IDW Publishing and comiXology have partnered to make the publisher’s complete library available digitally across all comiXology platforms — iOS, the Android and the Web.

Beginning today, the entire Transformers line, previously sold only through comiXology’s Android app or online store, will also be available through comiXology’s apps for the various Apple devices. Several new IDW titles, including the first issue of the new Star Trek ongoing, the first two issues of Locke & Key: Clockworks and the first six issues of G.I. Joe, will also appear starting today. More comics will be added later.

Previously IDW’s comics were only available on Apple’s iOS through iVerse and the various iVerse-created IDW apps.

“ComiXology customers have asked for IDW to be part of the Comics by comiXology lineup for some time, and we’re thrilled to bring our catalog to those readers,” Jeff Webber, IDW’s director of ePublishing, said in a statement. “We’ve always been impressed with comiXology’s strength in offering comics across multiple platforms, including Apple iOS, Android and the Web. David and his team have put together an awesome offering. ComiXology has established a huge audience — I know we’re going to make a lot of IDW fans happy this week.”

The complete list of comics coming to the Comics by comiXology app are:

• Transformers – over 200 issues
• Star Trek ongoing 1
• G.I. Joe ongoing 1-6
• Rocketeer Adventures 1-2
• Locke & Key: Clockworks 1-2
• Parker: The Hunter
• Parker: The Outfit
• True Blood Vol. 1 1-6
• Jericho Season 3 4-6

Parker: The Martini Edition will come in a slipcase with additional commentary, sketches and a new eight-page Parker story.

“The first two Parker graphic novels have been met with such overwhelming praise,” said series editor Scott Dunbier. “It’s almost been an embarrassment of riches. With this Martini Edition we’re really trying to up the bar and give the fans something extra special—I think we’ll succeed!”

The book is due in July. You can find the release after the jump.

*****

Cooke and IDW Present Parker: The Martini Edition
Hardcover compilation of The Hunter and The Outfit
Plus art gallery and all-new story

Arriving July 2011

San Diego, CA (April 1, 2011) – At WonderCon today, IDW Publishing announced that Darwyn Cooke’s first two adapted Parker books, THE HUNTER and THE OUTFIT, will be collected in a tremendous, oversized hardcover edition, with an additional 65 pages of Cooke content. Packaged in a beautiful slipcase, The Martini Edition debuts in July and features a brand new Parker short story by Darwyn Cooke.

“The first two Parker graphic novels have been met with such overwhelming praise,” said series editor Scott Dunbier. “It’s almost been an embarrassment of riches. With this Martini Edition we’re really trying to up the bar and give the fans something extra special—I think we’ll succeed!”

Adapted from Richard Stark’s classic crime noir novel, Darwyn Cooke’s PARKER: THE HUNTER graphic novel debuted in July 2008 to instantaneous popular and critical acclaim. It made the New York Times best-seller list and won coveted Eisner and Harvey awards. The second graphic novel, THE OUTFIT, was released last year and was met with similar response, and is currently under consideration for nominations in this year’s awards season. Parker: The Martini Edition will be a very special collection in that it will also feature an expansive section of sketches and preliminaries by the artist, with commentary accompanying. Also included is a brand-new 8-page Parker story by Darwyn Cooke, unique to this volume.

The Hunter and The Outfit tell the story of Parker, Richard Stark’s classic anti-hero, as he returns to New York to settle the score with his wife and partner in crime after they betray him in a heist gone terribly wrong. After evening the field and reclaiming his prize, the Outfit decide to do some score settling of their own… and learn much too late that when you push a man like Parker, it had better be all the way to the grave.

PARKER: THE MARTINI EDITION ($75.00, partial color, 344 pages, 9”x13”) will be available comic and book stores in July 2011. ISB 978-1-60010-980-5.

Vietnamerica

Welcome to a special Super Bowl Sunday edition of What Are You Reading? Not that it’s any different from a regular WAYR column, but you can enjoy it while eating hot wings while the TV is paused.

Today our special guest is biology professor Jay Hosler, creator of Clan Apis and Optical Allusions. His latest book, Evolution, with artists Kevin Cannon and Zandor Cannon, was recently released by Hill & Wang. Check out his blog for a story he’s working on about photosynthesis.

To see what Jay and the Robot 6 gang are reading, click below.

*****

Chris Mautner

Ice Haven

I just re-read Daniel Clowes’ Ice Haven again, as Pantheon was kind enough to send me the new paperback version. It’s as enjoyable and tart a read as ever, but it does strike me as just a wee bit dated in that it was clearly written in a time before the Internet and similar kinds of technology became ubiquitous (one character even complains about no one reading her ‘zine for instance. Remember those?) The loneliness and alienation the characters seems slightly quaint in an age where everyone can find someone who shares their interests and can keep in touch with just about anyone who has a computer, regardless of how far away they are. These folks are just one Facebook account and Twitter feed away from solving their problems.

Tom Bondurant

The Unwritten #21

This week I’m very glad for the time to re-read all 21 issues of The Unwritten, Mike Carey and Peter Gross’ exploration of literature’s interaction with reality. Although I’ve been keeping up with the single issues, this was the first chance I’d had to sit down with the series as a whole. Overall it was pretty rewarding, because the series works on so many levels. (That was a nice James Whale reference in issue #21!) I also found myself more engaged with the characters, especially Lizzie and Savoy. However, since each issue encourages multiple readings (not just the clever multipath #17), I think Unwritten may be read best in singles. As much as I liked being able to consume whole story arcs at once, it’ll be nice to have a month to reflect between installments.

(By the way, another series with which I’d like to spend more time is Neal Adams’ Batman: Odyssey — mostly because I have no idea what’s going on. This past week’s issue #6 complicated things further with Deadman inside the Joker’s body, with Adams not really making it clear where the villain might be regaining control. The alternate
Dynamic Duo were kind of intriguing, though.)

Speaking of time between issues, I thought Amazing Spider-Man was going back to a monthly schedule once the rotating creative teams were done. This week’s #653 (by Dan Slott and Stefano Caselli) was quite fun, especially Squirrel Girl’s cameo as “Earth’s Mightiest Nanny.” Caselli’s work was fine, and I can see a few stylistic similarities between it and Humberto Ramos’, but I don’t know if Marvel is trying to establish an overall aesthetic for ASM with a particular set of artists. Not a criticism, just an observation. I am still getting used to the idea of Spidey as an Avenger, and while Slott has already used them in “Big Time,” this issue really showed how comfortable Spidey is with his teammates. Looking forward to #654 in just a few short days.

Finally, I really enjoyed the 2011 Superman 80-Page Giant, and I’m not just saying that for Abhay’s benefit. (I too figured out the twist in his Jimmy Olsen story, but a) that was probably the point, and b) it was still a good Jimmy/Superman story.) Neil Kleid and Dean Haspiel’s Perry White/Wildcat team-up was a nice little bit of history, Steve Horton and Dan McDaid’s Bizarro story was sweet and fun, and the Lois Lane story (written by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover, drawn by Amilcar Pinna) was yet another good reason to give DC’s greatest reporter her own feature. All in all, not a bad way to spend $6.

Brigid Alverson

Zita the Spacegirl

I’m reading two graphic novels right now that deal with well-worn storylines but manage to freshen them up a bit. Ben Hatke’s Zita the Spacegirl is about a girl who watches her friend get snatched through a rip in the real world and goes in after him. On the other side of the portal is a strange world filled with an assortment of muppetlike aliens (many of whom, oddly, speak English). It’s a hostile world and also a doomed one‹an asteroid is on track to hit it in just three days. The inhabitants’ attempt to deflect the asteroid has gone terribly awry, causing destruction and destabilization. Zita stumbles into this and, in true adventure-tale fashion, soon acquires a cohort of friends, a group blessed more with loyalty than skill, it must be said. Much of the charm of this book comes from Hatke’s simple but expressive line and also imaginative cast of characters. The aliens come in a true variety of shapes and temperaments, from the aptly named Strong-Strong to One, a round, maladroit flying robot. The plot follows the standard pattern of these books‹the quest, the double-cross, the epiphany‹but the ending is a bit of a surprise.

The first volume of Julietta Suzuki’s Kamisama Kiss presents the reader with a whole bouquet of shoujo-manga clichés, starting with the the irresponsible father who abandons his daughter, the plucky Nanami. You would think from reading shoujo manga that Japan has no child welfare system whatsoever; Nanami heads off to sleep in a nearby park but ends up rescuing a stranger who has been chased up a tree by a dog. The grateful stranger offers her his home, which he has not visited in 20 years, but upon arrival Nanami discovers that the home is actually a Shinto shrine, and she is now the resident deity. She is, of course, terribly unqualified for the job, and the hot-but-hostile Tomoe, the last deity’s helper, is in no mood to make things any easier. Although these elements show up in a lot of shoujo manga, Suzuki spices them up with a liberal dose of humor and Japanese folklore, as well as a plot that doesn’t fall into place right away but keeps Nanami’s situation unstable‹and therefore interesting.

Michael May

Namor #5

I blew most of my reading time this week on non-fiction, but I did squeeze in Namor #5 to see what Marvel’s doing with THEIR underwater superhero these days. I know it’s not the most recent issue (#6 is next in the pile), but it was a great introduction to the character and his world. Artistically, they should’ve skipped the introductory X-Men crossover story arc and started with this one. Stuart Moore does a nice job of highlighting the many moods of Sub-Mariner and how he’s been perceived in such different ways throughout his career, while also reconciling those “faces” (as the story is titled) into a single personality. And as he does this, he shows off too some supporting cast and teases an interesting direction for future issues. I’m eager to read more.

Tim O’Shea

The first Mermin arc from Joey Weiser comes crashing (and I mean crashing in giant waves crashing) to an end with issue 5. It’s a heck of a finish that entertained my 11-year old son immensely (as well as myself). This story is at its best when Mermin is bantering with his old and new friends, the character is an odd mixture of innocence and snark–a combination I enjoy.

I hate, hate, hate spending $4 on a single comic–and had convinced myself that I could wait for trades on Dan Slott’s Spider-Man. But dangit if the latest cover did not draw me in (plus the ever-fleeting opportunity to see Slott write Thing dialogue yet again {yeah, I’m the guy that loved Slott’s Thing ongoing series from a few years back}). I really hope Max Modell is not some evil genius about to turn on Parker, because after reading just a few scenes with the guy, I like him already. And that’s a credit to how great Slott is at writing characters that immediately catch the audience’s interest. Bonus points for the banter between Spidey and Squirrel Girl.

Paul Tobin’s really hitting his stride as a writer with Spider-Girl. Death appears to be final (no surprise returns) in this series, and I think the book’s a must read for the ways that Tobin addresses the grieving process without being heavy handed. I really hope Marvel editorial will allow Sue Richards to continue to play a role in this book, as the dynamics are a departure from what I’ve grown to expect in Marvel.

It took until Hulk #29 for me to finally realize artist Gabriel Hardman could draw a bunch of characters picking their noses and I would still love his work. There’s an energy and a dynamic sense of layout to his work that is rarely present in monthly comics. Added bonus, Jeff Parker’s script is far more than people probing their noses.

Carla Hoffman

Avengers Annual #21

I’ve been reading some weird comics. Sure, there’s Invincible Iron Man #500.1 we could talk about, but why do that when I can tell you I read Avengers Annual #21! Part 4 of the Citizen Kang storyline that ran through a handful of annuals back in 1992, this particular issue caught my eye while shelving the Citizen Kang trade. Our store is stocked lovingly with back issues, I hunted this one down and tried to take a single part out of an old school event and see how it compares. First off, the art is both terrible and beautiful, like the dawn; everybody is yelling, noses could slice the finest cheese, implausible anatomy at stake in some cases, this is not the masterwork of the ages. But yet, the story is easy to follow, pictures depict the narrative and there’s even this cute trick of Thor casually leaning on the next frame on the page. The story, while full of adorably hokey lines, is pretty straightforward, Kang is fighting the Avengers when his girlfriend in suspended animation throws an M. Night Shyamalan twist and in the end, we all learn that while we fight to conquer the future, the past is never that far behind. Really, it’s not half bad and more than half fun, so find an issue when you can. I grabbed it mostly for the extras: more specifically, the secret details of an Avengers Membership card (a homing beacon strong enough to carry over “approximately 2000 miles”, a debit card function that will let Avengers draw “up to $2,500 against the Avengers account”, that it’s a key card not just to the locks inside top secret sections of the mansion, but the key to a lot of Avengers vehicles as well, that it has a calculator function, etc.). I love old maps and technical stats the from the Old OHotMU days, so this annual was a special treat.

I also re-read Avengers #72 to be exact, but more importantly refreshed myself on the Search for She-Hulk storyline, written before Geoff Johns had settled in with the Distinguished Competition. This issue is just 28 issues away from Disassembled and there are moments that feel like you’re in the Twilight Zone (Sterling style, not Pattinson). A rather complicated and in-depth plot explained quickly: Jennifer Walters has been forced into her puny form and is terrified for the first time in a long while. She heads out into the middle of nowhere to find her on-the-run cousin, Bruce, wracked with self-doubt. The Avengers catch up with her and the Scarlet Witch confesses to the de-powered Jen the following about her powers “Sometimes, I feel like all of this negative energy sends my head spinning, too. Sometimes, I feel that sometimes I can do nothing but perpetuate the unnatural.” But there’s a strong and immediate bright side to this instability: the Avengers. “But the Avengers are there to ground me. To help me bring order to my life. They are good friends, Jennifer.” Sometimes, reading old comics just makes you miss those friends, We’re still pulling for you, Wanda.

Sean T. Collins

Spotting Deer

Self-published comics and YA genre fiction were my stock in trade this week. Click the links for full reviews!

Snake Oil #6: The Ground Is Soft by Chuck Forsman: Weeks after I first read it, I’m still thinking about this bleakly funny, innovatively structured look at a dysfunctional family struggling against the strictures of their just-this-side-of-a-fantasy-world society.

Studygroup12 #4 by various artists, edited by Zack Soto (self-published): Lovingly printed and stunningly colored, this anthology makes for a fine catalog of art from a mostly Left Coast, Portland-centered group of altcomix artists, but it left me hungry for more substantial comics content.

Spotting Deer and SM by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press/self-published): Two visually inventive, narratively twisty, entertainingly unpleasant horror comics from one of the brightest young talents in alternative comics today.

Finally, I also wrote about a batch of young-adult fantastic-fiction books I’ve read in recent weeks: Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising Sequence, Lloyd Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles, and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games. The job of books like these is first and foremost to succeed as exciting reads, and that they do, but it’s even more fun to pick at their underlying moral themes, and see just how different they can be.

Jay Hosler

The first few weeks of the year are always a good time because I get to read all of the stuff I got over the holidays.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The only novel on my list is The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. What a terrific book. The fanboy elements added to the fun, although given the number of references I missed, I’m worried my geek quotient isn’t as high as it used to be.

In the graphic novel/collection category I recently received a copy of GB Trans Vietnamerica. Whoa. Be-A-utiful book. I had the pleasure to sit by GB at the last SPX and he is not only a great artists and writer but a really nice guy. Everyone should buy this book. I got my monthly Tezuka fix with Ayako, Blackjack (vol 11) and The Art of Osamu Tezuka by Helen McCarthy. The latter contains drawings from Tezuka’s childhood including hand painted insect guides that are gorgeous. He loved beetles. That’s my kinda cartoonist. I also had a chance to read Aya: The Secrets Come Out by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie (I hope there is a fourth volume coming out soon) and the first two Parker books by Darwyn Cooke. They are an interesting contrast; Aya’s airy, colorful Ivory Coast versus the monochormatic, mean streets of Parker. My son’s got The Saga of Rex by Michel Gagne and they were kind enough to share it with me after they were done pouring over the lush illustrations.

I still pick up my monthly does of adventure comics from The Comic Swap in State College, PA. One of my all-time favorites is Usagi Yojimbo. Stan Sakai’s ability to deliver funny, exciting, touching stories every month is astounding. I want to be just like him some day. I started picking up Ed Brubaker’s Captain America when Steve Rogers was shot. It was topical and I was teaching a course called Comics and Culture at the time and the stories hooked me. I am also trying Hulk by Jeff Parker because I think Jeff Parker is the mega cool. I loved the fun of Agents of Atlas and decided to give Hulk a go. I was pretty certain I wouldn’t stick with it because the character doesn’t really interest me much, but Parker’s imagination for writing science fiction (emphasis on the science) has sucked me in. Finally, I started picking Thor: The Mighty Avenger because Roger Langridge and Chris Samnee are an exciting creative team. I’m sad to see that book go.

Of course, I can’t forget the books I read aloud with my sons, Max and Jack. We finished The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan and The Wainscott Weasel written by Tor Seidler and illustrated by Fred Marcellino (such pretty picture). Both were a blast to read aloud. We are currently reading the Minpins by Roald Dahl. And that brings us to the non-fiction part of the show.

I am making my way through Storyteller, Donald Sturrock’s autobiography of Roald Dahl and finding it very interesting. I recently finished Proofiness (Charles Seife’s exploration of our cultures growing innumeracy and how it is effecting democracy) and I’m also picking my way through Adventures Among Ants by Mark W. Moffet and Sensing the Past: Seeing, Hearing, Smelling, Tasting, and Touching in History by Mark J. Smith.

Good times.

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne

Welcome once again to What Are You Reading? Today’s special guest is writer and artist Dean Trippe, creator of Butterfly and co-founder of the Project: Rooftop blog, among other credits. He posts regularly on his Tumblr site Bearsharktopus-Man, where he is currently selling this nifty Doctor Who/Batman crossover print. He also has some art in the Webcomics Auction for the Gulf.

To see what Dean and the rest of the Robot 6 crew have been reading, click below …

*****

Brigid Alverson

The Hunter

Intrigued by the sampler of Darwyn Cooke’s next Parker graphic novel that I picked up at ALA, I ordered the first book, Parker: The Hunter, from the library. Wow, is that hard boiled! Richard Stark (a pseudonym for Donald Westlake, who wrote funnier mysteries under his real name) came up with a hero who was almost superhuman (he can kill a man with his bare hands) but also resourceful, forging a driver’s license and hijacking a gun shipment with equal ease. The story is incredibly dated —most of Parker’s scams wouldn’t fly nowadays, and his treatment of women is beyond appalling—but Cooke takes it for what it is and captures the look of the era in both the setting and the style, a gestural ink line backed with washes of dull blue that would not look out of place in a 1962 issue of Esquire. The story is very straightforward—Parker was double-crossed and left for dead in a job gone bad, and now he’s looking for payback—and Parker slices through every obstacle like a hot knife through butter. The story itself isn’t too intellectually demanding, but Cooke’s art brings it to another level.

A bound galley of Moto Hagio’s A Drunken Dream and Other Stories arrived in yesterday’s mail, and I’m halfway through it already. Hagio’s art in some of these stories is absolutely beautiful to look at, but what’s interesting to me is that these really are girls’ stories. The ones I have read so far are about children and told from a child’s eye view; the adults are there, but they usually make things worse. These short stories remind me very much of their British contemporaries, the ghost stories in Diana and other girls’ comics that were running around the same time. I’m sure the finished book will be beautiful and expensive, but I sort of hope some girls find these stories as well, and get the same thrill I did.

Sean T. Collins

Click the links for reviews…

Werewolves of Montpellier

Werewolves of Montpellier by Jason: The Norwegian master serves up his latest mix of genre wackiness and ruminations about violence and loneliness. Every book’s a winner with this guy.

Where’s Waldo? The Fantastic Journey by Martin Handford: The maddening, fun search game book you remember from your childhood is also a really impressive feat of cartooning-as-worldbuilding.

FCHS by Vito Delsante & Rachel Freire: A sweet, sexy, smart summer soap set in high school circa 1990.

Graeme McMillan

For no real reason whatsoever, I dived into recent Inhumans stories from Marvel’s recent years this week, and got very frustrated as a result; I enjoyed Son of M a fair bit, really loved Silent War, and then felt cheated by the way that Secret Invasion: Inhumans pretty much threw away the wonderful cliffhanger that Silent War ended on – It’s one thing to say “Black Bolt was replaced by a Skrull,” but to ignore that War left all of the Inhumans except for Black Bolt and Quicksilver and Crystal’s daughter either insane or mind-controlled by Maximus (I’m not sure which, to be honest, and that may be the point; the real answer may be somewhere in between) and suddenly launch into a much-smaller “the family that fights together stays together” dynamic was incredibly disappointing. Did I miss something that wrapped up
David Hine’s story in between the two, does anyone know?

Tim O’Shea

Red Robin

Of the Bat-family of books, it’s odd to say that Red Robin is one of the strongest–but there it is. Grant Morrison can’t be bothered with character dynamics, as I doubt they’ve ever interested him as a writer. Fabian Nicieza constructs a great scene in this issue between Batman, Red Robin and Robin. Add to the mix that Marcus To continues to provide solid art on this book.

Having bought the initial Casanova b&w run, I almost did not get this revitalized full color version–the first issue of which came out from Marvel’s Icon imprint this week. But I’m glad I did, as otherwise I would not have read the bonus new story involving the Night Nurse from that first issue. Also, you get a Matt Fraction text piece which includes his admission that Casanova ultimately grew out of a Dominic Fortune/Marvel pitch.

I hate Jim McCann for populating the second issue of Mockingbird & Hawkeye with characters I like, only to kill some of them. Seriously though, strong second issue–but to be perfectly blunt you could have miniseries called “Hawkeye Does His Laundry” and I’d just be happy to be able to buy a monthly book featuring Hawkeye.

I don’t know how I missed the first issue of Peter Hogan, Chris Sprouse and Karl Story’s Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom (six-issue miniseries), but I caught up this week–buying issues 1 and 2. I never tire of the way Tom shouts his dialogue and the importance of family to the series.

I’m grooving to the comedic undercurrent that Chris Roberson and Mike Allred feed throughout iZombie (this week saw the release of issue 3).

I’ve got a Jeff Lemire Talking Comics with Tim interview in the pipeline for the coming weeks–and while recently editing I was unsure as to whether he’s more excited about his writing on Atom or his writing and drawing for the Vertigo ongoing, Sweet Tooth. It doesn’t really matter which he’s enthused most about, what’s important is his passion for both projects shows equally. In terms of Atom, I’m just grateful that DC editorial has allowed Lemire to ignore Palmer’s recent history (ex-wife as murderer, etc)–Lemire’s left to tell an updated style of a Silver Age Atom science story.

Thor and the Warriors Four (the four-issue miniseries) came to a satisfying happy ending for kids and adults alike. Like a good sitcom, I enjoy the snippets of dialogue that Alex Zalben works in–case in point when Thor, Frog of Thunder; and Beta Ray Bill acknowledge each other as they head into battle (Frog: “Thorse”‘ Bill” “Throg”). And I can’t be the only person left wanting to see a Colleen Coover sequel to this Hercules the Olympian Babysitter with the Power Pack?

Gail Simone? Thanks for taking a month off from the Secret Six and allowing John Ostrander to fill in for you. (And I agree with your comment here as I would like Ostrander to “…write an Oracle mini” one of these days). It’s a simple one and done story, which I never tire of reading.

Steve Rogers, Super-Soldier is a mixture of James Bond meets Nick Fury by Ed Brubaker nicely paired with artist Dale Eaglesham. I would be okay if this were an ongoing, instead of a miniseries.

Earlier this week Mark Waid got some folks riled about his Tweets on the superhero genre. It was an unfortunate week for the dust-up to occur, as I think it diluted any attention that his actual superhero comic writing deserved this week. I stepped away from Irredeemable for a few months (there’s only so many comics in a month I can read,
honestly) and I’m glad I came back with Irredeemable 15. They had been building up to a few things and while you don’t get any actual closure on anything, you definitely get some interesting battles and twists. I like it when Waid gets to play with the toys as a writer and they aren’t the holy DC or Marvel, because people can die, things can occur
and no one worries about the precious continuity status quo.

Finally with the first issue of Thor, The Mighty Avenger, writer Roger Langridge and artist Chris Samnee become my favorite all ages creative team at Marvel. I’m a sucker for a Thor who smiles. My one complaint? I have to agree with Kurt Busiek’s tweet from earlier this week when he wrote: “…Lettering’s too damn small, but the book is gorgeous!” One must assume that Langridge tried to fit as much dialogue in the book as he could. I don’t wish either storyteller to be more economic in their storytelling terms, but it may flow better with less words.

Chris Mautner

Solomon's Thieves, Book One

I read two books from First Second this week — Solomon’s Thieves and Resistance Book One.

On the latter, let me just say that I agree 100 percent with Michael May’s assessment of the book — this is a slam-bang, totally engrossing, rip-roaring adventure story from start to finish. Whereas creators Jordan Mechner, LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland tripped over themselves in trying to create something of substance in their Prince of Persia adaptation last year, Solomon has next to no pretense (though there’s a lot of info about medieval life and the Knights Templar — it’s apparent both artists and writer spent a lot of time on research). It’s really just a great, smart, fun read — the kind you’d swear people didn’t make anymore. I’m actually happy for once that the story is “to be continued,” because it means I have something to look forward to.

I was less enthused with Resistance, the second “kids in World War II” book FS put out this spring, though this has a more serious tone than City of Spies, as it deals with a brother and sister living in Vichy France attempting to get their Jewish friend out of the clutches of the Nazis and reunite him with his mom and dad. It’s OK — Kids will probably dig it, but I never really felt like the danger the children were in was sufficiently emphasized at all (with the exception of one incident). What’s more, Leland Purvis’ character art is a little on the stiff side and Carla Jablonski’s dialogue is a bit TV-movieish — everyone speaks in either dull exclamatory sentences or endless questions (“Where are you going?” “Where are you taking us?” “What’s going on?” and so on — for like every other panel). Ultimately the book just felt very rote to me. As down as I was on City of Spies the other week, I think I prefer it to Resistance.

Tom Bondurant

Batman & Robin #13

My haul of superhero comics turned out quite well this week. Batman And Robin #13 was especially good — suspenseful, well-paced, great art, and full of neat little bits like the “I’ll just call you ‘Commissioner Gordon’” exchange. I like how everyone who’s really close to the original Batman isn’t automatically dismissive of Dick/Batman, and I like that that group includes the Joker. I also enjoyed the first issue of Batman: Odyssey. I would call its author “the goddamn Neal Adams,” but I’m sure someone has already used that joke.

I liked John Ostrander and RB Silva’s issue of Secret Six — now where’s their Oracle miniseries?

Thought Great Ten #9 felt very rushed, but that’s not surprising. I did like the miniseries overall and hope to see these characters again soon.

Finally (in Brightest Day #5) Aquaman does something about the big oil spill! Too bad it’s DC-Earth’s version, somewhere near the Bermuda Triangle. Oh well — I’m sure the JLA cleaned up its Gulf of Mexico a while back. Seriously, I continue to believe that the Aquaman subplot is the strongest part of Brightest Day, and I’m hoping it will play a bigger part as the series rolls on.

And lastly, I liked both Fantastic Four books I bought this week. Fantastic Four Annual #32 (done up 2008-style by writer Joe Ahearne and penciller Bryan Hitch) was a nifty standalone story about Johnny Storm’s child and a new version of an old villain, and Spider-Man/Fantastic Four #1 (by Christos N. Gage and Mario Alberti) was just plain fun. How can one say no to a two-page spread involving the FF, Spidey, Doctor Doom, the Sub-Mariner, the ESU quad, “It’s Clobberin’ Time,” and “Imperius Rex!”?

Dean Trippe

Hellboy: The Storm #1

The only really terrible thing about being a comics creator (besides the pay and constant fear you might’ve been happier or at least healthier with a menial day job of any other kind) is that you know what good looks like.

I’ve become insufferable as a comics fan. I don’t like most writing, drawing, coloring, or lettering, and I’m sure as hell not shopping in a store that doesn’t let me flip through books to see if they look interesting. I can’t invest in crossovers anymore. I don’t even care about characters, even though I think nearly every mainstream comics character could be interesting. I follow creators because I’m spoiled.

Because I read Tom Strong, Promethea, Planetary, The Authority, Hellboy, B.P.R.D., Robin: Year One, and All-Star and Superman, I know comics can be absolutely incredible. When my favorite creators team up, that’s when I get interested. Were I President of Comics, I’d make it so every comic was amazing. Somehow. So vote for me.

What meets my impossibly high standards? Here you go:

Batman and Robin (and The Return of Bruce Wayne) by Grant Morrison and a whole host of artists. Grant Morrison’s not just writing these titles. He’s writing the entire DCU over the course of his lifetime. You just didn’t know it. Batman and Robin is the most fun Batman’s been in forever, but Grant’s DCU is all one thing, joined to his JLA, Final Crisis, All-Star Superman, DC One Million, Seven Soldiers of Victory and so on. These are easily the comics that I enjoy the most. So if Morrison writes it, I’m buying it. Speaking of which…

Joe the Barbarian by Grant Morrison and Sean Murphy. Great writing, great art. Dave Stewart on colors. That’s how you do it.

The Walking Dead by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard. That is an excellent creative team, and the story is edge-of-your-seat fascinating, every month.

I, Zombie by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred is the silliest group of monsters, written and drawn so well it never seems unbelievable.

Hellboy and B.P.R.D. by Mike Mignola, Guy Davis, and a slew of awesome, awesome creators. These are the all-around best books in comics, from the writing on down the line. There are no problems. There is only win. Dave Stewart and Guy Davis make so much pretty. If the Big Two could match this level of quality, this consistently, sales would triple.

Besides those, I pretty much follow anything Mark Waid, Robert Kirkman, Mike Mignola, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, or Jonathan Hickman writes, and anything Cliff Chiang, Frank Quitely, Dustin Nguyen, Cameron Stewart, Chris Samnee, or J.H. Williams III draws. Those guys do it right.

The Man with the Getaway Face

Welcome to a special holiday weekend edition of What Are You Reading?, as we take a break from hot dogs and street festivals to take a look at what comics we’ve been reading this week. Our special guest this week is Vito Delsante, writer of FCHS and the upcoming Stray. When he isn’t making comics, he’s selling them at Jim Hanley’s Universe, located in New York near the Empire State Building.

To see what Vito and the rest of the Robot 6 crew are reading, click below …

*****

Michael May

The Anchor

I read the first volume of Phil Hester and Brian Churilla’s The Anchor. It’s a lot more complicated than its simple concept about an immortal, demon-fighting Viking suggests. Of course, that’s no surprise because Phil Hester wrote it, but the specific complications are a lot of fun. Like how the Anchor is actually in two places at once, fighting demons in Hell as well as keeping them off the Earth. And how what happens to him in Hell is reflected on his physical body. And how he uses that to his advantage while protecting humanity. This is also the most overtly Christian book I’ve read from Phil, not only in its mythology, but also in its themes and the attitude of its hero. In a time when that belief system is under a lot of justifiable attack, I find the focus on love and peace-making refreshing and fascinating.

Sean T. Collins

Here’s what’s been on my nightstand and in my backpack for the past couple weeks:

Trigger #1 by Mike Bertino: A variety of familiar altcomix styles get a workout in this one-man anthology of the sort this entire segment of the industry used to consist of.

Weathercraft by Jim Woodring: Psychedelic funny-animal alternate-reality torture porn? Jim Woodring is a one-man subgenre.

The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange

The Mystic Hands of Doctor Strange #1 by Kieron Gillen, Peter Milligan, Ted McKeever, Mike Carey, Frazer Irving, Frank Brunner, and Marcos Martin: This is how Doctor Strange comics ought to be done.

Snow Time by Nora Krug: “A short, achingly lovely-to-look-at story of weather and murder” is how I describe this comic in my review. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Held Sinister by Conor Stechschulte: Inky alt-horror of the Edgar Allen Poe school from the Closed Caption Comics collective.

Big Questions #14: Title and Deed by Anders Nilsen: Twelve years and thirteen issues worth of scattered plot threads and dark philosophical musings entwine in a violent climax in arguably the most powerful funny-animal story this side of Watership Down.

Brigid Alverson

Fairy Navigator Runa is a very typical magical girl shoujo manga, with all the requisite elements, from saucer eyes and an extravagance of screentones that fairly burst off the page to the usual storyline—clumsy girl with low self-confidence finds out she has a Special Power! Because she’s a Princess! There are a few moments that lift this one above the standard issue, though, like the raccoon with scythe blades instead of paws, and the couple from the fairy world who not only turn into an owl and a cat to evade detection, they turn into a super-cute owl and cat so they won’t scare her. This is the kind of book everyone likes to make fun of, and it’s not great literature, that’s for sure, but I can see a girl enjoying the basic story and the flashes of wit.

How I Made It to Eighteen

Shifting to an entirely different emotional key, How I Made It to Eighteen, by Tracy White, is a semi-autobiographical story of the author’s stay in a mental hospital after a nervous breakdown at 17. It’s a hard story to read. The main character, Stacy Black, is not very likeable, in part because her depression flattens her out and makes her hostile. Plus she has that teenage I-know-everything attitude that drives grownups (me) nuts. It’s hard not to get irritated with her and just want her to get on with it and get well; I felt like the book dragged on, but at the same time, that’s what depression is like. The art is done in a naive style that I assume is at least partly deliberate, but White does a good job of using the art to illustrate and amplify Stacy’s mental states.

Tom Bondurant

I read Darwyn Cooke’s two Parker adaptations, The Hunter and The Man With The Getaway Face. Both were gripping and immersive, and just about everything you’d want from a crime novel. Perfect examples of the ideal fusion of artist, subject, and medium. I loved The New Frontier and his other DC work, but this leaves it all in the dust.

(Not that I didn’t read any superhero books this week, of course….)

War of the Supermen #4

The final issue of War of the Supermen did a fine job wrapping up the various “New Krypton” storylines, but not before delivering some good old-fashioned superhero fights. In this age of dismemberments, eye-gouges, decapitations, etc., it was kinda nice to see Zod piledrive Superman with a battleship. The Supergirl/Ursa fight was a little rougher, and of course the eventual disposition of Zod’s army was a little too neat, but by then I felt like the miniseries had done its job. I found one early panel, where Superman is pleading with Zod’s men to find some peaceful resolution, to be particularly effective, because it reminded me of all the diplomatic groundwork he’d so carefully laid throughout the World Of New Krypton series. Still, it was never going to end that way, so in that respect at least it used its villains — Brainiac, Luthor, and now Zod — very effectively.

I can’t remember who said that Johnny Ryan’s Prison Pit was (probably paraphrasing) “Salvation Run without all the nuance,” but … yeah, pretty much.

All of the books I’ve mentioned so far have, in their own ways, been fairly violent, so it’s probably fitting that the last one is Unknown Soldier. I’m very sorry that this series is ending, because I think the past couple of issues have been excellent introductions to the character. Dr. Moses Llwanga is a disfigured surgeon trying to right innumerable wrongs as he makes his way through Uganda. Writer Joshua Dysart and artist Alberto Ponticelli don’t hold back on the brutality, but they don’t glorify it either. Instead, for the past two years they’ve done their best to put human faces on the kinds of tragedies we can otherwise easily ignore. Unknown Soldier has been a very smart series. It challenges me constructively every time I read it, and it always leaves me wanting to know more.

Tim O’Shea

I’m happy to say that this week saw the release of the Hero Initiative/Marvel 128-page benefit project, The Invincible Gene Colan. For only $19.99, you get a hardcover collection of Colan’s work for Marvel (as well as some of his pre-Marvel work). Net proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit Gene Colan. Given Mr. Colan’s current fiscal struggles (and recent injury), this is a simple as hell way to show your appreciation for the years of amazing entertainment the artist has given us over the years.

Secret Avengers

My stack of other buys for this week was big, but I only want to single out two books. Jeff Parker wrote an issue of Thunderbolts where he takes us in a new direction and gives readers a genuine surprise (for me, while not approaching the surprise of Busiek’s first issue way back when, but still a damn fun surprise). And Ed Brubaker made the inner child fanboy scream with delight when he had the Beast rejoin the Avengers (albeit the Secret Avengers) in Secret Avengers #1. It’s the first Avengers book I have bought in several years (pre-Bendis). Oh OK, three books–Jim McCann delivered on his hype in our interview and the standalone Dazzler one-shot was a fun retro/yet present day read. He lays the groundwork for a good ongoing or mini if sales and Marvel gives him a chance.

Did I say I wanted to single out two comics from my pile? I was kidding myself. I always put my favorite/most anticipated reads at the bottom of my pile. And this week the Amazing Spider-Man Annual #37 is at the bottom. Why? Editor Stephen Wacker went the untold tales route–leading with Karl Kesel writing the first team-up between Captain America and Spidey. Until Kesel is a writer on a regular basis, I will shout from the rooftops: “Get Kesel writing on an ongoing basis, Marvel!” I’ve never heard of artist Paulo Siqueira, but if the guy is consistently this strong, he’ll be a name we’ll be seeing more of–hopefully. The other title is Kurt Busiek and Pat Oliffe (yea the original, bona fide, thank you Steve Wacker Untold Tale creative team) doing what they do best. I am a sucker for nostalgia tales. What can I say?

Vito Delsante

Atlas #1

Atlas/Thunderbolts – Of all the Heroic Age restarts, these two have, so far, captivated me the most. No slight meant to any of the other books (I’m digging the oral history of the Avengers back-up so far) but Jeff’s take on the T-Bolts has me hooked. And Atlas was always good…should have never been canceled either time.

Batman & Robin – I rarely read comics to try to solve a bigger mystery than what’s presented, but Grant is taking us for a ride, and I don’t want to miss the sights. He’s so damn smart when it comes to visual language of comics, but also how to use the dialogue to further that same language. Always the last book I read because it doesn’t get any better.

Hark! A Vagrant and Let’s Be Friends Again – Too many of my friends do webcomics, so when I want to read something that I don’t feel any pressure to read, I go to these two. Kate Beaton was talked up to me by so many people, I prepared myself for disappointment. It never came, happily. I can’t get enough of H!AV. And Let’s Be Friends Again says everything I want to say…and says it meaner than I can.

The Man With The Getaway Face – Darwyn’s next Parker book can’t come soon enough! A friend of mine picked this up for me at WonderCon, so I’m constantly reading this…what he does in this…distills an entire book down to a 30 odd page comic is nothing short of a lesson in economy. If Darwyn ever teaches a comics making class, I will be in the front row.

Research – I have some books I’m working on currently, so I’m always doing research. Some of the topics of the books: the Kentucky Derby, the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911, New York in 1977, Grand Central Terminal, and cloning. I’m kind of all over the place.

Submissions – I’m working with Mark Andrew Smith and a few others on a new project (shhh!) as the submissions editor and I’ve received a few pitches that were good, and some that are dynamite. I can’t wait for folks to see these.

A map – I’m getting ready to head down to Heroes Con in Charlotte, NC this week, so I’m getting the maps and GPS ready for the drive. Rachel Freire and her fiancee will accompany me on the drive, so pray for their souls. I have a lead foot.

FCHS – I keep reading this, preparing for the sequel! 1/8 of the way in on the script, and I’m hoping that by the time I finish the script, everyone will actually get to read the book and want to see where we go with it. I’m very proud of this book.

Modern Masters: Kyle Baker

Comic-con or no comic-con, gods or no gods, we aim to keep What Are You Reading up and running every Sunday regardless. Our special guest this week is none other than the one, the only Abhay Khosla. Abhay’s a regular contributor to Brian Hibbs’ Savage Critics Web site, but can also usually be found lurking about here.

To see what Abhay and everyone else is reading, click the little linky …

Essential Nova Vol. 1

Tom Bondurant: I have a lot of affection for the comics of my 1970s youth, but sadly that will not extend to Nova.  I’m in the homestretch of Essential Nova Vol. 1 (bought for a deep discount at the LCS’s 4th of July sale), and it is perhaps the most deliberately emo superhero comic book I have ever read.  Writer/editor Marv Wolfman must have meant it to be an endearing tale of a sad-sack 17-year-old who manages to rise above the troubles of both high school and superheroics.  However, because Marv insisted on having Richard Rider beat himself up just as much as the bad guys did physically, Nova is relentlessly frustrating.  It goes so far out of its way not to give its hero a break that the emotional high point of the series doesn’t come until issue #18.  The art is handled mostly by pencilers Sal Buscema and Carmine Infantino, but it’s hard to say whether they were good fits for the series because the writing is just so oppressive.  (Actually, I’d have loved to see a Michael Golden-drawn Nova, but he was probably busy enough with Micronauts and Batman back then.)  I’m guessing things got better for the Human Rocket, since he’s gotten popular again.  Maybe things will turn around by the end of the book….

Blackest Night:  Tales of the Corps #2 was not as enjoyable as the first issue, mostly because the Red Lantern story (written by Geoff Johns, penciled by Eddy Barrows, inked by Ruy Jose) seemed to channel “I Spit On Your Grave” and the Star Sapphire story (written by Johns and drawn by Gene Ha) smelled a little too strongly of authorial
fiat.  Sure, Hal was pretty much dead and/or the Spectre for ten years, which allowed Carol Ferris to move on — so why does it feel like she’s being shoehorned back into his life regardless of whether it’s good for them?  I’ve read too many “Hal must choose between Carol and the Corps” stories to think there’s much hope for any future relationship.  Maybe she’ll be the one to leave Earth for her Corps. That’d be a nice switch.  Oh, and the Orange Lantern story (written by Peter Tomasi, drawn by Tom Mandrake) was a clever riff on a Galactus- esque “I am here to sponge off your planet” alien.

Finally, having greatly enjoyed the recent paperback, I read Madame Xanadu #s 11-12 (written by Matt Wagner and drawn by Michael Wm. Kaluta) and found them just as fun.  Well, maybe “fun” isn’t quite the word, since part of the story features the Spanish Inquisition and part features some sort of demon-dog.  Makes me wish I’d read more of
Wagner’s Sandman Mystery Theater, since it’s set in 1940, Dian Belmont shows up, and there’s a reference to a mysterious masked man. However, good timing on my part, because #13 comes out this week!

Bloody Kiss Vol. 1

Brigid Alverson: This week I am reading the latest batch of review copies from Tokyopop. I started with Zone-00,  because it looked promising: The back cover promised a story of a demon versus an exorcist in a Tokyo where a mysterious drug was making everyone go mad. Alas, the crowded page layouts, chaotic storytelling style, and massive amounts of fanservice made it unreadable, at least for me. It’s by Kyo Qjo, the artist of the Trinity Blood manga, and it definitely has an interesting punk look to it, with plenty of creative character designs, so if you go in for that sort of thing, it might be worth checking out. Not for me, though.

Pressing onward, I thought Bloody Kiss was a bit more promising, if only because the story was more coherent. So far it’s not breaking any new ground: It’s the tale of a plucky orphan who has inherited an old house haunted by two hawt vampires who seem to be competing over who gets to make her his “wife,” a vampire euphemism for “permanent food supply.” This story has a much lighter touch than angsty vampire tales like Vampire Knight, but the art is weak and there’s an ick factor with these teenage vampire guys sneaking up on the heroine as she sleeps. Still, I’ll have no problem finishing this volume.

Momogumi Plus Senki is for hard-core manga readers only, not just because it’s based on a Japanese myth but also because it has the sort of stylistic tics that drive non-manga-readers crazy—chaotic action scenes, close-ups of girls with huge, liquid eyes, and characters who go chibi every other panel. If you can make it through all that, though, it looks like it could be halfway decent. The hero, Yuuki, is the reincarnation of Momotaro, Peach Boy, a demon-slayer who was cursed by his victims. Because of the curse, Yuuki has always been a magnet for disaster—when he’s on a train, it derails, when he goes past a window, it breaks. He arrives at a new school to discover three of his fellow students are to be his protectors, plus he has to fight some demons—you know, the usual. There’s a lot of story here, and the art, though stylized, doesn’t look too bad.

Finally, the batch included the second volume of Tsubasa: Those With Wings, an early manga by Fruits Basket creator Natsuki Takaya, which inspired me to dig out volume 1. It’s interesting as an early work, with a plucky thief who is trying to go straight and a shadowy gang that is after a mysterious object, Tsubasa, that grants wishes to those lucky enough to see it. The art is definitely not up to the quality of Takaya’s later work, and the storyline is pretty simple, but it’s good light summer reading.

Scalped Vol. 2

Matt Maxwell: SCALPED volumes 2 and 3
I’d had volume three for some time but simply hadn’t read it yet. Figured that the flight down to SDCC was as good a time as any, despite the odd looks I was sure to get from my neighbor.  So, just another two volumes of what’s my favorite continuing longform serial right now.  Jason Aaron and his team of artists can still make the single issue satisfying and have them fit together in a much bigger picture.

Did I mention that it’s kinda twisted?  It is.  It’s also relentless. And the bottom keeps shifting.  You think you might have hit it, but the floor keeps dropping out and things fall for a bit then hit another sub-floor that might be grim, but sure beats the abyss that’s
lying in wait just below.

OMEGA THE UNKNOWN CLASSIC
Reprinting the Steve Gerber/Mary Skyrene-written original series that inspired the recent Jonathan Lethem/Farel Dalrymple series of the same name.  Only just started, and unsurprisingly, it’s much more a bronze age comic book than Lethem’s modern refiguring.  Unsurprisingly, also, given my unabashed love of the bronze age in general and Gerber in particular, I’m enjoying it a lot more, just don’t have a lot of time to actually read anything right now.

THE HUNTER
Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of the Donald Westlake novel is raw and muscular, much more so than even I expected (and I’ll admit my expectation was gauged largely by a recent reading of SELINA’S BIG SCORE, which wasn’t happy go lucky by any stretch).  And to call THE HUNTER “raw” is like saying the scraping chill that blows off the great lakes is “cold,” an understatement so obvious as to border on idiocy.  But then that’s how I roll.  I’ll note that THE HUNTER is the only book that I’ve read through this year, stopped, waited a day and then picked up for a second reading and still felt rewarded.  Get it, even if you have to work at it a bit.  It’s a beautiful book whose beauty is in its bones, not in the gloss at the surface.

Outlaw Territory

Michael May: I’m reading Image’s Outlaw Territory anthology, which is very dirty and oppressive. Not so much the “Wild” West as it is the “Scary As Hell Because There Ain’t No Damn Law” West. But that also makes for an exhilarating experience, because you never know what the next story’s going to do. Even though there’s a unifying mood to the book that makes these stories belong with each other, the individual tales are very different in terms of themes and plot. It’s sort of like riding from town to town must have been like in the actual, old West; never knowing what (often terrifying) adventure the next stop will bring.

I’m also not very far into Cat Burglar Black, which is every bit as wonderful and spooky as a Richard Sala book is supposed to be. Can’t wait to finish it and write a full review.

Chris Mautner: I’ll keep this short for now (more than usual I mean) cause I’m kind of sleepy. Anyway, I just want to add my voice to Kevin’s and anyone else who has praised Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys and Pluto manga series. Right now I’m enjoying Boys a bit more — it’s got a sense of humor about itself that’s refreshing, plus Pluto tends a bit toward the maudlin at times. Still, these are both stellar, compelling works and I have little doubt they’ll be on just about everyone’s short list for best manga — if not best comics, period — of 2009.

2666

Abhay Khosla: Hello. Here is what I’m reading.  For prose, I’m alternating between two extremes:  2666 by Roberto Bolano_, and 39 YEARS OF SHORT TERM MEMORY LOSS: THE EARLY DAYS OF SNL FROM SOMEONE WHO WAS THERE, by Tom Davis.

2666– the back cover had a quote from Minh Tran Huy from LE MAGAZINE LITTERAIRE (Paris): “Bolano borrows from vaudeville and the campus novel, from noir and pulp, from science fiction, from the Bildungsroman, from war novels; the tone of his writing oscillates between humor and total darkness, between the simplicity of a fairytale and the false neutrality of a police report.”

Minh Tran Huy just sounded like she knew which way was up, so I bought the book.  Bolano is Chilean; celebrated; dead.  2666 is actually his last five novels.  If I understand the story correctly:  Bolano’s dying; he write 5 novels; he hopes his family will publish them one at a time so they’ll have a steady source of income after his death.    Instead, they published all five in one go, in a single set of three volumes packaged together.

I’m past-halfway through the first of the five novels — but it’s difficult to say what it’s about. So far, 2666 is about a quartet of literary critics, united by their obsession with an obscure Italian novelist, and the academic conferences they attend, their theories, their rivals in academia, the dinners they have together (which then lead to flashbacks of other dinners they’ve eaten previously and the stories told at those earlier dinners, about horses), et cetera.  It’s not exactly pulp thriller material, but: the prose!  Bolano goes on single-sentence joyrides that last for six-pages, endless sentences; hints at mysteries, omens, dreams; there’s a pervasive sadness.  It’s about literary critics who can’t figure out their romantic lives—it should be terrible.  But it’s tense like a horror novel.  So far, the prose is too much a pleasure in itself, to stop reading.

The SNL memoir is “beach reading.”  LIVE FROM NEW YORK is probably the king of this type of book, the “Saturday Night Live memoir genre”, but 39 YEARS is a strong second-place.  It’s more about a life spent in comedy, than strictly an SNL book. After the Chris Farley oral history and Artie’s TOO FAT TO FISH, it was nice to read a book about a life spent in comedy that wasn’t a constant downer.  Not that Davis avoids drugs—he wrote for SNL since the very beginning; drugs are mentioned frequently.  The book just pays more attention to the actual comedy than other books of this particular genre tend to.

Davis writes quickly; doesn’t dwell too long on any one moment, no matter how interesting.  He goes to a Rolling Stones show; hangs out with Keith Richards:  “Keith Richards was accompanied by a young man whose job appeared to be constantly rolling hash joints.  A caterer brought Keith some exotic taco: ‘I’ve found it’s healthier to eat a little bit several times a day.’”  That’s 90% of the Keith Richards story.  Quick; snappy.

Davis knows everybody; if he doesn’t, he’s friends with Dan Ackroyd, who does.   So, it’s 1976 and he’s in a hot-tub with Ackroyd and Jodie Foster.  It’s 1980 and he’s introducing himself to Timothy Leary at a party (Davis: “I’m Tom Davis and I’ve got great smoke and coke.” Leary: “Let’s go”).   It’s 1982 and he’s snorting heroin with Mr. Mike outside of John Belushi’s funeral.  It’s sort of like a Zelig for comedy nerds.

As for funnybooks, I just finished ASTERIOS POLYP and the Darwyn Cooke HUNTER adaptation, both of which I would guess readers of this blog have already heard of.  Besides those, because of a work situation that only recently resolved, my other reading (/life in general) has been pretty badly derailed.  Plus: I don’t think these things are worth $4 a shot, so I don’t go to a store as often as I did.

I still have a copy of MODERN MASTERS VOL. 20: KYLE BAKER out.  Kyle Baker’s maybe my favorite guy in comics right now.  I don’t like everything he does– not everything he does is aimed at creeps in their 30’s, like me.  But (a) he’s constantly trying new things, and (b) he purposely tries to create books that other people aren’t making.  He’ll work for Marvel or DC, but mainstream work hasn’t been to the detriment of his personal work.  And he’s willing to make a comic book that’s funny.  I don’t understand why any of these things are rare qualities, but: oh well, they are.  The MODERN MASTERS crew put together a solid interview and gallery of his work; did a nice job.  The only other book of the MODERN MASTERS series I have is the Walt Simonson book which is also a fine effort.

I mostly just pick up books by friends/acquaintances—VIKING, ESCAPE FROM THE FINAL CRISIS AFTERMATH, UNTHINKABLE, DEMON CLEANER, EUREKA DOMINANT GENE.  Most of my friends/acquaintances are doing the best work they’ve ever done, but, you know: I’m sort-of biased.

I’m following the UTOPIA crossover at Marvel, but half-heartedly.  Parts are reasonably fun, if you like Marvel’s current status quo– there’s a pretty decent scene between Cyclops and the Green Goblin in Chapter 3, say.  But the Proposition 8 note that crossover started on just put a sour taste in my mouth a bit.  Probably not justifiably: there’s a very long and decent tradition of superhero comics touching on “hot-button” issues.  And I don’t have a problem seeing people whose political views I disagree with being equated with super-villains.  I do that in my mind anyways.

I guess I just get pretty angry thinking about what’s happened to my state.  $4 to feel like that?  Maybe that’s an anti-art sentiment, probably that’s not defensible really, but hell, I could spend that $4 on candy, instead, you know?  I’ve really been into York Peppermint Patties recently.  Have you had one of those in a while?  It’s easy to forget—but they’re delicious!  The sweetness of the chocolate is so inviting, but then the tang of the peppermint wakes you up a little.  Wake you up to the possibility of love?  Perhaps!  Plus, it’s circular, which in this day and age of candy homogenization and confectionery conformity is pretty courageous.  It’s encased in that beautiful silver packaging, like some kind of astronaut condom.  I just like the name, too.  It sounds kind of vaguely patriotic.  I want to love the country I live in—York Peppermint Patties lets me do that, and X-MEN comics don’t.  But I also want to support the arts.  So, you know:  it’s a moral dilemma.  It’s the human heart at war with itself.

Best for last: I’m reading the Williams-Sonoma Sapphic Erotica arc of ACHEWOOD right now which is perfect.  Right this second:  Charles E. Williams is the best character in all of comics. Fact. Scientific fact.

The Hunter

Richard Stark’s Parker Book One: The Hunter
Adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
IDW Publishing, 144 pages, $24.99.

While I’ve certainly always liked Darwyn Cooke’s work, I can’t say I ever loved it.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s no denying the man’s talent or his dedication to the craft. But there’s always been some hard-to-define barrier that prevented me from enjoying his work as much as others seem to.

It’s hard for me to put a finger on what kept me from being fully engaged. Too much nostalgia for the past, both in terms of his Toth-like dynamism and forthright attitude towards superhero derring-do? Too slick and over-polished a style? Too mannered? Not enough grit and teeth? Whatever it was, I found myself being more of a distant admirer than a fan.

Now we have his latest work, Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter. And while I may not be able to park myself in the Cooke fan camp yet, I think it’s safe to say that with this stellar graphic novel, I’m steadily edging in that general direction.

It could easily have gone the other way. My biggest fear upon cracking this thing open was that, as with some of Cooke’s DC work, he would be so reverential towards the source material that the book would come off as unnecessary at best and stiff and hollow at worst.

But it’s none of those things. Quite the contrary, The Hunter snaps with life and menace, right from its bravura opening (note the way the narrow strip of introductory text on the opening page points like an arrow to Parker’s clipped dialogue) to the final shoot-out. Far from being mannered or overly precious, Cooke’s elegant style serves the story splendidly.

By now you probably know that Hunter is an adaptation of the first in crime novelist’s Donald Westlake’s series of Parker novels (which he wrote under the pseudonym of Richard Stark, hence the book’s title). Apparently he was a popular character — Hollywood made a pair of movies out of the book, one starring Lee Marvin, the other Mel Gibson. Godard even adapted another of the books in the series, though he took a few liberties.

The plot is about is simple as it gets, which is just how it should be in the crime genre. The more simple and direct your story, the more style and meaning you can squeeze out of it. Here, Parker has been double-crossed, left for dead and cheated out of his share of a not inconsiderable amount of money. His goal: Get his cash back and revenge himself upon those who betrayed him. And he’s not going to let social graces and thug etiquette get in his way.

It’s important to note that Parker is a rather amoral rogue — a sociopath really — who has no compunction about, say, shooting someone in the face simply in order to prove that he’s not someone to be fucked with. He’s not reckless, just cruel. Honestly, that’s his appeal. Who among us hasn’t fantasized, at least once in our lives, about being able to shrug off our empathy and aggressively pursue our own agenda without caring about who we hurt? Who hasn’t wished they could always be seen as anything but vulnerable? There’s a reason Parker has been played by Marvin and Gibson, two that embody machismo, or at least try to.

Yet it can be rather tricky to make the reader want to follow the adventures of such an unlikeable person. Cooke manages to keep the reader engrossed by hinting at the deep waters that run beneath Parker’s still surface. Except for one or two significant sequences, Cooke keeps Parker in shadow or odd angles, so that we get the sense that we’re only seeing part of the man. We become fascinated with Parker as a result and want to know more about him his inner world in addition to his outer conduct.

Hunter is stylish, yes, but it’s far from shallow. More importantly, it doesn’t feel like it’s stuck in Westlake’s shadow. It’s an assured, exemplary book that stands on its own, and should only help cement Cooke’s reputation further. Even among doubters like me.

From "Parker: The Hunter," by Darwyn Cooke

The Hunter

IDW has posted 19 pages from Darwyn Cooke’s adaptation of The Hunter, the first in a series of graphic novels based on the Parker novels by Donald Westlake. Westlake wrote the novels under the pen name Richard Stark.

Check out the first three pages after the jump, or go to the IDW site to read all 19. The first scene is classic:

*****

The Hunter, Page 1

The Hunter, Page 2

The Hunter, Page 3

Cooke and IDW announced the book in San Diego last summer. The book is due in July.

Original artwork from "Parker: The Hunter," by Darwyn Cooke

James Sime of Isotope provides a glimpse of some gorgeous pages from Darwyn Cooke’s highly anticipated adaptation of Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter. Sime notes the cyan areas will be printed as gun-metal green.

The 144-page graphic novel is due in July from IDW Publishing.