Hip Hop Family Tree 1975-1983 Gift Box

by Ed Piskor

It's surprising that I hadn't read any of Ed Piskor's incredible series before now, considering that I'm almost as much a hip hop head as I am a comics head.  The Gift Box Set contains volumes one and two of Piskor's oversized Hip Hop Family Tree series, as well as a 90s-style ashcan comic about Rob Liefeld.  Despite a pair of excellent FCBD issues that I enjoyed, I waited until now, which with the release of The Get Down on Netflix, is the perfect time to read this comic.

Piskor's set out to tell the entire story of hip hop music and culture in these books, sharing it in short one or two page strips that combine to tell the much larger story.  The first volume begins in 1975 with the earliest forms of hip hop, and this box takes it through to 1983, and the emergence of Run-DMC as a new powerhouse.

Piskor's research and attention to detail is incredible, as is his ability to keep things interesting and coherent, even though the story jumps all over the place without chapter breaks, blending it all together.  This becomes even more complicated when hip hop breaks out of New York and starts to appear in other parts of the country, such as the early LA scene.  I can see how, as the book moves into the late 80s and 90s, this is going to become more and more complex, since each major city developed its own regional variations.

Anyway, this is a great read, and an example of true virtuosic work on Piskor's part.  The design of the book is incredible, and every aspect of it has been clearly thought out and planned meticulously.  I like the way that the pages look like yellowed pages from that era, but when Piskor shows a scene from later, the colouring and design reflects that era (bright and clear for the late 80s, for example).

I also like the fact that, as I read this book, the Internet makes it possible to pull up artifacts from that time, like Blondie's horrendous 'Rapture' video, and to watch Charlie Ahearn's classic film Wild Style on Netflix, since I was really young during the period that Piskor is portraying.  It feels like early hip hop has become popular again (see The Get Down to see what I mean), and I wonder if Piskor has had something to do with that.

Reading all of this, I am left with one burning question though, and that's my desire to know just what it is that Piskor has against Russell Simmons.  He's really not kind to the man...

Terror Assaulter: OMWOT (One Man War on Terror)

by Benjamin Marra

I think this might be one of the most pure comics I've ever read, at least in terms of what the artform has been for much of its existence.

Terror Assaulter: OMWOT follows our hero, the product of a secret US government organization (involving lizard men and ceremonial aprons) who have set him loose to stop terror in all of its forms.  Each of the first three chapters feature OMWOT coming across terrorists, fighting them, and then having sex with someone (not necessarily in that order).  The fourth chapter is different, but not terribly so - there's just a lot more sex, and a lot less killing.

The set up and execution is kept very simple.  All of the characters speak in simple declarative sentences, which often explain what is happening in the panel.  "You grabbed my arm!"  "My c*** is in your mouth now."  "We're hijacking the airplane!" are all good examples of Marra's dialogue.

In a lot of ways, this feels like the kind of comic a particularly horny twelve-year-old might write.  Terrorists attack because that's what terrorists do.  People have sex after an action scene because that's what action movies have taught up happens after action scenes.  Top-secret Terror Assaulters get to smoke on airplanes or in court because of course they can.

What sets this apart is Marra's art.  It's stiff and a little ugly, but he has a very complex understanding of the acrobatics of fight scenes that it is pretty amazing.  Marra only uses primary colours to shade this comic, and like every other thing that seems simple on the surface, it really shows a greater depth to the work.

Palestine

by Joe Sacco

At this point in my life, after spending just about all of it reading comics, I'm always a little surprised when I realized what some of my gaps are.  For example, I've never read a complete Joe Sacco book before now.  Palestine collects his individual comic books from the mid-90s, recounting his visit to that unfortunate place.

I don't know what kind of response this book got when it came out, but it clearly wasn't strong or outraged enough.  In this book, Sacco walks around the towns and refugee camps of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, going into peoples' homes, hearing their stories, and observing their living conditions.  He gives a very honest portrayal of Palestinian life as it was twenty years ago.

That things have only gotten worse in this occupied land is unbelievable to me.  I don't want to get into my political thinking here, but as someone who likes to see himself as a humanist, this book made me angry and sad.  Knowing that, were Sacco to find these same people and talk to them again, their lives are not likely improved, is a tragedy.

I think the main reason why I never read a Sacco book is because his art kind of turns me off.  His people are strange looking, and their teeth disturb me.  That said, his draftsmanship is great, and his establishing shots, or his panoramas of Palestinian life, really impress.

It took me a little while to adjust to his use of cascading text boxes, and the overall wordiness of this book, but by the time I had read the first three issues collected here, I was hooked.  Sacco should be admired for the bravery and sensitivity he brought to this comic, and I liked the way he kept himself front and centre, providing us a perspective to react through.  This is a classic piece of graphic literature.

West Coast Blues

by Jacques Tardi, adapting a novel by Jean-Patrick Manchette

I am always up for a Jacques Tardi graphic novel, and got a lot of enjoyment out of reading West Coast Blues, the translation of his book adapting the novel Le Petit Bleu de la Côte Ouest, which was originally released in 1976.

The story is about George Gerfaut, a salesman who one night, while driving around Paris aimlessly and a little drunkenly, sees two cars speed past him, as if they are chasing one another.  He follows, and soon finds one of the cars wrapped around a tree.  The driver is injured, so Gerfaut takes him to the hospital, and then leaves him there.

Later, when Gerfaut and his family go to the coast for a holiday, two men try to kill Gerfaut in the water.  He manages to escape them, but his nerves are shot, and he begins to believe that someone is looking to kill him because he helped that injured driver.

It's not paranoia, though, when you're right.  Gerfaut leaves his family and returns to Paris, trying to decide what to do.  The two men, Carlo and Bastien are hired killers, employed by Emerich.  They begin following Gerfaut, who becomes more and more desperate to escape them, even going so far as to get a gun for protection.

An encounter between the men at a gas station on a lonely stretch of road leads to some killing, and Gerfaut's being completely lost in the wilderness.  He decides to abandon his former life and begin living as a hermit, but it's not all that long before he's back in Paris seeking his own personal freedom from Emerich's attention.

This is a well-written noir story, and Tardi does a great job of pacing it, and showing difficult things in beautiful settings.  I like the way Tardi (or Manchette) constantly let us know what music the protagonist is listening to, providing a bit of a soundtrack to the book throughout.

The pacing of this story is very different from what one would find in an American thriller, but that's a big part of what makes it work, since it's harder to predict.  In all, another very solid (and well-designed) Tardi comic from Fantagraphics.

The Arctic Marauder

by Jacques Tardi

I've been enjoying Fantagraphics translations of older Jacques Tardi comics, and so was happy to be able to pick up The Arctic Marauder, a very strange graphic novel by the French comics master.

This book is set in 1889, and stars Jérôme Plumier, a medical student who has, for some reason, booked passage on a ship, L'Anjou, which is sailing through the North Atlantic, in a region filled with towering icebergs.  The crew of the ship spot another vessel wedged on the top of a gigantic iceberg, and a small group of sailors, and Plumier, are sent over to investigate.  What they find is the Iceland Loafer, with both ship and crew frozen solid.  They aren't able to spend too long exploring the mystery before L'Anjou suddenly explodes, with all hands lost.

Eventually, Plumier is rescued, and returns to Paris, where he finds out that his uncle has died, leaving behind even more mystery.  In his lab, Plumier finds evidence of some strange experiments involving animals, and a machine that's only function appears to be freezing itself.  Later, Plumier receives word that his uncle may not be dead, and he heads north to try to find out what is going on.

Plumier ends up on a ship being sent to the North Atlantic to discover why so many vessels are sinking in a particular area, although that ship also explodes.  It's not easy to discuss where things go from here, except to say that the titular Arctic Marauder is a very unique vessel, worthy of a James Bond villain, and that Plumier, upon finding his uncle, is not a good person.

Tardi has a great time with this story and its design elements.  The story was originally published in 1974, which makes me wonder if Tardi may be the inventor of the steampunk genre.  He delights in surprising the reader by having Plumier joyfully join his uncle in his evil plans, and in setting up the ultimate hero of the book as a villain.

The art in this book is incredible.  Tardi captures the dread of a dark ocean, with a ship surrounded by menacing icebergs that loom over it.  His design for the Marauder, and the strange assortment of submarines, flying vessels, and manned torpedoes that its crew uses, are amazing.  He makes great use of the larger pages of a French comic to construct page layouts that remind me of stained glass windows.

The book is a much quicker read than I would have expected from its size, mostly because after each chapter (some lasting only five pages), there is a full title page for the subsequent chapter.  I also found it odd that this volume doesn't share a trade dress style with the other books in Fantagraphic's Tardi series.  Still, this is well worth getting your hands on.

A Couple of Winos

Written by Charles Bukowski
Adapted by Matthias Schultheiss

I came across this single issue from 1991 recently, having never been aware of the fact that German cartoonist Matthias Schultheiss had adapted some stories by Charles Bukowski.  I snatched this up right away, not sure of what to expect from it.

The story is set in the California desert, perhaps in the forties.  The narrator is a wandering alcoholic who is picked up one day to work a manual labour job in the middle of nowhere alongside an older wino.  The two men struggle through their job before moving on in life.  That's about all there is, plot-wise.

Schultheiss's sparse style fits with Bukowski's bleak prose.  We don't learn much about the narrator - and we only know a little more about his companion.  The landscape is as barren as the art, and the protagonists' hopes for their futures.

There are a few odd things about this book.  To begin with, Schultheiss portrays the vehicles as having right-hand drive, which threw me out of the story.  I also don't understand what the cover, which is a little more explicit than one would normally expect on a comics shelf, has to do with the story.  Still, I'm now on the hunt for any other Bukowski adaptations like this, and would gladly pick up a collection of them.  This was a good find.

Like A Sniper Lining Up His Shot

by Jacques Tardi, from a story by Jean-Patrick Manchette

Jacques Tardi's comic adaptation of a novel by French crime writer Jean-Patrick Manchette is very capably done, but it's a strange little story.  In a lot of ways, Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot reminds me a great deal of Matz and Jacamon's The Killer.  Both books involve a hitman looking to retire from the business and settle down with a nice woman, and in both cases, the killer is forced back into the life he's trying to leave behind.

In this book, Martin Terrier hopes to walk away from ten years spent as a soldier of fortune and a gun for hire, and to reconnect with the girl he left back home, from whom he'd exacted a promise to wait for him.  Terrier's a strange character.  He doesn't show any remorse for his victims, or for the people in his life who get drawn into his mess, when the family of a victim come after him.  Yet, when he sees something that shocks him late in the book, he loses his voice and the ability to speak for some time.  That rang false for me, and kind of impacted my enjoyment of the book.

The strength of this novel is Tardi's wonderful artwork.  His figures are great, but I most enjoyed his portrayal of France in the 70s, especially the cars.  So far as crime comics go, this is a pretty solid one, and I got into it pretty quickly.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #8

by Michael Kupperman

This latest issue of Michael Kupperman's whimsical anthology series isn't scheduled for release until July (it's in the issue of Previews that came out last week), but the fine people at Fantagraphics brought copies of it with them to TCAF this week-end, and I couldn't resist getting my copy early.

As always, this is a great comic.  Kupperman opens this issue with some pages from 'Red Warren's Train & Bus Coloring Book', a series of black and white images around the themes of trains (not many buses) and their peculiar mating habits.  These pages are narrated by Red Warren (I have no idea who that is) in a rather peculiar way.  Look out for the eyes!!!

The next story, 'Murder, She Goat' involves a famous lady detective who travels with a goat that helps her solve murders.  When she is invited to a party at a stately manor, the guests begin to question just why it is that people always die whenever this woman shows up. 

After that comes an extremely educational comic strip history of Bertrand Copillon, 'The Scythe', a French hero who put his scything skills to good use in the 1400s to defend his country.

Almost half of the comic is taken up with 'Moon 69 - the True Story of the 1969 Moon Launch'.  This story reveals, at long last, just how NASA was able to come up with their rocket design (a contest), where they recruited their astronauts (prison), and how the Three Musketeers saved them from Richard Nixon's sandwich bombs.  This is a very funny strip, with guest appearances by Quincy and Columbo, and with an excellent sponsor in Roman pizza garden style ranch dressing - the salad dressing that will give you syphilis. 

Kupperman is a singular talent, and his melange of old TV references with random story elements is never dull.  I highly encourage you to pre-order this comic now.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #7

by Michael Kupperman

It's been a year and a half since Michael Kupperman last gifted us with an issue of Tales Designed to Thrizzle, his bizarre and self-indulgent anthology series.  I had really just discovered Mr. Kupperman at the time of the last issue (I loved his stuff in Strange Tales), and realize that I haven't read anything of his since, which is something I should take care of.

This issue of Tales gives us a collection of short stories told in Kupperman's usual style of thick lines and narrative non-sequiturs. Stories here involve topics like the evil of bathtubs (much more deadly than any other sort of bathing tub, we are told).

Most of the issue is taken up with a rambling story starring Quincy, M.E.  The famed television medical examiner travels to heaven to consult on a case, but is sidetracked by the fact that Saint Peter has his own comic now, and the two have to figure out whose comic they are appearing in.  Quincy then goes on a journey through his own dreams which takes him to a number of bizarre places, including the set of Reservoir Dogs II.

As is usually the case, Mark Twain and Albert Einstein show up in this book for a little fun, as does McArf (who looks a great deal like McGruf, the crime dog).  Kupperman also experiments with fumetti, or photo comics.

In all, this is an amusing and strange comic.  It's definitely not for everyone, but I enjoyed it a lot.  Kupperman has a unique voice in comics, with a humour that would appeal to fans of Wondermark.  I really have to get a hold of his Autobiography of Mark Twain, which came out earlier this year.

Tales Designed to Thrizzle #6

by Michael Kupperman

I first came across Kupperman's work in one of the Marvel 70th anniversary one-shots where he drew a story about a Golden Age robot (whose name escapes me right now).  I was amused by his marrying of Golden Age style artwork with a modernist sense of whimsy, and figured I should check out more of his work.

Kupperman's sporadic anthology series feels like the work of someone who is mostly creating to amuse himself.  He plays with a lot of classic comics conventions, and is clearly having a great time with things.

The book opens with the adventures of Jungle Princess, a pink cone-wearing version of Sheena, who publishes a fashion magazine, fights ruthless rhino-traders, and is assisted by a deadly hawk/chim duo.  Other stories include an homage to good drainage, wherein a drainage system upstages a famous actress; and an outer-space adventure story featuring Mark Twain and Albert Einstein.

The comic is also filled with one-page strips that riff off of established classic comics like Richie Rich, and various spoof ads for things like The Dick Van Dyke Institute of Cockney Graverobbing.  There is also a page of wallpaper designs that I thought were terrific (Roses and Noses being one).

Kupperman is a major satiric talent, and this is a very well-designed book.  Now comes the hard part, tracking down all the back issues.

It Was the War of the Trenches

by Jacques Tardi

This is a stunning book.  Tardi's graphic novel of the First World War is really a collection of short pieces concerning French soldiers on the front lines of that horrible conflict.  The stories stand alone, yet when read together they create a compelling portrait of life in the trenches, made more impressionistic by the fact that there is no visible border between one story and the next.

Tardi's soldiers lack many of the standard tropes of war fiction.  His privates care nothing for the war, and often cannot express why they are there.  They would rather befriend the German Boches who usually are hunkered down only fifty metres from them in equally miserable states than murder them.  They have no animosity towards their enemy except in immediate response to brutality, and usually reserve their most piercing hatred for their officers or the military police that urge them forward at the point of a rifle.

Tardi's soldiers frequently get lost in No Man's Land or behind the lines, and are almost as frequently executed for desertion or dereliction of duty.  Tardi has a very bleak view of the way the war was managed and fought, a view informed by his own grandfather's experiences, some of which are grist for Tardi's mill here.

It is this existentialist view of the war that places this beautifully designed book in the ranks of the great war memoirs and fiction written by the soldiers who actually served.  Looking at Tardi's fantastic establishing shots and detailed backgrounds brings to mind the etchings of Otto Dix or the murkier of FH Varley's war paintings.

This is a beautiful and haunting piece of work.  I love reading about the Great War, and place this book among the best that I've read on this topic.