6/30/2015

Comic-Con Album Pt 17

A Friend in Knead, Comic-Con International, San Diego Convention Center, Marina District, San Diego, California. Ilford HP5+ Black and White 35mm negative film. © Michael Buntag
A Friend in Knead,  Comic-Con exhibit hall.

I doubt many younger fans will recognise ADV Films a.k.a. A.D. Vision anymore. But I still own a few of their DVDs. Should probably replace them with higher resolution versions. That's how they make their money.

Pt 1516

Webcomic: Fun with Flags

Good Man Presents: Fun with Flags by Ty Templeton.

6/26/2015

Comic-Con Album Pt 15

Spider-Man cosplay, Marvel booth, Comic-Con International, San Diego Convention Center, Marina District, San Diego, California. Ilford HP5+ Black and White 35mm negative film. © Michael Buntag
Spider-Man cosplay at the Marvel booth,  Comic-Con exhibit hall.

The proceeding photos in the series were taken at the next Comic-Con I attended. Ready to take a trip down memory lane? It's been a while since the last instalment.

Remember the Ultimate Universe? I heard it's going away now. Except for Spidey. Just not the one pictured here.

For the previous photos of the series, go here:
Pt 1234567891011121314

6/24/2015

Prez #1 and Starfire #1

Prez #1: Writer: Mark Russell Artist: Ben Caldwell Inker: Mark Morales Colorist: Jeremy Lawson Letterer: Travis Lanham  Prez Rickard created by Joe Simon and Jerry Grandenetti
Prez #1
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Ben Caldwell
Inker: Mark Morales
Colorist: Jeremy Lawson
Letterer: Travis Lanham

Prez Rickard created by Joe Simon and Jerry Grandenetti

Perhaps the most unusual series to emerge out of the DC You initiative, Prez bears little resemblance to the original Prez Rickard from 1973. Set in the year 2036, the comic isn't a realistic futurist projection but a harsh satire about the shallowness of our Web 2.0 culture. Media saturation has led to a further loss of empathy and the intensifying of the craving for loud spectacle. Citizens are disengaged while they let mega corporations invade their privacy and corrupt the political process. It's a pretty bleak view of current technological trends. As one pundit puts it "This country just gets stupider." But it's what allows for a teenage girl called Beth Ross to fail her way up to the White House. I'm curious to see whether or not the story will transcend such cynicism.

Prez spends more time molding the textures of its fictional world than with its protagonist. A senator proposes replacing food stamps with "taco drones" to deliver unhealthy corporate fast food to the poor and monitor them at the same time. One presidential candidate agrees to getting paddled in the rear during a popular vodcast in a desperate bid to win over Ohio voters, another appears on a game show where contestants perform a series of increasingly dangerous stunts in order to win a billion dollars. While some of this can seem hamfisted, Mark Russell's one liners quickly convey how entertainment values erode substantive debate. To wit, that horrific game show is reduced by its guest to a glib sentiment "proof that anyone can succeed in America if they just try hard enough!"

As little as we get to see Beth do anything proactive, Ben Caldwell still manages to portray her as a sympathetic character. His cartooning style which blends Disney with a dash of manga imbues Beth with a wide-eyed, naïf vulnerability. It helps that her defining character trait is a capacity for self-sacrifice. But Caldwell's delicate linework also succeeds in capturing the absurdity demanded of the story and give it an edgy fairy tale quality.

Starfire #1: Writer: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti Artist: Emanuela Lupacchino, Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts Inker: Ray McCarthy Colorist: Hi-Fi Letters: Tom Napolitano  Starfire/Koriand'r created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez
Starfire #1
Writer: Amanda Conner, Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: Emanuela Lupacchino, Amanda Conner, Paul Mounts
Inker: Ray McCarthy
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letters: Tom Napolitano

Starfire/Koriand'r created by Marv Wolfman and George Pérez

I don't know if the post-Convergence DC Universe is meant to be a soft reboot or if it's still even a universe at this point, but I was surprised that this series completely ignores Starfire's previous New 52 incarnation. Then again, given the significant negative attention that particular version garnered, it's understandable why the publisher decided to drastically change course. So Amanda Connor et al. had to clear a very low bar. For all intents, this Starfire has gone back to the beginning as a veritable newcomer trying to adjust to life on Earth.

This Starfire is based mostly on the popular animated Teen Titans series with a bit of the original Marv Wolfman/George Pérez comic character shining through. A lot of the humor is centered around misunderstandings arising from Starfire's unfamiliarity with Earth customs and a tendency to take English language idioms a little too literally. It's a well worn trope, but at least it's not a hot mess. Starfire might be naive, but she's no ditz. When a fight breaks out between two men vying for her attention, she knocks some sense into them with one well aimed (but nonlethal) starbolt.

This is a new series which goes out of its way to be welcoming to new readers. I still miss Connor's comic touch as an artist, even though Emanuela Lupacchino draws a Starfire who's both sweet and unselfconsciously seductive. The issue begins with a two page recap of her alien origins, then proceeds to situate her in a new setting filled with new supporting characters. It's actually a little weird how willing they are to help her. Inker Ray McCarthy and the colors of Hi-Fi give everything a very bright and glossy finish. In fact, the comic looks and feels less like a superhero adventure and more like a cute magical girl comedy. For a DC mainstream title, that's a bold new direction.

6/20/2015

Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift

Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, Michael Heisler. Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, Michael Heisler. Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, Michael Heisler.
Writer: Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Artist: Gurihiru
Letterer: Michael Heisler

Avatar: The Last Airbender created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

The Rift is the third Avatar story after The Promise and The Search told by Gene Yang and Gurihiru. So it's become clear that this creative team's working within a very rigid framework. Contort the narrative to fit the three part structure. Start slow. Pad the story with subplots and evenly spaced revelations. Finish with a big fight that pushes the combatants into an understanding of sorts. The results so far have been somewhat underwhelming. The comics are burdened with an unfortunate sensation that their plots are warped to fit the page count and are a tad emotionally manipulative. With that said, The Rift is still their best effort yet. This is primarily because of the presence of fan favourite Toph Beifong to liven up the proceedings.

One of the biggest shortcomings with the graphic novel series is the generally flat character development of its main cast. These once rebellious teens have since settled into boring adult roles after the conclusion of the animated series. In The Promise, both Aang and Zuko are surprisingly bereft of any agency as they're driven into a conflict dictated by their responsibilities to opposing factions and the expectations hoisted upon them by their respective followers. Neither have since regained the irrepressible energy that characterized their televised incarnations and drove the entire series. the independent Katara has been reduced to supportive girlfriend with no voice of her own. And her quick witted brother Sokka has been largely stuck in odious comic relief mode.

Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, Michael Heisler.

Only Toph escapes this fate by striking out on her own. She's first shown establishing her metalbending academy in The Promise, and the fruits of her labour are revealed in The Rift. She's the only significant character who's comfortable contradicting Aang, and the primary conflict for this arc is made more personal because it arises from the differences between the two. Aang's the spiritualist always striving to make everyone happy while Toph's the materialist willing to buck tradition.

What sets this up is Aang's attempt to revive an important Air Nomad festival. He unexpectedly discovers that the ritual's once sacred site is now the address of a rapidly expanding factory town. Aang then detects the presence of a disapproving spirit and moves to shut the factory down. But he's stymied by Toph. While Aang quickly blames the factory for the area's spiritual pollution, Toph sees little point in continuing a custom that apparently serves no purpose while noting the real socio-economic benefits of the factory to the local community. Their opposing points of view puts them at odds with each other, giving the story an emotional edge missing in the similarly themed The Promise and generates a tone of moral ambiguity that can't be neatly resolved by either side.

Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, Michael Heisler.

At the same time, the story is one huge nod to continuity. The Last Airbender was about Aang fighting a burgeoning industrial state waging a war of conquest on the entire world, while Legend of Korra is about Aang's successor working within a multiethnic society caught up in the midst of intense industrialization. The Rift is a bridge meant to reconcile these two settings and explains how the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribes became enthusiastic supporters of technological progress. There's an evil Fire Nation capitalist who serves as the story's principal villain, but he feels very much like a throwback to an earlier era. Who cares about him when the story involves young metalbenders duking it out with one hundred foot tall spirits?

That shock of the new is the story's most notable feature. Gurihiru has done a fine job so far in tweaking the ATLA universe. But now they get to introduce a few modern elements. When the cast first sets their eyes on the factory, it just feels wrong standing there. There's nothing extraordinary about it from the outside for anyone who lives in the real world. It's just another grimy building. It's just that in this fantastical setting it feels like a desecration. A pox on the natural beauty of the landscape. Something only an abusive Fire Lord could love.

But as Aang is given a tour of the facilities by an enthusiastic (and way too oblivious for his own good) chief engineer, he witnesses something he's been striving so hard to achieve all this time now being independently realized: balance, harmony. People from the surviving three nations coming together and working towards a common goal on the factory floor. More so than when he first visited the town of Yu Dao back in the first comic, Aang must learn a few bittersweet lessons. Change is inevitable. People adapt. And things don't always work out the way you intended it.

Avatar The Last Airbender: The Rift by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, Gurihiru, Michael Heisler.

6/13/2015

Noah

Noah by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Niko Henrichon, Nicolas Sénégas, Tom Muller
Story: Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel
Art: Niko Henrichon
Letters: Nicolas Sénégas
Design: Tom Muller

The Biblical myth of the Flood is a dark tale about an all-powerful but petulant god who regrets creating humanity and decides to drown them all in a worldwide deluge. But he makes an exception for Noah and his family. Noah himself barely mutters a peep as he carries out God's commands without fail, like any trusted servant. God's act of universal destruction serves to complement the Genesis story of his creation of the world. But In Darren Aronofsky's retelling, God is absent. The psychodrama instead falls on Noah as he struggles to understand the deity's will, which he believes is being communicated to him through visions so cryptic they often leave him conflicted about their true meaning. His crisis of faith becomes the focal point in an ambitious story that attempts to weave ancient myth, medieval theology, and modern science into a heavy handed morality tale about human greed and environmental despoilation.

While the graphic novel functions as a standalone story, it's interesting to see how it compares to the film. Noah is humanity's first vegan/eco-terrorist/doomsday prepper, disapproving of civilization's wasteful practices and figuring out that the world is going to end. He's even more imposing in the comic, recognized by others as a great warrior and mage. Aronofsky and co-writer Ari Handel teamed-up with artist Niko Henrichon for the comic well before the film was produced, so it's visuals bear almost no resemblance to the film. Noah is drawn as a cape wearing, long-haired, square-jawed heroic type who wouldn't look out of place within a Robert E. Howard fantasy novel or a Thor comic. His appearance takes on a more sinister aspect down the line as he evolves into a full-blown religious zealot.

But the people Noah actually terrorizes are his own family, whom he's already sequestered from society when the story begins. God's reticence towards Noah in Genesis is translated in this humanistic adaptation as Noah's confusion as to whether God (dubbed the "Creator") intends for humanity to survive or go extinct. Like in the film, his increasing conviction that Original Sin has made them unworthy of the the former creates a rift with his family. And his behavior is far more extreme in the comic. At one point, he even sets the animals of the Ark against them when they defy him. This Noah takes no prisoners.

Noah by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Niko Henrichon, Nicolas Sénégas, Tom Muller

Henrichon's antediluvian setting is also visually striking. One of the underwhelming things about the film was its subdued palette suggesting a burnt out, featureless, post apocalyptic wasteland. Not one standing building is to be seen, only crumbling ruins. In contrast, the comic feels more primordial and more alien. The stars are so close and bright they shine even during daytime. Early in the comic, Noah travels to the dystopian metropolis of Bab-ilIm  - "A city so vast it took a planet of spoil to stuff its ravenous maw" - and gazes upon its legendary tower. Its byzantine structure referencing both ancient temples and futuristic skyscrapers.

One of the strengths of the graphic novel is that Henrichon has more space to mould this fantastic world, from the exotic megafauna that populate it, to the mysterious Watchers - the Nephilim of Genesis, to Noah's shamanic grandfather Methuselah. Henrichon's designs are usually more grandiose than anything used in the film.

The drawback though is that the story becomes bloated in its attempts to cultivate its many parts. Not only is Noah racing to complete the Ark before the rains come, he's fending of hordes of refugees from Bab-ilIm led by the violent Tubal-cain, enlisting the Watchers to his cause, keeping his increasingly doubtful family in line, all while trying to decode the will of the Creator. The result is that the comic has not one, but several climactic scenes piling on top of each other.

The one area where Henrichon clearly falls short as an artist is in his character designs for Noah's family. They aren't written with very distinctive personalities to begin with, and after awhile, they all even morph to look rather interchangeable. This is where the film's cast does a better job in fleshing them out, particularly Emma Watson as long suffering daughter-in-law Ila and Logan Lerman as the much abused middle son Ham.

Noah by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Niko Henrichon, Nicolas Sénégas, Tom Muller

Both versions ultimately flounder from wanting to have its cake and eat it. Is the story aiming for spiritual transcendence or exposing the folly of blind faith, or both? The narrative doesn't quite cohere. In an important scene, Noah recounts the Genesis creation story to his family. His words are overlaid over a montage of images illustrating the Big Bang, the formation of the first galaxies and stars, the birth of our solar system, and the evolution of life from organic molecules all the way to primates. It's a provocative way to illustrate the tale. Although in this case the film's use of strobe effects and digital imagery is way cooler than Henrichon's still images, which feel kind of textbook in comparison.

In contrast to this allegorical interpretation optimized to coexist with the prevailing scientific world view, Aronofsky takes the story of the Flood at face value. So we still get the usual imagery such as the procession of the animals into a gigantic wooden box, or a deluge that blankets the entire world while drowning everything on land, which presumably includes a lot of plant and animal life as collateral damage for humankind's folly. We still have to accept the bizarre premise that an Ark could restore the planet's biodiversity with only a tiny sampling from each species and isn't just an idiotic scheme cooked up by a deranged individual. Given Aronofsky's monomaniacal portrait of Noah, it's a pretty tough sell.

Noah by Darren Aronofsky, Ari Handel, Niko Henrichon, Nicolas Sénégas, Tom Muller

6/08/2015

Congratulations to Alison Bechdel: Fun Home wins Tony Award for Best Musical

Fun Home wins Tony Awards for Best Musical. Photo by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Sydney Lucas performs Ring of Keys, Fun Home wins Tony Awards for Best Musical. Photo by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times.
Sara Krulwich/The New York Times
Go to: New York Times, by Michael Paulson and Patrick Healy (via Heidi MacDonald)

Based on Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel memoir about growing up gay in a funeral parlour, Fun Home’s award haul included best original score and book for Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron, best leading actor for Michael Cerveris and best director for Sam Gold.
- Nancy Groves, The Guardian

Earlier this spring, Bechdel told NPR she was surprised by the idea of turning her memoir into a musical. "I thought it was crazy," she said. "I didn't know how it was even possible." But Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori spent seven years making it happen, turning the life story of a middle-aged lesbian cartoonist into a smash Broadway hit.
- Camila Domonoske, NPR

Broadway pros clearly appreciated the show’s originality and its in-the-round immersive staging. There was whooping and ovations when “Fun Home’s” Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori became the first all-female team to win a Tony for best score.
- Cynthia Littleton, Variety

Webcomic: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner.
Centre of the Universe
Go to: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal by Zach Weiner

6/01/2015

Archie vs. Predator #2 and Red One #2

Archie vs. Predator #2 by Alex de Campi, Fernando Ruiz, Robert Hack, Stephen Downer, Rich Koslowski, Jason Millet, John Workman
Archie vs. Predator #2
Writer: Alex de Campi
Artist: Fernando Ruiz, Robert Hack, Stephen Downer
Inker: Rich Koslowski
Colorist: Jason Millet
Letters: John Workman

Archie et al. created by Bob Montana
Sabrina created by George Gladir and Dan DeCarlo
Predator created by Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Stan Winston

This is the part where the comic actually delivers on its promise. The Predator follows the Archie gang back to Riverdale and quickly commences with his slaughter of the town. The hilarity of the resulting bloodbath reveals the stupid brilliance of conveying the tale within the confines of the Archie Comics house style. Both the action movie tropes of the Predator franchise and the comic stylings of the Riverdale cast offset each other nicely, lampshading the ludicrousness of their respective conventions. Once the guys realize what they're dealing with, they respond not by calling in the National Guard or any other agency equipped to handle the threat. Rather, the responsible adults pass out assault rifles to gung-ho teenagers so that they can finish off the unstoppable alien killing machine themselves. There's a lot of macho grandstanding that inevitably ends in disaster. But because of the humorous manner in which these deaths are portrayed, there's something deeply satisfying about how everyone meets their end. And the story is paced so effectively that the impact of each death is often quite startling when it actually takes place.

The only part where the narrative drags a bit is an exposition-heavy middle section that connects several plot threads, primarily the incidents within the Predator films with the events that took place last issue. This sets up Betty and Veronica as the comic's main protagonists rather than the titular Archie, who mostly stays in the background at least for now. As pointed out last time, these are slightly more abrasive versions of the cast who are more willing to engage in physical violence. If there's one glaring weakness, it's that some people are obviously beneficiaries of plot armour or heroic death exemption despite the dumb choices they make here. But that's not entirely unexpected given the nature of the crossover.

Red One #2 by Xavier Dorison, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson, Clayton Cowles
Red One #2
Writer: Xavier Dorison
Pencils and Colors: Terry Dodson
Inks: Rachel Dodson
Letters: Clayton Cowles

What happens in this oversized issue is that Vera Yelnikov beats up a lot of bad guys while trying to fit into her new environment as well as settling into her new secret identity. The former is entertaining as heck, the latter is a little less so. The Dodsons staging of action sequences is slick, dynamic, and sensually charged when Vera displays her uncanny parkour and kung fu skills while attired in a form-fitting crimson jumpsuit and wielding nothing more than a hammer and sickle. Red One isn't exactly subtle. The hero's basically a liberated Soviet superwoman exacting revenge on behalf of the would-be victims against a group composed of violent, religious extremist, socially conservative, male chauvinist hicks, even if said victims are treated mostly as an afterthought. But the gorgeous visuals, which manage to compress a lot of narrative into every page, are clearly the comic's main draw.

Even the dialogue sounds less grating than in the last issue, mainly because Vera now has a verbal sparring partner in her American boss Lew Gardner. Admittedly, he's the stereotypical curmudgeon who's actually a big softie. And assuming he sticks around, it's only a matter of time before he uncovers the truth about Vera and becomes her reluctant ally. But Vera's mixture of flirtatiousness and fish out of water naïveté continues to awkwardly straddle the line between camp and social commentary. One scene has Vera and Lew attend a party which is meant to develop her credentials as a free spirit. But it doesn't really say anything new about the character, so it just comes across as gratuitous. Vera visits her first supermarket, and her amazed reaction to its bounty is too much of a well-worn cliche. Such behaviour stretches credulity that the stuffed shirts at the Kremlin are so much more hip than their Yankee counterparts that they can afford to send their most capable agent to save America from itself.

However, the biggest obstacle for readers of American comics will be the European album publishing schedule which favors lavish production values at the expense of a quick turnaround. The next installment won't be out till next spring, an awfully long time for an ongoing action story.