Markley’s Fevered Brain: This and That

Wayne Markley

Wayne Markley


by Wayne Markley

I was going to continue my look at the world of Marvel’s cosmic characters this time out but I have read so many good books lately I wanted to share them while they were fresh. I will return to Marvel’s Infinity Universe with the next blog. These are a mix of new releases, graphic novels, and single comics, and all sort of genres. I would highly recommend any and all of these books.

Spread #3

Spread #3


Spread is a new comic from Image by Justin Jordan and Kyle Strahm. So far, only issue one is out and it was quite a read. Like a number of other Image titles recently, I am going to recommend this book based on the first issue as it is that good. Other titles I really likes are Mercenary Sea, Outcast, Southern Bastards, and Manifest Destiny. The basic story is mankind has drilled too deeply into the earth and unleashed something that could not be stopped and is wiping out humanity (it is not clear yet what it is). Now mankind is in a constant struggle to survive as this underground invader has been almost contained, but not stopped. Until one man has found a way to stop it. A baby. While the premise sounds a bit like X-Men: Messiah Complex mixed with Lone Wolf and Cub, I have enough faith in Justin Jordan to stick with the series and see where it goes. After his last series for Image, Luther Strode, went nowhere in the directions I expected, I have little doubt that Spread will also surprise me.

Seconds

Seconds


Seconds by Brian O’Malley is the follow up to O’Malley’s hugely successful Scott Pilgrim series of graphic novels. Seconds is a self contained graphic novel about a successful chef who discovers a house sprite who shows her how to get a chance to redo events in her life with the benefit of hindsight. Katie, the chef, does this a number of times with various degrees of success. Overall this is a very good book and is a very entertaining read. For fans of Scott Pilgrim, they will not be disappointed as there are a number of graphic storytelling tricks used in Scott Pilgrim that show up here, yet the story is different enough that it does not read as a re-do of Scott Pilgrim. There are a lot of side stories about people and how they interact and what motivates them. I thought the characterization was one of the high points of Scott Pilgrim and O’Malley is even sharper and better with his painting of the characters personalities that he was with Pilgrim. The art is more polished than in Scott Pilgrim and it really flows and the page design are very innovative. Another thing that really makes this book is the coloring. While Scott Pilgrim was originally published in black and white and was colored in later printings, Seconds was designed to be done in color and it shows. I also found it interesting that Brain O’Malley went with Ballentine Books to publish this book instead of a traditional comic book publisher, following the footsteps of Daniel Clowse and Charles Burns. I suspect the reasons are s twofold, a large book publisher can give the creator more money and time to do a single piece of work as they can afford to put money up front where a comic book publisher would be challenged to do that (not that it does not happen at times). Also, a large book publisher, like Ballentine, has a much broader reach in terms of distribution and placement in book stores than a comic book publisher would. Personally, I am glad to see this because a work of this stature deserves as wide of an audience as it can get. A great read that you really should pick up.

The Book of Human Insects

The Book of Human Insects


The Book of Human Insects by Osamu Tezuka came out in America over a year ago, but I just got around to reading it. Before I go on, let me say I think Tezuka, along with Alexandro Jodorowsky, are two of the greatest storytellers in comic books. So I am sure you will not be surprised that I found this book to be one of the best things I have read in a long time. Tezuka’s work can be broken into three categories, long form graphic stories, such as this, children stories such as Twin Knights, and traditional comic such as Astro Boy. Even though all of his work was originally serialized in manga publications in Japan, when they are issued here in collections you see how diverse his work was. Book of Human Insects is about the life of a young woman named Toshiko Tomura who has the amazing ability is mimic other’s talents; be it design, acting, or murder. It is a dark tale filled with crime and sex, but not in an exploitative way. I find it amazing how Tezuka introduces characters and then has them reappear 300 pages later and they are just as important as they were when they first appeared. This is one of the signs of what a masterful storyteller he is as he is able to weave these complex tales together so that they seem so seamless (Jodorowsky also has the ability to do this). What I like about this technique is it makes everything in the story important. And everything in every panel is important as you do not know when the tinniest thing is going to be of major importance down the road in the story. I did not see the end coming when I got to the last page of this epic tale. At over 350 pages, this is a medium length tale for Tezuka, but every page is a piece if beauty in terms of design and line work. As with almost all of Tezuka’s work, I highly recommend this book. Note, it is for mature readers only due to nudity and violence.

Royals: Masters of War #1

Royals: Masters of War #1


Royals: Masters of War by Rob Williams and Simon Colby just wrapped up. This was a six issue miniseries from Vertigo that I at first dismissed but based on a reader’s recommendation (Thank you!) I went back and started reading it with issue three. Having now read all six issues, I can say without a second thought what a great read this series was. It was unlike almost any other comic as it was set in World War 2 and told the tale of not only the war, but also the Royals from England, Japan, Germany, and other countries. The Royal Families all have kept out of the world war because the Royals all have super powers. When one of the Royals breaks this treaty of non-violence all hell breaks loose. The story is filled with twists and turns and betrayals that make every page a surprise. The art by Simon Colby is both clean and looks like it came from the best of British artists (Don Lawrence, Frank Belllamy, etc.) yet is very vibrant and modern. I highly recommend getting the forthcoming trade (currently scheduled for this November) or trying to track down the six single issues.

Usagi Yojimbo Color Special

Usagi Yojimbo Color Special


Usagi Yojimbo Color Special collects Usagi stories from My Space: Dark Horse Presents and from Volume 2 of the print edition of Dark Horse Presents. There are five full color stories of the wonderful creation by Stan Sakai, Usagi Yojimbo. I am recommending this book because it is a great sampler of one of the best ongoing comic characters of the last twenty years. Off the top of my head I cannot think of a bad Usagi story in all of its history and this book offers you five sample stories so you can also discover the character. Usagi is a vagabond samurai who wanders feudal Japan making friends, fighting crime, overcoming coming evil, and just having fascinating adventures. I strongly encourage you to check out this full color collection. It is a true treat as most of Usagi’s other appearances have been in black and white. Dark Horse recently announced they are doing large omnibus collections of Usagi early adventures which is nice as almost all of the twenty nine collections (so far) have gone out of print. Also, I wanted to point out a story in Dark Horse Presents #36, Merlon the Magician by Jaime Hernandez, which features an interesting character named Flip Markley. Thank you.

Stray Bullets: Killers #1

Stray Bullets: Killers #1


Another book I would like to recommend in closing is Stray Bullets: Killers. Since its revival there have been five issues and each one tops the prior one. This book was picked as the best book of the year back in the 1990s when I worked at Capital City Distribution, and now almost 20 years later and after a long hiatus, it is still just as good. It is a mix of action, crime, drama, and great storytelling. Each issue is stand alone while being part of a bigger story that builds on issue after issue. As a bonus, the most current issue, number five, features the return of Amy Racecar. Comics do not get much better than this.

That is it for this time. As always, everything I have written here is my opinion and does not reflects the thoughts or opinions of the Westfield Company or their employees. I welcome comments or input at MFBWAY@AOL.COM. Have you read any of the books I have discussed? What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Please let me know. As always.

Thank you.

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