To be honest, though, I will probably eventually review the new direction for X-Force, drawn by Mike Allred. One of the people who regularly reads this column was curious to see what my thoughts would be on that series. So I feel like I ought to try and fulfill that request.
In the meantime, though, here are reviews of several books that do not have an "X" in their titles…
Detectives, Inc: A Terror Of Dying Dreams graphic novel, $19.95 US, published by Image Comics
Writer: Don McGregor; Pencils: Gene Colan
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
A Terror of Dying Dreams opens simultaneously on the three protagonists: Bob Rainier, Ted Denning, and Dierdre Stevens. Each is poised at a threshold. For Rainier, it is the gaudy entrance to a Times Square strip club. For Denning, it is an elevator in a hospital. For Stevens, it is the front door of an old friend's house. By opening the story in this manner, McGregor does a marvelous job of juxtaposing the trio's individual circumstances, at the same time setting the stage for an examination of each character.
Rainier, divorced and gloomy, sulks along the alleyways of adult entertainment, vainly attempting to convince himself that he can easy his loneliness. Denning rides the elevator to a waiting room, where he meets with his father, and the two discuss old times, all the while waiting for news of Denning's ailing mother. And Stevens, a social worker, comes to pay a visit on Leila, a friend who asks for advice, but is unwilling to leave an abusive marriage.
The paths of the three protagonists soon intersect. Rainier and Denning are partners in a private detective agency. Dierdre Stevens hires the pair to follow Leila's brutal husband Doug. Dierdre hopes to get evidence of Doug in a compromising situation, something that she might use to finally convince Leila to leave him. Rainier and Denning go to work, with Dierdre in tow, and they soon find evidence that Doug is having an affair. Of course, as with the best of detective fiction, this apparently simple case ends up leading them into a much larger scandal. And with that comes plenty of twists and danger.
In a past column in which I reviewed Marvel's current Black Panther series, I made reference to how Don McGregor's work in the 1970s influenced the current direction of the character. In doing so, I stated "I've always found McGregor's Black Panther stories to be somewhat ponderous, but I can still see strong points in them." Fortunately, I did not have such problems with A Terror of Dying Dreams. I think that McGregor's heavy prose is much better suited to this genre. Mystery and detective fiction has always relied on strong narration and description to establish a particular atmosphere, as well as to delve into the characters, their backgrounds, and how they relate to each other and the world in which they exist. As I noted at the opening of this review, this is exactly what McGregor does with Rainier, Denning, and Stevens, not only at the story's opening, but throughout the entire work. A Terror of Dying Dreams is as much about these three individuals as it is about the solving of a mystery. McGregor's introspective writing superbly portrays these characters, and establishes the realities they live in. While still occasionally ponderous, for the most part McGregor's narration is strikingly appropriate.
The artwork is provided by industry veteran Gene Colan. His art style, with its unconventional layouts and extensive use of shadows, is perfectly suited for a story such as this. In the past, I have often found Colan's work to be rather jarring. His style can sometimes be ill-suited to the superhero stories he has often been called on to illustrate over the decades. His work is more appropriate for the genres of mystery, suspense, and horror. The fact that Colan was so successful with Daredevil over the years is no doubt due to that character's firm grounding in reality, set amidst the grim locales of Hell's Kitchen and the Bowery in Manhattan.
I expect Colan is probably a difficult penciler to ink, due to his aforementioned use of shadows & darkness. Of the numerous inkers who have tackled Colan's pencils over the years, the only two whose efforts I think have meshed smoothly with Colan's are Tom Palmer and Al Williamson. Additionally, the dark, shadowy nature of Colan's work probably makes it problematic to color, and I suspect that some colorists unwittingly end up obliterating the fine detail of Colan's work.
Here, however, the art is reproduced directly from Colan's uninked pencils. The book is black & white. The result is crisp and stunning. Colan's work has never looked better. Visible is the intricate detail of his work, the subtle gradations of shadow and lighting that he utilizes. The emotions of McGregor's characters are vividly brought to life by Colan's illustration of their facial expressions and fluid body language. The many and varied settings, from the time-faded boardwalks of Brighton Beach to the glitz of midtown Manhattan, and the suburban gentility of Dobbs Ferry, are brought to life by Colan's talent. The scenes of action and danger are dramatically rendered, all the while retaining a definite realism and believability.
This is the type of genre that Colan excels in. It is a pity that he has seldom had opportunities to work on tales of noir-ish mystery, due to the almost total dominance of superhero stories in comics for the last two decades. It is ironic that it is only now, so late in Colan's career and life, that the superhero monopoly is finally being whittled away at, and diversity is once more coming the medium of sequential illustration. Which makes A Terror Of Dying Dreams all the more important, for it allows us a rare look at Colan's skill and talent at work on a different type of story, and in a format that allows for the full impact and detail of his work to be experienced.
As I have observed in the past, sequential illustration is ideally the synthesis of words and images. In A Terror of Dying Dreams, that synthesis is nearly flawless. McGregor's writing and Colan's art complement each other. The majority of McGregor's script is dialogue. Those narrative passages that he does write are usually at the beginning of each chapter, set alongside or between captionless establishing shots by Colan. McGregor clearly has confidence in Colan, trusting that the art and the dialogue will work together to communicate what is taking place. He doesn't clutter up the panels with captions that state what the reader can plainly see. This graphic novel is an outstanding example of what can happen when a talented writer and a skilled artist work together, combining their efforts and recognizing each other's strengths. The result is a balance between story and art, with neither overwhelming the other, but instead becoming that ideal synthesis, where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
And, with that rather pretentious analysis of mine out of the way (how's that for self-honesty?) I can just go ahead and say that A Terror of Dying Dreams is an enjoyable, intelligently written graphic novel with superb artwork. I definitely recommend it.
Knights of the Dinner Table #55, $2.95 US, published by Kenzer and Company
Writer: Jolly R. Blackburn, with Brian Jelke and Steve Johansson; Pencils & Inks: Jolly R. Blackburn; Cover: George & Jackie Vrbanic
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
When I was at the Pittsburgh Comicon, I picked up a number of small press books. As I was walking through Artists' Alley late on the final day of the show, looking to get some last minute sketches, I caught sight of a table piled high with back issues of Knights of the Dinner Table. The title sounded vaguely familiar, and the guy behind the table fixed me with one of those looks that basically translates into "C'mon, buy something. You know you want to." Ever the sucker, I reluctantly parted company with ten dollars, and walked away with "Bundle of Trouble," the collected edition of the first three issues of Knights. I was half-convinced I had just thrown away my money. Soon the show ended, and I made my way to the hotel bar, got a beer, sat down in a comfy chair, and pulled out the Knights collection, thinking to myself "Oh, hell, let me just get this over with and read the damn thing."
Less than five minutes later, I was hysterically laughing my ass off. So much for my powers of foresight!
Knights of the Dinner Table spoofs role playing gamers and their culture in an incredibly humorous manner. Although I've never been a gamer, I think that there enough similarities between them and comic book fans that I was able to appreciate and enjoy the humor. And it's a type of self-effacing humor, a poke in the ribs by Jolly R. Blackburn, who himself happens to be a role playing aficionado. Many of the stories in the series are based on real-life events with gamers.
Having enjoyed "Bundle of Trouble," I picked up a couple of the latest issues of Knights at a local comic shop. And, once again, they were a bit different than I had expected. "Bundle" introduced the regular cast of characters (B.A. Felton, Bob Herzog, Dave Bozwell, Brian Van Hoose & Sara Felton) and established their personalities. Leaping to issue #55, there are now several continuing plotlines going, many of which revolve around various role playing campaigns the five gamers have found themselves playing out. There were several references to past events that were a bit confusing to me. Now I know how the man off the street feels upon picking up a random issue of X-Men!
A major plot point of Knights #55 is the aftermath of the unexpected death of Gary Jackson in a plane crash. Jackson, designer of "The HackMasters of EverKnight" role playing game, was the Bill Gates of the roll playing game industry in the fictional world of Knights of the Dinner Table. His death hits all the gamers hard, and a wake is held by them in a local bar, headed up by "Weird Pete," owner of the town game shop. It's quite an unusual wake, to be sure!
Meanwhile, at Gary Jackson's funeral, mobs of fans, including Brian and Bob, are camped outside the funeral parlor. Jackson's coffin is surrounded by role playing dice. His business associates discuss their future, and we hear the unusual tale of how the Esposito crime family ended up having controlling interest in Jackson's roll playing game company. We also learn of the myth that rubbing dice on a famous game designer's autograph, or even on his person, will give good luck. This has now resulted in gamers attempting to rub their game dice on the forehead of Jackson's corpse. While Jackson's associates are busy discussing their futures, Brian and Bob manage to get into the funeral parlor to view the body. Brian, of course, has brought his whole bag of dice, and much corpse-rubbing ensues.
Aside from Blackburn's strips, Knights also includes an editorial column, reviews of role playing games, computer games & graphic novels, game-related news bites, photos from gaming conventions, and several other features. The publication is geared towards gamers, but I think even non-gamers will find Knights a fun read. Blackburn's humor in the strips is clever, witty, and often hysterical. His art style at first appear simplistic. But on closer examination, you can see that he excels at drawing a gamut of facial expressions. He is also able to vary the layouts and perspectives to good effect. Considering that Blackburn is mostly drawing five people just sitting at a table role playing and talking, he's able to put a lot of humor and energy into his art, successfully bringing the characters to life.
Knights of the Dinner Table #55 is probably not the best starting point for new readers. I recommend that anybody interested in the series seek out the collected editions of the early issues & strips. Nevertheless, the fact that I was able to enjoy issue #55 as much as I did, having but a small amount of familiarity with the series, is a definite indication that this is a book that is easy to slip into. I expect that I'll be picking up Knights again in the near future.
Weird Western Tales #4, $2.50 US, published by Vertigo / DC Comics
Writer & Artist: Various; Cover: Jordi Bernet
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
I must have a thing for weird stories set in the American West. In my last column, I reviewed The Big Book of the Weird Wild West. This time, I'm offering a critique of the last issue of Vertigo's Weird Western Tales anthology miniseries. All I need now is for DC to publish a Jonah Hex/Ambush Bug team-up!
Bernet's cover on this issue was decent enough. It was done in a style reminiscent of John Severin and Joe Kubert, which suits the "western" part. Look closely, and you will also see something "weird" going on. However, stylistically it's very different from the covers of the first three issues, which had a more modern, slick look to them. And, as I said, you need to look closely to see the "weird" element to it. It's a lot less in-your-face than the over-the-top covers that preceded it. It is probably not fair for me to judge Bernet's work in contrast to the other covers. Based on its own merits, Bernet's cover is fine.
Inside we have three very short tales. As with preceding issues, it is a something of a hit-or-miss group. Writing stories that are so short is difficult. Exposition needs to be kept to a minimum, the writer needs to come to the point quickly, and the wrap-up has to not seem abrupt or rushed. The stories in Weird Western Tales #4 all end up relying on the sort of shock ending or last minute ironic turnabout that Rod Serling would have appreciated. In this, the trio of stories is successful to varying degrees.
"What a Man's Gotta Do," by Peter Milligan & Duncan Fegredo, relies on paralleling the reality of the modern world with the romanticized Western films of John Wayne, and then having the two come crashing headlong into one another. It's an interesting commentary on how the idealized world of those movies never really existed. Certainly, as someone who has never liked skewed views on history (see my previous column) I could certainly appreciate Milligan's clever twist ending. Fegredo's artwork is reminiscent of Luke McDonnell's, with a rough, gritty, yet realistic style that suits the story.
"Savaged," by Bruce Jones & Cully Hamner, ironically explores the idea that today's victim is tomorrow's victimizer. It also accurately observes that violence is, tragically, a universal phenomenon. The white settlers visited it upon the Native Americans. But, just as often, it was the whites who were on the receiving end of the brutality. In the end, no one comes out on secure moral ground. Jones' tale shows how the path of vengeance can lead to individuals becoming just as bad as those they wish to punish. It does feel a bit heavy-handed in delivering the message. I guess it's difficult to be very subtle with only a small number of pages to work within. Hamner's art is of its usual high quality. Outside of the fantasy world of superheroes, Hamner's strengths as an illustrator come through in his rendering of real-life settings and people.
Rounding out the issue is Jan Van Meter's "Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie," illustrated by Dave Taylor. One of a group of cowboys dies on the trail, and his three friends are determined to bring his body back to civilization for a proper burial. Wacky hijinks ensue. One scene in this story left me laughing hysterically. The ending, though, is soberly bleak and downbeat. As the saying goes, no good deed goes unpunished.
All in all, Weird Western Tales #4 was a decent issue. The interior artwork was definitely of a high quality. As to the stories themselves, they are all on the depressing side. Milligan's and Jones' do offer interesting commentary on life, though. And, if you appreciate black humor, you might enjoy Van Meter's tale. At the very least, this issue (and the entire miniseries) has presented work by a diverse selection of talent.
Corrections Department: It's time for me to eat my slice of humble pie. I made a boo-boo when reviewing the latest three issues of Erik Larsen's Savage Dragon in my last column. The villain who formed the Covenant of the Sword, and who was killed by Dragon in issue #75, was not Overlord. It was Darklord. Similar name, completely different character. It's especially embarrassing since, in one of the issues I reviewed, Dragon flat out explains that he ended up altering time by killing Darklord. Whoops! Nothing like making a major blunder in your very own web column. And I doubt it will be the last time that happens. I guess you all have something to look forward to now!
(Of course, leave it to me to bury an admission of ineptitude at the very bottom of my column. At least I didn't have this whole bit appear in a microscopic font size…)