Today’s comic suggestion will be a somehow alternative one, not in a groundbreaking or exclusive sense but just because it presents a decent story in a mayhem of mediocrity. I never really liked all those Elsewords comics DC occasionally publishes (or the Marvel What If? for what it’s worth), indifferent stories that apart from the profound shock of reading a medieval scenario with Count Superman fighting Rasputin and vicious aliens had nothing else to offer. Batman – Nosferatu written by Jean-Marc and Randy Lofficier and illustrated by Ted McKeever was something really different, not a masterpiece but still an issue I’m happy to hold on my bookshelf.
The story is set in an alternative future Metropolis, a combination of gothic and industrial elements, which prospers under the rule of Superman and Lois Lane. However many oppose them, such as the director of Arkham Asylum, Dr. Arkham, who often presents a depraved show of death and magic starring the Laughing Man, a nightmarish version of Joker. When bizarre murders begin to take place Bruce Wayne-son and Dick Gray-son will use their powers and influence to discover the vicious murderer and those guiding him. Through the pages other well knows DC characters appear in their changed forms for this world like the Penguin, Poison Ivy, James Gordon, Jimmy Olsen, Luthor, Bane, Man-Bat and the Killer Croc, all of them pulled out of the Kafka nightmare that exists in every work of Ted McKeever.
McKeever was the main reason I found myself interested in this, his work in Metropol was astounding, but the story was also pretty well written and I soon found myself lost in this innovative Nosferatu story from the beginning to the really good finale. You might want to check the other parts of the trilogy this was the second part of, Superman’s Metropolis and Wonder Woman – The Blue Amazon, there was supposed to be a fourth part as an epilogue about the but it was cancelled under unspecified circumstances. Enjoy!
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Your favorite Vertigo series is back and the synopsis of the July issue is released! Marching towards the last 15 issues 100 Bullets becomes more thrilling than ever, the plot is finally being revealed step by step and the dark characters of Azarello’s and Risso’s noir vision approach the grand finale. What really happened in Atlantic City? What’s agent Graves’ secret agenda? What will be Dizzy Cordova’s fate and what about the rest of the Minutemen? Well, in a little more than a year there will be no secrets left so enjoy it while it lasts!
After the events of #81-83 in Rome the story shifts to two other heroes, the Minutemen Victor Ray and Remi Rome, the description in the official site of Vertigo is the following:
“Minutemen Victor Ray and Remi Rome are in need of a vacation, so they head to scenic Lake Tahoe for some R and R with the beautiful people. But you know what they say — “All play and no work make The Minutemen dull boys…””
So is this going to be a revealing issue about the facts of the past through a seemingly indifferent event or a break between two big story turns? There have been quite a few of both in the past 83 issues so any bet is not safe, but really who cares? This is one of the best written comics ever made, a masterpiece of narrative coming to a peak, are you really going to ignore it?
It’s not the most famous comic series this one nor the best out there but it’s coming to an end and that’s something (possibly anyway because DC is reconsidering 5 more issues after an organized fan’s reaction). The title seemed to enjoy great success but it never lasted long, every few months the sales would go down and DC would program its finale, every time postponing it for a little longer. Is this the final goodbye to Kate Spencer? The following months will show.
Kate Spencer is a lawyer, one of the best there are, but frustrated by the inability of the law system to apply justice she becomes a masked vigilante, the Manhunter. Using gadgets other heroes left behind (like Batman) she gains super strength, agility and resistance to injuries in her fight against crime, she hunts them down and finishes them off
before they have the chance to bypass the corrupted system and roam the streets again. In her struggle she has to fight not only the organized crime but also all those traditional heroes that consider her a threat because of her harsh ways and killer instincts.
In issue #30 after the end of Wonder Woman’s trial (where she was responsible for her defense) for murder, Manhunter finds herself in crossroads, having accomplished everything on Earth she looks at the stars to find a new purpose. This might be the end, a short revival for one more story arc or a new beginning if it goes well, can’t say I’m thrilled but I’ll get at least this one issue and I’ll be here to share impressions!
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When an absolutely great series like 100 Bullets is approaching its finale (well, not exactly, it’s in its last quarter anyway) every single issue is an event you just can’t ignore. It started in August ’99 and keeps on pioneering in the depths of noir, crime story telling and realistic narrating, a masterpiece in its kind, loved by critics and readers. Written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Eduardo Risso (Johny Double, Batman) 100 Bullets is one of those stories you can’t put down and end up looking for all the previous albums!
The story is really complex and reveals itself in every story arc in a way that things you encountered before and didn’t seem to matter are now explained, and still not entirely, an ongoing puzzle, like watching Nolan’s Memento. In a setting sometimes pulled out of a noir film, others reminding Italian mafia and more usually the ghettos, the anti-heroes of this story make their choices knowing or not that everything fits in a greater plan, the ultimate control of America’s most secret syndicate that controlled the world the last half century (yeah, they were not always American, there was no America back then), the Trust. Where in this does agent Graves fit, with his strange suitcases and his secret agenda? As you keep reading you’ll make your own conclusions why this man goes around offering a chance for revenge and redemption, he gives people a gun, undisputable proof of why their lives were destroyed and 100 untraceable bullets, a carte blanche to kill the person responsible for their downfall. Intrigued?
In issue 83 the moment comes when Dizzy Cordova finds out what it takes to be a Minuteman and the Minutemen learn things about her that might hurt. Also Ronnie Rome’s story continues with him under a gun and his only friend ready to take the money and go, but you’d better check it out yourselves, no spoilers are needed. If you haven’t read it go get vol.1 First Shot, Last Call, if you have 83 will be out soon enough!
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This column has dealt with Fables again, but this time it’s not about the ongoing story, this is an event in the Fables Universe that took place a few months ago but it’s never too late to experience. 1001 Nights of Snowfall, a hard cover book with stories written by Bill Willingham and drawn by Charles Vess, Brian Bolland, John Bolton, Michael Wm. Kaluta, James Jean, Tara McPherson, Derek Kirk Kim, Esao Andrews, Mark Buckingham, Mark Wheatley and Jill Thompson. Feeling dizzy? There’s more!
This is a collection of stories about the residents of Fabletown even before it was created, more information about your favourite characters and fill-ins of the stories we already partially knew. Snow White is imprisoned in Baghdad where the Sultan marries a woman every night and has her beheaded the next morning, to save her life she switches to the thing she know how to do best, story telling. Every night the story goes on and every morning the Sultan lets her live one more day until it is done, but how long will she survive before she succeeds in changing him? The well known tale of 1001 Arabian Nights is revived in this beautiful book where myths and legends meet their modern versions and tie in a tremendous outcome.
What really happened when Snow White married Prince Charming, why Bigby hates his father the North Wind, how was Flycatcher’s life destroyed during the invasion of the Adversary, the past of Frau Totenkinder (yeap, she once was young) and even more grasping stories in this filling hard-cover wonder, already in the bookstores and comics places, look up for it!
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Man, if you don’t know Alan Moore, you’re reading the wrong stuff here. One of the greatest ever in the business Moore created some of the best comics ever published, V for Vendetta, The Watchmen, Batman – The Killing Joke, Swamp Thing, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell and so, so many more, most of his stories made it to the big screen with usually catastrophic results. This one and the next blog will be dedicated to him and two of his upcoming pieces of work, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier and Wild Worlds.
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was a landmark in the comics community, a story so retro yet so close, borrowing elements from most of our favorite works of literature in a way so complex and elaborating and crafty you needed hours to find every hint and clue in every page. The League is a group of special people (in ways a lot different than the X-Men I assure you) recruited by the British secret service, responsible for the most peculiar matters. It includes Miss Wilhelmina Murray (from Bram Stoker’s Dracula), Captain Nemo (from Jule Verne’s 20.000 Leagues Under the Sea), Allan Quatermain, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Invisible Man and many more characters appearing in the story, all of them previously created by other au
thors in famous books, all settled in a Victorian set (although there are rumors that there will be more Leagues in the future in other time settings).
In this new 208 page hard-cover book the story moves to the 1950’s, Mina Murray and the rejuvenated Allan Quatermain along with the new members of the League search for the , a file containing all the secrets of the League’s history, in an attempt to save it from utter destruction. New era, new characters, some of the old favorite ones, a worthy Alan Moore title, I’m thrilled! Oh yeah, there’s also a bummer in this, it won’t be available till October, patience my friends, patience…
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It is a common policy in the comics industry to treat the best-selling characters in a way, let’s say discriminating. It’s not just that they have series (limited and ongoing) based on them or that they appear in almost all the others through those (usually annoying) crossovers, they also get their own annual issues! There have been comic books in the past with unbelievably good annuals (like Hellblazer, almost every one was a tremendously well written and pretty large issue) and others quite indifferent, in which category you will include the second annual of Batman’s former sidekick, that’s up to you!
When Dick Grayson left Batman and his role as Robin, he did not become a lawyer as he first considered but another masked crime fighting hero, a much darker and more mysterious one, Nightwing. His name has its origin in a story Superman told him to inspire him when he felt lost, an urban legend (or not?) of Krypton about a man who dreamt of a better world and tried to help forging it. Nightwing worked on his own for a period, he was the protector of Blüdhaven (the economically degraded neighbour city of Gotham), then joined the Teen Titans as their leader and even later he led the Outsiders, a group of heroes created both by Teen Titans and Young Justice. Youngest son of an acrobat family, Dick saw his parents getting killed by a mafia boss extorting money from the circus (the incident that was credited to Two-Face in Batman Forever, the movie by Joel Schumacher) and dedicated his life in fighting crime and protecting the innocent.
In this annual issue we follow Nightwing after the incidents of Infinite Crisis that almost got him killed (during the Battle of Metropolis Alexander Luthor almost assassinated him while he was trying to save Batman’s life, DC admitted that their original plan was to kill Dick Grayson and they abandoned it in the last moment) and learn more about his relationship with Oracle (Barbara Gordon), the woman he offered his heart to one year ago. I must confess that the storyline confuses me, especially after Infinite Crisis and One Year Later, and the characters are not my favourite but many people that I know swear it’s really interesting; I might give it a try!
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