Strange Attractors

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Greg Scott

It's not uncommon, for a comics reader, to find a moment when a character discusses how magic is science that is just not understood yet.  Strange Attractors, by Charles Soule, upends that maxim, and gives us a story about mathematics so hard to understand that it may as well be magic.

Heller Wilson is a PhD. candidate who is working to complete his thesis in New York City.  He's studying complexity theory, and is led to meet with Dr. Spencer Brownfield, an ex-professor who did groundbreaking work on this concept before stepping down for reasons that are shrouded in secrecy.

We learn that Brownfield, who is more than a little eccentric and obsessive, spends his days adjusting the ebb and flow of New York City in a variety of ways, all in an effort to keep the living organism of the city healthy.  It's just about impossible to try to understand the mathematical underpinning in Brownfield's actions, but the concept fascinates Wilson, who begins working with the older man.

As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that something cataclysmic is about to happen to New York.  The professor has a plan, but it's all pretty hard to believe, and Wilson goes through a lot of doubt as to whether or not he should commit to the project.  We, as readers, have a good idea of what the problem will be, as we keep seeing glimpses of terrorists constructing a dirty bomb, as well as some behind-the-scenes moments at City Hall, where a police strike looms.

Soule is a very impressive writer.  I love his Letter 44, and have been very impressed with his work at Marvel (She-Hulk, Daredevil, even the Inhumans) and DC (Swamp Thing).  This is one of his earliest published works, but it's clear at this point that he has a new way of constructing comics stories.  Greg Scott is a capable artist, and he manages to make what is largely a talking heads comic visually interesting.

I don't know how the mathematics behind this story could possibly work, or how an algorithm to map so many different data sets into a cohesive image could possibly be developed in such a rush, but the idea of cities as living creatures is a compelling one, and this book opens up some interesting notions for future exploration.

Letter 44 #2

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Alberto Alburquerque

When this new series debuted last month, I found the first issue to be very exciting, and very well balanced between exposition and character development.  Now, this second issue has me even more excited about the future of this series.

A small group of scientists and military personnel have been sent on a multi-year mission, a one-way trip, to the outer reaches of our solar system to investigate what looks like an alien mining operation.  The framework for this series is that new President of the United States, its 44th, has just become aware of what has been going on, and is trying to figure out how to respond to it while maintaining his political ideals, and trying to fix a country that has been brought to the point of economic and diplomatic ruin.

In this issue, the astronauts have crossed through a sensor-jamming barrier created by the aliens.  This has shorted out their vessel, requiring repairs, and gives us readers a chance to get to know the characters a lot better.  This is not a typical Hollywood blockbuster where the characters need only fit vague stereotypes; instead, writer Charles Soule has provided more than enough material for storylines to take place within the ship that don't necessarily have to be about the aliens.

At the same time, President Blades is getting up to speed on the technological advances the US has made (and is sitting on) to help them with this mission, and to defend against the aliens should they choose to come and attack Earth.

I really like the way Soule is balancing this book, and the way that artist Alberto Alburquerque is depicting things.  I know that there has been a lot of interest in this series, especially since news came out of a television deal, and I urge people to pick this up; it's a very good comic.

Letter 44 #1

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Alberto J. Alburquerque

I think this is one of the most gripping and promising first issues I've read in a very long time.  Charles Soule has been steadily building a name for himself, starting with 27, and then moving to DC where he's doing a bang-up job of writing Swamp Thing, and is also doing one or more of the Green Lantern titles (I don't pay attention).  Letter 44, though, is his most practiced and impressive comic yet.

The book opens in the near future, where a (presumably Democratic) president, the 44th in America's history, is sworn into office after the country spent eight years embroiled in foreign wars and mounting defence spending at the cost of the economy at home.  Before being sworn in, President Blades reads a letter from his predecessor, and learns that everything that has happened was in service of a simple and terrifying fact - NASA has found evidence of alien life in the solar system, a mining facility in an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The former president used his military campaigns as a way to ready his army for the conflict he believes is coming, and to be able to hide the expense of building a space vessel to send nine people to check out what is happening.  Clearly, this is big news, and Blades has to figure out what he should do.

From here, Soule begins to introduce the crew of the Clarke, the vessel which is only now, after three years in space, approaching the alien facility.  There are the usual mix of brave scientists, cynical, sarcastic soldiers, and what have you on the Clarke, and in the short span of this issue, Soule does a great job of introducing them and beginning to develop them.

There is a real sense of urgency and secrecy to this comic, and it feels all the more topical in light of recent events at the NSA.  There are some great elements tossed into the story, like the fact that the woman in charge of the space vessel is pregnant.

Alberto J. Alburquerque is a talented artist, who has a good handle on many of the scenes which are basically composed of talking heads.  I like the way that Guy Major has coloured the book to make the astronauts so pale and sun-deprived.

When I started reading this comic, I couldn't help but compare it to Saucer Country, the recently-departed Vertigo book that also mixed Presidential politics with the threat of alien invasion, but where that series took a more conspiracy-based approach, this one feels like a very intelligent blockbuster.  This comic is only one dollar, and if you can find a copy, I highly suggest you grab it.

Skullkickers #18

Written by Justin Jordan, Blair Butler, Charles Soule, J. Torres, John Layman, and Aubrey Sitterson
Art by Tradd Moore, Enrique Rivera, Michael Mayne, Alberto J. Alburquerque, Rob Guillory, and Ivan Anaya

In some ways, I think I prefer the 'Tavern Tales' issues of Skullkickers that show up between story arcs more than I do the actual comic itself sometimes.  This latest version, 'Son of Tavern Tales', has six short stories that more or less perfectly distill what makes Skullkickers work so well.

The book opens with the Luther Strode team of Justin Jordan and Tradd Moore (who clearly has never seen another picture of a dwarf).  Their story is cute and amusing, as is the one after it by Blair Butler and Enrique Rivera.

Charles Soule and Michael Mayne give us a great story about the world's best beer, and the strange creature that makes it so great.  J. Torres and Alberto J. Alburquerque show what happens with role playing games get out of hand (always zombies).

The Chew team provide the best story in this book, as our favourite mercenaries try to figure out a way to scam themselves free beer for life in a bar where the owner has an interest in collecting mythological    tail.  (I was hoping for a Poyo cameo, but no luck).

The final story, by Aubrey Sitterson and Ivan Anaya show that in medieval fantasy times, guilds operated much like unions do today.

This extra-sized issue was a nice treat.  This series is going on a bit of a hiatus until next year, and I look forward to its return, but I look even more forward to the Tavern Tales issue that comes after the next arc.

Twenty-Seven: Second Set #1

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Reno Podesta

The first volume of Twenty-Seven was a pretty cool comic.  It was about the habit of musicians to die at the age of twenty-seven (and was published before Amy Winehouse was added to the list).  The main character, Will Garland, was a musical sensation, playing guitar and singing, before nerve damage left his left hand unable to play the guitar.  Wracked with pain, he explored a number of strange cures, including one that involved him making a deal with the embodiment of the number nine; a god-like creature that embedded a panel on his chest, with buttons which, when pressed, gift him with new creative abilities for a period of three hours (although he can only push the buttons 27 times before he dies).

Now, Garland is back in this new series.  He has attempted to reorient his playing style, but is not meeting with any real success.  He's struggling, but still refuses to shorten his life span by pushing the buttons.  At least, at first.  Like in the beginning of the first volume, Garland is at a serious low point in his life, and is beginning to become desperate to change his situation once again.

Soule's writing on this series is strong, and I really enjoy Podesta's art.  There are a few terrific pages, when Will lets loose later in the book.  I wasn't sure there would be enough to make a second volume (or set) worthwhile, but I can see that there is definitely a plan here.

27 #4

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Renzo Podesta

This exploration of the fleetingness of creativity and talent has been a very enjoyable series.  Will Garland, in this issue, confronts the embodiment of the number 9, and the Erebus, which has been plaguing him.  His argument is that true creative genius - be it musical, artistic, or otherwise - can not be given or gifted, but must be earned through hard work and perseverance.  It's an interesting argument, especially when tossed in the face of an all-powerful entity that views itself as being responsible for the breadth of human creativity.

Twenty-Seven has been a very cool series.  When it started, I expected it was going to go in a different direction (although I'm not sure what that would have been), although I really enjoyed the track that it took.

On the back cover, there is an ad for Twenty-Seven: Second Set.  I'm not sure that there is a lot of room left here for sequels - to my mind, this is a very nicely self-contained story, but I'm curious to see where the creators move next with this.

27 #3

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Renzo Podesta


I think this mini-series is getting better with every issue.  Will Garland continues his quest to gain some understanding of what the living embodiment of the number nine has done to him, and is turning to science for the answer.  His new friend, a quantum mathematician (who just happens to have an MRI machine in his lab), convinces him to push the button embedded in his chest again, and he gains the ability to teleport to any place he can sing about.

This leads to an interesting chat with Jim Morrison, who is now a hermit hanging out in Death Valley.  This affords the reader with a better understanding of the number nine and the rotting entity that has been chasing Will.

Also in this issue, we see some resolution to the hostage stand-off that has been mentioned every time someone in the book watches TV since the first issue.  Soule is doing some cool things with Garland's character, and his story is covering a lot of interesting ground.  I feel like there is a lot of potential to return to this world, and its exploration of the nature of creativity and artistic genius, after this four issue series finishes.

27 #1 & 2

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Renzo Podesta

I want to talk about this comic on its own merits, but first it seems necessary to mention the way in which it become such a buzz book when its first print was released in November.  I remember noticing this title when it was solicited in Previews.  It caught my eye, but as I didn't know either Soule or Podesta, I decided that I would wait and flip through it at the comics store, instead of pre-ordering it.  (I'm lucky, in that I shop at a really good store, so a lot of smaller books by lesser-known creators are on the shelf to take a look at).  Anyway, this book became a 'hot title', and it's taken me until this week to get ahold of a second printing of the first issue.  I just don't understand why this book got so much buzz, and another, equally good title such as Who is Jake Ellis? didn't.  Who decides these things?  Is it some marketing thing, or what?

Anyway, this is a good comic.  It's about a famous guitar player who has lost the ability to play.  He's tried everything, and is now making the rounds of the whack-jobs who think they can help him.  He ends up with a pseudo-doctor, mad scientist, sorcerer type, who performs some mystical procedure on him, that goes horribly wrong.  Now Will has a strange device embedded in his chest, which seems to let him tap into the creative properties of the number nine, although it will kill him too.

It's a cool concept.  We have all sorts of things in this book - strange numerology, great cop dialogue, bitchy professors, and hangers-on and dick-riders around every corner.  The writing is pretty sharp, and the story has a nice flow to it.  I'm not sure where this is going, and I like that a lot.

Artistically, this comic is just begging to be drawn by Ted McKeever.  That said, I like the way Podesta is handling this title.  There's a lot of Michael Avon Oeming in his work, but everything feels darker than that.  I'm glad I finally got a hold of this comic, and I look forward to the remaining two chapters.

Strongman

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Allen Gladfelter

It's strange to me how luchadores have such a recent cachet in comic books.  There are the brilliant stories in the much-lamented Lucha Libre anthology series (which is in some way coming back from the new Humanoids series, but I can't tell from the solicitation if it's new material or stuff I've already bought), and the recent wonderful Hellboy in Mexico story.  And then there's this book, which features a down on his luck former luchadore/super hero named Tigre.

Tigre used to be a big deal, starring in movies and the ring, and fighting injustice.  Now he's just one step up from being a bum.  When an attractive woman who reminds him of a lost love appeals to his sense of heroism, Tigre begins to investigate a strange black market organ ring, with ties to cannibalism and local politics.  Tigre, who has never taken off his mask in front of anyone for years, feels like it's time to put on a clean mask (his version of putting back on the mask, I guess) and clean up the streets.

This book dances all over traditional genre lines.  At one point, it starts to suggest that Tigre's celebrated past is all in his head and on the small screen, while at other times, it feels like it could fit in a project like Rugg's Afrodisiac in the way it apes styles of the past and builds on a sense of nostalgia.  At the end of the day, this is a straight-up adventure story with some very amusing touches (I loved the pornographer's office).

The art is similar to Jim Rugg's classic style, although it looks a little cramped in this smaller, almost digest format book.  I feel like the story was originally intended for a regular-sized comic, and then shrunk, which might not have been the best decision.

In all, this book isn't groundbreaking in any way, but it is a satisfying superhero read featuring a new character.