fine balance between fairy tale and comic book that it manages hit. The storybook quality gives it a unique charm, but there is also something very modern about it at the same time. I loved the design for Sparky and the characters in general. The character’s facial expressions play a strong role in giving them personality, but also the book personality as well. There is a great partnership between the story and art that make it feel more like a collaboration then two separate parts just working together.
This is an amazing series and my only regret is that I didn’t read it sooner. The magical thing about it is it that you can recommend it to just about anyone. If you have a daughter or niece that is interested in comic books, but can rarely find something that interests them this is perfect for them. But it’s not limited to just young girls by any means as I can wholeheartedly recommend this to young boys as well. Heck, I’m a full-grown adult and I read it and loved it. I said that this book was comic history in the beginning of this review and really what I meant was that this series is only going to get bigger and more popular. This is the series that keeps on giving and right now it’s on the ground floor, but already in just one year it has gained so much ground.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Jeremy Whitley
Artist: Mia Goodwin
Publisher: Action Lab Entertainment and Firetower Studios
Price: $14.95