The Last Call Vol. 2

by Vasilis Lolos

The first volume of Vasilis Lolos's Last Call was published in 2007.  I think, taking that into account, I can be forgiven for being utterly lost when I started to read the second volume, which was published last week.

Lolos is an artist who first came on my radar for his excellent work on Rick Spear's Pirates of Coney Island series, which started around the time that I came to realize how great Image Comics were in the last 00s.  I know that Lolos has had his problems over the last few years, so I'm not surprised that it took almost six years for this manga-sized book to be completed, and I'm happy to see that the artist is working again.  (Again, for contrast, Pirates of Coney Island has still not been finished).

In this volume, young Sam is still on the strange extra-dimensional train that he and his friend Alec boarded in the first volume.  Alec had fallen off, and much of this volume follows him through his adventures, which involve him becoming a cop on some planet where there is only one other human - his superior officer.

Now Alec is back on the train, and his old friend Sam is the same age as when Alec last saw him (Alec is now an adult).  There are train-based hijinks involving Sam avoiding the ticket-taking monster of a conductor, and really, the story doesn't make a lot of sense.

What Lolos is going for here is more of a kinetic, fast-paced surrealist adventure, and on those terms it works well.  Lolos is an exciting artist, and has plenty of strange ideas to cram into this book.  It is nowhere near being a very notable book (other than for its scheduling problems), but it's a fun, diverting read.

Conan the Barbarian #9

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Vasilis Lolos

Pretty much, every month I marvel at just how much I am enjoying this take on Robert E. Howard's classic character Conan.  I'm going to try not to focus on the fact that Brian Wood and his collaborators have made me like a barbarian character that I always found boring before, and instead just talk about the quality of the art in this series.

This title opened with (and later featured again) Becky Cloonan.  Since then, we've seen art by James Harren, and now Vasilis Lolos.  These are some pretty street-cred indie artists drawing a series set in a medieval world where people solve their problems with swords.  These artists bring a pretty different sensibility to a character who most people still associate with Barry Windsor-Smith and John Buscema, and that is a big part of why this series is so awesome.

Lolos draws the hell out of this issue, including an incredible scene with wolves attacking Belit the pirate queen.  Conan finally finds the man who has stolen his identity and has been devastating the Cimmerian countryside.  We learn that there is a connection between the two men going back to their shared childhood, in what ends up being a little bit of a morality play on the dangers of bullying, but I can forgive that, as the rest of the book is terrific.

It's been great to see Lolos drawing again, and I look forward to reading the second volume of his OGN series Last Call, which has just been solicited for December in this month's Previews.  It's always great when someone you respect artistically gets back in the game.

Conan the Barbarian #8

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Vasilis Lolos

Yes, that really does say 'art by Vasilis Lolos'.  I was pretty surprised to see his name in the Previews solicitation for this comic, as it's been a few years since Lolos has had any work published, and I'm pleased to say that his work has only improved in the interim.

This issue continues the 'Border Fury' arc, which has Conan and Bêlit traveling across Cimmeria in pursuit of someone who has been killing in Conan's name.  Conan is revelling in the opportunity to romp across the land of his childhood again, but it is difficult going for Bêlit, a Southerner who has never seen snow before now.

This issue is really an examination of the relationship between Conan and his pirate queen.  Previously, while they were together, it was in Bêlit's world, where she held all the power.  Now, in his land, she sees how much of a burden she has become, and so she has him continue his pursuit on his own.  I like the way Wood portrays their time together.

Lolos's art is a good substitute for Becky Cloonan (who, it appears, won't be returning to the book any time soon).  They've always shared similar aesthetics, although Lolos's Conan is a little more of a pretty boy.  Lolos's art has changed since his work on Last Call and Northlanders; some of his faces, especially that of the old man in the village, show the influence of Rafael Grampá and perhaps Dean Ormston.  I hope this means that we will see plenty more work from Lolos in the coming months (like perhaps Last Call Volume 2, or even, dare I say it, the conclusion to the excellent Pirates of Coney Island).

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Vampires

Written by Becky Cloonan
Art by Vasilis Lolos

Lately I've found myself beginning to get bored with Dark Horse's Buffy Season 8 series. The first few arcs were fantastic, but lately I just haven't been very enthused by what I was reading. The material has been feeling a little stale, and this fantastic book proves that the main title has lost touch.

In this one-shot, some teenager named Jay, who lives in some nothing town in New Hampshire, is completely bored with his life, interested only in a local girl, and in providing himself to the local vampires when they need to feed. Things get a little out of hand (as they sometimes can when dealing with vampires), and Jay finds himself in completely different circumstances. It's a simple, short story, but very well-told.

This new idea, that vampires have become accepted into pop culture, and are in fact even revered, comes from the popularity of the reality show featuring Harmony. That's perhaps the only disconnect in this story - this kid doesn't seem like the type to watch a show like that.

Cloonan does a good job of crafting these characters quickly, and Lolos's artwork is fantastic for this type of story. He really has a feel for the expressions of disaffected youth (so much so that he should go finish Pirates of Coney Island!).

I hope that Dark Horse and Whedon realize that they should perhaps open up the reins of this series again, and instead of keeping their focus exclusively on Buffy and crew, they should explore the ramifications of their main plot in other locales, and with a more indie sensibility, like this book has.

Northlanders #17

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Vasilis Lolos

I have been enjoying this title since it first started a year and a half ago, but I have to say that this is far and away the best issue we've seen yet.

This issue is titled 'The Viking Art of Single Combat', and that's exactly what it shows - a fight to the death between Snorri the Black and Egil the Sledge-Hammer, champions of their lords, who are killing each other to settle a dispute between neighbouring villages.

While they fight, Wood provides plenty of exposition - for an all-action issue of a comic, there is much more writing than a regular book. He puts to good use the tons of research he has done for this series, holding forth on Viking battle technique, and weapons specifications.

Lolos hands in some of the best work of his career. The fight is dynamic, clear, and atmospheric throughout. I admire Lolos's work a great deal, and hope that this issue helps raise his profile some more (I also hope he'll finish Pirates of Coney Island someday soon....).

This is the perfect place to jump on this title. It's a done-in-one story that really showcases what Wood is trying to achieve with this book. If you have been on the fence about this title, now's the time to give it a chance. (If you live in Toronto, it's on sale at the Beguiling until Monday).

Pixu II

by Becky Cloonan, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, and Vasilis Lolos

This is a very creepy comic from indie comics dream team. Pixu tells the story of a haunted or possessed building, and the haunted people who live in it.

Each chapter is by one of the four creators, somewhat like a comic book version of those stories people tell in large groups, where each person in the group contributes a sentence or two at a time. Except, this doesn't suck, like those stories always do.

I know that this book, with the first chapter, are going to be published as a hardcover by Dark Horse in the coming months, but as I bought the first issue at The Beguiling last summer, I wanted to complete my set in mini-comic format. I'm glad that Cloonan was at TCAF, so I had the opportunity to finally get this.

24 Seven

This anthology has a lot of my favourite creators as contributors: Spears, Lolos, Moon, Ba, Remender, Azaceta, Dalrymple, Maleev, Moore, Graham, Stokoe, Zezelj, Oeming, Cloonan, Canete, Fraction, and Irving are the ones that I admire the most.

That said, I'm not sure how well this anthology worked for me. The problem is with the central conceit of the NYC Mech series: that New York is populated by robots, and that their lives are the same as regular peoples'. This opens the door to regular stories being told, just some of the people look like robots, and others look like big action figures.

It seems like very few of the creators used the opportunity to make the stories more visually interesting because of the robot angle. Maleev's story about a blind robot comes to mind.

Even still, there are some nice stories here, and this is an entertaining book.