Leaving Megalopolis

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Jim Calafiore

Living in Canada has made participation in most Kickstarter campaigns prohibitively expensive, as the shipping rates for graphic novels have become a touch exorbitant over the last couple of years (thank you Peak Oil).  When I saw that Gail Simone and Jim Calafiore, the creators behind The Secret Six, my favourite DC comic of the new century, were collaborating on a creator-owned graphic novel though, and that they had priced it reasonably, I was more than happy to support the endeavour.

Leaving Megalopolis is the kind of book you would expect from these two, were they not fettered by corporate sensibility.  The story is set in a city filled with powered heroes, which gives it the reputation of being the safest city in the United States.  Something has happened though, and it's turned all of the heroes into killers with no respect for the human lives they had previously spent so much time protecting.  Now, they roam the city searching for people who have been hiding out, and force people to turn on one another to survive for a day or two longer.

The closest we come to a hero in this book is Mina, a police officer (maybe) who starts to pull together a small group of people to try to escape the city limits.  As we follow them from one disturbing scene to another (this book doesn't reach Crossed levels of gore, but it comes close), we are shown flashbacks to various stages of Mina's life, and come to appreciate her as the sort of complex female character that Simone writes so well.

Jim Calafiore is one of those excellent artists who, I've felt, doesn't get near the recognition he deserves.  He has a strong sense of character in his figures, although I started to wonder if some of the Kickstarter rewards involved getting backers drawn into the book, as a few people looked very photo-referenced in places.  He also writes and draws a backup story that helps flesh out a few of the super-powered characters we see in passing earlier in the book.

In all, this is a very capable graphic novel.  There has already been some talk on-line about revisiting these characters and this location, which doesn't seem like it would be too easy to do, but I do know that I'll be there to support any future collaborations between this duo.

American Vampire Anthology #1

Written by Scott Snyder, Jason Aaron, Rafael Albuquerque, Jeff Lemire, Becky Cloonan, Francesco Francavilla, Gail Simone, Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon, and Greg Rucka
Art by Rafael Albuquerque, Declan Shalvey, Ivo Milazzo, Ray Fawkes, Becky Cloonan, Francesco Francavilla, Tula Lotay, Gabriel Bá, Fábio Moon, and John Paul Leon

When American Vampire first started a few years ago, despite its coming out in the middle of the vampire-related glut of the post-Twilight world, it really stood out as a well-considered, and excellently-executed new approach to the genre.  I liked how Scott Snyder (and early collaborator, Stephen King) grounded the vampire, and other mythological creatures, in biology and history.  There was a strong emphasis on character, and under Rafael Albuquerque's pencil, the book looked terrific.

As the series continued, as new characters were added to the mix, and as spin-off mini-series became more exciting than the main title, I felt that things needed a bit of a shakeup to keep my interests.  I wasn't all that upset when I learned that the series was going on hiatus for a while, as I was considering dropping it.

Now, though Snyder and Albuquerque have headlined this anthology, which has gotten me excited about the property again.  First off, just look at the talent involved in this book, with names like Cloonan, Bá, Moon, Lemire, Francavilla, Rucka and Leon showing up on the cover.  In their numerous short stories, many of which were too short, they explored other aspects of this world, and I loved it.

Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes took us up to James Bay to see what the Canadian Vampire would look like, while Jason Aaron and Declan Shalvey revisited the early colonial days of the United States in a similar tale.  Regular series artist Albuquerque writes a story about a small town in Kansas, which is painted by the very interesting Ivo Milazzo.

Some of the stories feature characters we've met before, as in Gail Simone and Tula Lotay's 'Hattie' tale, and in Becky Cloonan's exploration of why Skinner Sweet came to Hollywood.  Skinner shows up in Greg Rucka and John Paul Leon's story too, which explains what happened to him after Las Vegas, back in the second or third arc of the series.

Francesco Francavilla looks at the vampires' influence in Hollywood, while Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon take us into a seedy nightclub.

This is a very nice looking book, which has managed to whet my appetite some for the return of the series, which is what it's supposed to do I guess.

Time Warp #1

Written by Damon Lindelof, Tom King, Gail Simone, Simon Spurrier, Toby Litt, Peter Milligan, Ray Fawkes, Matt Kindt, and Dan Abnett
Art by Jeff Lemire, Tom Fowler, Gael Bertand, Michael Dowling, Mark Buckingham, Victor Santos, MK Perker, Andy MacDonald, Matt Kindt, and INJ Culbard

I would say that Time Warp is one of the more successful of Vertigo's recent quarterly anthology books.  With the notable exception of the Dead Boy Detectives story (which, in addition to being generally unimpressive doesn't belong in a book about time travel), the different short stories collected here really complement one another nicely.  As well, the book has a good balance between the usual Vertigo stable and some up-and-comers.

When you think about time travel story potential, there are a few standard stories.  There is the story about the person who wants to go back in time to save a loved one, or to fix great evil.  We also see the story of the person who meets him or herself, or the person who wants to utilise time travel for personal gain.  That's basically what we get here, but the book contains a few interesting twists.

Many of these stories are based on technology as the gateway for time travel, but in Gail Simone's story, it is through chocolates and other confections that one can revisit their past.  In Peter Milligan's, technology can't bring back your lost love, but it can provide you with a pretty good holographic likeness.

Adolf Hitler is a recurring character in this book, as we see a story (by King and Fowler) about the world had he been killed by a time traveller near the front of the book, and another about the time travellers who need to protect him from other time travellers at the end (re-teaming the amazing New Deadwardians team of Abnett and Culbard).

I particularly enjoyed the Rip Hunter story by Damon Lindelof and Jeff Lemire, and Matt Kindt's story about warring cultures that expend great capital to fight over a planet rich in natural resources.  I also thought that Simon Spurrier and Michael Dowling's story of scientific rivalry would make a good companion to the Image series Nowhere Men, and enjoyed the suggestion that science is becoming too fame-oriented in our celebrity-obsessed culture.

In all, this is a solid book, and well worth the cost of two issues of a Marvel NOW! comic for four-times the content.

Thought Bubble Anthology 2012

Written by Lucia Harris, Pete Doree, Skottie Young, Gail Simone, Richard Starkings, Matthew Sheret, Emma Vieceli, Ivan Brandon, Clark Burscough, Steve Reynolds, Martin Simpson, Ben Haith, Stephen Mooney, Dave Johnson, Lee Barnett, Warren Ellis, Kate Beaton, Chris Lackey, JG Roshell, and Fiona Staples
Art by Tony Harris, Sean Phillips, Skottie Young, Tula Lotay, Boo Cook, Kristyna Baczynski, Emma Vieceli, Leigh Gallagher, Richard Hughes, Steve Reynolds, Martin Simpson, Ben Haith, Stephen Mooney, Dave Johnson, Ollie Redding, Kate Beaton, Chris Lackey, Gabriel Bautista, and Fiona Staples

I guess it's the season for anthology comics, as the week after Vertigo's newest one hits, and the CBLDF Liberty Annual, we get the second Though Bubble Anthology - the collection sold to celebrate the Leeds Comic Art Festival in England.

This book is different from most anthologies, in that it is formatted as a folded newspaper tabloid, providing each page with a lot more space than a regularly-sized comic, and it's printed on wonderful newsprint, which always makes me feel nostalgic for the old days.

As with any project like this, which consists mostly of one- or two-pagers, the contents are a pretty mixed bag.  There are some big names here, but also a number of lesser-known (at least in North America) creators, and some up-and-comers who won a contest to be published here.

My favourite piece in this book is cover artist extraordinaire Dave Johnson's memoir about meeting Bob Layton in embarrassing circumstances.  I also enjoyed Pete Doree and Sean Phillips's memoir about collecting and swapping comics as children.  Gail Simone gives us a cool strip (with Tula Lotay, the only artist who appears twice in this book) about superheroes, as they would have been imagined in Victorian times.

I was surprised to find a multi-page story that crosses Richard Starkings's Elephantmen series with Strontium Dog, the long-running British series.  I was also impressed by Due Returns, a story by Matthew Sheret and Kristyna Baczynski, which reminded me of Borges's love of libraries.

In all, this is a very enjoyable little collection.  I'm pleased to see that this book is going to be an annual event.

Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave #6

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Horacio Domingues

Simone does a terrific job of wrapping up this latest Welcome to Tranquility series.  The original got messed up by the god-awful Worldstorm crossover, and I was very happy to see the book come back without being too tied into the events in the rest of the Wildstorm universe.

This series has mostly focused on Derek, the son of Mayor Fury and the Pink Bunny.  Derek had been imprisoned for years after having attacked his girlfriend, who is now the town's sheriff.  In this issue, Derek attacks the entire town at a concert, and Sheriff Tommy and the others have to confront him.  A lot of things are cleared up in this comic, and we learn a surprising thing about Tommy at the end.

Simone is one of the best superhero writers in the business (read The Secret Six!), and I like that she was given this opportunity to create and play with her own characters and environment.  This has been one of the better Wildstorm series in recent years, and as the imprint is shut down this month, I'm pleased to see that it put out one last run that I'll remember fondly.

Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave #4

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Horacio Domingues

I hope, when the dust from the cancellation of the Wildstorm line settles, that there will be a place at DC for another Welcome to Tranquility series.  I love Simone's stories set in this small town mostly populated by retired super-folk.  The characters are very likeable, and the setting is pretty unique.

This second series, featuring the return of Mayor Fury and the Pink Bunny's son, Derek, an incredibly powerful monster, is pretty plot-heavy, but Simone is still finding ways to make the individual issues stand out.  In this installment, there's a scene where the Bunny, waiting in the hospital for Fury, has a chat with a little girl who is reading a monster comic.  While this is happening,  the Coyote Kid is in the middle of a pitched battle with Derek, and the narration matches the little girl's comic book perfectly.  It's a neat trick.

Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave #3

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Horacio Domingues

Reading through this comic, I was struck by the idea of how much more surprising the revelation that The Furey and The Pink Bunny had a child (an evil child!) would have been, had the characters not just been created a few years ago, but were in fact beloved Golden Age superheroes.

Regardless, this is a great comic.  Simone starts the issue off with a flashback showing what young Derek Furey was like as a child (and what happens if you make him angry), before returning to the modern-day reunion between father and son, which is a little less than touching.

This issue raises a lot of questions, such as where Derek has been for the last twenty years, and exactly what transpired between him and Thomasina back in the day.  Simone continues to write this book as sharply as she does Secret Six, although with a much nicer frame of mind.  Domingues is still the perfect replacement for Neil Googe, as he has seamlessly taken over the look of this book without affecting its aesthetic.

Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave #1 & 2

Written by Gail Simone
Art by Horacio Domingues

My store got short-ordered on the first issue of this mini-series, and it took a while for me to finally track down a copy, which meant that I got to read the first two issues back-to-back, and that was definitely a treat.

I really liked the original Welcome to Tranquility series, which was set in a small town populated by retired super heroes and villains, and their families.  It had a nice Picket Fences oddball vibe going for it, and the comic was filled with likable characters, most especially Sheriff Thomasina Lindo.  Then, Wildstorm mandated their Worldstorm crossover, and the book went into what I thought was an indefinite hiatus.

Now, Simone has brought back these characters, and is joined by the able Horacio Domingues, whose art on this title is so close to original artist Neil Googe's, that I didn't realize a switch had been made at first.  The story picks up shortly after where the series left off.  The murderous Mayor Fury is being released from jail after a key witness changed her testimony, and the town is preparing to welcome him back.  There is a strange outpouring of love for the Mayor upon his release, and the citizens of Tranquility have prepared a surprise for him at his wife's restaurant.  The only problem is that someone else shows up, who is supposed to be dead, and the Mayor and the two cops driving him, including Lindo, are attacked, and the Mayor taken prisoner by a new character, with a close connection to Fury.

As always when Simone is let loose, the writing is incredibly sharp and funny, but also well paced and plotted.  This is one of those quirky books that Wildstorm used to be known for, and which deserve way more attention than they get.  This new series is new-reader friendly; you'll be brought up to speed in no time.