Author: Now Read This

By Brian Michael Bendis (Image)
ISBN: 0-9853-2401-0

Jinx is a woman, a bounty hunter and an aspiring writer. Her boyfriend is a small-time thief and lowlife. They eke out their tawdry existence in the bleak urban hell of modern day Cleveland. And one day she lets herself get sucked into the hunt for three million dollars of dirty, bloody money. And that’s all the plot you’ll need for this savage crime comic noir, except the assurance that nothing this nasty ever ends well….

A flawed classic, this seminal sequel to AKA Goldfish (ISBN: 0-941613-85-2) is a dark, rough ride on the wild side as Brian Michael Bendis experiments with dialogue (often to the temporary detriment of the narrative), word balloon placement and starkly abrupt monochrome artwork in a compelling caper yarn.

In this complete compilation of a comicbook series so convoluted that even I’m not going to try and cover it here, there are pastiche 1970’s tribute comics, extremely (deliberately) overexposed photo-pages and lots and lots of balloons full of the kind of salty language any Scorsese or Tarantino fan would expect, and yes, sometimes that dialogue regrettably overwhelms the graphic sense. The art is raw and unpolished, immediate, very black and very white.

The harsh words and actions, pictures and protagonists are hard to accommodate, but that’s the point. This is an unsettling read about unpleasant people, and it works, completely. This shouldn’t be slick or polished, but it should be experienced.

© 1998, 2000 Brian Michael Bendis.

By Alex Ross, Sharrieff, Tortosa, Law & Dreamer Design (Dark Horse/TitanBooks)
ISBN: 1-84023-607-8

Older fans may remember the cartoon series from the late 1970s and anime aficionados will tell you it should more properly be called ‘Science Ninja Team Gatchaman’ (if they’re not the smug sort that try to impress you with poorly enunciated Japanese) but this nostalgia friendly revival of the genetically modified band of teenaged superheroes is best remembered as ‘G-Force’.

When picked up and translated by broadcasters outside Japan the show was infamously editorially butchered both in premise and storylines for the protection of the presumably delicate sensibilities of western youth, but in recent years a more faithful, re-mastered version was released leading to talk of a new incarnation and the volume featured here.

Briefly then, when Earth is menaced by extraterrestrial raiders determined to plunder our natural resources only the team of bird-patterned young warriors secretly bred by a maverick governmental advisor has any chance of defeating the overwhelming destructive technology of the aliens. Fast-paced and well-written, the creative team of Munier Sharrieff, Wilson Tortosa, Shane Law and Dreamer Design studios – with some impressive assistance from avowed cartoon fan and all-around Recovering Nostalgic Alex Ross have captured the all-action spirit of the series with great enthusiasm, and the animation style artwork is very engaging.

On slight quibble though is that even with lots of supplemental pin-ups, and covers from the original comic-book miniseries from Image, this is still a frustratingly slim volume. Let’s hope later editions will be a bit more substantial.

© 2003 Sandy Frank Film Syndication Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Alex Raymond, with Don Moore (Checker BPG)
ISBN: 1-933160-25-X

This third full-colour, hardback collection of the legendary Sunday comic strip covers the period from October 25th 1937 to June 5th 1938. The continual weekly adventures went from one hairsbreadth escape, fight or chase to another, but for expediency’s sake the publisher has subdivided the non-stop action into four tales: ‘Forest Kingdom of Mongo’, ‘Tusk-Men of Mongo’, ‘Beast-Men of Mongo’ and ‘Outlaws of Mongo’.

Escaping from the evil Ming’s forces after an abortive coup, Flash, Dale and Zarkov crash into the huge jungle of Mongo. Struggling through desperate hardship and overcoming both monsters and the esoteric semi-humans they finally reach Arboria, the Tree kingdom of Prince Barin, Ming’s son-in-law. An honourable man, Barin tries to hide them, but a traitor flees to Ming, seeking advancement in return for the hero’s location. Despite a frantic chase Flash fails to catch the traitor and Ming attacks Arboria.

Flash’s capture ends the assault and Ming thinks he has Flash executed, but once again the villain is fooled. Flash escapes and joins the resistance in the tunnels beneath the city. When Ming floods the tunnels, very few escape but the measures result in massive destruction as the water undermines the foundations of the metropolis…

And so the book ends, but not the adventure. Even stripped down to the bare plot-facts, the drama is captivating. Once you factor in the by-play, the jealousies and intrigues, all rendered with spectacular and lush visualisation by the master of classical realism, you can begin to grasp why this feature captured the world’s imagination and holds it still.

Along with Hal Foster (Prince Valiant) and Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates and Steve Canyon), Raymond’s work on Flash Gordon is considered to be pivotal to the development of American – if not world – comic art. These works influenced everybody that followed until the emergence of manga and the advancement of computer technology. If you’ve only heard how good this strip is, you owe it to yourself to experience the magic up close and personal.

© 2005 King Features Syndicate Inc. ™ Hearst Holdings, Inc.

By Mark Crilley (Sirius)
ISBN 1-57989-009-1

This is a glorious story for children and the young-at-heart of all ages. Sweet little girl Akiko once again journeys to the fabulous planet Smoo, where she has all sorts of fantastic adventures with a cast of characters as captivating and memorable as any from Little Nemo or the tales of Oz. Smoo (both the planet and the books) abounds with cool robots, one-legged rogues, princes and professors, and some of the best drawn hideous monsters you could ever hope not to see.

Mark Crilley has crafted an epic romp with a genuine and literal ‘Sense of Wonder’ where the evil villains are not all that bad, and where the dauntless companions aren’t particularly competent, all the while stage-managing enough harmless, mildly gratuitous violence to keep even the most hardened toddler happy.

This earliest Volume 1 (there are a few different editions out there – everything from E-books to paperbacks) follows on from a comic miniseries. When Akiko returns to Smoo for a visit, she lands in a devastated city. An old enemy has attacked and she must now lead a rescue party to recover the kidnapped Prince Froptoppit from the insidious Alia Rellapor. This argosy takes her to many fantastic places where she relives experiences older heads might recognise as homages to favourite literary moments, including being swallowed by a tremendous sea monster, duelling flying pirates and being captured by tiny people on a lost island

Crilley’s loving blend of children’s fantasy icons is a savvy romp that uses thrilling chases and scary monsters to captivate and charm as “ordinary” Akiko proves over and again how special any Earth kid can be.

I’ve deliberately concentrated on this admittedly scarce edition because for some inexplicable reason this earliest collection – when the creation still had a few rough edges to it – just throbs with joy and promise. But even if you can’t find this version, the others are practically identical, just so long as you discover Smoo. Thoroughly enjoyable, this is the kind of strip that parents should read with their kids. Then they’ll be comic fans for life… as long as people of Crilley’s calibre keep coming up with the goods.

© 2007 Mark Crilley. All Rights Reserved.

By James Sturm (Drawn & Quarterly Publications)
ISBN 10: 1-89659-771-8
ISBN 13: 978-1-896597-71-3

Set in the 1920s American Heartland, James Sturm’s The Golem’s Mighty Swing harks back to happier, darker times in American history to relate a tale of the early, less enlightened days of baseball. These were times when every city and most towns had ball teams, but also when non-white, non-Christian sportsmen were barred from competing with “Real Americans”.

The Stars of David are a Jewish ball team, barely eking out a living touring the country, capitalising on their ethnicity to attract the local yokels to the games – and their livelihood. So when a sharp four-flushing promoter makes them a degrading yet potentially lucrative offer…

Hiring a Black player and billing him as a son of the “Lost Tribe of Israel” is incautious, but the hype goes too far when he is touted as an actual Golem – a clay statue animated by Rabbinical magic. Things go terribly wrong during a game when the spectacle-starved ball-fans riot, enflamed by stupidity and the anti-Semitic racism that was so much a part of that era.

It’s a beautifully rendered and powerfully compelling book, powerfully evocative, fearsomely authentic and subversively underplayed for maximum effect. Sturm’s art is subtle and simple relating a sad yet oddly life-affirming tale.

You can read this superb book as a parable about race, culture, integration or human nature… just as long as you do read it.

© 2003 James Sturm. All Rights Reserved.