Monthly Archives: July 2012

Aurora – Some thoughts

Posted on by

[ Shocked Mood: Shocked ]
[ Listening to CBC Radio Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
A Facebook friend commented on the blaming for the horrific events in Aurora on the Joker. A discussion ensured and these were my thoughts. I wanted to capture them somewhere more permanent than Facebook, so I pasted them here.

Quote:
I find it fascinating that in a country where you can get a gun for opening a bank account, that they are quick to condemn a fictional character for this tragedy. Last I heard, we don’t even know if the Joker link is true, it is based on a statement by a New York cop who may or may not have heard it from a former New York cop who now works in Aurora. Who knows if the shooter said it seriously or at all? But sure enough, the media is running with it.

So let’s imagine the Joker is his inspiration, what if he’d never been created? I bet someone disturbed enough to walk into a theater and shoot people would have found someone else to fixate on and model himself after. Perhaps a real person? Al Capone? Jesse James? Would we then be talking about banning teaching history in schools? Removing history books from the library and bookstores? No. We wouldn’t.

And yet every time one of these things happens, there is a knee jerk reaction to blame something else for creating the situation, instead of doing the deep soul searching as a society that is really required. Why is it that semi-automatics are available to any member of the general public in the US? Why is it the mentally ill are so hard to treat? Why can’t politicians think beyond the next election cycle and look to affect real change for the better? Why does someone think wondering why no one in the theatre was armed and shooting back, blaming the victims as it were, is acceptable?

The reality is this man was in need of help, and those around him missed the signs, big time. For him to have gathered that much weaponry and ammunition, someone had to have know. Given the sheer amount of money that has been spent in the last ten years in the US on terrorism prevention, why is it still possible for one man buy so many weapons and explosives off the web? How could the FBI, Secret Service and NSA not be tipped off or be monitoring this?

Let’s also ask, what about mental health awareness? Why are we not trained from a young age to recognize when someone is deep trouble like we are with a heart attack? Why don’t I know what to do beyond call 911 when someone is in trouble with a mental breakdown? Are the police even trained? (I know the answer to that one already, and for the vast majority, it is no.)

But no, sadly our leaders, political, media and legal, are going to continue with the shallow "blame everyone else" and "find a short term solution" that they do after every one of these events.

And then the next one will happen and nothing will have changed.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier (LWR)

Posted on by

[ Amused Mood: Amused ]
[ Listening to CBC Radio Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
You want to know what Alan Moore was thinking about as he was writing The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier?

Sex.

Sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Sex. Sex.

Oh yeah, and sex.

This book is supposed to be the hidden history of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Gathered as a series of different clippings, such as articles, postcards, and "boys comics", by the government in a Black Dossier to document the actions of the league. These clippings are stolen by Mina Harper and Alan Quartermaine, and it is their story of escaping with the dossier that weaves the book together.

As they read the dossier, so do we, and a very interesting story it presents. We get the altered history of England, a place where literary characters are real, with various incarnations of the League working to bring down enemies of the Crown. We also see how much the government changed under an Orwellian inspired government after the war, and how our once heroes are now fugitives from Justice.

Did I mention there was lots of sex? Almost every piece of work has sex and nudity woven through it. The comic story of Orlando, the gender switching companion to Prospero and Sinbad who literally had sex with ever character of historical significance they encountered. The further adventures of Fanny Hill who also seems to have sex with everyone she encounters. There is even some totalitarian pornography tucked in with an exert from a pulp novel. Even Mina and Alan are lying around in various positions involving nudity, bathing, post-coital bliss.

I get that many of the memorable female characters in literary history that would be likely to take up with the league are the sexually scandalous ones, but I wonder if Moore was not attracted to them because of sexual promiscuity rather than their tendency to take risks. Would he have chose chaste Elizabeth Bennett for the league, even though she is seen as an early feminist heroine by many readers.

This is the most sexual of Moore’s works that I have read, and I have to wonder if he was going through Andropause at the time of crafting this.

The better parts of the book are the cartoons, as Moore shows his ability to tell story and create character. Some of the articles are interesting, but others seem at times to be a chance for Moore to write like Shakespeare.

It’s a good read, but not to the same level as the earlier volumes.

Fables: Inherit the Wind (2012)

Posted on by

 

Quote:
“That’s the trouble with prophecy. It seldom helps and often harms.”

 

Volume 17 of Fables collects issues 108 – 113. The book was again written by creator Bill Willingham and the four issue main story, and the standalone story following it, was again pencilled by the ever fabulous Mark Buckingham with inking mainly by Steve Leialoha with Andrew Pepoy lending a hand. The final chapter in the book is a collection of short tales from the world of Fables with various guest artists such as P. Craig Russell and Adam Hughes.

Spoiler Alert
The next paragraph contains a possible spoiler if you are a long time reader of Fables and haven’t read up to volume 16. If this is you look away now or skip to the end.

The main story is a continuation of volume 16 that deals with the aftermath of the defeat of Mister Dark and the consequences of the death of the North Wind. His death leaves a void that must be filled and, as Bigby has relinquished any claim to the title, it falls to one of his children to succeed to the title. The story follows the trials and machinations as the children are tested looking for the ideal successor and the other cardinal winds turn up hoping to increase their own power while diminishing that of the North Wind. There is a continuing subplot that follows Bufkin and his attempts to lead a revolt against the new rulers of the Pan Ozian Empire. There is also a Christmas issue that details the gradual return of the Fables from Haven to the Farm before moving on to investigate the state of their New York residence. It heavily features Rose Red in a twisted version of A Christmas Carol where she meets other paladins of hope.

Another great volume in the series though the main story was a bit short for me at four chapters and left a lot open for the future. However not a suitable standalone story or entry point for new readers as it is heavily dependent on what has gone before. If you are new to the world of Fables then it really is worth your while to go way back to the beginning and experience the richness and breadth of the story from the start.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century (2009/11/12)

Posted on by

 

Quote:
“All the love and loss. All the chaos. How do you manage it?”

“Well, it … it’s easier for me. You see, I’m really, really shallow …”

 

Century is a three part story told at different points in time over a hundred year time span. Once again it sees Alan Moore teaming up with the great Kevin O’Neill. The League is in part the one mentioned in The Black Dossier with Mina Murray, a rejuvenated Allan Quartermain and the immortal Orlando also involved are Raffles and Thomas Carnacki.

Part 1, 1910, sees the team trying to track down the source of a deadly attack in the East End of London as predicted in the dreams of Carnacki. His dreams include the machinations of the occultist Oliver Haddo but these turn out to be of a time in the future. Meanwhile, a familiar killer is stalking the East End and Nemo’s daughter is reappraising her life in the wake of her father’s death and brutal life since running away to London.

It’s good to be reading another League of Extraordinary Gentlemen story though the literary characters are more obscure than in the first two volumes but do allow Moore to focus more on the occult and some are cleverly used if you know the references. This is the first part of a trilogy of books and as such is not quite satisfying on its own. For though the various plot threads are woven together in the end, the larger picture is only beginning to be revealed.

The second part of Moore and O’Neill’s Century, 1969, reduces the team to the core immortals – Mina Murray; Allan Quartermain; and Orlando. Set against a larger than life, Austin Powers style swinging sixties London, the team come together to continue their investigations into the black magician Oliver Haddo and his cult who are making a fresh attempt to usher in a new age with the creation of a Moonchild. The plot revolves around a mix of dead rock stars, sixties counter-culture, London crime bosses and the various investigations into them.

In this episode, the tensions amongst the League come to the fore as Mina struggles to come to term with the prospect of immortality, the responsibilities of leadership and insensitivity of her lovers/colleagues. While the threat is adverted in the psychedelic haze of a drug trip, the book ends with Mina separated from the rest of the team and a flash-forward to the more drab seventies and and the nihilism of punk reflected in the increasingly sour relationship between Allan and Orlando without the still missing Mina.

As usual with these books, there is a lot going on in the background art with reference to many pop culture icons of the sixties and seventies. O’Neill also puts in some references to his other work with, for example, an image of Nemesis in the background of one panel. The book also contains some contemporary references showing a possible moment when Tom Riddle was set on the path to becoming the Dark Lord.

The third and last part of Century, 2009, opens with Orlando losing him(her)self in combat in the Middle East. On returning to London he is tasked with finding Mina and Allan by Prospero and then tracking down the Moonchild that they were supposed to have prevented being born. She finds Allan living on the streets a hopeless junkie who refuses to have anything to do with her or tracking down Mina. Turning to MI6 for help, Orlando inds that Mina has been in a mental institution since the aftermath of the events in Hyde Park at the end of book 2. Together they track down the anti-Christ and confront him in a last battle to prevent the apocalypse heralded by Oliver Haddo.

This volume contains some savage commentary apparently directed at J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter novels. In this version of reality Harry Potter would appear to be Haddo’s Moonchild and anti-Christ. All in all this series has a much darker tone than the previous ones with themes of nihilism, helplesness and the decay of moral and aesthetic standards. So there is less of a feeling of entertainment and boy’s own adventure but there is plenty or scholars of Moore and his work to get their teeth into. Given the highly irregular release schedule, I am glad that I waited to read all three at once as they would have been unsatisfactory to read as standalone episodes.

For those wanting to delve deeper into the many references littered throughout the series, there are some excellent web pages by Jess Nevins gathering these and is probably essential reading for Brits as well as non-Brits. There is a page for each book – 1910, 1969 and 2009.

Black Orchid – The Deluxe Edition (2012)

Posted on by

 

Quote:
You super-people live in a world of cliches, lady. You shoulda wised up – these are the eighties! Fighting crime is like fighting city hall; it’s counter-productive!

 

Black Orchid is a collection of the three issue mini-series from the late 1980’s. It features the re-imagining of an old DC character by writer Neil Gaiman and long-time collaborator, Dave McKean. This is one of their early collaborations and their first big commission for a major American publisher.

The plot surrounds the death and rebirth of Susan Linden, otherwise known as the crime fighting heroine, Black Orchid, who is investigating a criminal enterprise that would eventually lead to Lex Luthor. When Susan’s ex-husband is released from prison, his dismissal by ex-boss Luthor, sets in motion a chain of events that sees him and Luthor hunting down the Black Orchid and her immature companion.

Although the book is now published by Vertigo, it was originally released by DC and pre-dates the Vertigo imprint by four years. Gaiman delivers an unconventional superhero story that does not feature much in the way of superheroics and creates an origin story for the Black Orchid that links her into DC’s other plant-based heroes and villains – Jason Woodrue, Pamela Isley and Alec Holland. The story is about loss, unrequited love and the search for identity in an unfamiliar world. And while not having the majesty and breadth of his landmark Sandman series, it is still a beautifully told tale that is worth a read nearly 25 years after it was written. The art by McKean is fabulous featuring a photo-realistic style mixed in with some impressionistic renderings of the Green and the Amazonion jungle.

The book features some extra content for this deluxe printing that consists of sketches and handwritten notes from Gaiman as well as early comments from editor Karen Berger which while interesting are probably only of interest to hardcore fans of the character or Gaiman or those interested in the publishing process.