Blue Estate #12

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Peter Nguyen

Blue Estate has been a truly unique comic experience, and with this issue, Viktor Kalvachev brings his experimental approach to a very satisfying conclusion.

There is no easy way to summarize or encapsulate all that has led up to this issue, except to say that through a long string of coincidences, bumbles, and fate, a large group of people have, when this book opens, converged on a termite-infested house, and, with few exceptions, are all looking to kill one another.  There are Russian and Italian mobsters, idiot sons, police, hitmen, private eyes, and Hollywood starlets all caught up in the mix.

This issue is full of the bizarre and violent deaths, and the strange coincidences (ie., a gangster escapes bullets and police, only to run into a football player he had his men brutalize months earlier) that have made this book such an entertaining read.  It also wraps up every storyline I can remember, and dangles the secret of the beluga, without explaining just what that mythical sex act really is.

What has made this comic so unique is the rotating roster of artists who have contributed different pages or panels.  Kalvachev has brought together some of the most interesting artists in the business, and has melded their different styles in such a way as to give the book a consistent look and feel, even when the styles used usually would clash.

I highly recommend picking this series up in trade.  I can't wait for the second season to begin...

Blue Estate #11

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Aleksi Briclot, and Peter Nguyen

I strongly believe that Blue Estate is one of the unsung great comics of the recent Image Renaissance.  This is a truly unique book, with a story and approach to art that is not done anywhere else.

This issue is the penultimate one of this 'first season', and all of the various plot threads that the writers have been laying out for some time are all beginning to intersect and collide throughout.  To give a summary of this book at this stage in the game is very difficult - basically, a whole whack of Russians and Italians have converged on a termite-infested house to blow each other away, and some of our heroes - alcoholic recently widowed actress Rachel Maddox, hapless private investigator Roy Blount Jr., useless mob son Tony Luciano, and recovering alcoholic assassin Clarence (also known as Johnny).

This is a much faster paced issue than we are used to, as much of the book is given over to people from the various groups try to shoot one another.  Rachel figures out that it was Clarence who killed her husband, and much woodwork gives way.

This is the first issue that does not have Viktor Kalvachev's art in it, though he continues to serve as 'art director'.  It looks like most of this issue was drawn by Cypress and Fox, although it can be very hard to tell who has done what with this comic, which is a big part of its appeal to me.

I'm pleased to hear that there are plans for a second season of Blue Estate, as I would miss this book.

Blue Estate #10

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Dave Johnson, Peter Nguyen, and Kieran

I don't think there's ever been anything quite like Blue Estate.  It's a multi-faceted screwball mobster comedy with something for just about everyone.  It's getting harder and harder to explain what goes on in any given issue (all the elements are actually on the cover, if not very literally), but I'll give it a try.

Tony has to get his Italian mobster father's horse (the titular Blue Estate) to the racetrack, but he also has to meet recent widow Rachel for sex (which is really a set-up by the Russian mafia to kill him for arranging the hit on Rachel's husband, which lost the Russians a lot of money), so he has Billy, Rachel's brother who owes him cash on a real estate deal that went wrong, take care of it, but he passes the horse off to his stoner tenants so he can sell Rachel's house, in order to have the money to pay off Tony.  Got all that? 

That's not the whole synopsis though, as there is a lot more going on in this issue, as both the Russians and Italians gear up for war, and the cops prepare to make their move on all of them.  Also, we learn about the effects of second hand marijuana smoke on racehorses, and get to listen in on a mystifying conversation about a sex act known as the 'beluga' (and no, Google and Urban Dictionary were no help - if you can explain, please comment).

This book has more characters than it does artists, but the writing team never causes us to lose track of any of them, and the subtly shifting art styles continue to make each new page a treat.  This is an incredibly complicated comic, both in terms of story and the logistics of the large number of people involved in making each new issue, but it works remarkably well.  Reading this issue, it was very easy to imagine this story as a mini-series on HBO, and I think it would be excellent.

Blue Estate #9

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Robert Valley, Peter Nguyen, and Andy Kuhn

Before I even begin to talk about this comic, I want to take a moment to take in this cover, which is equal parts hideous and wonderful.  No, the characters in Blue Estate do not suddenly attend a Sci-Fi or comics convention, but Rachel Maddox does accompany Roy Blount Jr. to a pawn shop, where he is able to get his Stormtrooper helmet out of hock, but has to leave his Princess Leia slave costume behind.

You see, Rachel has to buy Roy off, because his photos of her visiting junior mobster Tony Luciano have him convinced that she was cheating on her recently murdered movie star husband, instead of going to rescue her useless brother from the mobster's clutches.

After returning from the pawn shop, Rachel and Roy Jr. are set upon by Tony's goons, and there is a shoot-out.  Poor Rachel is not having much luck these days, and quickly finds herself the unwanted guest of Vadim Razov, a Russian mobster whose money was stolen by Rachel's husband's murderer. 

Yes, this book is intricately plotted and frequently complex, and it is also wonderful.  As the series progresses, it is impossible to predict where things will be going, or how they are going to end up.  The art, by the ever-changing large team that Kalvachev has assembled, continues to be excellent as well.  I love this series.

Blue Estate #8

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Nathan Fox, Toby Cypress, Andrew Robinson, and Peter Nguyen

The longer the series runs, the more I find myself getting caught up in the twist and turns of Kalvachev and company's story.  Last month, most of the issue focused on Bruce Maddox, his trainer and lover Marcellus, and Clarence, the man that killed them both in a hit that he thought had been ordered by mob boss Don Luciano but had really been requested by the Don's stupid son Tony, although it also suited Clarences own plans, and those of his new friend Rachel, Bruce's wife.  Got all that?  I hope so, because I haven't mentioned the Russian mobster whose money got taken during this hit, or the involvement of the Roy Devines, one a top cop, and the other a loser private eye.

Needless to say, the story is intricate and complicated, but it also works surprisingly well.  This issue explores the fall-out of the hit, as the Russians lean on the Italians to get their money back, and Roy Jr. tries to make a name for himself out of the whole mess.  For such a complex book, and with such violent subject matter, it is surprisingly funny, as Kalvachev and his other writers whip up new characters like Lupe, Roy Sr.'s assistant, who has the hots for him.

Originally, I started buying this book for the roster of artists Kalvachev is using, but now I'm reading it as much for the story.  This issue brings Peter Nguyen and Andrew Robinson to the fold.  I am happy to see them working with such greats as Nathan Fox and Toby Cypress.

This is one comic that doesn't seem to be slowing down, and is definitely not finding itself constrained by such modern comics plagues as writing for the trade or padding arcs to make them longer.

Blue Estate #7

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yenev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, and Tomm Coker

I was pretty surprised, looking through the credits of this issue to see that Tomm Coker was joining the Blue Estate team.  Previous regulars like Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Paul Maybury have a more similar visual aesthetic than Coker, whose work is more realistic.  A big part of the fun of this comic has always been trying to figure out who drew which page (although I think I'm usually wrong).

Anyway, Coker's art fits surprisingly well with this particular issue's content.  The story of Blue Estate has moved from sprawling and random to being very interconnected and tight, as characters who we previously thought had nothing to do with one another are getting tied together in multiple ways.  Bruce Maddox, the film star, and his bodyguard/lover Marcellus have decided to finally deal with what they've called 'The Rachel Situation' once and for all, by planning to kill her and set up a PI as a dupe to take the fall.  What they don't know is that a mobster has hired Clarence, who is also Rachel's secret friend and AA sponsor, to kill Bruce.

This leads to a spectacular action sequence (mostly drawn by Coker), which ends a little unexpectedly for everyone.  I love how so many plot threads are coming together, and can't wait to see how the next issue plays out.  This is a book that rewards careful reading and attention to detail (like the fact that Clarence had to borrow someone's car to get to his hit), and it's never dull.  I do hate this month's cover though...

Blue Estate #6

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, and Nathan Fox


Blue Estate continues to be a complex book, which has me pretty drawn in.  The book has a large cast of characters, and they don't all appear in every issue, so it can sometimes be a little tricky to remember who is who, although the recap page at the front of the book is helpful.

In this issue, Tony the mobster has taken Billy captive over a bad land deal, and has called in his sister, Rachel, to pay him off.  The only problem is that, despite the fact that Rachel is married to a famous movie star, she has no money.  Rachel, meanwhile, is trying to escape from her controlling and psychopathic brother, so she suggests to Tony that, were Bruce to die, she would be able to pay him.

There are layers upon layers of deceit in this book, which is what makes it so interesting.  When Tony's father wants him to arrange for the assassination of someone else, it gives Tony the chance to bump off Bruce, although we'll have to wait to see how that plays out.

As before, there are three artists working on this book, but their different pages work very well together, and I'm never quite sure who is doing what.  Blue Estate is a very cool comic, and it seems to be going pretty strong.  The first trade just came out recently; I recommend getting caught up on the series, because it is very good.

Blue Estate #5

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Paul Maybury, and Marley Zarcone

Blue Estate shifted in tone a little with this issue.  While there has always been a humorous aspect to this comic (dark, dark humour), this issue seemed to be much lighter and almost sillier, from word play (the Sudoku scene), physical humour (termites), and the silliness of bodyguards trying on wigs.  I'm not even going to talk about the garden gnomes.

I don't get it - Kalvachev and his team have been angling this to be a pretty dark story, but now I'm not so sure.  Still, it's pretty entertaining, so I'm not going anywhere.

There is a new introduction to the art team with this issue, and that is Marley Zarcone.  I first noticed Zarcone's work on Nick Spencer's Forgetless, and I was immediately impressed.  She's a talented artist whose style fit seamlessly with the others who work on this comic.

Blue Estate #4

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Paul Maybury

Blue Estate continues to be both one of the most intriguing new series to come out of Image's recent creator-owned Renaissance, and also one of its most perplexing.  The series is most definitely written for the trade, as scenes blend between issues (#3 ends with a woman swimming in a pool, and this issue begins with us seeing who she is).  In a lot of ways, this comic reminds me of one long steady-cam shot, where a filmmaker meanders in what he chooses to film, but maintains the consistency of the shot.  If that makes sense.

There are lots of little pieces being sprinkled around this comic, as just about every character is connected to every other, in a myriad of ways.  This issue opens with the girlfriend of a Russian mobster practicing her scene for her film debut at the house of the actor we met in the first issue, whose wife Rachel is pretending to be drunk to gain information about her husband, which she passes on to her AA sponsor, who is a hitman, while the mobster tortures the Uzbek cokehead we met last issue, and so on, and so on.  It's like the writers are just exploring these connections, without really having a set plot in mind.

With the character work being this good, I'm perfectly okay with that.  This series has a lot in common with long-running soap operas, and so far, I'm just enjoying attaching puzzle pieces in my head.  The varying and shifting art styles on this book, as the pages cycle through the four artists attached to the project, help keep things fresh and visually interesting.

I am really enjoying this series, although at this point, I think I would recommend that people trade wait it, as picking up a random issue will be utterly confusing.

Blue Estate #3

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Robert Valley

With each new issue of this series, I find myself more and more engrossed.  Blue Estate is a sprawling crime comic, with a large cast and little to no loyalty to the episodic nature of monthly comics (the last page of this comic moves to a new setting and new characters, without any apparent meaning or setting up a cliffhanger).  Normally, that would be just annoying, but somehow, it really works here.

This issue sticks with three sub-groups of characters.  Last issue ended with some frat idiots giving a stripper a hard time in a strip club owned by the son of a mob boss.  This issue begins with said owner teaching them a few things about proper strip club decorum, although it's left unclear whether or not they'll be able to ever apply these lessons.

From there, the book shifts focus to Alyosha the Lion, a crazy Uzbek drug smuggler looking to buy a lot of weapons (although he doesn't know that his apartment is being bugged).  We also get to check in with the Roy Devines.  The older one is staking out Alyosha, when the younger one appears at the stake-out van with coffee.

Kalvachev and his writing team are taking their time in building up the characters and situations that make up this comic, and that's perfectly okay with me.  They are clearly having fun with their Tarantino-esque dialogue (I love how the mob goons invoke the name of David Hasselhoff), and have a pretty big story to tell eventually.

The art continues to impress as well.  I find the shifts from one artist to the next are utterly seamless.  It feels like the various artists are really challenging each other to show off their best material, and for a book with so many people involved, it stays remarkably consistent.

Blue Estate #2

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Robert Valley

Part way through this issue, I figured out what Blue Estate is reminding me of: Azzarello and Risso's classic Vertigo series 100 Bullets must have been more than a passing influence, with it's similarly kaleidoscopic plotting and myriad characters.

This issue of Blue Estate continues to introduce and establish characters.  We learn a lot more about Rachel, like that she's not actually an alcoholic, and that she has been communicating secretly with her AA sponsor.  Of course, he's not at all what he seems to be.

We also meet Rachel's brother, who has a gorgeous stripper girlfriend, and is taking part in a dubious-looking real estate transaction with the gangster's son that we met in the last issue.  As we get to know these characters, I find myself getting more and more interested in this book.

The shifting art styles continues to work very well here.  I'm not entirely sure who is drawing what (although Tobey Cypress is pretty unique), and I like the way styles shift gradually.  In all, this is another one of those recent Image comics that prove that it's the most interesting comics publisher out there.

Blue Estate #1

Written by Viktor Kalvachev, Kosta Yanev, and Andrew Osborne
Art by Viktor Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, and Robert Valley

I didn't know what to expect going in to this comic.  I don't pay a lot of attention to soliciations beyond the creators' names, preferring to let preview pages speak for themselves.  I like the work of both Toby Cypress and Nathan Fox, and Image has been on fire of late, so I thought I'd give this a shot.

It's a hard comic to judge based on the first issue.  Kalvachev and friends have a pretty complicated story to tell, so this issue is mostly just about arranging some of the chess pieces on the board, and introducing them to the reader.  I don't really know what this comic is going to be about, beyond the fact that it has something to do with an aging action star, a drunk actress, a Russian mobster, the cop who has been hunting him for years, and that cop's fat useless private eye son.  How this is going to play out is very much up in the air.

There is a recurrent Law & Order motif at play here.  The issue opens on the PI watching an episode of Special Victims Unit, and the opening narration at first appears to be the introduction to the comic.  After that, whenever the narration moves to a new location, the familiar 'Dun Dun' sound is used.  It's a cute touch.

The art is cool in this comic.  I thought that having so many cooks in the kitchen would create a wildly inconsistent feel for the book, but somehow it works out just fine.  There is a roughness to the look of this book, and it seems fitting for the type of story that is being told.  I'll probably pick up the next issue to see where this is all headed.