Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Yay! Guess what time of week it is!
Howdy, you four-color crack whores, Cormorant here, and this column is the friggin' motherload. Our columns for the last few weeks have maybe been a little short – hey, we were just resting our eyes – but we pulled out all the stops to fill this one to bursting with comic-y goodness. We've got pirate comics, war comics, horror comics, and monkey comics! There are Alan Moore comics that will expand your mind and Dark Horse comics that will implode it! We even have the launch of a brand new gossip section, rife with scoops that will destroy creators' careers!
Hell, if you can't find something to like in this @$$hole outing, then we don't want you!
HUMAN DEFENSE CORPS #2
Ty Templeton – Writer
Clement Suave Jr. – Pencils
Juan Velasco – Inker
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Greg “Village Idiot” Scott
I’ve always had a soft spot for David Bowie’s “A Space Oddity,” a song known to a lot of people as “Major Tom.” (Please don’t confuse it with the German pop song of the same name from the 1980's.) It’s an ironically poignant song about alienation; a metaphor about losing connection leading to disconnect, like a man lost in space, drifting.
HUMAN DEFENSE CORPS #2 opens with a man lost in space, drifting. In a futile but hopefully comforting gesture, he writes a letter to his wife, explaining how he came to find himself in that predicament; how he came to be “lost.” It’s a harrowing story that involves guns, monsters, guerrillas, gorillas, demons, and eyeballs; and yet through all the chaos and mayhem, HUMAN DEFENSE CORPS #2 is also a simple story about morality, about fear, about who we are in relation to the promises we make to ourselves. It was last week’s hidden gem, part of what is turning out to be a surprisingly solid series.
The Human Defense Corps is the elite branch of the military charged with dealing with all the metahuman and paranormal problems that plague the Earth in the DCU, offering an entirely different perspective on a world with which many of us are quite familiar. All things considered, the HUMAN DEFENSE CORPS could still be a super-hero story: optimistically, I would imagine that the Corps packs the collective wallop of a standard super-hero. But the stories we’re given are still a fair distance away from that form, and in fact, the series so far has chosen to focus on the individual soldiers.
HDC #2 focuses on Taylor, our man lost in space, and how things went from bad to worse to nightmarish during what was supposed to be a routine training exercise. Again, this isn’t a super-hero series, but Taylor enters his story with the ideals of a super-hero. The idea that you can fight the bad guy without killing anyone is as much a narrative conceit of comics as the idea that you can totally disguise your identity with a pair of glasses. And perhaps it is equally dubious. Taylor holds a similar philosophy, only his ethics were shaped by more ecumenical stuff. He honestly believes that Thou Shalt Not Kill; not kill humans anyway, and he holds himself to that covenant. Of course, we can all recognize that it’s much easier to make those kinds of promises when danger is still just an idea. And so, writer Ty Templeton puts him through the wringer, with a few surprises along the way; but they’re surprises that never overcrowd the larger themes.
By the time the story reaches page 6 there’s a small panel of Taylor seeing combat for the first time. The horror on his face is one of those perfect images that can only be captured in comics (in fact, page 6 is just a flat-out great page). They even managed to draw one of the better gorillas I’ve seen in a while. Suave and Velasco manage to craft a presentation that feels almost classic. No complaints.
Looking back, there was one aspect to the story that seemed unexplored: Taylor’s vow never to kill is put to the test, but we’re never shown the other moral compromises that can come from holding to such a promise, i.e., it’s easy to see how a situation where refusing to kill can get people killed. Taylor’s choices in the story have consequences, just not for other people, at least not demonstrably. But then again, that aspect of the story seems to be about something more internal.
HUMAN DEFENSE CORPS #2 is simply a well executed war comic; a comic, perhaps, about losing connection leading to disconnect; like a man lost in space, drifting. Check it out.
SCURVY DOGS #1
Writers: Andrew Boyd & Ryan Yount
Artist: Ryan Yount
Publisher: AiT / Planet Lar
Reviewed by Cormorant
"C'mon, boys, let's show these Portuguese lepers why we call them the 'piñatas of the sea.'"
So growls walking pirate clich̩, Captain Blackbeard, in the hilarious (and murderous) opening vignette of SCURVY DOGS, the funniest comic it's been my pleasure to read all year. What's scary is that I almost passed this little gem up. Hey, I'm like you guys РI sometimes fear the indie comics too, with their unpolished artwork and lack of Adam Hughes cheesecake covers - but when you hit a book like SCURVY DOGS, you know that sifting through the non-corporate stuff has been worth it.
Now I must confess, I've been kind of watching for SCURVY DOGS. The lowbrow high concept – wacky pirates brought into the modern world – had a definite appeal to me, 'cause hey, who doesn't like pirates? Well, okay, anyone who's ever had the misfortune to see CUTTHROAT ISLAND, I suppose - how do you screw up Geena Davis as a sexy pirate lady?! Renny Harlin, you bastard hack.
But I digress. The point is, SCURVY DOGS had a fun idea backing it, but I wasn't really expecting a great payoff. The creative team's names meant nothing to me (sorry, guys), and to be honest, most small press books do suck. I'm not being mean – most mainstream comics suck, too, but mainstream books also have the benefit of name-in-lights creators whose reps are easier to keep track of. Nevertheless, I picked up SCURVY DOGS in the store and in the space of two pages – two freakin' pages – it had me laughing my ass off. That, my friends, is how you open a book, and that's why I feel confident in recommending this it. You will know within the opening two pages if this book is for you.
And it damn well should be. With no explanation given or needed, it takes all the pirate clichés and thrusts them into the modern world as Blackbeard and his unemployed gang seek work everywhere from a record store to a big corporation to a Long John Silvers-style fast food joint. The anachronistic pirate humor might seem obvious, but the comic timing is damn near perfect. Take this job interview fer instance:
Interviewer (reviewing resume): So your home address is fifteen paces from Hangman's tree due south and your marital status is…to the sea. How nice for you.
(beat panel of pirate squinting at him)
Pirate: I'm three sheets to the wind.
Interviewer: I'm not sure what that means, but I think you're going to fit right in, McDougal. Okay, I need you to sign right here.
(the pirate scribbles on the paper)
Interviewer: That's an "x".
Pirate: That's me mark. I never learned to read.
Interviewer: Then how did you fill out this application?
Pirate (hanging head): Three sheets to the wind.
That's comedy, baby, and the artwork is funny as hell too. Alright, you big babies, it is a little on the rough and unpolished side, but you remember how THE FAR SIDE managed to be visually chuckle-worthy in spite of Gary Larson's artistic limitations? Same effect here. Ryan Yount's got a gift for comic timing – especially those wonderful "beat" panels – and his sight gags, including a pirate wearing a "Frankie Goes to Hollywood" shirt and a poster for "breaded mayonnaise" at the Long John Silver's, are hilarious and twisted. You haven't lived until you've seen pirates burying Funyuns as treasure. This isn't one of those "acquired taste" indies – this is a book that'd have you laughing your ass off if it were an animated short on the Cartoon Network. But why wait the five years it'll inevitably take for that to happen? Support the original medium you lazy bums.
The text page that closes out SCURVY DOGS makes a bold promise for comics: "Pirates are the new monkeys." Hey, I loves me my monkeys, from the Red Ghost's Super-Apes to French mercenary ape, Monsieur Mallah, but I think these guys might be onto something. Chuck Dixon's got an upcoming pirate comic for CrossGen, EL CAZADOR, and Alan Moore's spoken seriously in interviews about spinning off a TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER comic from the pages of WATCHMEN. Okay, I made the Alan Moore thing up, but I do sense a mini-wave of pirate comics on the horizon, and brutha, ain't none of 'em gonna be more entertaining than SCURVY DOGS. If your comic shop is hip enough to carry small press titles, you should seek this book out and buy it without question. If your comic shop thinks "small press" means Dark Horse, then you need to ask them to order SCURVY DOGS. Any good retailer will do it, but if they refuse, I imagine you can e-mail the guys directly at www.scurvy-dogs.com and order through them.
Then keelhaul your sorry retailer.
Arrrrr!
BIRDS O' PREY # 56
Written by Gail Simone
Art by Ed Benes & Alex Lei
Published by DC
Reviewed by Mareencor Marverik
From Daily Var@$$ity, Wednesday, June 18, 2003: DC DUMPS DUFF & BYNES, SIGNS SIMONE & BENES AS NEW B.O.P. CREATEAM.
HOLLYWOOD -- In a move that rocked the Industry today, DC Comics scrapped the much anticipated comic book creating debut of Tween Queen Dream Team Hilary Duff (scribe) and Amanda Bynes (scribbler) and replaced them with respected pros Gail Simone and Ed Benes. No reason was given for the sudden shift, but insiders speculate that Duff and Bynes may have been booted because, as teenage actresses, they don't know anything about comics and they don't care.
"The only interest Hilary and Amanda have in comic books is the possibility that either of them might get a chance to replace Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane in the SPIDER-MAN movies," an anonymous source close to the production told Daily Var@$$ity.
Comic book fans remain cautiously optimistic.
"Gail Simone used to write the really excellent AGENT X. She co-created KILLER PRINCESSES, GUS BEEZER and has done beaucoup SIMPSONS stuff," said Crazy Andy, clerk at Not Yer Daddy's Comics in Santa Monica, CA. "And Ed Benes drew CODENAME: KNOCKOUT and SUPERGIRL. They'll definitely do a better job on BIRDS OF PREY than those little movie chicks would have."
Duff's stage-mother, Lucille McGillacuddhay of Jamestown, NY, has reportedly threatened to sue everyone but could not be reached for comment.
From The Holeywood Reporter, June 18, 2003. Review: BIRDS O' PREY # 56.
DC Comics will be vindicated for replacing the Tiger Beat Twins with writer Gail Simone and artist Ed Benes on BIRDS O' PREY. With issue # 56, the innovative team begins their controversial run by having Black Canary and Oracle take down a very realistic, disturbing white collar criminal only to run up against a pair of supervillains with 1990's Michael Bolton haircuts.
The interplay between Black Canary and Oracle is the main draw here. Simone is a master of dialogue and tone. Much like Quentin Tarantino or the Coen Bros., Simone can have you engaged in the humorous dialogue one second, then propelled into scenes of darkness the next.
Ed Benes also conveys mood very well. He captures setting masterfully and uses a realistic, 70's noir Gotham without overdoing it. His Black Canary has an I DREAM OF JEANNIE haircut and the body of a modern T.V. star. Criticisms that Benes relies too much on Canary crotch shots are valid. He should cut it out, because he doesn't need them.
PROMETHEA #26
Alan Moore, J.H. Williams III
America’s Best Comics
reviewed by: Lizzybeth
In any other comic the apocalypse would be an idle threat, but you just know that when Alan Moore promises the end of the world, he’s going to deliver. After all, Northhampton’s mad magician hasn’t backed down from the challenge of depicting the grim deeds of Jack the Ripper, or the breakout of nuclear war, or repeated killings of major characters (including the deaths of just about everybody in his plans for TWILIGHT OF THE SUPERHEROS for DC comics) And in a series where we’ve already seen the history of the universe and the layout of the afterlife, ending the world is really about all there is left to do. Right now it’s only a matter of how, and what part will be played by Sophie Bangs, the current incarnation of Promethea. The 'when' is pretty clear, since the announcement has already come down that #32 will be the final issue, and since some of Moore’s other ABC characters are showing up in the book in an attempt to prevent Sophie from bringing the end about. Is Sophie the cause of Earth’s destruction, or simply a witness? Is this how Moore plans to finish out his ABC universe, effectively turning out the lights behind him? Either way, it’s Armageddon time.
PROMETHEA has come a long way, from a mere curiosity in my list of occasional reads to one of my favorite comics of the 00’s. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has a lot of fantastical heavy hitters, but in my book none of them holds a candle to the characters Mr. Moore has created in PROMETHEA, from the pantheon of artist-goddesses who have carried the mantle of the “science heroine” to the human characters who go about their dull lives in their illustrious presence, at their sides, sometimes even in the same bodies. The main story, the goddess-persona carried on by a series of female artist/writers throughout history, allows Moore to go to town on all the arcane and mythological source material that he must have been dying to work into a high-profile project. The title remains a balancing act. With the pull between the traditional underpinnings of the superhero genre and the much-more-interesting occult trappings of the modern goddess tradition he has built up, the series seems constantly threatening to topple into incoherence. And yet, despite the added excitement of the possibility, it remains for me perfectly readable, if not always relatable. I don’t think Moore’s lost a bit of ability since his WATCHMEN days, as he continues to break new ground for comics. Telling the history of existence through Tarot cards in a comic book just shouldn’t work as well as it does, and I can’t wait to see how he tackles the end of everything. I don’t know what mainstream comics will do without Alan Moore around to show the way. Kind of a scary thought, that.
But I want to also take some space to appreciate J.H. Williams III. It must be hard to work with so famous a writer as Alan Moore, who will obviously lead every ad, review, and conversation concerning your work. But I hope it’s also widely known that Williams is in a very elite category of the best comic book artists working today. I am constantly amazed by the innovative, evolving, and spectacular visuals that he has brought to each issue of PROMETHEA. It was obvious from the start that he was a good match for Mr. Moore’s vivid imagination, but the book reached a whole new level with the cycle of issues concerning Sophie’s journey through the afterlife, visiting the various regions of what we traditionally call Purgatory and Heaven, here rendered as personifications of and monuments to human virtue. With each new land, whether portraying Wisdom or War, Williams and Moore created a new visual template to match, altering not only the color scheme but the depiction of the characters and every other aspect of the page. The red-soaked images of the Mars issue still make my eyes burn, and I still re-read it anyway. Even now that Sophie is firmly in the real world, in this issue refusing to turn into her alter-ego of Promethea, the comic uses a striking palette. Williams works mostly in two-tones in this issue, shifting the shades between panels to simulate the orange of sunset, the eerie blue of TV glow, the green of a security camera lens. In an issue where not very much seems to happen, I am still fascinated with most every page.
Credit should also be applied to Mick Gray and Jeromy Cox, inker and colorist respectively, who have been consistently invisible in their contributions to the fantastic artwork throughout the series (I hope they will take this as the complement it’s intended to be). One of my biggest regrets about an end to this series will be the end of this collaboration, one that I would consider second only to the Moore/Campbell partnership in the creative team-ups of Alan Moore’s long career. I encourage fans of Moore’s previous work to give Promethea a look if they haven’t already – there is very, very fine storytelling at work here.
JLA: WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK
Writer: Patton Oswalt
Artist: Patrick Gleason
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewed by Cormorant
I know what you're thinking: "Another JLA miniseries? Jesus Christ, only Batman-based Elseworlds have a higher monthly quota than these things!". And normally, that would be the proper reaction. JLA saturation is to DC as X-Men saturation is to Marvel. Ah, but this one, though it definitely targets a niche market, is actually worth a look. The niche market happens to be "longtime DC readers," and my experience has been that that describes most DC fans.
So what's its deal? JLA: WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK is a prestige format one-shot written by actor and stand-up comic, Patton Oswalt. The novelty plot revolves around likeable schlub, Marlus Randone, a twenty-something who self-publishes a tabloidy magazine about superheroes. In the books almost-too-scattershot opening, he and everyone else living in a particular neighborhood of Portland, Oregon are teleported aboard the JLA Watchtower to protect them from some sort of nasty plot involving aliens. Oswalt does himself proud capturing the chaos and confusion among the Oregonians as they glimpse in manic snapshots what's obviously the tail-end of a full-blown Justice League adventure. I give particularly high marks to him for the League's in-combat dialogue, their fragmentary sentences and shorthand battle phrases all but alien to the civilians, but pleasantly decipherable to the longtime fan. And just like that, the League's won and the Oregonians are teleported back home. Except for Marlus. By some glitch he remains behind, unseen by the League as they race off to deal with other emergencies. And thus the "working week" hook: Marlus Randone manages to stay hidden on the Watchtower for a full seven days, skulking around with his disposable camera, looking for the big scoop, and trying to decide if the reality of the League fits his expectations.
Like I said, a novelty premise. If you get hung up on how ridiculous it is that this guy could hide out for a week, undetected in the most high-tech clubhouse this side of the Baxter Building, not only will you miss out on a lot of fun, but you'll miss out on the eventual explanation for Marlus' stealth bit. Now I should tell you up front that the first ten or twelve pages are pretty chaotic. My first impulse was that this project was an amateurish bit of self-indulgence from a DC hoping to court a bit of showbiz buzz. Then I came across the page where Marlus spies the Martian Manhunter hovering in meditation, and his catchy, rock journalist narration revealed to me that this book might have something to offer after all:
"The Manhunter from Mars. If Superman is Elvis, then this is Dylan. When you're a kid, you're all for the spitcurl. But by the time you hit college, you're forehead all the way. That thinker's skull, on top of a linebacker's bod...like if Socrates played for the Steelers. For every time the world's been saved in the sunshine by Superman...it's been saved in the shadows by this guy.
Wow. That might be the most concise and dead-on appraisal I've ever seen of the Martian Manhunter. And it sets the tone for what's to come. I expected a comedy writer to throw the characters into compromising situations for yuks, strip-mining them of their heroism (think Garth Ennis), but Oswalt's approach is precisely the opposite. He loves these characters, and that love shines through in one cool vignette after the next. In some ways, I'd liken WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK to Neil Gaiman's original BOOKS OF MAGIC miniseries: each is a plotless tour of its chosen subject (the world of heroes and the world of magic, respectively), but each is infused with enough wit and character to make them an exceptional standout to the general storytelling rule that you need an overt plot. Gaiman got what magic is all about and made it a great world to tour. Likewise, Oswald and the Justice League.
Which isn't to say this is some sort of dry tribute. There's plenty of humor in it, as when Marlus spies on Flash and Green Lantern kickin' back and watching the TV movie of BRUCE WAYNE: FUGITIVE. "They made Gordon Puerto Rican," Marlus notes, "But I'm always happy to see Luis Guzman in anything." Flash apparently echoes his thoughts, cheering on the movie with raised fist and the call of "Guz-MON!" (you reading this, Harry? It's a fellow Guz fan!). I was also much amused by a news channel showing Firestorm buzzing the annual counter-culture event, Burning Man, cheered on by the participants, and it doesn't get much weirder than two pages of back-and-forthing between Plastic Man, Ambush Bug, and yes, The Heckler (I toldya this was for the longtime fans).
It's not perfect. Some of Oswalt's characterizations are a little off, or at least overly exaggerated; the anarchic editing is borderline exhausting; the art, while not dissimilar to the work of JLA regular, Doug Mahnke, is a little busy for my tastes. And, yes, it's rife with continuity that's aimed at the longtime reader. On the other hand, that last one's really the central draw…if it applies to you. Reading WELCOME TO THE WORKING WEEK will remind you why you like these characters and why they've stood the test of time. Oswalt even throws out a few fun surprises, like a unique training regime for Wonder Woman and a brilliantly low-key villain takedown from Batman. Oh, and he makes Aquaman cool, for which he should receive an Eisner award.
This books was my "pleasant surprise" of the week, and I hope some other folks will check it out as well. At a time when a scary number of comic writers seem to be doing their damnedest to undermine the larger-than-life greatness of superheroes, who would've guessed that a comedian would be the guy to remind us of the superhero's virtues?
LYING INSIDE TOMMY
Gossip 4 Geeks -- All Marvel Edition
by Rich Riverdale
Some of the following comic book gossip may be true unless it isn't.
These days Marvel Comics should be called the House Of Intrigue. The following memo was smuggled to me and is reportedly from Marvel President / Head Writer Bill Jemas himself:
To All Marvel Staff.
re: "Alicia"
"At ease. It has come to my attention that recent leaks in Marvel policy have developed. Specifically, an individual known only as "Alicia" has posted my firing of Mark Waid's ass on the Zimmerman boards before I even knew I was going to can him. Those six people who use the Internet made the site crash for a week. This made me look really stupid, which I don't like. Now, this "Alicia" is clearly getting her information from one of you. It hasn't escaped mine or Joe's notice that "Alicia" is most likely a woman, and you are all lonely, undersexed comic book types. It is possible that you were offered and succumbed to temptations that you've only seen in Dodson comics. Therefore, I am ordering all Marvel staffers to refrain from sexual relations with women until this "Alicia" is captured. For most of you, this will not be a problem. You'll never know the difference."
Make of it what you will.
Creator Bitches About Epic Rejection.
Writer Todd Van Dorn (Cliffhanger's SHADOWFIST: FIST OF SHADOWS) had a few choice words to say about Epic and Marvel Editor-In-Chief Joe Quesada after his Epic Pitch, THE SECRET EMPIRE: FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, got the thumbs down. "Stupid jerks! All their taste is in their butts! They're stupid and they don't get me! What do they know! I was the guy who figured out how to get Steven Segal back on the train in UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY. I'll show them," Van Dorn said, further adding that he wasn't just saying this via e-mail because he was afraid Quesada would kick his butt.
New Creative Team Announced For FANTASTIC FOUR.
A scant few days after Marvel announced that Bill Jemas gave Mark Waid the boot off the FF, the book's new creative team was unveiled. Plot and script chores will be handled by Bill (NAMOR, MARVILLE) Jemas with art by Joe Quesada. Thanks to some embarrassing snapshots at the Marvel Christmas party, Lying Inside Tommy brings you this exclusive interview:
JOE: This sort of thing happens all the time. The whole controversy has been blown completely out of proportion. Bill simply wanted to take the FF in an exciting new direction that he came up with. Let's not forget, this is the man who launched the ULTIMATE line, single-handedly turned our publishing division around, and made Paul Levitz cry like a little girl at last year's ComicCon. He's paid his dues and he's just doing his job. We're going to put the "Family" back into Marvel's first family. When fans see the fresh new take we have in store for Reed, Sue, their son Franklin--
BILL: Oliver.
JOE: Huh?
BILL: We're now calling the kid Oliver. And he's not their son any more. He's their cousin.
Epic Rejection Pisses Off Comic Creator.
Lance (The Spawnling) Hooper is none too happy with Epic Comics for shooting down his pitches for CAT PEOPLE and KAZAR-MART. "You try to give them something gold, and they shit on it! With CAT PEOPLE, I took Marvel's old stupid concept of a race of human cats and brought it into the New Millenium. The editors I met with had never heard of the Cat People. Hell-o! Tigra, anyone?" Hooper whined to Lying Inside Tommy. He declined to discuss KAZAR-MART which would have found the lord of the Savage Land as manager of a discount store in Bakersfield, CA. Further, Hooper hung up when asked if it were true that the store featured "Zabu light specials."
Joe Quesada Fired From FANTASTIC FOUR!
Marvel announced that beginning with issue #2, Demitri Conchita-Hayek, playwright behind the off-Broadway sensation Captain America Smokes Lucky Strikes, would be joining Bill Jemas on the book as Quesada's replacement. Marvel E-I-C Quesada issued this statement:
"After the first issue, it became apparent that I couldn't keep up with Bill creatively. Let's not forget, this is the man who not only dared to tell the origin of Marvel's most popular character, but who also single-handedly wrote and directed both X-MEN movies. I think he's earned our faith and I'm just sorry I let him down."
As always, LYING INSIDE TOMMY has an interview with the new creative team:
DEMITRI: When I heard about Bill's idea for NEW FANTASTIC FOUR, I was like, "Where do I sign. Put a contract in front of me and I'll sign in blood if have to!" We're looking at a grounded, down-to-earth FF. We want to explore what keeps them together. What force binds Reed, Sue, Ben, Johnny and Cousin Oliver to--
BILL: And their sassy robot maid.
DEMITRI: Say what?
Comic Creator Goes Off On EPIC After Rejection.
"First of all, I'm not sure I even wanted to work for them in the first place. Marvel's office smelled like paint," said Ianliam St. Ottoman-Jones (The Enforcementors). "Besides, they had the nerve to say that my Epic pitch, BLUE BALLS, was too much like Millar and Dodson's TROUBLE. How can a story about teenage versions of J. Jonah Jameson, Thunderbolt Ross and Jarvis meeting at prep school and making a pact to help each other lose their virginity have anything to do with TROUBLE? I had this great scene where Jonah is about to score and he gets a spider bite on his scrotum which ruins his chances, finally explaining once and for all why he hates Spider-Man so much. The Epic editors just laughed like this was a stupid idea or something."
Conchita-Hayek Fired From NEW FANTASTIC FOUR.
"The important thing to remember," announced E-I-C Joe Quesada, "is that this is Bill Jemas we're talking about. Not only has he written NAMOR, THE GREAT GATSBY and ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN, but he also wrote Bendis' semi-exclusive Marvel contract. If he feels changes should be made, who are we to question?"
Starting with issue # 3, internet gadfly Alicia has been tapped as co-writer/artist of the book. LYING WITH TOMMY has the interview:
ALICIA: What a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! When that private detective found me, I thought for sure that Marvel was going to sue me! Instead, they offer me this dream job!
BILL: When Alicia heard my idea to cast the FF as six single professionals hanging out at a New York coffee house, she couldn't wait to get on board.
ALICIA: Uh, yeah.
BILL: And she loved the idea of making them all Japanese.
ALICIA: Huh?
Bill Jemas To Take Over As Sole Creator On THE FANTASTIC FOUR.
Marvel Comics has announced that the current creative team of Bill Jemas and Alicia will end their run on NEW FANTASTIC FOUR with issue # 3. "Starting with issue #1, Marvel President Bill Jemas will take over as both writer and artist on the book he created in 1961," said Joe Quesada, Marvel's Editor In Chief. "If John Byrne could do it, why not Bill?"
Lying Inside Tommy has the fresh poop on the new FF:
BILL: My idea is to bring the "Fantastic" to the forefront of THE FANTASTIC FOUR. I see them as cosmically powered adventurers, or "Imaginauts" if you will...
Remember, all of this could be lies. If you can think of any lies about comic book pros or publishers, be sure to post them on the Internet!
Rich Riverdale
Sheepbowel, UK.
If you have any industry secrets to share, or just want to start some nasty online rumors, send them to my assistants, Jon Quixote & Buzz Maverik. Sure, you may risk your job or betray your friends, but the more hits my column records, the better chance of me being given a comic of my own someday. So quit being so fucking selfish!!
CRIMINAL MACABRE: A CAL MCDONALD MYSTERY #1 & 2
Story: Steve Niles
Art: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug
Those who follow my reviews know that I rarely venture outside the realm of straight-up, standard, super-hero books. A book outside of the Big Two companies has to be something pretty special for me to read it. Currently, outside of Marvel and DC, I read Dixon’s WAY OF THE RAT because neither Marvel nor DC can seem to get kung fu right these days. I occasionally pick up GI JOE for a good dose of nostalgia. I read Eric Powell’s THE GOON because there’s nothing more fun on the shelves today. And SLEEPER is another one I pick up, thanks to the advice of my fellow @$$holes. All of these books provide stuff that I just can’t get from the Big Two companies. One thing I found lacking on the comic racks of late is a good old scary comic. Well, I have added another book to my list to whet my appetite for horror done right. CRIMINAL MACABRE is that book.
I’ve said it before - horror is probably the toughest thing to do in comics. For me, the thing that really gets me - the thing that really scares the bejeezus out of me - is the unknown. It’s the thing that makes me pull my covers to my nose at night when I think I hear a sound in my apartment just as I’m teetering on the edge of sleep. You know the feeling. Your eyes weigh. You start to breathe steadily and heavily. Everything starts to drift away…and then something shifts in the corner of your room. You open your eyes. Try not to move. Hold your breath. You strain to see through the darkness, wondering if those half-shadows that line the walls are moving. Is that breathing you hear? Is someone there, in the dark, holding its breath, knowing that you’re awake, watching you, and waiting?
The problem is, comics are a visual medium. You can’t draw the unknown. If you could draw the unknown…well…then…it wouldn’t be unknown then, would it? Because fear and the unknown are so inextricably linked, it is very hard to convey scary things in little four color panels. I believed this. I thought this to be true. I couldn’t remember one comics that truly scared me. And then I was introduced to the twisted works of Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.
With 30 DAYS OF NIGHT, this team of storytellers showed me that you could, in fact, be frightened while reading a comic. And I’m not talking about “Bill Jemas writing the FANTASTIC FOUR scares.” I’m talking about real, spooky, shouldn’t-be-read-alone type of scares. Niles' slick pacing and fresh and twisted ideas kept me guessing and fearing what was to come around the next corner. Templesmith added to the mix by creating an atmospheric and mysterious world filled with truly horrific creatures.
CRIMINAL MACABRE: A CAL MCDONALD MYSTERY is Niles and Templesmith’s latest successful attempt to send chills down my spine once again. It’s a part of Dark Horse’s new horror line and it’s easily the best of the bunch when it comes to scares. Issue number one introduces us to Cal McDonald, a cocky private dick who has seen and done it all. In an interview at the end of issue #1, Cal explains his view of the world: “To me there really isn’t any 'unknown.' It’s all real.” Cal knows that supernatural things walk the earth. He fights werewolves in museums and tracks vampires in singles bars. He takes cases involving severed heads and blood-drained corpses. His partner is a ghoul. The thing is, he’s the only human who believes they exist. Every other person on the police force thinks Cal is off his nut. But he solves the tough cases, so they put up with his “eccentric” theories. Cal is Kolchak rated NC-17. He’s Fox Mulder unleashed, without the level-headed Scully to ground him and tell him that his theories are scientifically improbable. Cal knows the supernatural exists and to him, their sole existence seems to be to cause him a lot of trouble and a bottle of painkillers full of pain.
What I like about Cal is the fact that he is never shown without some form of bandage on his person. He’s a fallible hero who can and most assuredly will get hurt while fighting these supernatural forces. He’s real in that he feels the pain as he dives face-first into any ghoulish gauntlet to solve a case. Cal McDonald is a truly human hero fighting against unknown terrors with only a bottle of cheap liquor, a shotgun, and a boatload of cynicism.
Niles and Templesmith have developed an entire world for Cal to shuffle around in. They treat werewolves, vampires, and the undead as different races, warring for supremacy, and slaughtering humans if they get in their way or if they get hungry. Issue two has a nice bit of exposition with Cal and his “ghoul-friend,” Mo’Lock. Mo explains the differences between werewolves, vampires, ghouls, and zombies. The dialog is quick and crisp.
Cal: Any idea where all this started? You know, where you all came from?
Mo’Lock: Do you know where your kind comes from?
Cal: Do you have to answer every question with a question?
Mo’Lock: As long as you ask questions that I have no answers.
Cal: You mind it? Being a ghoul, I mean?
Mo’Lock: As much as you mind being a human, I presume.
Great stuff. Even when the page is filled with word balloons, Niles makes the dialog interesting and fun to read. At the heart of this book is a mystery, and every conversation unravels it just a bit more. As I read this book, I found myself conflicted because I want to see the mystery solved, but I don’t want this series to end. Cal McDonald is the best new character I have read in comics this year and I hope to see more of him in the future.
And about those scares. Without Templesmith’s amazing artwork, this book would not have the visceral impact that it does. The art is gritty and grainy. You have to search a bit to fully understand what is going on. Everything is not defined. Things are deeply shadowed and obscured. Those unknowns that I talked about earlier? The ones that cause the chills? This book is filled with them. The scary stuff isn’t what you see in the panel, but what you don’t see. Templesmith’s art harnesses those deep unknowns without diminishing the impact of a mouth full of teeth charging at you or a form in the corner whispering your name. The art could be compared to Bill Sienkiewicz, David Mack, Ted McKeever, or even Gene Colan, but Templesmith has really come into his own with this series. His characters are more consistent and legible from one panel to the next (a criticism I had with the 30 DAYS OF NIGHT book).
The mystery is swirling deeper. Cal is getting the shit kicked out of him in every issue. The monsters are scary and the dialog is tough. Anyone who gets that little smile when they get scared will love this book. Check this series out. Savor it. Soak it in. Niles and Templesmith know horror. They know the detective genre. They know mood and atmosphere and noir. I’m sure Marvel is dying to snap these guys up to do some kind of watered down version of one of their horror properties. Don’t jump on them when inept editorial advice hinders their raw talent. Catch these guys now while they’re ripe and hot. CRIMINAL MACABRE is top notch comics entertainment. It takes the genre seriously and introduces us to a world that is rarely done correctly in comics. CRIMINAL MACABRE is horror comics done right.
SUPERMAN: RED SON #2
Writer – Mark Millar
Penciller – Dave Johnson/Kilian Plunkett
Inker – Andrew Robinson/Walden Wong
Published by DC Comics
Reviewed by Greg “Village Idiot” Scott
“And yes, there is a bit of soft-pedaling of authoritarian socialism and the realities of Sovietism... (However, this kindness to the system may be coming to end. At the conclusion of the issue, Superman seems poised to artificially prop up the Soviet economy.)”
-- Village Idiot hedges his bets, in his review of RED SON #1
Well, I was almost right. In RED SON #2, Superman props ups the Soviet economy and then some. In a act of coercion that Stalin could only dream about, dissidents are apprehended and transformed into “Superman Robots,” with technology implanted on their skulls to make them good little party members.
Of course, more striking than what I got right about RED SON was what I got wrong: In that previous review of RED SON #1, I put forward the idea that Millar was attempting a revisionist interpretation of Superman, one in which the “American Way” was obsolete since Superman could transcend and/or tolerate any national, ideological or cultural affiliation; that he would essentially be the same Superman no matter where he lived, including Stalinist Russia. (An idea which, it recently occurred to me, ironically goes against a kind of Marxian economic determinism.) And, well, in RED SON #2, we discover that Superman’s choices aren’t quite as exempt from the influence of his environment as I had thought, and thus, I made what now appears to be hasty and inaccurate thematic interpretation. In other words, I was wrong.
Mmmm...crow...delicious.
In my defense, I was working with what I had been given, and in that first issue, Superman seemed pretty unaffected by the fact that he was working under the auspices of Stalin’s regime. In RED SON #2, some time has passed, and the Soviet Superman is still rescuing people from runaway trains; but he’s taken over the Soviet Union as well, politically and economically – the state has been centralized with him at the center. And via his efforts to maintain control, the atmosphere has grown a little paranoid. It’s still nice to be a member of the nomenklatura (the government elite), but as I mentioned, dissenters are literally reprogrammed for compliance. This doesn’t seem to have put a damper on the regime’s ability to spread: It’s not clear whether this spread was achieved by popular consent or by force, but the only two non-Communist hold outs are a crumbling U.S. and (wait for it) Chile. There are those who still pose a problem for comrade Superman, including, from the outside, the American Lex Luthor, and from within, the terrorist Batman. And indeed, Batman manages to strike a neat fatal blow against Superman. But it’s good to have friends, especially when one of your friends is Wonder Woman.
So Superman, with all the best intent in the world, is corrupted. It’s tempting to see this as a metaphor for Communism itself, an ideology with the best (and arguably misguided) intent in the world, which itself went on to serve as the basis for a variety of corrupt, oppressive regimes. But having learned my lesson from last month, I’ll be a little more reserved about the interpretations, or at least wait until issue #3 comes out before I start analyzing with real gusto.
Besides, the capitalists don’t come off looking too hot either. The problem I had with RED SON #1 was what I felt was a glossing over of the reality of the Soviet Union, while selling the value of the United States short for the sake of the theme. In #2, the United States is still sold short (perpetual President Kennedy and his wife Marilyn seem to be giving all their bumbling support to the quite clearly evil Lex Luthor), but the more vivid portrayal of authoritarianism in Superman’s U.S.S.R. at least offers a fairer balance than before.
Sidebar: In the interim between issues, I had to ask myself whether I would be more willing to give, say, Alan Moore a pass with some of the content. I mean, WATCHMEN seemed to suggest that a world with United States-based super-heroes would eventually result in a dystopia with a perpetual President Nixon. Not exactly a triumph of values there. Maybe it’s simply a matter of Charlton comics not holding the same place in my heart as Superman. On the other hand, Moore never asked me to give a pass to Stalin at the same time.
So with RED SON #2, I found myself able to get a little more invested in the story, including an interesting mix of conflicting loyalties. Do I root for Batman and the evil Russian Pete Ross in their efforts to kill Superman? Do I root for Wonder Woman to save the day? (Okay, Batman won me over on this one.) The action in the climax was able to keep a pretty good grip, in a story that held more overall tension than the first issue. Credit also has to be given to Millar for the way he cleverly weaves Superman (and DC) mythology into the story, like Batman’s underground sewer Bat Cave, and somehow getting Sivana into the picture. All in all, it was an interesting effort.
The art chores were handed off in the issue from Dave Johnson to Kilian Plunkett, but the only immediately discernible difference seemed to be in the heaviness of the inking. Like last time, I felt the art was serviceable with some nice moments, with the real beauty in the issue coming from Paul Mounts’ coloring. Really nice work there: the magenta and purples really made the Bat Cave, and the blazing reds in the end of the story were almost palpable.
So not only am I retracting my interpretation, I’m actually giving RED SON #2 a mild recommendation: it was interesting and well-executed enough to be worth your time. But of course, this recommendation is made all the milder because the $5.95 price tag is pretty steep. From this review, you should be able to discern whether this sounds like it’s up your alley and worth the price, and for many of you, I’m sure it will be. For the rest of you, there’s the inevitable TPB, and of course, the final option of borrowing your friend’s TPB. The American Way indeed.
THE GOON #1
By Eric Powell
Published by Dark Horse Comics
A Jon Quixote Rave
Ambush Bug turned me on to Eric Powell’s cult hit, THE GOON. Bug reviewed it a while back, and when I told him how cool it sounded and that Canadian comic book stores suck for not carrying it, he mailed me a copy out of the kindness of his heart. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to thank him. Or get even. You see, I’m loving every panel, but I’m not getting through it unscathed. On some level, this book is causing some very deep brain damage.
But I think the part of the brain that cares was the first to go, so it’s all good.
Now that THE GOON is being published by Dark Horse, it’s readily available. No more fellating my comic book store guy in order to get month-old copies snuck into the store. There it was, this week’s issue, right on my pile when I walked in. At least, I think it was this week’s copy. I’ve been out of the loop for a while, what with The Hulk movie in theatres, the Canadian Football season getting underway, and picking up my bulk order of Scope.
And now that THE GOON is readily available, there’s really no excuse for you not to be buying it. Unless you’re adverse to the brain-damage I was talking about. But then again, right now you’ve got your eyes about 11 inches away from the dull glow of your monitor, soaking up the rads while staring at a puke-orange website even though hardcorejunkies.com is just a mouseclick away. I don’t think you’ve got that much to lose.
THE GOON #1 – surprise, surprise – is a great jumping on point for new readers, for it deals with the Origin of the Goon. It’s pretty much your standard Boy beats mobster to death with a rock, establishes himself as said mobster’s debt collector, and then proceeds to defend his territory from mad scientists, zombies, and the occasional squid attack origin, but Powell keeps it fresh enough to work. An artistic sensibility that is best described as “What if Chester Gould was really the Son of Sam?” carries the book a long way.
I suppose I should probably talk about the absurdity now.
By which I mean, I would really really like some of what Eric Powell has been taking. It can’t be legal, and I’m pretty sure it ain’t organic. Jazzing up the adventure, which has the Goon going after a leprous grave-digging family, we have a giant spider with a memory disorder, a trash-talking reverse-zombie (that’s a living man who craves the flesh of the dead), and – my favorite, and I’m sure it will be yours – spontaneously combusting orangutans. At first the book is zany, then after a while you say “okay, it’s zany I get it,” but it keeps coming, beating down your cynicism until your eyes go wide and you’re laughing your ass off screaming “this is frikkin’ nuts!”
THE GOON is disgustingly, relentlessly absurd – in all the right ways. Now it’s in comic shops everywhere, in Sunday-comics color which really plays up the wonderful insanity of it all. And it’s time for it to find the mainstream audience it deserves. So buy it.
But don’t say I didn’t warn you.
OUTSIDERS #1
Judd Winick: Writer
Tom Raney & Scott Hanna: Artists
DC Comics: Publisher
Vroom Socko: Looking In
Well shame on me.
After the fiasco that was Graduation Day, I’d decided not to purchase Judd Winick’s follow-up book. Would my questions about GD #3 be answered in Outsiders #1? Didn’t know, didn’t care. But then Cormorant stumbled down into the @$$hole Clubhouse bar, going on about what a blast it was, how the art kicked ass, how it was possibly his favorite comic of the week. I had recently, shall we say, acquired a keg of Widmer Bros. Sommerbräu, and the Village Idiot and I had managed to polish off most of it, so Corm managed to sway me. The next day, I went and picked up the book.
All I can say is that in this instance, Cormorant is a bird-brained nitwit.
Howdy folks, Cormorant here! This week we've got a real barnburner of a – hey, what the fuh? Dammit, this isn't a new column! Oh, I see - Vroom just mentioned my name three times in his review and it magically summoned me. It's a Beetlejuice thing, you wouldn't understand. Wait a sec, I'm at Ain't-It-Cool-News – everyone will understand. Anyway, I'll be back at the end of the review for a rebuttal, but first, I return you to the good Mr. Socko…
At the end of Graduation Day #3, I was left wondering just why Metamorpho popped up out of nowhere, why this blue-skinned robot chick had traveled back in time, and why Nightwing was so blatantly out of character. At the end of the Outsiders initial outing, I’m still wondering.
The robot chick, Indigo, has been rebuilt and repaired, but has no memory of the events of Graduation Day. Much as I envy her for that, knowing just why she made this trip through time might have given her character an added dimension. After four issues you’d think that having just the one might be a bit uncomfortable.
Then there’s Metamorpho, who’s just been brought back to life after apparently dying in JLA #1. His memory’s a bit spotty though; he remembers his life as Rex Mason, and how his abilities work, but little else. For example, he doesn’t remember reviving from the events of JLA #1 in the pages of JLA/JSA Secret Files and Origins, nor does he remember his appearance in last month’s Birds of Prey #55. That Winick fucked up the history of the single tie to the original Outsiders (single that is, unless you count Nightwing’s newfound resemblance to C. Thomas Howell,) is disappointing, but there’s another possibility that’s even worse. Some people on the DC message boards have been theorizing that this Metamorpho isn’t the real McCoy - he just thinks he is. Perhaps he’s even a fragment of the real Rex that’s developed its own personality. If this turns out to be true it’ll prove to be twice as disappointing, considering that the SAME FUCKING THING pretty much happened to Robotman when Doom Patrol was relaunched a year or two ago.
The two new characters are pretty much there just to look cool for cool’s sake. The first is the Beyoncé Knowles lookalike Thunder, whose power is the ability to become super-dense. Feel free to make up your own joke. She’s also the daughter of Black Lightning, which is funny, because my impression was that he didn’t have any children. The other new character is Grace, a “sexy” combination of Michelle Yeoh in Wing Chung and Vin Diesel in XXX. Yawn. While I wouldn’t expect to learn a great deal about these two in the first issue of a team book, I would expect to learn enough to make me want to know more, or at least care who they are. Can you tell that I don’t care?
As for Nightwing, all I have to say is that if he’s not being written by Devin Grayson or Chuck Dixon, I’m not reading.
Teen Titans is still a book I’m willing to risk buying, mostly because of the involvement of Geoff Johns. But as for Outsiders, the first issue is also my last.
Cormorant back again, and you can tell my opinion is more important than Vroom's, 'cause look, my words appear in the bitchin' maroon boldface that indicates editorial power at AICN! What I really wanna know, Vroom, is how you can go multiple paragraphs reviewing THE OUTSIDERS without mentioning Tom Raney's terrific art! I know you don't want to give an inch in your dislike of it, but 'cmon – this is the best kind of classic superhero art, packed with detail, great costume design, and expressive characters. Metamorpho's visuals in particular wowed me, with Raney's re-design creeping the character up just a bit without losing the classic Metamorpho color scheme. I think Raney's art shows the same promise and energy as did John Byrne's art during his 70's UNCANNY X-MEN run.
Now. I freely admit that I didn't read the GRADUATION DAY miniseries which, by many accounts, was poopy, and seems to have old-school DC fans ready to throttle Judd Winick. I've enjoyed DC's world every since I threw myself into it circa the mid-80's and all the post-CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTH revamps, but I'm not what you'd call an old-school fan, and I'm not particularly beholden to continuity. With Nightwing's uncharacteristic testiness, I chalk it up to the particular stresses of losing two friends during the GRADUATION DAY fiasco (which is made pretty obvious in the issue) and just hope that Winick won't be writing him as such a bitter guy for the entire run. I doubt he will. One of my favorite moments of character interraction in the issue was when Arsenal noted that maybe the problem with the Titans is that they were too much of a family, that it kept them from functioning with the ease of, say, the Justice League. I think Nightwing's bitterness was probably Winick's way of backing that idea. A little forced? Perhaps, but a fair shorthand for a first issue needing to establish how the Outsiders are going to be different from Nightwing's past team.
As for Metamorpho, yep, it sounds like a screw-up, or a case of the right hand not talking to the left hand at DC editorial, but that one I forgive simply because I like Winick's take on Metamorpho. I can probably even imagine that Metamorpho's appareance in BIRDS OF PREY takes place a few months down the line from the first issue of OUTSIDERS if I need to make the continuity jibe, but if this book turns out to have any kind of legs, I really won't care in a few years if the timelines matched up perfectly or not. Sometimes I think that fans don't appreciate what a monumental task it must be for Marvel and DC to keep track of the hundreds of chesspieces on their respective boards. Me, I'll let the small stuff slide as long as the stories are good. I think it's part and parcel of buying into a world whose ongoing history is shaped by scores of creators…simultaneously.
Ah, but we could argue continuity stuff all the livelong day, and it doesn't really get me any closer to telling readers what I liked about the book. To wit:
-The Arsenal/Nightwing back-and-forthing, especially Arsenal tweaking Dick's overseriousness with some of his membership suggestions.
-The slow build-up to reveal the Big Bad, who happens to be one of my personal favorite DC villains.
-The flashbacks to Arsenal recruiting the team. I'm a sucker for recruiting vignettes, and while the scenes were a little by-the-book, the pacing was tight enough to infuse them with a fast-paced energy.
-The easy relationship between Arsenal and Grace, and just the premise behind Grace. I'm sure I've seen super-powered bouncers before, but I like the idea of one working in the confines of a team.
-Metamorpho, period. I equate Metamorpho with Ben Grimm and Robotman from the Doom Patrol - the tough guy with the heart of gold - and it's one of my favorite character types. Visually, he's fantastic.
-The traditionalist vibe of the piece. Characters and their powers are introduced quickly and efficiently, a base is established, and some "first adventure" momentum realized by the last panel. I enjoy it now, but wish I'd read it as a kid. Perfect example of a jumping-on issue.
-The hot chicks. It's actually kind of refreshing, if not at all PC, to see a superhero book embrace a little sensuality again. Hmm, and I suppose Nightwing and Arsenal are pretty hunky too. Great costume redesign on Arsenal.
Those are the high points for me. OUTSIDERS is no radical reinvention of the team superhero book, but as I find myself increasingly disinterested in Marvel's infatuation with realism, yet not enough of a continuity buff to fully appreciate JSA, I think OUTSIDERS may be the team book for me. I like the characters, love the art, and feel that Winick's on a roll having signed an exclusive contract with DC recently. I'm recommending OUTSIDERS to the casual DC reader, the guy like me who's just looking for a fun team adventure book and who's not keeping track of a few continuity snafus.
Nightwing should unclench a little, though.
INDIE JONES
We here at Indie Jones Headquarters would like to explain that, yes, there are submissions that we have yet to get to writing about or responding to, but there is a very reasonable explanation for this: we suck at mail. There is in fact a large pile of envelopes lining my desk that look enough like bills to be terrifying (we are rather lucky that Indie Jones Headquarters has not yet been repossessed), and also sitting in a pile are comic books sent in by AICN readers, waiting for their shot at comics-column glory (hey, indulge me). As such, we won’t be putting out the call for more self-published comics again for a little while, as there are still a number of comics already sent in that we’d like to discuss.
Starting with this one. Okay, I’m not sure what that cover’s about - it’s nice looking, if you like the whole girl-fleeing-in-terror thing, but isn’t really indicative of what’s inside. What we’ve got here is sort of an antithesis of last year’s graphic novel hit CREATURE TECH. Not there there’s any real relation between the books (certainly not one that I can explain without revealing way too much from the plot of both comics), but anyone who complained about the serious, faintly dogmatic core that was candy-coated by the uber-wacky plot of Doug Tennapel’s volume would perhaps be more satisfied with GREAT APE – this one’s all sugar.
The one-shot, authored by the man who brought you “The Disinformation Guide to The Invisibles,” centers around a primate specialist named Jenny who is contacted by the U.S. government to study a very special animal they discovered in the deepest jungles of Africa. Of course this ape is more than your average primate, as Jenny discovers when it starts creating bananas out of thin air and walking on water. Like in any good comedy, the characters treat the situation with absolute seriousness despite the profoundly silly explanation for the monkey’s miraculous abilities, and this deadpan quality is emphasized by Brahma’s wonderful cartooning. His character designs alone are wonderful and a source of comedy in and of themselves, particularly with the Mark Trail-like Professor and his pipe that seems to hang just outside of his mouth. The relatively simply-rendered characters are shown at odd angles, cinematically captured from below, comically portrayed from askew.
With Neighly’s nimble goofiness, the collaboration keeps the pace moving along briskly and results in surprisingly good-natured takes on potentially offensive material—such as the aforementioned professor’s exclamations of “Ms. Lamplighter! There’s a snake in my pants and I need your help!” (He means it literally). Not to mention the nature of the monkey’s unusual powers, which somehow stay firmly on the near side of the funny/disturbing division, like when he dispatches a trouble-maker by turning him into a butterfly, with mustache still intact. It’s all integrated with traditional monkey stuff, culminating in the chase scene where the feds herd the mega-monkey into the most appropriate of NYC locations, because “how often does one get the chance to hunt an ape in the Empire State Building?”
GREAT APE reminds me of one of those bent cartoons I faintly remember seeing late one night on PBS, like “The Cat Came Back” or “Bambi Meets Godzilla,” in that even though I can’t recall exactly what happened or just who was responsible, the mere thought of those cartoons gets me smiling (or, with Bambi, giggling madly, because that’s one of the funniest cartoons ever). Just so with Great Ape; it’s a fun
