The New York Five #4

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly and Jim Rugg

Throughout this mini-series, which is a sequel to the Minx book The New York Four, there has been a recurring sense of disjointedness, as scenes shift suddenly and plot elements are introduced and go nowhere.

This concluding issue suffers from this sense of dissonance more than some of the others.  To begin with, a character is killed off (I know that's a spoiler, but look at the cover) suddenly, and to a disappointing effect.  The character was not very well developed, so not only is it hard to care about her, it's also hard to understand why her friends are upset.  Her wake leads to a possible romantic opportunity for Merissa, but that also goes absolutely nowhere.

I feel bad slamming a book like this.  Wood is usually an amazing writer, but I remember his writing in the first issue that he had a lot of difficulty making his story fit a four 20-page issue format, as he was originally planning for this to be a longer-form graphic novel.

The art in this series has been amazing, as Ryan Kelly always is.  The addition of Jim Rugg (read Street Angel!) on inks is seamless, as Kelly continues to give us some gorgeous shots of New York City.

The New York Five #3

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly

Even if I didn't care about the story or characters in this comic, I would buy it for the full page panels of New York that Ryan Kelly is drawing.  This issue opens with a splash page of one of the girls (not sure if it's Riley or Ren) skateboarding up a street, and then moves on to large images of the tenement the girls live in, the interior of the Strand, a coffee shop, Washington Square, St. Mark's Place, Veselka, the entrance to the subway, and numerous large character shots.  While they make the comic a quick read, they are amazing pieces of art, demonstrating Kelly's mastery of both people and architecture.

The story still feels a little choppy in places, but I've become so fond of most of these characters that it doesn't bother me in the slightest.  The girls seem to be drifting apart, as Ren makes a big announcement, and Merissa heads off to handle her family responsibilities.  Riley starts talking to her sister again, and Lona's boyfriend puts her straight about her creepy stalker behaviour.  We start to get to know Olive, the homeless girl, a little better too.

I'm not sure what to expect from the last issue of this series next month, but if it's nothing but Ryan Kelly New York scenes, with Brian Wood inserting his thoughts about the places, then I'll be perfectly happy with it.

The New York Five #2

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly

Nothing by Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly is going to be bad, but I do feel like there are some flaws to New York Five, even while I find myself easily swept up in the lives of the four roommates and their friends, and swept away by Kelly's artwork.

The problem is one of pacing.  Wood mentioned in his text piece last issue that Shelly Bond rearranged much of the story to make it flow better, but I feel like someone needed to help make it more clear (beyond using the therapist's videos) to see how much time has passed between scenes.  Have the events in this comic taken place over a couple of days, or a couple of weeks?  It's very hard to tell some times.

Still, there is so much to like in this book, as Wood and Kelly chronicle the lives of these girls, and slowly reveal more about them.  We learn what's up with Merissa's crazy brother, and Lona, the stalker, introduces her boyfriend from Vancouver, who finally calls her out on her stalking madness.  Riley, who is pretty much the main character,  comes out pretty badly in this issue, as she starts sleeping with her sister's boyfriend, even as she loses any doubts that he's an absolute creep.

This is an interesting book.

The New York Five #1

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Ryan Kelly

As much as I never really figured out DC's Minx line, where New York Four, the book to which this mini-series is the sequel, was published, I think it may have been a better fit for this title than Vertigo is.  But then, this is Brian Wood and Ryan Kelly, so it's an instant purchase, even if it is basically a young adult series aimed at girls.  Even as I type that, I realize how reductionist it sounds...

New York Five follows a group of four freshman students at NYU who are all friends, and who have the same therapist.  The fifth girl, whose presence explains the change in title, is introduced in this issue, but only just.  Anyway, these four girls now live together, and are going through some of the usual struggles of young students (boyfriend troubles, family troubles, marks troubles), and some that seem kind of unique - obsessively stalking a teacher being the most unusual.

Wood and Kelly, who meshed together perfectly on Local (which just might be the best comic series I've ever read), are basically telling a story of New York, in which these girls are incidental characters.  Wood peppers the book with fun insiders facts, like where to go for congee in Queens, and Kelly lovingly draws detailed drawings of intersections and elevated trains.  The book feels like the younger sister to Local, and while truly bizarre in its existence, is well worth reading.

Glad to be Canadian: Sheriff Joe

by William Finnegan

I've written before about how the United States continuously baffles me. It, as a country, has been responsible for so many achievements in the sciences, arts, literature, pop culture, etc., etc., and yet, it is also home to so much intolerance, weirdness, depravity, and hatred. I decided to start a feature on this blog called 'Glad to be Canadian', for those times when I come across things that remind me of how lucky I am to live up here, as opposed to in the US.

This article profiles Joe Arpaio, the sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona (including Phoenix). He has gained some small levels of fame for marketing himself as 'America's Toughest Sheriff', a title based on his efforts to humiliate and degrade prisoners in his county's jails. He is famous for having set up tents in under-used industrial parks, and fencing them in to create Tent City Jails, as a solution for over-crowding. He has prisoners wear pink underwear, and shackles them in pink hand-cuffs, not due to any supposed psychological benefit, but because it humiliates them, and amuses him. He has also decided to wage a one-county war against illegal immigration, and goes to such extreme measures that people become afraid to leave their homes.

Finnegan's well-written article doesn't criticize much; it instead allows Arpaio to dig his own rhetorical graves. The man comes off as a total publicity-hound, who is attempting to tap into the fears of red-neck Arizona as a way of orchestrating his own rise to stardom. Finnegan catches him inflating or massaging the facts a few times, which only adds to his foolish image.

What amazes me is that this man can be so succesful. He is expecting to win a sixth term as sheriff in 2012. I don't understand how such a man can keep his position. Between 2004 and 2008, his department was sued 2200 times - a truly astronomical figure.

In Canada, this man wouldn't keep his job - not even in Alberta. This article makes me Glad to be Canadian.