What to read?

                As mentioned in our previous post, there are endless possibilities when it comes to comics.   Every so often my roommate, an avid comic fan himself, will ask me what he should read in one of his rare moments of down time.   I read about ten comics a month; however, Josh only reads about one a week.  So my dilemma is in what to prioritize with my suggestions.  Anyone who reads comics regularly has this same problem; it comes up in our comic book club all the time.  What should we read and why?

                The answer depends a lot on your personal  preference.  I am a big fan of the superhero genre but I know lots of people who can’t stand it.  Others have company preferences and only read the books that are published by DC, Marvel, or Dark Horse.   Regardless of such inclinations we can all recognize a good book when we see one.   Having said that, the following may not appeal to everyone but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

One such book is issue #9 of Geoff Johns and Francis Manapul’s The Flash.  This series has been generating a lot of heat in the recent months because of the upcoming summer event Flashpoint.  According to the updates that have been coming out it looks to be about a different reality or rather an alternate version of the current DC universe timeline, the latter being hinted at by the end of this issue.  The run so far has been amazing.  In a lot of superhero books the characters and the stories just become about the super powers, but Johns is writing Barry in a very specific way, going back to the fact that he is a police detective as well as a superhero.  They‘re even naming the different story arcs “Case One, Case Two, ect”.  The first arc, Case One: The Dastardly Death of the Rogues, was not only a well written mystery but Manapul’s art is amazing.  As was clearly stated by both Johns and Manapul they wanted to show The Flash (Barry Allen) using his super speed in new and interesting ways and not just more “speed lines”.    Issue # 9 starts a new story arc that leads directly into Flashpoint and begins starts the second story arc called “Case Two: The road to Flashpoint Part One.”  The story centers around two events.  The first is the appearance of a new motorcycling speedster in search of fuel and Barry Allen.  The second center of the mystery is the death of a costume hero.  I thought the issue like all the ones before it was excellent.   Without giving any spoilers, this issue is a definite set up for the alternate reality madness that is to come this summer.  If you are not currently reading the Flash series you are missing out on great writing and fantastic art. 

  Geoff Johns is also the writer on the series Brightest Day, which the follow up to his series Blackest Night.   Both take their names from the famous Green Lantern oath.   Brightest Day follows the fall out of Blackest Night, specifically centering on the entity in the White Lantern and its will for some of the characters in the DCU.   The series is biweekly and has had its ups and downs.On the one hand the series has been an interesting and extremely well written story.  The problem is that it follows several stories at once that have very little overlap, so you can get a little lost.   This set back kept me from really enjoying the title as much as others.   For instance I haven’t really cared for the Hawk world story or some of the dead man stuff, but that’s mostly because I don’t gravitate towards those characters.  However, all those things are redeemed  because of two facts.   First, Johns has done a great job writing J'onn J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter.   

 Over the years I’ve noticed that the J’onn has been difficult to write.  People don’t know how to fit him in with the rest of the DC characters and so they seem to harp on just one aspect of his character:  the quiet philosopher, the tortured telepath, or the conflicted immigrant from mars.  Johns has been able to maintain all those things, but has given the character a lot more depth.  He accomplishes this by juxtaposing J’onn with the evil female martian D’kay.  This has been a classic tool that Johns uses.  By presenting a villain that is the mirror opposite of the man protagonist he can better define the hero.  In Flash: Rebirth he describes Barry Allen over and against the reverse flash as well as Hall Jordan (Green Lantern) against Sinestro (Yellow Lantern) in his going run on Green Lantern.  A lot of folks aren’t fond this technique.  The main criticism I’ve heard is that it’s too black and white.  I disagree.  While it does provide a sharper contrast between characters that clashes with my generations fascination with the anti-hero, it also provides a frame work in which a characters internal and external conflicts can have more meaning.   Issue 21 of Brightest Day has some of the best J’onn stuff I’ve ever read so I highly recommend it for any Martian Manhunter fans.  

Back to the second reason why I’m happy reading Brightest Day; because Johns has single handedly made Aquaman cool.  Another main protagonist of this series has been the newly resurrected Arthur Curry otherwise known as our favorite king of Atlantis: Aquaman.  Much like J’onn, a lot of writers have struggled with what to do with Arthur because of his obvious limitation to the sea and water.   Grant Morrison’s late 90s run on the JLA was one of the only times I’ve ever liked him as a member of the Justice league-- that and his team up with Etrigan the demon in The Brave and the Bold #32.  Arthur can either be barely relevant or just not heroically threatening. 

 

  But Johns has made him a hero again.  Most of this I think rest upon the amazing action scenes.  The two that come to mind are Aquaman, trident in hand, grappling with Black Manta and then the awesome splash page of Aquaman leading the charge of an army of zombified aquatic life.  If you want to have your faith renewed in the king of the seven seas, you need to read Brightest Day.

                                                           Jake

Hellboy: The Sleeping and The Dead

Hellboy’s most recent two shot, The Sleeping and the Dead, is a fantastic classic horror story, illustrated brilliantly by Scott Hampton, and filled with such awesome twists and turns and eerie folklore that you wish the thing could last a little bit longer.

I don’t follow Hellboy religiously, (Jake could tell you more about him than I could) but I am a big admirer of Mignola’s art and character design, and am fairly familiar with the good natured demon himself. Its stories like this one that make me wish I picked it up more often, though. Scott Hampton, (being no stranger to the monster magazine, having worked on comics such as Simon Dark,) teamed up with Mignola for the first time in this series, adopting certain “classic” Hellboy style, while maintaining own his distinctions. I think he fit beautifully with this book.

The story follows the repercussions of Hellboy’s killing a female vampire. We learn from her brother, an emotionally enslaved caretaker, that both she and their sister were transformed by an English Vampire, who will avenge her death by calling on a whole graveyard of his victims. But that’s not even the scary part. The second sister, the one we’ve yet to meet, has indeed transformed, but not into a vampire: into something far worse, less definable, and fantastically terrifying. This creepy little girl, who wanders ghostlike about the basement singing nursery rhymes, transforms into a being of pure horror. The brother, last remaining alive and in the human world, takes care of his family despite their wicked transformations, and soon Hellboy finds himself offered as a meal to this thing in the basement. I’ll let you read the ending to see how the whole thing unravels… its classic Mignola.

There’s a cool distinction between American and English Vampires in this book. I like the idea of Vampires going into hiding for years—centuries—so that the world forgets and no longer suspects them, so as to rise and conquer later on. Apparently they have it a lot worse in England, as far as blood suckers go.

And can I just say how refreshing it is to see Vampires back in the horror genre where they belong? I’ve had about all I can take of our culture’s recent infatuation with sexy teenage “vampires.” It makes me ache for the classics. I want that old magic back. I want to be scared of Vampires again: to see them portrayed as the monsters they ought to be: truly unsettling, terrifying and dreadful. This series delivers, I recommend you all take the fun journey I did and end up delightfully creeped out.

See you in the Funnybooks! -Stephanie

Why I love Comic Books

Growing up, I lived near a “Food Lion” grocery store, and at that time, grocery stores carried comic books in their magazine racks. Whenever my family and I went shopping, or on occasion when I would ride my bike there, I would spend my time immersed with the X-men, JLA, and a host of other mystical characters. I asked my parents for an early Christmas present and they ordered a year subscription to Robin. The first one I got in the mail was Robin # 21 when I was nine years old and in the fourth grade. The feeling of getting one every month was exhilarating. Even if “Food Lion” got the issue before I did, I would resist the urge to look through it so that it would be fresh and new when it arrived at my door.

 As I said, the first comic book I remember owning was an issue of the Robin series (Tim Drake being the Robin in question.) I’ve always liked sidekicks. I thought that they should get the attention that everyone gives to their cohorts. They always seem to be the underdog, and so as a nerdy little kid I could easily relate. Tim even had his own car! (Although, if any of you remember Tim’s Car, the Redbird, you should probably forget it ever existed.) I clearly remember reading an issue where Tim teamed up with Ted Grant (Wildcat), and at one point in the comic Wildcat was sticking out of the Redbird’s passenger side window yelling at the villains as they were in pursuit after them. Even at nine years old I knew that no one could look intimidating in the Redbird.



After my subscription was over I stopped reading comics. Like most kids my age, I watched all the superhero based cartoons (especially Batman: The Animated Series) but for whatever reason, I stopped reading comics on a regular basis. I didn’t start getting comics monthly again till my senior year in college.

I was reading about 200 pages a week for school and felt overwhelmed. I needed a realse. The only video games that I’d ever really played were Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Resident Evil 4. I’m not a gamer so I couldn’t use that as an outlet. And I’m not a big time movie-goer, so that manner of relaxation was out as well. I turned to fiction. I went to my local Books-A-Million and roamed the aisles looking for something to entertain me. As I approached the row with the comic books it was like walking into a familiar building that had long been forgotten. I bought several comics that day but only two do I now recall: Green Lantern Sinestro Corp War special # 1 and Uncanny X-Men # 492. Now that I think about it, this is odd because they were released months apart, and the Green Lantern cover is the first printing. Both covers to this day are still two of my favorites, and the Sinestro Corp war is probably my favorite Green Lantern Story Arc thus far.

During this same period I began working at a Best Buy where I met David Kinsel. He was my supervisor within the Media department, and he and his wife Sandy have been lifelong comic fans. I quickly discovered all this and asked him what I should be reading as far as monthly comics. I soon had lists upon lists of “required” readings induct me into proper comic book society.

 I recall shortly after this at one of the local comic shop’s sales, he suggested I buy all the issues to date and the current issues of Geoff Johns’ Justice Society of America, which is now one of my all-time favorite and most re-read parts of my comic collection.

Dave and several other friends of ours then began to meet to discuss comics at a comic club he had dubbed C.A.R.L (Comics Are Real Literature). Between my now monthly comic readings and C.A.R.L get-togethers, I was finally balanced and felt much less stressed.

In 2009 I moved to Memphis TN to start my Masters in New Testament program at Harding University Graduate School of Religion, far away from my established community of comic fans. Once again, God seemed to approve of my hobby of choice, because one of my roommates was a comic addict as well. It was not long before we started a new branch of C.A.R.L, through which we’ve met some of our best friends. And it was through this C.A.R.L that I met members of an amazing bible study group as well as my beloved Stephanie Kern.

The point of all these comic recollections is to show that, though my live is defined by my faith, my comic books have been a major icing on my proverbial cake. Thanks to a few panels and text boxes, I’ve met some of my best friends, spiritual brethren, and the woman of my dreams.

There are a thousand demands on our time, energy, and money. Those of us blessed enough to have an entertainment/fun budget (small as mine may be) have to spend that money wisely and make every penny count. For the price of going to the movies I can get three comic books; three comic books that I can read over and over again and keep and share with those around me. 15 years ago everyone owned a VHS player, they are now almost obsolete. In 15 years perhaps dvds will be completely replaced by Blu-ray. The comic book however has remained for decades in its same hand held format and is as easily accessible as it was at its birth in the 30s. Unlike my VHS which will have to be replaced if I ever want to watch those movies in the future, my comics, even if they are eventually phased out by the digital format, will still be readily accessible. Comics have a longevity that is unsurpassed by most other media.

It is not only the physical comic book that has this endurance. The characters that have been given birth in their pages have been as equally viable and unquestionably influential. They have become the ground work for the modern American mythos. Through fiction, we can participate and live out our imaginations and the imaginations of others. By reading Frankenstein I can not only feel the fear of Dr. Frankenstein but also the loneliness and rage of his monster. Likewise by reading The Flash I can run faster than the speed of light, by picking The Green Lantern I can see planets and experience the stars, and by holding an issue of Hellboy I can help the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense rid the world of unseen and unspeakable horrors.

But this is not the reason why I love and read comics, this is just what comics are. I love and read comics because they are a release. I often feel weighted, as most of us do, by the normal wear and tear of life. We all have responsibilities that tether us to the here and now, and this can stifle our imaginations and creativity. Through the comic book my imagination is sparked to life, and I am reminded that it’s okay to take a break.

However the comic book is more than escapism. It has the unique advantage of having both the power of the written word and the force of images. Mark Waid and Alex Ross’s Kingdom Come is a perfect example. When the Spectre comes through the stained glass window of Norman McCay’s church, you have the breathtaking beauty of Ross’s art combined with the weight of Waid’s dialogue. Because of this, the comic often does a better job of exploring topics and themes than mere text. I’ve studied religion academically for the last seven years of my life. In all that time, I’ve read countless philosophical and spiritual discourse on the question of human suffering. But what sticks out in my mind most is the discussion between Jacob Shtarkah and Izzy the Cockroach in Will Eisner’s Life Force. In Eisner’s words and in the way he illustrates Jacob’s face; you are shown the desperate want to survive and the bleakness of the depression that Eisner and so many others experienced when he was young. Through that tale I can learn lessons from those experiences, though I am a years removed from their occurrence.

By this blog I hope to share a little of my love for the comic book and to enjoy the medium with those around me.

Why I Love Comic Books

It’s a love affair so old and I can barely trace it, and so new it still surprises and delights me. It keeps me company in the bathtub after long days of work or class, just like it did in the lag of high school math. I’m a self-proclaimed painter at this university, but when I’ve got time to myself, there’s not much I’d rather be doing than drawing these. I don’t know if it’s the color or the smell of the pages that draws me back to the fattening bookshelf every time, but there’s a magic in those things. It’s a magic that changed the world and changed me. I love comics.

 When I was a little girl I fell for Spider-Man, and it was all over for me after that. (If you actually read this blog, you’ll figure out pretty quick that I’m a Marvel and Jake’s a DC, but that somehow we make it work.) My first comic was Brian Michael Bendis’ and Mark Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man, which Marvel started in 2000 (I was ten at the time). It was this great re-imagining Spidey; of Peter’s High School drama, of deep moral dilemmas, life lessons, losses, breakups and makeups. I ate it up. The characters talked like me and my friends talked. I copied favorite Bagley panels in my sketchbook. All through middle and high school—it didn’t matter where I was, I got the book in my hand somehow. I followed the thing religiously right up to the ripe age of 20, when the two B’s parted ways. I was sad, and slightly disillusioned for a couple days, figuring they shared a flat like a married couple or something.

                My point is, one good book is all it takes to get you. One book I picked up when I was ten opened me up to an unimagined world; to an art form that would not let me go from then on. When we were around 12 or 13, my buddy Katelyn and I grabbed a thick stack of computer paper and a ballpoint pen and began making our own comics. They existed for absolutely no other reason than our own enjoyment: an outlet for little imaginative minds. My comics began as playthings, which is the way it ought to be. We called our book about the mischievous mishaps of four goofy teenagers The Drool Monkey Posse, and they looked a little like this:

And later like this:

 As an artist, comics freed me. As long as I was reading them, (and I was ALWAYS reading them,) I wanted to make them. And I could make anything I wanted. I imagined comics about aliens, circus performers, rock stars, fairies, and everything in between. Sometimes dairy entries weren’t enough for me and I’d recount my days with panels and thought bubbles. For me comic books were more than a way to pass the time or another form on entertainment: form the start, they pulled me into their creative realm, and made me itch to be an active participant in them.

 I think it was the unique idea of the comic that delighted me so much: picture and word married on the page in this beautiful way, so that you experience a story moment by moment.

And that’s it: comics are a beautiful way to tell a story. I think that good comics are measured in moments. Each panel is an entire drawing that captures an entire thought, but really, it’s only a moment. Hundreds of these lovely, delicate, tiny moments, when strung together, lead you through an entire epic. If words won’t do, a comic can make you experience a moment in the expression of its character’s face, or in the space of the page, or the light and the dark contrasted inside the panels. Tim Sale creates these moments like few others can:

Another reason comic books keep me in their gravity is because they feed the fantasy fanatic within. Comic books are glorious science fiction, escapism at its finest, otherworldly and strange. You see this go hokey and wrong all the time: but you also get a lot of stuff that’s just perfect.  Swamp Thing by Alan Moore is just perfect. I find it’s the oldies that do this for me. When I read The Dark Phoenix Saga and other outer space X-Men adventures that were written before I was born, it’s like time travel. Comics have this secret ability to transport you.

And it’s more intimate than a movie. Anyone who reads anything can tell you that. Remember how I said I followed that Spider-man book for 10 years straight? You don’t walk away from that without feeling like you know the characters, because you experienced life with them. It doesn’t matter how old you are. This is why you had people literally emotionally distraught over the death of Gwen Stacy in the 70s, making death threats to Stan Lee and stuff. It’s because the writers and the artists did a good job—they made people love her, and then miss her. It’s why nerds through fussy fits whenever the company changes someone’s costume or does an origin story they don’t like. They feel a personal connection to and possessiveness of the characters, and I think that’s something to smile at. It means the book was good enough to pierce them—or maybe that they’re a little too invested. I don’t know. I do know that in the final installment of Brian K Vaughn’s Y: The Last Man, I cried.  I had bonded with the characters through this crazy, long, kick ass journey. I was grateful to have read something that made me feel so much.

                I think it’s time for comics. People are starting to realize what a potentially explosive art form this is, and how it’s still so largely undiscovered and underappreciated. When visual art dances with literature, you get more than kids’ magazines. You get a way of communicating that is wholly unique and fantastic. More and more we’re seeing these independent comics popping up: self-inspired artists writing autobiographies and romances and classic adaptations and the like. I love the cape, but there’s room for more than the cape in western comic books. I really think we’re about to see these things take off like the world has not yet seen. I’m just thrilled to be along for the ride.

Steph

A Brief Introduction by Jake

One of our many joint passions is the comic book.  As the info states, Steph and I met at a comic book club (C.A.R.L, Comics are Real Literature) and to this day reading and discussing comics is one of our favorite bonding times.  In this modest blog we hope to share our discussions and thoughts on the comics that happen to come into our lives.  We both love the medium and hope to promote it's awesomeness.  So whether you're new comer to comics or a life long fan, we hope you enjoy our thought bubble.