Continuing the series on books I bought at Comic-Con International 2010, reviewed as I read them...
A number of new graphic novels debuted at Comic-Con this year. Okay, some of them came out a tad before the actual show, but they were "debutantes" to me, at least. So let's just call them debuts, okay?
Moving Pictures, at first glance, seems a strange topic for a graphic novel. It's about the Nazi occupation of Paris in World War II and how the German's Military Art Commission tried to loot great works of art from their occupied countries. The French, in turn, tried to hide those great works, even while "working" with the Nazis to catalog and gather them. This is the story of of one art curator, Ilsa Gardner, and her relationship with a Nazi officer, Rolf Hauptmann, and the subtle, quiet cat-and-mouse game they play with each other. Surprisingly, it's by superhero comics artist Stuart Immonen and written by Kathryn Immonen, his wife and also a sometimes-superhero writer. It's a moving, lovely, little graphic novel, told in a totally-different art style than the usual one for Stuart. Published by Top Shelf, it's something quite a bit different for everyone involved and thoroughly enjoyable.
Also from Top Shelf is a new graphic novel from my friend and former collaborator Rich Koslowski. This time Rich has turned over the writing reins to someone else--JD Arnold--and the outcome is the excellent BB Wolf and the Three LPs, a story of racism, the blues, and violence, couched along the lines of the fable of the three little pigs and the big, bad wolf. Collaborating with Arnold seems to have brought out the very best in Rich's art. His ink-wash pages in this graphic novel are among the best I've ever seen him do (and I've known him since the beginning of his comics career). Just a note, though...even though this is based on a famous kids' fable, it's not for the young ones...it's violent and disturbing (in a good way, as befits the storytelling) in some parts.
I love Rick Geary's work with a passion and every year, almost like clockwork--and usually right in time for Comic-Con--there appears a new Geary graphic novel. He's currently mining the rich mother lode of--as he puts it--"A Treasury of XXth Century Murder." His latest is The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans, (as usual from long-time publisher NBM), a recounting of a little-remembered reign of terror in the jazz city from 1917-1920, when an anonymous killer preyed on Italian grocery store owners. Geary is at his best in this type of story, with evocative art, stellar research and compelling storytelling. Although this true life tale remains unsolved, Geary makes the most of that fact, with a melancholy and haunting ending to a story that never really ended.
James Sturm has a way of creating haunting material himself, and his latest, Market Day, is no exception. Published by Drawn & Quarterly, Sturm's story of a simple man taking his rugs to market only to find his entire world upended when his usual buyer has retired, resonates today in a world of uncertain economic times. And it shows how one simple action--the retirement--can have larger implications in everyone's lives. Sturm's simple, effective art--the coloring is particularly beautiful in this book--brings to life a bygone era (Eastern Europe in the late 1900s), when handmade articles were about to replaced by factories and industrial empires. And like just about every other D&Q book, the design and production values are stunning.
Finally, two books who I'm calling "original graphic novels," but really aren't. The first is the Pocket Book Collection of RASL, Jeff Smith's follow-up to his award-winning fantasy epic, Bone. I have to confess to not liking RASL in its comic book incarnation. The timespan between issues was too long to make it a readable commodity for me, but reading it like this--the Pocket Book collects the first 7 issues--is a revelation. Smith takes a complicated story--our hero jumps between dimensions using a device that has its roots in the pioneering inventor Tesla's work and loots famous works of art to sell back home--and smooths out all the bumps between science and storytelling to create a whole new world, as compelling and complete as Bone's. RASL is, in its way, the polar opposite of Bone, a story steeped in science and told to adults. Smith's art--this time dealing mainly with humans and not cute little Boneville residents--is vibrant and action-packed, with hints of Eisner and Kirby throughout. And the story--rambling back and forth between dimensions where the slightest anomaly (Bob Dylan isn't called Dylan--he's Robert Zimmerman) is the only hint of something amiss--is laced with military secrets, historical fact, and spacey science. I really think RASL is Smith's best work yet, and he's only part way through it. This attractive, economical edition is the best way to read it, too.
And last but not least, our old friend (as in time known, not in age) Batton Lash has issued another of his convention-only special books. The Gods Must Be Litigious is a collection of one story from Bat's excellent Supernatural Law web comic, this one telling the tale of Medusa's feud with editorial cartoonist Red Thrall. As usual, Bat's work is fun, well-drawn, and top notch storytelling. You can get your own copy by clicking the link above...with these convention special books, they usually go pretty fast, so get yours now!
Thank you for helping me to reach the decision that I should read some more Rick Geary. I loved the Borden Tragedy book and the Jack the Ripper one only slightly less than that.
Posted by: Joolie | 09/10/2010 at 12:37 PM