Devil's Handshake

by Josh Crawley

I think it might be harder to write about comic books than it is to write comic books.

I’m not great at writing either one, mind you, but I’ve done both. It seems a lot easier to write that first panel description than it does to write the first line of a column. If I hadn’t actually had the thought contained in the first line, I’d probably still be looking at a blank file hours from now, well after I actually finish this.

So maybe I should rephrase that: I imagine starting to write about comics is harder that in it to start writing comics.

I imagine Larry Hama is well beyond staring at a blank file these days, and thanks to Stephen Christy over at Archaia (who contacted me via Twitter, I actually got to read some work by Hama early!

The Devil’s Handshake is a $5.95 perfect-bound graphic novella coming out in October. Hama joins creator and fellow Spooks writer Ryan Schifrin, and Spooks artist Adam Archer. Lizzy John, co-credited for art, joins them.

When I first got this PDF via email, I didn’t have too much time to look at it. I opened it right away to be sure it was A-okay and I’d be able to read it. The first thing to grab my attention was the gorgeous artwork. Sadly, that was all I got to enjoy for a few very busy, but fun, days and nights. Needless to say, by the time I got to reading it, I had built up this project quite a bit in my head. After all, this company publishes titles like multiple Eisner Award-winning Mouse Guard.

I wasn’t let down. Unlike many comics today that feel the need to give us yet another serving of decompression, the book doesn’t start so much as it hits the ground running. We get a nice organic introduction to the characters, and the story is complete in this book, yet leaves us wanting more through various loose ends. The dialog is expository without being heavy-handed and long-winded, and the storytelling is clear. What really stands out for me, though, is the color artwork. John’s work reminds me of Ariel Olivetti’s recent work on Punisher War Journal and Cable. When I asked Christy at Archaia about the process, he said she “paints over his pencils and inks. We actually gave her co-art credit because she ads so much to the art.” I’d be hard-pressed to disagree with that!

I know I haven’t really told you who Larry Hama is yet, if you didn’t already know, and there’s a reason for that. The massive scale of his work might very well have caused you to stop reading this column before getting through my relatively short review.

Recently, Hama has written the rather popular Barack the Barbarian title from Devil’s Due Publishing, issues #2, #3, and #4 that feature covers drawn by Westfield Comics customer Joel Humberto Herrera.

GI Joe The Best of Larry Hama

Hama was the first writer on the original ongoing Wolverine series (collected in those handy Essential Wolverine collections and Wolverine Legends Marc Silvestri ). If you see a Best of GI Joe or Classic GI Joe (which seems to make the GI Joe Best of Larry Hama HC redundant, but it’s an over-sized hardcover, not spilled milk, so no crying!) from IDW Publishing, you’ll notice he wrote all the stories in there. He crafted the fiction of the Real American Hero; comics and file cards. He’s still writing GI Joe Origins now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s writing GI Joe as a cyborg 100 years from now!

And he actually broke into comics by pencilling, and like many, he started out as an assistant. But not everyone was an assistant to Wally Wood. One of his earliest pencilling jobs was on a character Matt Fraction has recently reinvigorated: Iron Fist!

I just did a search for Larry Hama on our site (we know the feature needs some work, we really are working on it), and there are things I forgot he even worked on (and I remember some really random stuff):

- Sabretooth: Deathhunt SC (out of print, but we have limited quantities available!)
- Spider-Girl Presents Wild Thing Crash Course
- Batman No Man’s Land Volumes 3 and 4
- Chronicles of Conan Volume 15
- Complete Age of Apocalypse Books 1 , 3, and 4

Now that I’ve written more than I expected I could, feel free to send me comments, questions, recommendations, samples, et cetera at:

josh@westfieldcomics.com

or

Westfield Comics
ATTN: JOSH
7475 Mineral Point Road STE 22
Madison WI 53717
______________________
Josh Crawley is the tenured Master of Disaster at Westfield Comics, so you should watch yourself. The majority of this column was brought to you by New Glarus Brewing Company beers.

Purchase:
Spooks Volume 1
Spooks Volume 2 Omega Team

GI Joe Declassified

(Declassified precedes the events of Classic GI Joe #1)

Classic GI Joe Volume 1
Classic GI Joe Volume 2
Classic GI Joe Volume 3

(Classic GI Joe is recommended for the fan who wants everything; Best of GI Joe is recommended for the fan who has a narrower focus!)

GI Joe Best of  Cobra Commander
GI Joe Best of  Hawk
GI Joe Best of  Destro
GI Joe Best of Duke

GI Joe Storm Shadow Volume 1 Solo

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