Saga #12

Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Fiona Staples

Ah, Saga.  Never a book to hide from controversy, this latest issue has caused a bit of a sensation due to the fact that, on the first two pages, Prince Robot IV is broadcasting gay porn on his television-screen face while in the process of succumbing to a war injury in a flashback/dream sequence.  Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples have made a habit of finding some sort of image to shock or surprise readers on each of their splash pages, and I suppose that gay porn was an area they hadn't visited yet, but it's a total throw-away for shock value, and the focus on it has kept people from discussing the quality of the rest of the comic.  So no more of that.

This issue is, of course, a great read.  Prince Robot IV has been hunting Alana and Marko, and has taken The Stalk's spaceship to Quietus, the home of D. Oswald Heist, the author of the romance novel that caused Alana and Marko to fall in love.  He believes that the lovers from opposite sides of the war will try to contact that man who has inspired them, and he plans on getting there ahead of them.

Most of this issue is spent showing the conversation between Robot and Heist, who is a bit of a recluse, with some very particular ideas about the war.  Heist disparages his own novel, claiming it was written for money alone (unlike other romance novels, which are, I suppose, written for love?), and he paints himself a loyal ally of Landfall, but as their conversation gets deeper, guns are drawn, and things don't go so well for Heist.

On Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston suggested that Heist's character could be based on Warren Ellis, although he really just seems to be a collection of writer-tropes.  What really thrilled me about this issue, though, is the appearance of a young seal-boy who gives Prince Robot the directions to Heist's place.  He looks a great deal like Philippe, of Achewood fame, unless, of course, there is a long precedent for fictional seal children to wear pants, and I'm only just becoming aware of it...

Saga is going on a brief hiatus once again, and Vaughan and Staples have left us with another terrific issue that ends on a cliff-hanger.  Can't wait until the series is back on a monthly schedule again...

Achewood Vol. 3: A Home for Scared People

by Chris Onstad

I love Achewood, Chris Onstad's long-running web comic.  I came to the series rather late, starting to read it around the time that Onstad pulled the plug for a long time, although it is currently running again, albeit sporadically.

In the beginning, Achewood was just a funny animal strip, but with time, it developed into something much more profound, while always being very funny.

This third volume of Dark Horse's run of durable hardcover editions of the series collects many of the early strips, running up to October of 2002.  It's an immediate follow-up to the second volume, in terms of presenting the strips chronologically.  The first volume, The Great Outdoor Fight, printed a later storyline, which is one of the most memorable of the series.

I'm not sure why Dark Horse didn't do more to cherry-pick longer stories, than print this melange of one-off strips and short story lines, such as the one that has Roast Beef fly to the moon and refuse to come back.  A recurring theme in this volume is the attempts by Ray Smuckles to initiate tech start-ups based on antiquated computer applications, such as a spreadsheet that tells you when you need to buy milk and eggs, or a logo company that uses crazy computer fonts.

The characters are what makes Achewood work so well.  We have the odd friendship between Ray and Roast Beef as the tentpole of this series, but other characters, such as the young seal Phillipe get their moments in the sun.  It's incredibly hard to describe Achewood in any way that makes it sound different from any other ensemble newspaper strip, so you'll have to take my word that Achewood transcends that genre by an order of magnitude.

As it's been a while since any of these books have been published, I think it's time to systematically work my way through the last ten year's worth of the on-line strips.  This could be a problem though, because these things are pretty addictive...

Achewood Vol. 2: Worst Song, Played on Ugliest Guitar

by Chris Onstad

Whoever it was at Dark Horse who decided to start their collections of Chris Onstad's Achewood webcomic with The Great Outdoor Fight before publishing the earliest strips was very wise.  This collection has the first pile of strips, and while many of them are very good, the level of quality is somewhat inconsistent at times.

I have only recently begun reading this series on-line, and am pretty frustrated with its erratic scheduling and Onstad's willingness to abandon stories for months (when is High School Night going to end?  The suspense!).  Reading these earliest efforts, I see that there has always been an element of randomness in his work, although being able to read months worth of the series at the same time gives it a stronger sense of connection.

What really makes this comic work is the strong personalities of its different characters.  I find that I love all the different animals for different reasons.  When we finally got a string of strips that built into the story of Téodor's party, it was fascinating to see the different characters interact with each other.  Onstad has a strange sense of humour, and frequently doesn't seem to know how to end a particular strip, but that seems to be the source of so much of the book's charm.

Included in here are a series of prose stories which have the author describing how he meet the different animals who apparently all live with him (but he doesn't tell us about the cats - that's for later).  Achewood is unique, and strangely addictive.  It's worth checking out.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 4

by a lot of people

My thoughts on this volume of Dark Horse's on-line comic collection are basically no different from my thoughts on the previous three.  Dark Horse is putting together a very mixed bag with this series, and while I appreciate diversity in story content and art, I don't like it when there is a lot of diversity in quality.

There are some very good short comics in this book, but there are a lot of plain old mediocre ones too.  The mix is about 50/50.  As I prefer to accentuate the positive, I should talk about what I like.

I think my favourite story in this book David Malki's 'The Catch!: A Wondermark Tale.'  I think there may have been a Wondermark story or two in previous volumes, but they didn't catch my notice the way this very funny story about a Victorian man who brings home an early computer to helps him find things, only to discover that it's part of an ingenious marketing ploy.  The story is funny enough on its own, but when you start to accept the weirdness of people dressed in Victorian clothing talking about their TV remote, the story takes on a new level of enjoyment.  Very cool stuff.

I also loved the Achewood story, and really liked Matt Kindt's Giant Man piece.  There are stories that didn't do much for me but that had some very pretty art, contributed by people like Farel Dalrymple, Jim Rugg, and Kristian Donaldson.

As usual, most of the licensed stories (Star Wars, Buffy) were weak, and the stories that were effectively trailers for minis (like The Rapture) were pretty ineffective.  I keep holding out hope for more, but am increasingly disappointed.  I am now in the market for some of the Wondermark books though...

Achewood Vol. 1: The Great Outdoor Fight

by Chris Onstad

I don't really like reading on-line comics, and I tend to avoid the 'funny animal' genre, but last Christmas Chris Butcher waged a guerrilla marketing campaign by posting links to the best Christmas-themed Achewood strips on his website, and I started to really like Onstad's work. 

This book tells the story of The Great Outdoor Fight, an annual competition where some 3000 men get into a giant arena and pound on each other until there's only one left.  On the second day, the two people with the largest followings get to have turkey and bourbon.

Ray, one of the main characters in the series, discovers that his father was the winner of the 1973 fight, and decides to enter the competition.  His friend Roast Beef enters as well.  The two plot and scheme their way to the top, and much hilarity ensues.

Onstad's art is very simple, but is effective here.  He pads the book with historical reference on the fight, including its history, biographies of past winners, and a helpful glossary of fight-specific vocabulary.  One of the best things about this book are the old posters that fill the inside covers.

Achewood is highly recommended.

Myspace Dark Horse Presents Vol. 3

Various creators

To be honest, there's not much to say about this volume that would be different from my thoughts on the first two.  Dark Horse appears to be using their Myspace digital platform as a way of advertising existing properties or upcoming series through short pieces that work as a sampling menu of the greater Dark Horse line.

Anything with a Beanworld story in it can't be too bad, and while this is a nice little bit about recycling, it doesn't add much to the Beanworld mythos.  I also liked Becky Cloonan's (I know, shocking that I liked this) short story about a man plagued by nightmares, Chris Onstad's Achewood piece, and the Serenity and Buffy the Vampire Slayer shorts.

Some other pieces had potential, but didn't go very far.  The Mister X piece and the Applegeeks story are good examples of this.  One piece that stood out for weirdness and originality was the Creepy: Om Nom Nom story by Andrew Mayer and Lukas Ketner.

Overall, this book is enjoyable, but not particularly memorable.