Mystery in Space #1

Written by Duane Swierczynski, Andy Diggle, Ming Doyle, Ann Nocenti, Nnedi Okorafor, Steve Orlando, Robert Rodi, Kevin McCarthy, and Michael Allred
Art by Ramon Bachs, Davide Gianfelice, Ming Doyle, Fred Harper, Michael Wm. Kaluta, Francesco Trifogli, Sebastian Fiumara, Kyle Baker, and Michael Allred

There's nothing quite like a good anthology book, as I attest with each new issue of Dark Horse Presents.  Lately, Vertigo has also entered the anthology business, putting out a one-shot every quarter or so.  This one uses a space and science fiction theme, and it contains some very good stories, and some I could have done without.

What first struck me about this book is that it is largely made by people who I either don't associate with Veritgo comics (Duane Swierczynski, Ramon Bachs, and Kyle Baker), or by people that I am completely unfamiliar with (Nnedi Okorafor, Steve Orlando, Kevin McCarthy, Fred Harper, and Francesco Trifogli).

There are a couple of themes that keep being revisited in this book, such as a future where people lack control over their lives and actions, and stories that involve people not perceiving things properly.  These are good stories, and they are all told quickly.

I did have trouble getting through Okorafor and Kaluta's story about a carnivorous jungle (although it was lovely), and McCarthy and Baker's story of two cultures discovering a powerful new substance.  It was kind of tedious, and Baker drew it in the cartoon style of his that I don't actually enjoy.

I found that I most enjoyed Diggle and Gianfelice's story about revolution, Doyle's tale of love and
suspended animation, and Rodi and Fiumara's tale of love in a space junkyard.

Orlando and Trifogli's story about centaurs and self-determination was one of the most interesting, but also a little hard to follow.  I would like to see more of Trifogli's art.  I look forward to Vertigo doing another book like this soon, but would like to see a little more variety in terms of themes.

Greek Street #16

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

I feel like this is a comic that should have worked better than it did.  Milligan is usually a terrific writer, and most of his best work has been at the Vertigo imprint.  Gianfelice is a terrific artist, and the book looked great.  But things never quite gelled for this series, and I think that Vertigo was pretty generous giving it almost a year and a half to work itself out before pulling the plug.

The concept of Greek Street was that a group of people living in modern-day London were reliving the lives and stories of Ancient Greece, but with a twist.  The main character was Eddie, a young man who killed his own mother in the first issue after meeting her for the first time, and sleeping with her.  Later, Eddie hooked up with Cassie, a girl that had visions of the future, which no one believed.  And so on, with Lord Menon, the Fureys, and a Greek chorus of strippers.

I'm not sure why, exactly, this book never worked.  It was hard to follow at times, and maybe a little too gratuitous in its violence and self-mutilation (Eddie tried to castrate himself at one time, and plucked out his own eye another).  I'm a little surprised that I stuck with it, but I felt like there was a lot of potential here, it just unfortunately was never realized.  I think Milligan must feel the same, as evidenced in his deus ex machina ending to the series.

Greek Street #11

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

This issue, which closes off the Cassandra Complex arc, feels like it could have been the ending of the whole series.  Milligan gives us closure on a number of plotlines, as Eddie escapes the Fureys and the police, and confronts Lord Menon.  Dedalus outs himself, and Eddie receives purification at the hands of the witches that keep showing up.

This has been a frustrating series, especially through the first volume, but now that things have been established, I'm starting to enjoy it much more.  It looks like the next arc is going to be completely different though, with a story featuring a soldier in Afghanistan.  I have no idea if we're going to see Eddie and his contemporaries again, or if this title is going to start taking a page out of Northlander's book, and become a series of thematically linked arcs.

Greek Street #10

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

Once again, Greek Street takes a turn towards the more understandable, as I finally feel like I have a handle on this title, and am also finding myself more and more interested in the characters and what is happening with them.

In this issue, Eddy takes a step closer to being like his namesake, while Lord Menon deals with the ex-SAS soldier he had (unwisely) tried to hire, and begins to understand the nature of his daughter's pronouncements and insanity.

This is a book I really want to like, and I hope it will continue to improve.  The next arc appears to have a 'war in Afghanistan' theme, which is something I'm looking forward to.

Greek Street #9

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

Things keep looking up as Milligan gives us an increasingly coherent and linear story. Some random London-born Pakistani blows up the Fureys' night club, causing them to escalate their war with the Limms even further, while Eddie goes to meet Inspector Dedalus, who is still being followed by the sorta-dead Medea.

It's taken a while for this title to calm down a little and become more like a traditional Vertigo book. I find that I'm intrigued enough now to stick with the book, although it was stop and go for a while there...

Greek Street #8

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice
Saying this is a strange issue of Greek Street is a little like referring to a curry as spicy, totally redundant, but this issue does deviate some from the patterns that Milligan had established for the series.

To begin with, the dancer who usually narrates the story has entered it as a character (not that she does much). Also, Dedalus, the police detective, seems to appear as his original, ancient Greek, self for one scene. Eddie, who I think is our hero, manages to experience one of Cassie's visions, although she doesn't see it herself, and some random Islamist terrorist appears right at the end of the book, with no exposition or proper introduction.

I have found this comic interesting, but sometimes feel it's a little like holding on to a wet eel.

Greek Street #7

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

Greek Street moves ever closer to coherence, as sub-plots begin to intertwine and Rashid, a muslim police inspector working with Dedalus, begins to grasp the true nature of events: that 'all this has happened before, and will happen again', to borrow from Battlestar Galactica.

I'm pleased I decided to stick it out through the first few, much rougher, issues of this title. It's not the greatest thing that Milligan has ever written, but there's something about it that I find compelling.

Greek Street #6

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

The new arc of Greek Street, 'The Cassandra Complex' seems to be muddying the waters again. This comic was beginning to get a lot clearer in terms of plotting, and now I'm back to being confused, yet still intrigued.

Eddy and Cassie have taken off, and have ended up in the clutches of dope-smoking porn stars who are stand-ins for some ancient Greek monsters. I think. This is the part of the book that is the least clear.

All the other plots are carrying forward as well - the idea of this being a new arc seems pretty arbitrary.

I am liking this comic, even when I'm not sure what's going on. I figure it's the type of book that needs to be re-read in one go at some point, after a few more issues. Of course, this being Vertigo, the chances of this book being around much past this arc are slim.

Greek Street #5

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

It's just more of the same really. The plot is moving pretty slowly here, as Eddie meets the Menons, the Fureys crash around a bit, and the dead lady finds one of her sisters.

I'm interested, but need to see a lot more soon, or I may be jumping off this title.

Greek Street #4

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

I enjoyed this issue of Greek Street. I feel like this series got off to a bit of a rocky start, but now that the characters have been established, it's a much better read.

In fact, I like the way the characters seem to keep bumping in to each other, giving the impression that London is a very small town. This issue is more of the same really in terms of plot development, but it's reading like there is a master plan at work, and I'm content to sit back and watch Milligan unfold it.

Gianfelice's art is great, too.

Greek Street #3

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

Now this is more like it. I've been interested in Greek Street since the first issue, but it is with this one that things are starting to fall into place, and the story is beginning to make a lot more sense. Maybe I'm a little slow, but I felt like there was too much crammed into the first couple of issues without much explanation, but now Milligan is slowing down a little, and relationships and structures are starting to become clearer.

Eddie is being tasked with keeping an eye on Lord Menon for one of the Furey brothers, who clearly doesn't know that Menon's already up to some dirt with another Furey brother. He's got something to do with that dead girl that came back to life last issue as well, and Inspector Dedalus's investigation leads to him, not as a suspect, but as an expert in Ancient Greek.

Now that I can see where all the pieces are on the board, I can get some sense of where this book is going, and I'm beginning to be interested in the characters.

Northlanders #20

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Davide Gianfelice

This issue is another 'done in one' story, returning us to the characters from the very first Northlanders arc (this book has been published for close to two years? Time is flying), Sven the Returned and his wife Enna. Much time has passed, and they are living in exile on the Faroe Islands with their two children.

During this time, Sven's legend has grown through the singing of the epic poem 'Sven the Returned'. It has spurred a group of rash young men on to seek him out and kill him, as their way of making a mark on the world.

From this simple set-up, Brian Wood is able to give us a good adventure story, which explores themes of youth and aging. It's a straight-forward story, but it's very well told and illustrated by Gianfelice, the artist whose work graced the original Sven story.

Greek Street #2

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice
It does seem like Milligan is trying to squeeze a lot into this book. It keeps jumping around from one story to another, and it's a little hard to follow, but at the same time, I feel like there is a master plan for all of this, and I am content to just sit back for a while, and try to keep up.

In this issue, Eddy ends up getting a job with the Fureys, the body that was found in the water last issue gets taken from the morgue, before getting up to some activity of its own, and we slowly start to get more of a handle on the main characters. Very slowly.

I trust that more will be made clear as the story progresses, and I feel like this opening arc was most definitely written for the trade as opposed to as a set of single issues, which does explain the strange pacing. The art is nice though, and I'll give them to the end of this arc before I decide what I want to do with this book.

Greek Street #1

Written by Peter Milligan
Art by Davide Gianfelice

One thing you've never been able to fault Peter Milligan on is ambition. He's a highly inconsistent writer, who has authored some truly amazing comics (Shade the Changing Man, X-Force/X-Statix), and some rather dreadful ones (his X-Men one being most memorable there). It's true that he usually does his best work when given little editorial interference, and usually with Vertigo.

This series is definitely ambitious in its scope and execution. Milligan is re-writing the Greek myths, set in modern day London. In this issue, he introduces a ton of characters, and tries to set a number of different, yet interconnected, stories into play. He leaves it to the readers to make the connections to the myths of old (although lets face it, naming a bunch of guys 'The Fureys' isn't the most subtle thing in the world).

A lot happens in this first issue - it's a good thing he has the extra length to work with, and it's not always clear what is going on, or who the characters are. This doesn't really matter though, if you look at this as a sampler of what the series is going to be like, when it slows down a little. I feel like I need to read this issue again, but I also know that I'm interested in the next issue, which I guess makes this $1 opener a success.

Gianfelice's art is nice in this book. It has a classical Vertigo look to it, and it's a capable follow-up to his Northlanders arc. This title seems to be following the type of formula that does well at Vertigo - it's definitely on familiar ground, which hopefully means it will last more than two years, unlike many recent Vertigo debuts.