Graphic Novels Reviews, September 15, 2011
Sep 15, 2011YOE-YOE TRICKS You wouldn’t think editing and producing books could be as cool as being creative director for the Muppets and Nickelodeon. But Craig Yoe’s wildly creative historical comics collections do what he says: put the comic back in comics with objet d’art packaging. Since Muppeteer Jim Henson’s death in 1990, the Eisner Award–winning Yoe! Studio has churned out a scale-breaking library spanning several publishers.
Beginning with the iconic The Art of Mickey Mouse (Rizzoli, 1991), the “Indiana Jones of comics historians” (as dubbed by Vice magazine) later cut loose with distinctly nonkiddie material: Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings (Last Gasp, 2007) and Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-creator Joe Shuster (Abrams, 2009). After The Great Anti-War Cartoons (Fantagraphics, 2009), IDW nabbed Yoe for his very own imprint, Yoe! Books.
Debuting with the 1950s and 1960s suspense stories of Steve Ditko—Spider-Man’s Michelangelo—the IDW imprint has focused on more family-friendly fare, while Yoe has occasionally popped out goodies for other publishers, like Krazy Kat and the Art of George Herriman (Abrams).
Yoe’s books put veteran scrapbookers to shame with their coffee-table glamour and wide-ranging content. Rare visuals, internal memos, promo flyers, encomia, and insider stories enrich the volumes. The recent Archie (see review, p. 60) documents how Archie artists were directed to draw up-to-date teen fashions and display as end-papers a saucy, never-published Archie dream: Veronica and Betty as harem girls. It’s all there for enjoyment, not reference, since these collections lack features like chronologies, further reading, and sometimes tables of contents.
Yoe collected the Popeye strips of Bud Sagendorf, one of the three great artists to draw that iconic character—in one comical episode, Popeye fights a shape-changing Martian. Another volume houses nearly 100 strips from “Tiger Tea,” the only extended story line from George Herriman’s Krazy Kat, about a hilariously mind-bending concoction of brewed catnip. Retro-leaning fans should enjoy Dan DeCarlo’s charming Jetta, a 1950s red-haired cutie from the futuristic Neutron High School.
Still other Yoe titles assemble horror classics: “Klassic Krazy Kool Kids’ Komics,” Felix the Cat “tails,” and Christmas stories. Nearly all comics lovers will enjoy some of these beautifully produced hardbacks, and libraries can choose what best suits their readers.—M.C.
Bradbury, Ray (text) & Dennis Calero & others (illus.). Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles: The Authorized Adaptation. Hill & Wang: Farrar. 2011. 153p. ISBN 9780809067930. pap. $30. F
One of the most poignant sf stories of all time, Bradbury’s classic anthology of loosely connected vignettes paints a picture of humanity that may take to the skies but remains mired in terrestrial flaws. Earth invaders of the red planet and the (also flawed) Martians kill and deceive one another—and themselves—until cataclysms on both planets set the stage for a hoped-for new beginning. This skillful adaptation includes 15 of the vignettes, about half the originals, that together preserve the texture and momentum of the original. The text also maintains much of Bradbury’s poetic diction. Calero’s mostly realistic colors integrate smoothly with the story and are well designed. However, the more stylish, beautiful approach occasionally in evidence, as in the city depicted in “Night Meeting,” would have better suited additional parts of the text to convey Bradbury’s aura of doomed romanticism. VERDICT A harbinger of modern environmental and antiwar concerns, The Martian Chronicles deserves this attractive graphic novel to sell its message to an even wider audience. Recommended for teen and adult sf fans, both young and nostalgically older.—M.C.
Chaucer, Geoffrey (text) & Seymour Chwast (illus. & adapt.). The Canterbury Tales. Bloomsbury, dist. by Macmillan. 2011. 144p. ISBN 9781608194872. $20. F
A delicious cover: the Wife of Bath on a motorcycle, in semimodern garb and wearing a self-satisfied grin. The same clever decanting of old wine into new bottles carries us through all 20-plus Chaucer tales, if compressed a bit. Chwast used the same approach for Dante’s Divine Comedy (2010), which was well received. But the missing ingredient in both works, for this reviewer, is color: the freewheeling, stylish hue characteristic of Chwast’s half-century-old Push Pin Studio. Whereas the cover sports striking orange, green, and black, the interior pulls back into black and white. Perhaps Chwast was trying to evoke William Caxton’s medieval woodcuts for the Chaucer stories. Indeed, Caxton’s illustrations feature elaborate design explicitly tailored to a colorless medium, but Chwast’s portfolio has centered on color to complement his clear-line penwork, which here looks rather unfinished. VERDICT Chwast’s entertaining adaptation suffices as casual reading and can serve as a pathway to the original for students with Chaucer as class assignments. Just keep in mind that the award-winning artist was drawing with one hand behind his back. Includes cartoony nudity and bawdry.—M.C.
Eisner, Will. PS Magazine: The Best of the Preventive Maintenance Monthly. Abrams. Sept. 2011. 72p. ISBN 9780810997486. $21.95. HIST/COMM
GI Joe is swearing at his all-too stationary truck: “I called them jokers for new batteries two hours ago...and it’s darker out here’n four inches up a bull’s nostril! HALP....” The great Eisner helped pioneer comics as an armed services teaching tool and drew GI training manuals during World War II. In the early 1950s, he helped the U.S. Army launch PS Magazine, about safe use and maintenance of vehicles and material. Recurring characters Joe Dope, Sargeant Haft-Mast, and Connie Rodd (the curvaceous mechanic) allowed him to work in lighthearted vignettes of instruction and pre-caution. Eddie Campbell selected from 20 years of issues and includes an introduction about how Eisner adapted the leaden prose of professional military writers into snappy text plus visuals and then had to run a gauntlet of army red tape to secure approvals. VERDICT While the technical details are dated and Eisner’s style is sometimes overly goofy by modern standards, he created comics that still make you want to read them. An instructional model for today’s producers of nonfiction comics, which too often lack such visual traction, this also has appeal for military buffs, vehicle junkies, and Eisner fans.—M.C.
Gladstone, Brooke (text) & Josh Neufeld (illus.). The Influencing Machine: Brooke Gladstone on the Media. Norton. 2011. 170p. bibliog. ISBN 9780393077797. $23.95. COMM
“In a world of ceaseless distractions, ideas that grab you by the eyeballs are more likely to stick,” Gladstone noted in her proposal for this graphic novel (New York Observer, 5/26/09). Indeed, the result is as much a public service announcement for the power of comics as it is a disquisition on media in general. Like a chatty but interesting poli-sci professor, Gladstone’s lines-on-paper avatar takes us through media history, source accuracy (or not), journalist impartiality (or not), bias (seven kinds), dilemmas relating to war reporting, objectivity (or not), disclosure, tricks the mind plays on understanding news stories, and how the media mirror ourselves in all of our human diversity now and into the future. Neufeld’s black-and-white art, enlivened with teal wash, enhances Gladstone’s points effectively, although without the compelling appeal of his lauded A.D. New Orleans: After the Deluge. Gladstone has been cohost of NPR’s On the Media since 2000. VERDICT This comprehensive overview of media history and issues—responsibly referenced in over 200 detailed notes—should be required reading for nearly everybody over age ten, media students, and plain ole citizens, especially. Highly recommended.—M.C.
Hickman, Jonathan (text) & Steve Epting & others (illus.). Fantastic Four. Vol. 4. Marvel. 2011. 184p. ISBN 9780785148913. $24.99. F
What seemed as if it might be an isolated moment of brilliance in Hickman’s first Fantastic Four volume (chosen as one of LJ’s Best Graphic Novels of 2010) was instead the first gambit in an ongoing, intricately plotted, cosmos-spanning saga bursting with bold, fresh concepts and major players from the F.F.’s past, including Dr. Doom, the Inhumans, and the High Evolutionary. With Reed Richards off-planet at the behest of Galactus and the Silver Surfer; his wife, Sue, mediating a conflict between undersea king Namor and several newly discovered Atlantean races; and Ben Grimm temporarily depowered and human after drinking a formula created by the Future Foundation (a group of superintelligent children), Johnny Storm makes a valiant stand against the Earth invasion force of Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone. VERDICT Hickman, ably supported by Epting’s strongly realistic but versatile art, continues to surprise and amaze with the fertility and scope of his imagination. With superscience, an exploratory spirit, heroism, pitch-perfect characterizations, and heart, this is worthy to stand beside the best F.F. work ever, including that by original creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.—S.R.
Mills, Tarpé. Miss Fury: Sensational Sundays 1944–1949. IDW Pub. 2011. 240p. ISBN 9781600109058. $49.99. F
Danger! Romance! Stylish evening gowns! The first comics heroine with a secret costumed persona was not Wonder Woman but Miss Fury, a glamorous socialite turned champion of justice when donning a panther skin catsuit. The 1941–52 newspaper strip suggests a mashup of Brenda Starr and Eisner’s The Spirit: gleefully pulpish melodrama, Nazi villains, mad scientists, a cross-dressing art thief, and romantic misunderstandings. The feisty Marla Drake takes no backseat to masculine exploits, using as weapons a telephone, firehose, and makeup jar, plus fists and feet. While the art seems a bit stiff, the strip compensates by being surprisingly spicy for its day, loaded with lace, lingerie, and ladies undressing or bathing (discreetly posed, naturally). This volume collects a run of Sunday strips with their own story line, enhanced by pages from Mills’s unfinished graphic novel Albino Jo, The Man with Tigre Eyes [sic], and a lengthy introduction from comics herstorian Trina Robbins. VERDICT This well-produced first collection of the women-created Miss Fury will please lovers of picaresque noir stories as well as those interested in the history of comics and women in comics. Recommended.—M.C.
Moon, Fábio & Gabriel Bá (text & illus.). Daytripper. Vertigo: DC. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9781401229696. pap. $19.99. F
Any day in your life, you could die. Brás de Oliva Domingos writes obituaries for a Brazilian paper but dreams of writing novels like his famous father and seizing love and life as his friend Jorge urges. We glimpse nine episodes in Brás’s life: first kiss, glimpse of true love, son’s birth, and more—and at the end of each episode comes “what if?” What if Brás dies that day? Readers are presented with nine obituaries for Brás at different ages, i.e., nine endings to his story. The writing soars in evoking the little moments and small meanings of life, as well as in elegies penned after it ends. A warm, nostalgic realism conjuring the beauty and perfection of little moments, the art keeps pace, too. VERDICT From this work’s seemingly morbid premise to its memory-lit visuals, Moon and Bá have crafted a life worth living vicariously in all its possibilities and missed chances, extended or cut short. The beautiful, seemingly artless writing reveals the authors as in command of their novelistic subject. Winner of a 2011 Eisner and a splendid find for book discussion groups and fans of literary graphic novels; with occasional nudity and sexual episodes.—M.C.
Payne, Tyge & others (text) & Rachael Anderson (illus.). University Life: A College Survival Story. Flat World Knowledge. 2011. 256p. ISBN 9781453310144. pap. $19.95. SELF-HELP/ED
Flat World Knowledge publishes affordable, key-topic textbooks, some as graphic novels. Aimed at future or newbie college students, University Life embeds ways to handle basic student concerns into a story about six freshmen thrown together at orientation: a jock, a serious student, a sorority girl, a social activist, an exchange student, and a loner. All six get advice up front from an earnest freshman adviser, but each confronts unique challenges related to getting along with fellow students, handling peer pressure to drink and do drugs, staying on top of tuition payments, following class schedules and completing assignments, and juggling group activities with classroom and social life. Romance and health matters surface as well. Decisions and consequences come through loud and clear as the six navigate the first semester. The skillful black-and-white art works well, although gray scales are overused. VERDICT While a table of contents and a few resources would have enhanced its value, this entertaining and useful title will appeal to most young people interested in college as well as help parents understand the challenges facing their future grads and assist career counselors initiate discussions.—M.C.
About Comics
Archie: A Celebration of America’s Favorite Teenagers. IDW Pub. 2011. 220p. ed. by Craig Yoe. illus. index. ISBN 9781600107542. $49.99. COMICS HIST
Ah, the expanding Archie Universe! Going older, Archie has started alternate Betty/Veronica married lives, neither one smooth. Going younger, Archie Babies just debuted in graphic novel form. Going wider, story lines include gay characters, crime-noir satire, social change work, and politics. So it’s a good time for this colorful look at Archie since his 1941 debut and the people behind the Riverdale gang. This collection works as a history, with text plus copious and delightful illustrations (many never before published) complementing each other like, well, comics. After the “origin story” come profiles of the main characters and supporting cast. Next, profiles of prominent artists and writers. Then, the down low about everything else: Archie via TV, radio, music; classic covers; Archie Christian comics; a realistically drawn hard-boiled tale about Archie’s cousin, a cold war foreign correspondent; and, finally, profiles of the current leadership. The very first Archie story is reprinted, too. VERDICT This beautifully produced banquet is designed for leisure reading, not reference (ergo, no table of contents, and the index is incomplete). With strong appeal for Archie-philes of all ages and those interested in comics history.—M.C.
Jones, William B. Classics Illustrated: A Cultural History. 2d ed. McFarland. Sept. 2011. 384p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780786438402. $55. COMICS HIST
“When I completed the [2002] first edition,” Jones writes, “I thought the song was over...a noble idea...that had outlasted its time.” But Canadian, U.S., and British imprints picked up the seemingly defunct Classics Illustrated line, and at least a dozen other publishers seized on that same idea: to pump out classics as comics. Notably, superhero mainstay Marvel has had best sellers with Austen and Oz adaptations. Jones’s 2002 book covered the inside story behind the original Classics Illustrated, the artists who drew the stories, various revivals over the years, and the cultural aftershocks of the series. This second edition adds some 100 pages of in-depth details, new interviews, and the latest adventures of the series up through U.S. publisher Papercutz. More than 300 illustrations plus detailed appendixes add considerable reference value. VERDICT The Classics Illustrated story embodies an especially salient piece of comics culture and chronicles a growing respect for the medium. Of interest to comics fans, culture watchers, educators, and high schoolers.—M.C.
| Author Information |
| Martha Cornog is a longtime reviewer for LJ and, with Timothy Perper, edited Graphic Novels Beyond the Basics: Insights and Issues for Libraries (Libraries Unlimited: ABC-CLIO, 2009). Steve Raiteri is Audio-Visual Librarian at the Greene County Public Library in Xenia, OH, where he started the graphic novel collection in 1996 |
