Wildcats Version 3.0 Vol. 1: Brand Building

Written by Joe Casey
Art by Dustin Nguyen and Richard Friend

It wasn't until later in the run that I started to read what has to be the best approach ever taken to a creation of Jim Lee's.

Casey completely shed the 'Action Teams' aspect of the WildCATs, although he did sort of keep the 'Covert', instead taking only a few of the characters from the original team, and re-purposing them as industrial barons on a mission to improve the world through aggressive capitalism. These were superheroes for the new millennium, although parts of Casey's first few issues read as much like an article by Naomi Klein as Larry Hama.

This volume does a great job of introducing some new characters: Dolby, the accountant, and CC Rendozzo, the information broker are two memorable individuals. Casey did not completely break with the main characters' pasts, he just made them largely irrelevant to the business at hand.

Nguyen's art is crisp and enjoyable, as he plays around a little with lay-outs and provides some interesting ads. The covers, by Nguyen but with the guidance of Rian Hughes, are often the best part of the comic, and the comic is damn good. I think it's time perhaps to re-read Volume 2, and then dig through the single issues that make up the bulk of this run (which has not been collected yet).

Wildcats Vol. 3: Serial Boxes

Written by Joe Casey
Art by Sean Phillips

I miss the days when Wildstorm was pushing the envelope of super-hero comics, even though I was one of the last people to catch on to what they were doing (ie., Stormwatch: Team Achilles was my gateway).

This book reads like Casey was working hard to move Wildcats to the place he envisioned, but to do it slowly and organically instead of suddenly. He could have pulled a 'five years later' sort of thing and dumped us right into Version 3.0, but instead, he took his time to establish the prominence of Halo Industries to the book, and to build up characters like Noir and introduce others like Agent Wax.

This volume is mostly about a powered serial killer hunting down anyone possibly related to Lord Emp, and how the team decides to deal with him, except the characters are better developed than at any previous point in the book's various runs.

I regret not having been aware of this stuff when it was originally coming out, but I also enjoy being able to go back and get caught up now.

Lucifer Vol. 4: The Divine Comedy

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross, Ryan Kelly, and Dean Ormston

Reading this gives me a lot of hope for Carey and Gross' 'Unwritten'. It's clear, some 28 issues into Lucifer, that Carey had quite a story planned out for this title. This volume still follows up on things that were introduced in the very first issues of the series, and ends with Lucifer heading off to a battle he'd arranged some two volumes previous.

This book deals with Lucifer's confrontation with the Basanos, the territorial aims of the Lilim, the possible endpoint of Elaine Belloc's story (although I doubt it), the sorcery of centaurs, and the demonic forms of Cherubim. In other words, it's rather far-reaching.

As always, Gross and Kelly's work looks very good, and Ormston's fill-in issues are a nice counter-point.

Ed Burn's Dock Walloper

Written by Ed Burns and Jimmy Palmiotti
Art by Siju Thomas
I guess the first thing to say about this book is that I didn't know there were two Ed Burns whose names might be used to sell a comic. I immediately thought of the Ed Burns who co-produced and wrote for The Wire and Generation Kill, and not the one who was in Brothers McMullen. And due to that ignorance, I bought a comic I didn't really want.

There's nothing all that wrong with this book really, it's just not my thing. It's all about a man named John Smith, who has a gigantic right arm and hand, and who starts to climb his way up the Irish mob scene in Prohibition New York. Strangely, he doesn't use his giant arm and hand for more than shooting tommy guns, where I would assume that giant fingers wouldn't fit inside trigger guards, but it's all good.

This was intended to become a movie, and I'm not sure I could see it being all that successful. Beyond the issue of the giant arm and hand (hard to get past that), there has to be the believability in the racial harmony that Smith exhibits, which wouldn't really fit at the time. Also, the plot gets a little convoluted, and all the bad guys look the same.

On the plus side, this comic gives a couple cameo appearances to the photographer Weegee, which makes me happy, if almost nobody else.

The art is sketchy and hurried, and there are some seriously messed up shots, like any time that Bootsy (Smith's black friend) kicks anyone in the face. Oh well, the book was entertaining enough, although it's not hard to see why Virgin went under....

Rex

by Danijel Zezelj

I've mentioned before how much I admire Danijel Zezelj's art work. From his underrated Congo Bill series at DC to his more recent work on Loveless and Northlanders, and including his illustrations in Harper's magazine, there is something about this artist that makes him stand out in my mind as one of the more unique people currently working in comics.

So, when I was at Fan Expo, and got a chance to pick up a copy of one of his European comics (in English) for only $10, I didn't have to spend much time thinking.

Rex is a hard and mean story, matching exactly the tone Zezelj so often sets in his work. Bill Orlowski, now called Rex, was a 'super-cop', until he was set up to take a fall and was convicted of trafficking drugs. As a famous police, he was, not surprisingly, unwelcome among his fellow cons, and subjected to seven years of rough treatment before getting exceptionally buff, escaping, and hunting down his enemies. That's about it for story, but you're not going to buy this comic for the story.

What stands out throughout this short book is the texture of Zezelj's art. This is a very dark book, and his thick lines and oppresive grey tones never leave you room for doubt about that. The book works best read in a single sitting, and will stick with you when you are finished.

This is published in North America by Optimum Wound, a publishing house with a lot of promise. Check them out, and pick this up.

The Nobody

by Jeff Lemire

Jeff Lemire's been doing some excellent work lately, and this graphic novel for Vertigo can be seen as a bridge from his perfect Essex County trilogy to his new monthly series Sweet Tooth. The Nobody marries the small-town sensibilities of the former project to the science fiction aspects of the latter.

In The Nobody, a bandaged man named John Griffen (which tells you everything right there) arrives in the town of Large Mouth, where he holes up in a hotel room for days on end. Large Mouth being a small town (appropriately filled with large mouths), there is a lot of chatter, prompting Vicky, the classic 'girl from a small town who craves excitement' to seek out and befriend Griffen.

Things take a turn however when someone from his past comes looking for him, and Griffen begins to lose his self-control. Then, the reason why he's in town, and the reason for the bandages, become the central plot element.

As with Lemire's other work, this book embraces the slow pace of small-town living. His panels are full of wide open spaces and small moments - a butterfly alighting on Griffen's shoulder is reason for pause. The book is in a monochromatic blue, which gives his sketchy artwork an otherworldy feel. The story is paced perfectly, building to its confrontation at a lake in winter.

This book is highly recommended.

Fan Expo vs. TCAF

This week-end I decided to give Toronto's Fan Expo a try. I haven't gone to a comic-con since I was a young teen. I have a distinct memory of sitting in the audience at a panel where someone asked Chris Claremont when he was going to let another writer work on Uncanny X-Men (this would have been around the Mutant Massacre time, when his stuff was still good), and some girl started hissing at the guy who asked. Like, actually saying the words, "Hiss, hiss." It was one of those revelatory moments, and I stepped away from organized fandom for a long long time.

Then, two years ago, I attended the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, and it was everything I missed about those old conventions (anyone remember when they were at OCA, before the D? Those were the best), but without the rabid and maniacal fans. I went again this year, and loved it again. So, add to that a quiet week-end, and the desire to check out some of the titles that I dropped when their prices went to $4 a comic, and I decided to head down to the Toronto Convention Centre.

I enjoyed myself, and have since been thinking about the major differences between these two events, which basically comprise the calendar for comics-related events in Toronto (I know some would be yelling Word on the Street right about now, but that's yet to impress me) So, what are the pros and cons of each?

Commercialism vs. Advocacy
While TCAF is definitely an event designed to make money for its exhibitors, it takes a very different approach. Fan Expo is loud, crass, and populist. You have to pay $25 to get in (without including parking, and only for one day), and it's all about the cash. Don't get me wrong, I went for the 50% off bins, but it has a 'grab what you can' atmosphere, heightened by announcers offering the opportunity for extra tickets to meet Bruce Campbell. At TCAF, each exhibitor humbly displays his or her wares, and that's about it. TCAF is more about promoting the artform in general, and helping independent creators reach a larger audience, something that the free admission most definitely helps with.

Artist Alley
I found it interesting to try to chart which of the creators I saw at Fan Expo I've also seen at TCAF. I had a short chat with James Turner at both events this year, and saw some TCAF mainstays like Stuart and Kathryn Immonen, Darwyn Cooke, Jason Loo, Cameron Stewart, and Michael Cho. Probably the creator I was most excited to meet was Jeff Lemire, who drew me a very nice sketch in the front of the copy of 'The Nobody' I bought off of him. There were a lot of 'bigger name' artists present, people like Mike Deodato, David Finch, and apparently Bill Sienkiewicz (who I never even laid eyes on), but they usually had a crowd, and had nothing of interest for sale. And that's the difference between Fan Expo and TCAF. The artists at TCAF bring a very interesting variety of items to sell, and I feel like the people in attendance are a little more eclectic, but also are independent creators of a higher calibre. There were lots of independent folk at Fan Expo, but not that many with whom I'm actually familiar. I think TCAF has built a certain level of chachet for itself, and is therefore attracting a much more prestigious guest list.

Deals
I have to admit though, Fan Expo is the place to go for deals. People are selling things off at very good prices, although if your tastes run more to the obscure, best of luck. I was able to get a few things at a good price - half off on 'Wonton Soup 2', and 'Shortcomings' for 40% off, but I waded through a lot of 'Civil War', 'Spider-Man' and Virgin Comics trades to find them. A lot of the stuff I went specifically for: 'Beanworld', the Ted McKeever library, and things like 'Johnny Hiro' were not exactly in attendance, and definitely not at a reduced price if I did find them. I still walked out with some good buys and a weight on my arm, but it was more my mainstream itch that got scratched. Comparatively though, things were cheaper than at TCAF, which I think is unfortunate. I can understand artists wanting to make as much as they can, and I'm happy to support them where possible, but I don't see how a publisher like Drawn and Quarterly can't offer a 10-15% discount across the board. They're still making a greater profit than they would distributing to book and comic stores, and cheap guys like me would be more likely to buy more.

Costumes
This is the type of stuff that I think cheapens the whole hobby, and makes it easy to mock in the media, and that is exclusively the domain of Fan Expo (although there was a kid at TCAF this year in a Batman shirt with a cape - he looked to be about 6 though). I don't understand the desire, personally, but a lot of people were wearing some homemade costumes, often of strikingly good quality. I was going to come down fully against it - I never want to see some over-weight guy stretch some spandex to the limit in an effort to mimic Deadpool again - but two people changed my mind on this issue some: Supergirl, and Batgirl. In some ways, they were the highlight of the show for me....

So, it's not an all or nothing thing. It's quite clear that Toronto has the ability to host both of these comics celebrations to huge crowds, but I think they clearly show the dichotomy that exists within the medium. Ultimately, it's probably that dichotomy that keeps comics as a form of business and of art so fluid and successful, and it's good to see mass outpourings of love for the form in either venue. Personally for me, I know I'll be at TCAF this spring; I'm not so sure about next year's Fan Expo.