29 posts tagged “indy”

After watching the movie adaptation, I obviously went back to the source and listened to the audio version of Stardust written by Neil Gaiman. At the same time I also looked at the illustrated book.
 
This is a really good fantasy/fairy tale for adults. There are many scary scenes in this book, but it also contained many light hearted scenes. The style in which this is written is very poetic. I usually don't care much about that style, I am not a literary guy, but in this book it really works.
 
I think listening to it read by Neil Gaiman made it even better, it jus

t sounds really nice. There are so many characters in this story, all of them memorable. However many of them have a very small role, sometimes they are introduced and never seen again. I do wish that they would either have a bigger role, or just not introduced at all. Their presence wasn't really needed for the plot.
 
Another little problem at the end, I though it was weird the way Tristran dealt with his real mother, Gaiman didn't go into that at all, not even a brief mention.
 
Other than that, I thought this was a very good story, and the illustrations by Charles Vess were also excellent. His style is the quintessential fantasy art in my mind.

 

I heard very good critical reviews for this GN, plus knowing that this is not a fictional story I was curious to read this. This was a challenge for me to read. I usually read it all, or stop reading. In this case, I would skip certain parts of the GN.
 
This GN is a mix of many different things:
 
- A biography of Lewis Carroll
- The history of Sunderland
- The narrator
- Comics history in Britain
 
All these are somehow connected, so the author alternates between them as he finds connections. It's almost a free flowing thought process weaving among Sunderland and its history, and how the author relates to it.
 
Because of the nature of this project, I found myself really bored at times, when the author goes deep into the history of a certain monument or area of Sunderland. I tried to read everything at first, but I had to skip because I wasn't absorbing anything. There is too much information, and most of it doesn't seem relevant.
 
This book lacked focus for me, there are way too many tangents that go off the Carroll/Alice path. Also some of these tangents are too sudden, almost as if the author didn't know how to transition to them.
 
What I did enjoy was the biography of Lewis Carroll and other people in his life, including the real Alice. Details of his personal life are actually uncertain, many of them believed to be myths.
 
The other part that I enjoyed was the breaking of the 4th wall with the narrator/author, as well the history of the comics in Britain. This part reminded me of Understanding Comics, which is mentioned in here, and its author Scott McCloud even makes an appearance.
 
The art is a collage of hand drawn characters, pictures/painting etc... Much like a documentary that contains news reels or other footage. Bryan Talbot is obviously an excellent artist, comfortably at easy with his own skills.
 
This is a very different GN that perfectly showcases the power of the comics medium. Unfortunately this was really not for me, boring me to tears in many parts. But if you are at all into history or architecture or literature (which I am not), then you will probably enjoy this.

 

This GN is a mix of crime noir in a world where crime bosses are demons, people are cursed and so on. I like this premise, but the plot felt a little too familiar.
 
There were some clever points where the demon world is crucial to the classic noir story.
 
The art by Hurtt is great, I think he improved from his Queen & Country issues.
 
As the first storyline of a new universe I think it does a good job at introducing us to this new world, but at the same time giving us a complete story.
 
As a standalone GN I am not sure I am completely satisfied. I hope there will be more tales from this universe.
 

This is a re

-telling of the not so famous historical character Louis Riel, from Canada.
 
I expected this to be more wordy given the historical nature. There are some paragraphs to describe the situation, especially at the beginning, but the comics parts go by very quickly.
 
There is not much dramatization going on, some of the important events are simply represented in comics strips. There isn't much characterization either, even Riel himself doesn't feel like a well developed character.
 
I wanted to read the notes, but there were just too many words.
 
The second part of Riel was very fast paced, lots of action plus a little bit of controversial politics. It read quickly, but it also went out of my mind quickly.
 
The trial at the end was very bland visually. I can understand the choice, I just didn't enjoy it. It also goes back to the general style that he chose.
 
In the end I can't say I enjoyed this a lot, it felt like reading a history book, which I am not a big fan of. As I said previously this story was lacking drama and characterization, so I did not feel invested emotionally.
 
This is not the fault of the author, I think he did an excellent job at what he set out to do in the first place (his research was obviously very thourough, and I always admired writers who do their research), I just think this type of project is not for me.

 

I started reading SB by David Lapham years ago when it was first published in Italy, however once it changed Italian publisher I lost sight of it. I did like it at that time, but reading it monthly I had a very hard time connecting the story threads.
 
However I have now been able to read the entire series in a few days which was totally worth it. Each issue presents a complete story, however it is only a piece of the whole picture. Also there might be time jumps back and forward between issues, so it is not a straight story line.
 
Also the cast is very large, so at first it seems like the each issue is starring different and unrelated characters. As the series goes on it is clear that this is Virginia's story, as well as all the characters that are part of her life.
 
As for the type of stories, these are crime stories. Lapham manages to include many different crime stories, but it all goes back to the characters. How they react to the events in their life, how these events form their personality etc...
 
The art is very clear and he uses a 6 grid panel style. This allows Lapham to cram as much story as he can, but at the same time these issues do not feel long and boring. There are character moments, there is action, there are twists, there is drama, there is fun.
 
Fun is found especially in the Amy Racecar issues, which are the stories that Virginia writes. These are fun and over the top stories, but what I really like about them is to see how they are related to Virginia's life, how she distorts her own friends and herself and the events that she's involved with.
 
I cannot emphasize how much I enjoyed this series, on so many levels. First I enjoy the story in each issue. Once I finish a story arc, I go back and try to connect the dots and judge that arc (I even wrote a spreadsheet containing dates and character names for each issue).
 
Unfortunately David Lapham stopped producing this series and he is now concentrating on work with DC and Marvel, so that he can pay his bills. The last story arc of SB is missing the last issue, which was a bummer. I am sure one day Lapham will get back to SB, but in the meantime I will enjoy his mainstream work. Even though this series is incomplete and on hiatus, I highly recommend seeking the collections out. They're well worth your money and time.

 

I read Maus a long time ago, but I only recently bought a good hardcover copy of it. This second read was as good as I remembered.

Obviously this is about the holocaust and it depicts how a survivor went through it, all the horrible things that happened to him are told in a honest and interesting way.

Some might say we've seen this before, in many different media, but I think each individual story is worth telling and worth reading.

However, on top of that this is also a great personal story about the author's relationship with his father, about his father as a person who has been affected by the war.

The way Vladek thinks is obviously a consequence of what happened to him during the holocaust, not to say that every survivor is the same. On the contrary, everybody reacts differently to events.

Vladek was a very resourceful and smart guy, who came out of the war thanks to luck but also to his ability. I know of people who don't throw away anything or try to save every penny, and they had a poor and difficult childhood and young life, so I can certainly relate to them and Vladek.

The way Spiegelman depicts each different race could be seen as simplistic but it is perfect for this story, almost taking out the humanity in the characters so that we can cope with the cruelty of this story better. But at the same time we care for these characters.

This book is really a brilliant book, this is not a tear jerker, but it is very much affecting. Everybody should read this book.

This mini-series is based on characters from the novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. It actually takes place in the same universe as the novel, where Clay & Kavalier were the creators of The Escapist comic book character.
 
This is then a comic book about a comic book and its creators. The story stars Max, an aspiring comic book writer who buys the rights to The Escapists and decides to resurrect this character from oblivion.
 
In the middle of this story, we also get pages of the actual comic book the characters are creating, which is a classic superhero story, but it is also parallels Max's world.
 
I like this story because it is about the life of an indie comic creator and the comics industry in general. It is about what it means to be an artist.
 
The art by Steve Rolston and Jason Alexander is very good. Their styles were perfectly chosen to portray Max's world and the comic world.
 
I highly recommend this mini to anyone, especially comics readers and artists.

 

The creator of Queen & Country is Greg Rucka, who is a novel writer. After 28 issues of the regular series of Q&C, he decided to write a Q&C novel. That is "A Gentleman's Game".
 
This is a great thriller/spy novel, which does not require the reader to read the series, but it definitely enhances the enjoyment of the book. This is also a very important story for Tara, so fans of the comics series will WANT to read this novel.
 
This is definitely different than the comics. The comics can only show you the action, and hint at what the characters think, through their expressions and body language.
 
The novel really puts you into their minds, as well as telling us about their past, especially for secondary characters who might not merit a whole declassified mini or don't have enough space in the series.
 
The story involves the middle east, attack on the London subway (this was written before the London bombings), retaliation by the British government etc... a tension filled thriller.
 
Rucka is really brutal towards Tara. I obviously don't want to spoil it for you, but let's just say that a lo

t happens to Tara. There are major development for her character on a personal level, as well as on the job.
 
I must say Rucka also managed to get inside the mind of a "terrorist", it felt new to me since I haven't read anything like that. But as interesting as that was, whenever I was reading a chapter about the terrorists, I really wanted to get to Tara quickly.
 
It was hard for me to put down this book in the middle of the night, but I only had to do it a few times, since I finished it pretty quickly.
 
Following this novel is the last arc from the comics series, Operation: Red Panda (#29-32). This further explores the consequences of the events in the novel, and reveals a surprise for Tara. A surprise that will change her forever.

Next up is the second novel, Private Wars, I can't wait to read it.

This series is a very realistic espionage story, from the British point of view. Creator Greg Rucka puts a lot of research time into these stories, so that everything is as close as possible to reality.
 
So don't expect to see long and impossible action scenes a-la James Bond. These stories are very much about the current political situation on a global scale, involving any country in the world.
 

Each story arc is about a specific mission, which starts and concludes within the arc. The mission itself is only part of the story, but it stars the minders (special field agents) sent to a country to complete an important mission.
 
But we also see what prompted their country to send them to the mission, and also what the consequences of that mission are. We see the political side of intelligence, in particular we follow the D-Ops Paul Crocker and how he deals with his bosses and his contacts in other agencies (Cheng in CIA).
 
But what makes this series special is Tara Chace, who is the star of this book. She is a minder, a very good one at it. Probably the best secret agent in the world. She has a very conflicted character, but that is what pushes her to become the best.
 
Each story arc is drawn by a different indy artist, and apart from Leandro Hernadez, they all did a great job at conveying the realism that this series needs. They also use the character's expressions to convey their state of mind in a subtle and effective way.
 
At first I thought that we would just see a succession of missions, each filled with tension and drama. And it is what we get, but we also get a lot of changes in the status quo. A lot happens in this series, and I was shocked at how much changes through the course of it.
 
Tara is obviously the best developed character. My favorite moment in the whole series is at the end of #28, when she realizes that she screwed up the mission and then whispers a "sorry" to Crocker. Beautiful.
 
I also loved #25, the one where we meet her mother. This is a very different issue from the normal. There is no mission, no action. But we get a glimpse into her family and past. Great character stuff.
 
All the operations are tense, feel realistic enough, and there is always a consequence on the psyche of the minders. They are always a big deal for them, as it should be.
 
There are 3 mini series called Declassified, which tell past solo stories about the characters that we know and love. These are great companion stories to the series.
 
This is a great series, please get the 7 trades for this series (#1-28), they are well worth it.