The Unwritten #22

Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross and Vince Locke

When we last saw Tom, he was stuck in the novel Moby Dick, and had somehow managed to freeze the story around him.  This issue, after yet another cryptic conversation with the Frankenstein monster, he learns how to move between stories with his magic door knob.  You see, the problem before was that he was using the knob on the Pequod, which has only ever been in one story, instead of the sea, which has been in many.

This leads Tom on a bit of a nautical journey, and in short order, we see him travel to Sinbad's story in the Arabian Knights, and we meet Baron Munchhausen.  It seems that stories can become interconnected, and it is possible for Tom to move between them, although it's not known how that can lead him home.

While this is all going on, his two friends are still in the clutches of that weird puppet master guy, who is used to deliver a few hints as to where the series is going, and what certain characters will say when we get there.

I'm more interested in this book than ever, as I like the way that Carey is dropping Tom into and out of different classic novels.  The addition of Vince Locke to ink the 'novel pages' is brilliant, and has injected new life into the book's appearance.

27 #3

Written by Charles Soule
Art by Renzo Podesta


I think this mini-series is getting better with every issue.  Will Garland continues his quest to gain some understanding of what the living embodiment of the number nine has done to him, and is turning to science for the answer.  His new friend, a quantum mathematician (who just happens to have an MRI machine in his lab), convinces him to push the button embedded in his chest again, and he gains the ability to teleport to any place he can sing about.

This leads to an interesting chat with Jim Morrison, who is now a hermit hanging out in Death Valley.  This affords the reader with a better understanding of the number nine and the rotting entity that has been chasing Will.

Also in this issue, we see some resolution to the hostage stand-off that has been mentioned every time someone in the book watches TV since the first issue.  Soule is doing some cool things with Garland's character, and his story is covering a lot of interesting ground.  I feel like there is a lot of potential to return to this world, and its exploration of the nature of creativity and artistic genius, after this four issue series finishes.

Northlanders #37

Written by Brian Wood
Art by Simon Gane

It's always exciting when a new arc of Northlanders starts off.  The book is constantly shifting through time and location with each new story, with the overall effect being that I've learned a great deal about European history in an era I knew very little about.

This time around, the setting is France, in 885 CE, and the topic is King Sigfred's siege of Paris on the way to richer spoils further inland.  There are thousands of Northmen surrounding the city, but it has held out for days against their tactics.

The story is narrated by Mads, who leads a small squad of men that have been together for a number of years, viking on their own before joining up with Sigfred's army.  Mads does not want to keep plugging away at the tower that defends Paris like his fellow countrymen, and instead scouts a more direct approach to defeating the city by taking one of two main bridges over the Seine.

This comic quickly becomes a character study, as Mads gives us a grounds-eye view of the campaign.  Much of this comic reminded me of Warren Ellis's Crecy, although it is nowhere near as wordy.  The art for this arc is being provided by Simon Gane, whose stuff I've never seen before.  He has a bit of a Phillip Bond thing happening here, and it works.  He gives us some very nice establishing shots, but also makes Mads and his crew a group of individuals.  This is shaping up to be a good arc.

The Li'l Depressed Boy #1

Written by S. Steven Struble
Art by Sina Grace

Image has got to be the most diverse comics publisher around these days.  They put out work of such variety, and I'm always interested in seeing what new titles they give a chance to.

The Li'l Depressed Boy is drawn by the person who is now writing letter columns in Walking Dead and Invincible.  That was the extent of name recognition I walked into this comic with, but it had enough of a Forgetless meets Scott Pilgrim meets Pope Hats vibe that I figured it was worth checking it out.

The Li'l Depresed Boy is about a young man (not really a boy, but it's hard to tell - it seems he lives alone, and his friends seem to be in their 20s) who I took to be a cross between the figure in Munch's painting The Scream and Caspar the Friendly Ghost, but who the text in the back of the comic calls a ragdoll (whatever), and his quiet, sad search for friendship and love.

Not a whole lot happens in the comic - LDB goes out for a bit, meets a girl, does laundry, meets the girl again, and then goes to a concert with her.  I didn't get the feeling that he was particularly depressed, so much as a little lonesome, and that seemed to end when he met the girl.  I'm sure there's more going on here though - we just have to wait and see what happens next.

The story moves at its own pace, but the art became the thing that kept me interested throughout.  Grace's art reminds me of Marley Zarcone, and a bit of Vasilis Lolos (where is that guy, anyway).  This comic has a certain charm to it, and I will be picking up the next issue.

Cinderella: Fables Are Forever #1

Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Shawn McManus

The first Cinderella mini-series by Roberson and McManus was a lot of fun (even if I passed it over at first), so I didn't have to think twice before adding this new offering to my pull-list.

Cinderella has been working for centuries as a spy for the powers that be in Fabletown.  Previously, she was answerable only to Bigby, but after Beast took over the role of sheriff, he has been sending her on missions.  None of this is known by the rest of the Fables, who think that she is more or less a flighty socialite.

This new series opens with a flashback to early-80s Russia, where Cindy, in nothing more than a bikini, is tracking down some powerful Russian Fables, and looking to find out the secret of their own Fabletown.  She is interrupted in her mission by a Fable only referred to as Codename: Silverslippers (we later find out who she is, but I'm not going to tell).  It seems that the two become something of nemeses to each other.

In the modern day, during the evacuation of the farm (seen in Fables #100), evidence shows up that suggests that Silverslippers is back and causing some problems, so Cindy heads back into town to get ready to deal with her.

It's interesting that this book is more tied in to current Fables continuity than the last one; I wonder if there will be some kind of connection later on.  Roberson is a good writer.  I only tried out the first Cinderella book on the strength of his work on I, Zombie, and I have yet to be disappointed.  McManus is always a great artist, and this is the type of story where his somewhat exaggerated style works best.

BPRD Hell on Earth - Gods #2

Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Art by Guy Davis

The first issue of Gods barely had any of the Bureau in it, except for the last page, as it instead introduced Fenix, a young girl leading a nomadic group of people across Texas, always steering them away from danger.

This issue shows us what put the Bureau on her tail, as the UN guy (I have no idea what his name is) debriefs the team on the growing number of these nomadic 'Bedouins' and makes a plan to track down Fenix for further study.  Their briefing gets interrupted by crazy old Professor O'Donnell, who has some ideas about how the current situation in the world is connected to the post-Hyperborean age, which has haunted the Mignola-verse for a while now.

Most interesting though is the scene where Abe Sapien and Agent Devon finally discuss Devon's suspicions of Abe.  I've been a huge fan of the character of Kate Corrigan, and like the way she handled this little problem that has been brewing for a while now.

It's nice to see Davis get a chance to cut loose on the art in the flashback sequence, although I would have liked to have seen some space given to Johann and Panya, as they're both up to something lately.

Psycho African Beat

by The Psychedelic Aliens

As I've been learning more about African music, one website that has helped me in this journey has been Voodoo Funk, home to one of the original people to travel to Africa to do some crate digging.

From the site has come this re-release of songs by The Psychedelic Aliens, a Ghanaian Afro-rock group that released three EPs between 1968 and 1971.  The disc is a short 24 minutes in length, comprised of eight tracks, but it is a pretty upbeat, swinging collection of music.  As bandleader Carl Ricky Telfer recalls in the liner notes he wrote, "The Aliens was the first Ghanaian band to merge Western rock, pop and soul music with African rhythms and paved the way for other bands to follow."

This album, packaged bizarrely with a book and strange, chunky black cd-holder, is an essential step in understanding African music.

The Walking Dead #81

Written by Robert Kirkman
Art by Charlie Adlard and Cliff Rathburn

Well, it's not like things were going to stay calm in the town where Rick and his friends have settled for long...  Surrounded by hundreds, if not thousands, of roamers, the residents of the community have a number of things that they need to deal with.

Glen decides that resupplying Andrea, who is in their lookout tower and cut off from the group is a priority, so he sets about making a plan to get to her, and hopefully to draw some of the roamers away from the wall at the same time.  This leads to some truly suspenseful moments.

At the same time, the wall is beginning to buckle in one section, and doesn't look like it's going to hold for long.

While all this stuff is grippingly exciting is kind of a given for this title, but it is the quieter character moments that open the book that makes this issue stand out.  Rick has now hooked up with Jessie, the widow whose husband's abuse Rick revealed a while ago.  I love the scene where he tries to divert Glen from figuring out what's going on.

This is an amazing comic.  I can't wait to see if the group is going to make it through this situation.

Lone Wolf 2100 Vol.1: Shadows on Saplings

Written by Mike Kennedy
Art by Francisco Ruiz Velasco

I've never read the original Lone Wolf and Cub, despite having looked longingly at the Frank Miller covers as a teenager, but thought I'd give this update from the early part of the last decade a try, basically because I liked Francisco Ruiz Velasco's work on Wildcats 3.0.

Basically, Kennedy took the original idea of a ronin wandering through the Japanese countryside protecting a small child, and set it in a post-Apocalyptic future.  The 'lone wolf' is an android (an EmCon, in the language of the story).  So basically, this is Grendel: War Child, except not as good.

This book got off to a slow start, although it did pick up towards the end, once everyone was introduced and there was a little more action.  I can see how there would have been potential for this series, had it gone a little wilder in terms of its plot elements, but I don't feel like there's enough here to bring me back for the next two volumes.

Hotwire: Deep Cut #3

by Steve Pugh

This is a good week for comics that are incredibly late (it's been 3 and a half months since we last saw Alice) and that I enjoy a lot.  This issue wraps up the Deep Cut story, and is, once again, very well written and stunningly painted.

Deep Cut has had Alice find herself in a lot of conflict with Bear Claw, an independent contractor that has been put in charge of managing bluelight (electro-magnetic ghostly manifestations).  Both groups have been chasing an experimental exo-skeleton housing the soul, or bluelight energy, of a deceased soldier, who has been trying to prove his heroism, and save a recently killed pregnant woman.

Pugh really gets the character of Alice (the cover credits Warren Ellis, but he only came up with the original concept), and makes her a very compelling character.  Matching this with his fantastic art, this is one of the best comics on the stands.  I hope that we'll see a third Hotwire story at some point.  If you haven't checked out this series, you owe it to yourself to find a copy.

Wasteland #30

Written by Antony Johnston
Art by Christopher Mitten and Remington Veteto

Well, it's only been seven months since the last issue of Wasteland, which used to be just about the most reliable independent book I bought, showed up on the stands, so I suppose I can be forgiven for being a little bit lost here.

For the last four or five issues, the series has been focusing on a particular character, and showing us their perspectives on a string of events, taking place over almost a year of story time (and so much more in real time).  This issue focuses on Golden Voice, the Sun Singer who has been leading the Sunners' Rebellion over the last few issues.  It's a good issue, as it shows us the progression of this pacifist into increasingly violent tactics.  As the issue comes to its close, it looks like Goldie is going to reveal one of the secrets that has had me intrigued since the series began, but that looks like it will happen next issue (hopefully that will happen this year - no other issues have been solicited).

The issue continues to feature Christopher Mitten's layouts, although I thought that was not going to happen any more.  New artist Remington Veteto, who was supposed to be getting the series back on track, does a decent job, although his line work is much more solid (and occasionally more stiff) than Mitten's.

There is no text piece explaining what is going on with this book, but there is another very interesting Ankya Ofsteen travelogue piece, which stands out because it discusses the colour of the sky in the Wasteland world, something I've given no thought to before, as the book is black and white.

Here's hoping we'll see another issue of this comic by the summer.

Back To Brooklyn #1-5

Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Garth Ennis
Art by Mihailo Vukelic

This ultra-violent mobster family squabble series is a pretty decent read.  Bob Saetta is pretty high in his brother Paul's criminal organization, and Paul owns pretty much all of Brooklyn.  Bob finds out something about Paul though, and decides to turn him in to the police.  The only problem is that Paul has Bob's wife and son, and so, inexplicably, the police and FBI turn Bob loose to go back into Brooklyn (hence the title), to find his family.

What follows is a ton of violence and bloodshed, as Bob gathers a couple of allies, and starts taking apart his brother's organization, while trying to stay ahead of Paul's in-house psycho, a guy named Churchill.

I found myself getting into the story pretty easily, despite the massive amounts of disbelief I had to suspend, and Vukelic's sometimes awkward art.  He's a competent artist, it's just that he seems to rely a little too much on photo references for people's expressions.

Strangely, the best part of the entire comic series was two of the text pieces by Jimmy Palmiotti, as he reminisced about his own Brooklyn upbringing and misadventures in and around the Catholic school he attended.  Some of his stories are very funny.  I imagine these are not included in the trade, which is a shame.  There is plenty here that could become an excellent graphic memoir, were he to mine it.

Ghana Special

Modern Highlife, Afro-Sounds & Ghanaian Blues 1968-1981

I do love these African compilations with academic sounding sub-titles, and thick booklets so full of information that I never actually work my way completely through them.

I know it sounds like I'm being facetious, but I really am appreciative of the work that so many people are doing to preserve, restore, and market to a new generation music that would otherwise surely be lost.  I also like the notion that licensing fees and royalty cheques, however big they may be, are helping to support retired artists who may be in difficult situations.

This two-disc collection of 39 tracks by almost as many bands and solo artists, demonstrates the breadth and width of almost fifteen years of Ghanaian music.  There are a couple of artists here who have become familiar to me like Hedzoleh Soundz and K. Frimpong & His Cubano Fiestas, but for most of the artists featured here, I'm hearing them for the first time, and I definitely like what I hear.

Jack of Fables #46 - 48

Written by Bill Willingham and Matthew Sturges
Art by Tony Akins and Andrew Pepoy

I gave up on this title not long after the Great Fables Crossover, when the focus of the book shifted from Jack Horner to his son, Jack Frost, who went off on otherworldly adventures with his flying wooden owl.  The book had seemed to have lost its edge, and ties were severed with the supporting cast that had made the title so great in its early days. 

I noticed a while back, that the supporting cast was back, as seen by the wonderful Brian Bolland cover to the right, but I never quite got around to grabbing an issue of the book until last week, when I picked up three in a row.

The story has jumped a number of years (I'm not sure how this jibes with what's been going down in Fables), and the original Jack is still a dragon, lying around his cave with Gary all day, and Jack fils is giving up the hero business.  Most interestingly, the Page Sisters are tracking down the library books that Jack stole from the Golden Boughs.

These three issues check in with just about everyone who's ever been in the comic - including the overweight loser Aubrey and his ex-manikin wife.  It seems that they are all converging on Jack's location for the last two issues of the comic, and I am definitely interested enough to find out what's going to happen in the end.  I like it when a title recaptures its groove.

Scenes from an Impending Marriage

by Adrian Tomine

I picked up this short, slim little book as an impulse buy, mostly because I loved Tomine's Shortcomings, and wanted to read more from him. 

Scenes from an Impending Marriage is a series of short strips, and the odd Family Circus-styled circle, that details some of the trials and tribulations of organizing a wedding these days.  Tomine and his fiancee, Sarah, go about the mechanics of wedding prep - jogging together, selecting florits, DJs, venues, hair styles, and wedding socks, while both realizing just how ridiculous the entire thing really is.

The book is pretty funny - I loved the DJ Buttermilk scenes, and also pretty honest.  It's amusing to watch Tomine, who is at first not terribly concerned about many of the details, become whole-heartedly involved in minutia like the type of printer given the contract to print their invitations.  It seems that many of the stories here made up the wedding favours that the couple gave out on the 'big day'.

The book is overly too quickly to be a satisfying follow-up to a book like Shortcomings, but if seen as being like a mixtape released between albums, it has whetted my appetite for more of Tomine's work.