Graphic Novels: Top Ten of the Half Year ’11

With the year half over, here’s the top ten graphic novels that read/reviewed so far this year.

10) Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future Written by Nick Spencer Art by Joe Eisma (Image)

A synthesis of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and an Orwellian nightmare, Spencer and Eisma reveal the diabolical realities behind the Morning Glory Academy, a prestigious prep school. Six brilliant students from different backgrounds join the school, encountering all sorts of weirdness: ghosts, torture, mind control experiments, and murder. Spencer deftly relates the teenage pathos and chaos as events unfold. Eisma’s clean draftsmanship and realistic rendering ideally bring life to this intriguing story. Much like the above-mentioned Buffy, the creators manage to make the truly terrible palatable and even enjoyable. Morning Glories Volume 1: For A Better Future offers an interesting take on the oft-told tale of teen angst and anguish.

9) Dungeon Quest, Book One and Book Two by Joe Daly (Fantagraphics)

Millennium Boy, Steve, Lash Penis, and Nerdgirl grab their weapons and journey on a mystical quest to recover the missing parts of the Altlantean Resonator Guitar and to return the borrowed penis sheath to prophet and poet Bromedes. Using role playing game tropes as a template, Daly, creator of the acclaimed Red Monkey Double Happiness Book, illustrates the often twisted reality of the contemporary slacker with little subtlety but from a fresh perspective. Littered with violence, inappropriate sexual innuendos, misguided bravado and infused with hilarity, Dungeon Quest (of which two 136 page volumes are available) promises a uniquely entertaining graphic novel experience.

8) League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 Written by Alan Moore, Art by Kevin O’Neill (Top Shelf)

The new 96 page chapter of Moore and O’Neill’s acclaimed series finds the immortal trio of Mina Murray, Allan Quatermain, and Orlando far from the Victorian roots of their previous adventures. Set in London near the end of the mod-sixties, the group continue their century-long war with Alastair Crowley, begun in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1910. New allies for the League include Jerry Cornelius and Jack Carter (from the novel Jack’s Return Home, popularized as the Michael Caine film Get Carter). Moore does an exquisite job of incorporating the League within the chaotic world of 1969. Perhaps the finest installment since the first series, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century: 1969 concludes with a shocking turn of events, leaving the reader eager for the concluding book.

7) Stumptown Volume 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini) Written by Greg Rucka Art by Matthew Southworth (Oni)

With comics such as Queen & Country and Whiteout, Rucka established a much deserved reputation for producing superior crime stories featuring female protagonists. In Stumptown Volume 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took her Shampoo (But Left her Mini), Rucka returns to this familiar territory. In order to pay back a massive gambling debt, Stumptown Investigations proprietor Dex Parios searches for the missing granddaughter of Sue-Lynne, head of the Confederate Tribes of the Wind Coast’s casino operations. During her quest, Dex reveals the darker sides of Portland, OR. She receives numerous threats and beatings. She is shot and no one trusts her. Making things even more difficult, the surly Dex continually angers both the police and the gangs. As with all of Rucka’s works, the relationships between the characters propel the tale. Through his dialogue and pacing, he elevates the potentially stereotypical portrayals into powerful individual identities. The moody, minimalist Southworth art further enhances the riveting tale. As an added bonus, this hardcover volume includes a reprint of the rare 8-page, micro-comic Dex Parios adventure and a selection of promotional items.

6) iZombie: Dead to the World Written by Chris Roberson Art by Michael Allred (Vertigo)

In an era littered with countless zombie stories, mostly mediocre to terrible, Roberson and Allred successfully morph the tired undead concept into a superior 21st century slacker neo-gothic. Eugene, OR grave digger Gwen Dylan lives a most unusual existence. Her closest friends include a ghost and a were-terrier. Her recent crush hunts monsters for a centuries-old secret society. Beautiful, bitchy vampires threaten Eugene. And to top it off, Gwen must eat a fresh brain at least once a month or become a shambling monster straight out of a Romero flick. After consuming a brain, Gwen acquires the deceased’s lifetime of memories. Her most recent meal, a victim of foul play, haunts Gwen until she finds his killer. Beautifully rendered by the popular Allred, his unusual stylings lend the perfect off-kilter vision required for this oddball concept. The acclaimed Roberson, author of over a dozen prose books and several comic book series including Superman, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love, Stan Lee’s Starborn, and Elric: The Balance Lost, delivers some of his finest and creative comic work to date. The unpredictable and excellent iZombie: Dead to the World deftly recycles and collects over-used ideas into a superior and wholly original graphic novel.

5) The Sixth Gun Book 1: Cold Dead Fingers Written by Cullen Bunn, Illustrated by Brian Hurtt (Oni)

The second series collaboration from the creators of the excellent supernatural noir thriller The Damned offers a creepy, magic-infused Western complete with terrifying beasts — living and undead — gunfights, and the occult. Confederate General Oleander Hume seeks out the Sixth Gun, the key to unlocking an unstoppable power. Mysterious gunslinger Drake Sinclair protects the young Becky Moncrief, current owner of the powerful Sixth Gun, against Hume and his magically-enhanced henchman. Bunn’s pitch perfect script, combined with the unique artistic talents of Hurtt, deliver the finest horrific western since the best of the Lansdale-Truman stories of the 90s.

4) Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein by Dick Briefer Edited with an introduction by Craig Yoe (IDW)

Continuing the early 21st century trend of repackaging largely forgotten comic book classics in affordable handsome editions, historian Craig Yoe re-introduces Dick Briefer’s horror-cum-comedy-cum-horror-again Frankenstein. Briefer’s tale of a monster’s revenge against his maker initially appeared in Prize #7 (1940), spawning the first ongoing series of horror comics. This incarnation of Shelley’s creation proved to be very popular, largely thanks to Briefer’s intelligent scripts and ghastly illustrations. In Prize #45 (1945), Briefer re-imagined the series as a humor strip. Proving he was as adapt at comedy as terror, Briefer hilariously lampooned popular culture, horror, and social conventions. Following an editorial edict, the stories returned to their spooky roots three years later in Frankenstein #18. With the advent of the Comics Code Authority in 1954, the long running series ended. In Dick Briefer’s Frankenstein, Yoe collects the finest Frankenstein tales from all three epochs. Yoe’s introduction recounts the creator and series history alongside rare art including an example of Briefer’s Daily Worker strip Pinky Rankin (someone needs to collect those Communist action hero’s stories) and Alex Toth fan doodles.

3) 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente by Wilfred Santiago (Fantagraphics)

Roberto Clemente’s name adorns the annual Major League Baseball award for the sport’s most humanitarian athletes. Not just the first great Puerto Rican baseballer (and some would argue still the greatest) to play in the United States, Clemente famously and often quietly displayed the best of humanity. In this emotionally moving biography, the Puerto Rican Wilfred Santiago magnificently chronicles the often tragic life of this icon. Beginning with Clemente’s final game, where he collected his 3,000th hit, Santiago quickly hearkens back to Clemente’s poverty stricken childhood of homemade bats and practice with soda caps through his disturbing journey into the minor leagues of the Jim Crow era of institutionalized racism and onto his life as a star outfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Santiago expertly traverses Clemente’s tribulations, losses, and success with ease and skill. His portrayal of the baseball games rank among the finest ever attempted in this medium. Under the masterful hands of Santiago, 21 evolves into far more than just a biography of a sports figure. It showcases a life worth emulating.

2) Mister Wonderful by Daniel Clowes (Pantheon)

The Oscar-nominated Daniel Clowes, creator of Ghostworld, Wilson, and Eightball, crafts a bittersweet tale of a middle-aged man’s search for companionship. Originally serialized in The New York Times Magazine, Mister Wonderful follows the neurotic, divorced Marshall on his first date in six years. In his typical fashion, Clowes relies on caricature as he expertly reveals complex emotional layers mixed within a heady collection of humorous and poignant scenes. This all-to-real vision incorporates many of our own fears, inadequacies, and hopes. Simultaneously simple/complex, beautiful/ugly, and romantic/cynical, the thin (77 pages) volume engages the reader, successfully lingering long after the last page.

1) Daytripper by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá (Vertigo)

Twin brothers Moon and Bá beautifully recount the life of Brás de Oliva Domingos, crafter of obituaries and son of a world-famous Brazilian writer. The lavishly illustrated chapters relate important epochs of his life, each ending with his untimely and shocking death. Emotionally wrought and expertly told, the lyrical Daytripper breathes new life into the tired slice-of-life format and emerges as one of the best graphic novels of the year.

Graphic Novels: Top Ten of the Half Year ’11 was originally published on The Geek Curmudgeon

Pale Demon – AQR

And here you thought I was only reading LoTR. No, no, I am still reading far too many books. Recently, I just finished the most recent Kim Harrison book, Pale Demon.

Kim Harrison has delivered again in her Hollows series. This volume see Rachel travelling to San Francisco to try and stop her shunning by the coven. Along for the ride are the usual group of Ivy and Jenks. Add to the mix is Trent, who needs to make it to the west coast for reasons he’s not saying. But when an early demon experiment at day walking is released, Rachel realizes there is far more going on than just her avoiding a shunning. Trent is promising that he has a plan and he can protect her, but can Rachel trust him? And what about the demon Al who is eager for Rachel to join him as a full fledged demon in the ever after? Rachel has a lot to deal with.

What is so special about Kim Harrison as an author is that she is not afraid to have her characters grow and change. This holds true for Pale Demon. Rachel, Ivy, Trent, Al, Pierce, Jenks, heck even Al, experience some growth. And things are different at the end of the volume, making your investment worth your time. There are many a contemporary author that could learn from Harrison. Scratch that, should learn from her.

Great read.

Ubalstecha Intends to Read – Post 4

[ Happy Mood: Happy ]
[ Eating Breakfast Currently: Eating Breakfast ]
So last night I finished the first chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring. So this means I got to see Bilbo and Frodo’s birthday, although it appeared to be more of Bilbo’s celebrations. And then his little "joke" and Gandalf’s getting him to leave the ring behind before he disappeared. We also get to see the power of the ring, with Bilbo calling it his precious. Foreshadowing!!!


Oh, look. It’s in my pocket again! Bet you didn’t think that was going to happen?

I did find the description of every single type of firework to be a little boring, did we really need to know every type Gandalf shot off? With graphic descriptions of colour and shape? I get it, his fireworks are great. So great that he is famous for them, even though no living Hobbit has ever seen them. Even for Tolkein this was wordy. It made what is essentially a page and a half, feel two times longer.


Skip ahead a bit, Brother Tolkein.

The scenes with Frodo trying to sort out the inheritance were enjoyable. Clearly Tolkein was working through some issues or things that he had seen. We also get our first glance at Merry and Sam.

So not too bad. Until tomorrow fellow readers.

Ubalstecha Intends to Read – Post 3

[ Sleepy Mood: Sleepy ]
So Hobbit Hashish has come and gone, and can I say I am little disappointed with the length of this section. It was too short. (I realize the irony of this statement people. Don’t yell all at once.) I was psyched for much more.


P.S. This is a shirt. You may need to buy it.

Then Tolkein veers into Shire is governed and a bit of a summary of the Hobbit. In the end of the last section he does some name dropping. Merry and Pippin are mentioned. (Or rather their full names of Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took.) But here’s the thing, I only know they are Merry and Pippin because I saw the movies. The first time reader would have no idea who these guys were and what little nuggets Tolkein is giving you. Same for the reference to Sam at this point.

To put it in terms, I understand, it would be as if Rowling put the platform epilogue at the beginning of Philosopher’s Stone.

I finished my reading with mention of Bilbo and Frodo’s joint parties approaching.

So good progress last night. Until tomorrow fair readers.

Ubalstecha Intends to Read – Post 2

[ Sleepy Mood: Sleepy ]
Sad to say that not much reading was done last night. I slip between the sheets and sleep took over. Hard.

What I did read was the first bit of Tolkein’s prologue. Still not in the main action of the story yet, but boy did I learn a lot about Hobbit history. <sarcasm> My favourite part? Where he tells us where the Hobbits used to live, but then tells us they don’t live there any more.</sarcasm> Then why tell us J.R.R.?

Just started the pipeweed part when sleep claimed me. Might it be the history of Hobbit hashish!?!?!

Until tomorrow fellow readers!

Ubalstecha Intends to Read – Post 1

[ Cool Mood: Cool ]
[ Eating Breakfast Currently: Eating Breakfast ]
Perhaps choosing to start this project the evening of the last day of school was not a good idea. Especially given that I had to pack up my office and move out of my school by 6:00 pm last night. My back, already mad at having to sit on the floor for the Primary Assembly, was further grumpy at having to lift and bend.

So you can understand that as I nestled into the bed with my copy of the Fellowship of the Ring, that I just wanted to drift into oblivion. But silly me had made a commitment on the web. If I didn’t read, someone on the Interwebs was going to whine and tsk. So to avoid a public shaming, I read.

Now before I get too deep into this entry. (Too late?) I want to go over which version of the book I am reading. It is the 50th Anniversary Edition with a white cover, exactly like the one below.

As I worked through the note on the text, note on the 50th anniversary and the author’s introduction to the second edition, I noticed something. For a book that I have abandoned on more than one occasion because it spends too much time on the history of a mountain range, this part of the book spends far too much time on the history of the spelling errors that crept into various editions. Apparently, well meaning editors and typesetters changed words like elvish to elfish because they didn’t understand that Tolkein was inventing new languages.

Which is kind of fascinating, but did we need to spend 26 pages on it? I felt like I was in an Oliver Stone movie. YOU IN THE BACK!! DID YOU UNDERSTAND THAT?!?!?!? Tolkein’s note for the second edition would have been enough.

So I am ready to start the main part of the story. That will be today’s effort. But before I do that, I need to grab my post it notes so I can mark words and phrases that catch my attention. Like "emendations", which I had no idea what it meant. And I was too tired to get up and look it up. (BTW: It means the act or practice of emending (Don’t you hate when dictionaries do that? Did your English teacher not tell you to not use a variation of the word you am looking up in the definition? Read a little further on the page and you will see an alteration designed to correct or improve.)

Until tomorrow, people.

Ubalstecha Intends to Read – Post 0

[ Sleepy Mood: Sleepy ]
So ladies and gentlemen, the summer is here. It is time for me to begin my mega project:

UBALSTECHA INTENDS TO READ LORD OF THE RINGS

That’s right, I have never, ever, ever made it through J.R.R. Tolkein’s magnum opus. I usually get caught by that damn mountain range chapter. BORING!!!!! But this summer, I have committed to try to read the whole trilogy. And I have committed to BLOG about it. And probably WHINE about it too.

I commit to reading LoTR for at least 30 minutes a day. I will use this blog to keep you up to date with my progress. Feel free to read at the same glacial pace I will. Shout words of encouragement or derision. Up to you really.

Off for my first 30 minutes.