New Beginnings - The Names #1

by Matt Puddy

So when I picked up this new issue of Vertigo’s new title of The Names I thought “What’s going on here then?” On first inspection I saw a woman in a slinky dress with a knife. On second look I see the silhouette of a falling man and numbers... lots of number and even some equations. Even the cover of this comic is subtly saying that there’s more to this than at a casual first glance.

You know something is wrong the moment you start reading Peter Milligan’s tale, as you are introduced to a character who could be incredibly influential to the story, but is being coerced into a suicide note and then throws himself out the window. An unwilling scapegoat, perhaps, of the man known as the Surgeon.

Faced with the apparent suicide of her husband Kevin, combined with the new “revelation” that maybe her husband suffered with depression, Katya Walker starts to unravel a little. Her husband potentially wasn’t what she thought and she has a selectively mute stepson that she doesn’t know how to communicate with. Eventually all the frustration starts to seep out. It’s only the arrival of a strange phone - complete with a cautionary if not also cryptic message - that awakens a new side of Katya.

All the while the wheels are turning in the background.  A shadowy cabal, that the Surgeon is part of, plays with the world's finances on their individual whims. However, even this isn't going quite according to plan as they are even plagued by The Loops – a sentient program that is causing even them problems.

Behind another door, Philip (Katya’s stepson) is showing there is more to himself as well. Aside from bordering on mathematical genius, he also has a very soft spot for Katya. Hidden away in books are pictures of her and he feels an amount of remorse towards his father, as if he has done something or feels something he shouldn’t. You can’t help but wonder what his involvement is, or will be, with the bigger picture.

Desperate to get to the bottom of this mystery, Katya starts to use the information from the phone - even if it didn’t make sense - to entrap and drag information out of Marco, a man that is linked to it all. Will it open everything up, or will he just have a snippet of information that points her in the right direction? She’s not going to rest until her husband is avenged. Wall Street meets Kill Bill.

I like Peter Milligan’s writing, I’ve enjoyed his Five Ronin series, as well as when he started off the Red Lantern titles, so it’s no surprise I enjoyed this as well. One criticism though is that sometimes the direction changes in the story felt a little abrupt. The narrative jumps were jarring, with little or no connection to the previous section; there is little natural flow to the story. You still get wrapped up in each new section though, but it can throw you a little.

Leandro Fernandez has put a lot into this and through the letter at the back you got a brief glimpse at the consultative approach that creating this comic has taken. His style is fairly minimal, only using details when needed to highlight specific things when needed for the story. He’s also managed to create some interesting forms and archetypes. Katya is a strong female protagonist, but without being overly muscular or becoming super heroic parody of a human. The Surgeon on the other hand is gangly and creepy, the stuff corporate nightmares are made of. Even Philip gives off a very sombre feel that fits his implied character as well. Although it’s a little subdued for my normal tastes as well, it still looks really good and as I said the characters have a real feel about them.

It makes a nice change to have a story that isn’t revolving around superpowers or the supernatural. OK, so a secret syndicate of incredibly powerful and ridiculously immoral men running the world from the shadows isn’t anything new as conspiracies go, but it certainly adds a different dimension to the story when an apparently normal person has to break that, whilst also including the cyberterrorism angle as well.

Put all together it’s not bad at all. As you might expect form a Vertigo title, it is an adult (or at least teen) comic with realistic violence and partial nudity.  Plenty of things to come I reckon, including what the hell Kevin meant about Champion!?

Matt Puddy is packing up and heading to LV-223...

New Beginnings - Bodies #1

by Matt Puddy

Bodies is not the most enigmatic title I have come across in recent times yet combined with the cover imagery of a glamorous woman from the Fifties complete with blood splatters, it certainly makes it a perplexing offering.

When you add in the premise for this comic, it’ll throw you out even more. Four time periods, four detectives, four murders, identical MO, identical location – the twist? It’s the same body.

Spread over 1890, 1940, 2014 and 2050, the story follows four distinctly individual sleuths, each trying to get to the bottom of an apparently impossible body. Each has their own foibles and quirks, but all are dedicated to the cause. They all also seem to have their own trials to overcome. Whether it be religion, sexual preference, intelligence (albeit through the devolution of society) or simply sadistic tendencies, all four of our crime fighters are up against it in one way or another. 

From a reader's point of view, you get an entry level whodunit with the added advantage of seeing the body through the eyes of various people who all pick up on different things. It’s a professional job, but one with a ritualistic killing as it was marked with a sign. It also seems to appear in whichever time you see it in out of thin air regardless of who is around. So from your own perspective it creates a lot of different questions around the whole thing too.

From a writing perspective Si Spencer clearly has a wide ranging plan. From reading his piece in the back, it is clear that a lot of time has been spent engineering the whole impossible idea in reverse to make it happen. I can’t decide if it’s too convoluted to be kept under control, or if it’s just on the right side of crazy to border on genius.

Whichever way it lies, careful consideration has been made over a lot of the different elements. Instead of burdening one artist with the peculiarities of drawing in wildly different styles, no less than nine artists are all attached to this project. Four are directly linked by the artwork in each timeframe, with the others adding sections and covers alike. It’s quite a bold step but it works well as it gives a very strict differentiating factor to keep all the time lines unique - aside from the identical body that is!

The individual artist styles also compliment the timelines that they portray, including an almost soft and fluffy future where knowledge being constantly forgotten seems to be a big issue. I also wouldn’t be surprised if there was a lot more hidden in there too as a result.

Combine it all together and Vertigo have an interesting title with a delightfully abnormal approach, led by a writer who is obviously very committed and enthusiastic about the project. You can’t question Spencer’s love of what he’s doing here. I just hope he hasn’t bitten off more than he can chew.

Will the stories cross? How will this all be solved and resolved? We will be sure to find out.

Matt Puddy is fascinated by what comes next.

New Beginnings - Trillium #1

The last time I saw Jeff Lemire’s work, it was on the New 52’s reboot of Animal Man (although Lemire is currently working on Justice League Dark and Green Arrow). For some reason the grittiness and harsh images from the first issue stuck with me and have become synonymous with his work and name, though of course that Animal Man was pencilled by Travel Foreman. I'm not hugely familiar with Lemire's own artwork on things like The Nobody and Sweet Tooth, both Vertigo titles. So it was largely fresh experience for me as I picked up his new Vertigo title: Trillium.

The first issue of Trillium is a tale of two halves in the most literal sense, which is a strange statement to make but easier to explain when you see the comic itself. On the front cover you have the titles, the barcode and price, a large upside down character and then smaller imagery beneath that the right way up. Flip the book over and on the back cover you have exactly the same but with different images. Suddenly you realise it's not the back cover, but another front cover. Trillium #1 is two cleverly entwined stories, both leading to the centre of the issue and the same geographical and chronological point. Just with them both coming from very different starting places.

Chapter one is set in the year 3797 where we meet a scientist, Nika, who is studying a native tribe called the Atabithians located on a far flung planet. Mankind has been hunted across the galaxy by a sentient virus, but now there is a chance for survival in an indigenous plant that is part of the Trillium species. Sadly it's in located within the Atabithians' village, and the previous attempt to enter ended in fatalities to the first team. 

Given that this story can only last for half a comic it moves quickly and before long Nika is finding her way into the village, despite her AI (Essie) trying to persuade her to see sense. Being more culturally sensitive to the situation - or maybe simply lucky - Nika is taken within and experiences a new side of the Trillium. Her limited translation programme can only help out in minor fragments, which means she has a limited idea of what is happening as she is lead away to a temple. Stepping through the temple changes everything though as she is confronted by a man armed with a machete.

Chapter 1.2 is the story of The Soldier set in 1921. Scouring the Amazon as part of an exploration party we meet William. A man who is haunted by his past experiences in the Great War and is having a hard time separating his memories from reality. Whereas Nika’s story has a very current feel to it, William's is more supported with flashbacks and previous events. Essentially a man living very much in his own past.

As they beat their way deeper into the forest, their local guide is getting more and more scared as they approach a “bad village.” Given the sight of strung up bodies and barely compus mentis man (who you may recognise from Nika's story) it's quite understandable. When they are attacked the flimsy line between his mind and the present moment blurs, leaving William fleeing and fighting for his life once more. He barely survives an encounter as he is pounced upon by a native tribesman and fends him off with a machete. Bewildered and disoriented he finds a pyramid temple. Rounding a corner he is confronted by our protagonist scientist from 3797.

Now with the obvious exception of the time and space connotations, I have to be honest that I have no idea of where this is going, but I can think of plenty of ideas. Lemire’s story is a good combination with a unique opening. I have also liked the way in that the individual characters have had their own personalities bleed into their own evolving stories. That said I did find that Nika’s story felt longer and moved quicker.

Lemire's artwork here is reminiscent of Eduardo Risso's work on Spaceman. It's fairly similar if not a lot more colourful. Whilst not the neatest of work, the big expanses convey lots of information without being too intricate. In contrast the smaller frames are filled with nonspecific details. I feel it suffers when it concentrates too much on individuals though, as the faces can lose some of their integrity and look a bit childish.

The presentation of the comic is very interesting and the story itself - coming from two very different angles at the same time - is also intriguing. I'm not sure how it will all unfold but it's definitely worth a look, especially for Lemire fans.

Matt Puddy does his best to not eat strange flowers.

New Beginnings - FBP Federal Bureau Of Physics (aka Collider)

Editor's note: since this article was written, Vertigo have retitled this comic for legal reasons as FBP Federal Bureau Of Physics. All subsequent issues and graphic novel collections will be released under this new title.

When I hear the word “collider” for some reason my thoughts switch immediately to Switzerland, and couples “Large” and “Hadron” to it as well. Maybe it’s my keen scientific brain - or more likely it’s because it’s an infrequently used word and those three words are normally associated together by today’s media.

So when I saw this week’s comic for review, yes my mind went to that place as well.

Collider is a new title on DC’s Vertigo label brought to us by Simon Oliver and Robbi Rodriguez. Oliver is a known Vertigo writer having been on The Exterminators (his own brainchild), Gen 13 and as part of the Hellblazer 20th anniversary issues. Rodriguez is not as well known, but has been working for the major publishers such as Marvel, for Fear Itself, and Image.

The story opens some time back in Mexico where an experiment, or scientific monitoring, is going wrong and in a final attempt to leave a message for his wife and son, the professor on screen leaves a formidable and lasting message. Given the right conditions, the impossible’s always possible.

Skipping to present day and a 911 call, everything seems normal until the operator utters “..and the nature of your emergency... Fire, Ambulance, Police... or Physics?”

It was at this point I paid a lot more attention. Physics? The first three I expected entirely, maybe even Coastguard, but what on earth did they mean by Physics as an emergency service? It was explained in the next page as the FBP – the Federal Bureau of Physics – were dispatched to the location.

The Bureau specialises in fixing quantum and temporal anomalies as they appear and this is where we meet our main bulk of characters. As individuals they are fairly archetypal. The main male protagonist is dealing with the death of his father (the Professor in the opening scene) whom he never met, whilst also contending with the fact that someone may have stolen his breakthrough research. There's also his partner Jay, an old school Company Man cut from an even older style of cloth and Cicero Deluca, the new by-the-numbers Special Agent leading the team.

As you would guess they are fairly dysfunctional as a team but seem to work well together. It’s only when welding a quantum tear that gravity begins to drop rapidly and unexpectedly things do change. Jay and Adam - who have worked together and built a rapport - know what should be going on, but Deluca isn’t so sure. As a result Adam is dropped into an open vortex. What this will do to him remains to be seen by the end of this first issue.

To complicate matters further, the greedy hands of politics are getting involved with how these matters are dealt with. It seems corruption transcends everything. A shady deal and a shifty conversation open up the back story to show that there is a lot more going on than meets the eye.

As a story, Oliver’s tale isn’t anything massively new. The FBP is a really nice twist, but even though this is a mature comic it’s only the mild sexual references that make it so. It’s a fairly easy and understandable premise. Rodriguez’s artwork is clear and gentle on the eyes. It’s very much a foreground style with little in the background (if anything) to distract the reader from the story. This isn’t a bad thing as it makes way for a very colourful depiction especially in the quantum frames and images. To a degree this does sometimes give it a Seventies sci-fi feel to it all, but then again that works too.

As a new comic is light, easy to read and importantly fun. I really enjoyed the physics elements which give it an interesting twist, although it may only be short lived like The Exterminators. Worth a look at if you’re after a new title which isn’t overly serious as it's not quite as dark as your normal Vertigo titles.

Matt Puddy thought he found a God particle once, but it was just a raisin.

New Beginnings - The Wake #1

Scott Snyder is a writer that I'm really enjoy reading the work of, so upon the news that I would be reviewing his new title The Wake, I was obviously excited.

Snyder has produced one of my favourite runs on Batman, but being on the mainstream DC label has sometimes meant that it has had certain constraints in terms of tone. The Wake however is being launched on Vertigo, another tick in a box for me as the label often comes up with some gems aimed at a more mature audience.

The story is broken into four main sections starting with a glimpse into the future with a teaser called The Quest. In a ruined, drowned city, we meet a lone scout and her friendly dolphin.

It’s a freak tidal wave that sends the story crashing back 200 years to The Call where we meet Dr Archer, a prominent scientist who has fallen out with certain government agencies in the past. Her expertise is desperately needed - and not easily gained - but her scientific curiosity draws her in with a recording of an underwater sound that is as familiar to her as it is alien.

This leads us to Base Camp, where a number of other significant heads from their respective fields are gathered. It’s only when they reach their prototype and illegal base facility that the real interest begins. All of them have been given different reasons to be there, all told different stories and what they needed to hear.

However, like blind men describing an elephant nothing matches even closely, but all are required to analyse the same thing. On entering the structure something has clearly gone horribly wrong and a man is in desperate need of medical attention. All the while the same noise that Archer was drawn to can be heard, leading her to the focus of all their attentions on the source. An imprisoned and monstrous aquatic individual.

To add further mystery, the final phase of the issue is The Storyteller, set 100,000 years ago. It shows a Neolithic man painting caves, who uses an alien device and which costs him his eyes. For what reason we don’t know yet but it will all slowly unfold.

Sean Murphy is the artist for this issue (known for his own recent title Punk Rock Jesus) and his pencils worked really well. When I first saw the issue it immediately reminded me of Kristian Donaldson’s work from on The Massive, or Chris Mooneyham’s work from Five Ghosts, and it fits with the story to a great degree. It isn’t overly defined but still gives a lot of detail. The facial expressions and body language on all of the characters are very emotive, with many of the frames not requiring scripting to convey personality or an idea. A slightly novel depiction in the work, is that sound effects are added to the frames. Not quite a camp as the Sixties' Batman but still making a presence and adding to the comic in a way not often seen in modern comics.

Normally I’m not one to enjoy a comic that doesn’t really tell you much in its inception, and to be honest this issue hasn’t really gone to great lengths to define where this series is going. However, there's just the right amount of information there in the groundwork to set the scene, whilst leaving you with open questions needing answers.

I really enjoyed this as a first issue. Personally it shouldn't be a case of if you should get this comic, but more when. The answer is now!

Matt Puddy is pleased this first issue made such a splash!

New Beginnings - Django Unchained #1

This Christmas the cinemas will see the release of the new Quentin Tarantino film, Django Unchained. We also have the timely release of a comic adaptation courtesy of Vertigo, which I assumed would merely be the illustrated depiction of the same story. However, there is a key difference as pointed out by Tarantino himself in the introduction. The story on the silver screen will have ultimately changed as the script is rewritten and the film is shot creation, but this comic has been made true to the original script.

To this extent it means that the comic is written by Quentin Tarantino from his first draft. Exciting times.

The story is set before the American Civil War, when the West was wild and slavery ran rife. Trading in 'workers' was the norm and more often than not a gun settled all disputes. From the very start this is all brought into play as the story unfolds with a chain gang being moved across the wilds from an auction.

Through this sequence we are given our two main characters - an unlikely pair. Django, a now former slave and Dr King Schultz, a now former dentist. Once free of the Speck brothers, they embark on a journey in search of their first targets. Although at first this isn’t clear why, it unfolds to reveal that Schultz is a bounty hunter - one with a very eloquent and educated manner about him. He’s also a man who sees past things and is in no way bothered by the colour of Django’s skin or the inherent racism that surrounds him too. For Dr Schultz is a man with focus and more importantly a plan. Something which is very well portrayed in the writing.

Unfortunately I sometimes found which a little over vocal, which was the point, but instead of feeling the frustration the other characters had with him I often found my mind wandering to Kevin Kline in Wild Wild West. Django on the other hand pulls no punches speaking his mind freely.

Although there is a clear plot to the story of one of our characters, which I believe will be rapidly fulfilled and become a plot vehicle, the main idea behind the story. Put simply, Django is to be trained and introduced to the world of bounty hunting, which will inevitably enable him to find his wife who was also sold to slavery.

The artwork has been provided by R.M. Guera, a Serbian artist who has done a lot of work throughout Europe but most importantly is on the longstanding title Scalped working with Jason Aaron. Whereas the artwork isn’t as detailed and clean as I prefer the one thing I can say is that it is completely full of emotion and every face tells a part of the story, most importantly the eyes.

It is also a great piece of work considering that his brief would have most likely been to make identifiable characters without making them obvious or similar to the actors portraying them on the big screen too. As a bonus to support this there are a couple of pages at the end of the comic dedicated to sketchbook work which I felt was a nice touch as well.

However, and I know that this is an odd observation, it seems he doesn’t like clouds as I don’t think I saw a frame with one in the sky. With a lot of the pages being fantastic to see I’m not really sure why I was drawn to this but I was.

As yet another easter egg the centre pages are a double page poster spread given to us by veteran artist Jim Lee.

The story as it has unfolded in this first issue is a good one that I liked; I found myself reading along with various voices in my head giving the lines, something I don’t always find when I read. I am very wary that the impending film release could overshadow this comic but I would encourage anyone who likes the film to read the comic and gain extras they wouldn’t see - there is a whole lot of promise in these pages. If I had room on my pull list then I think this one would be added to it.

Matt Puddy is almost ready for Christmas!

New Beginnings - New Deadwardians #1 & Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child #1

DC’s imprint Vertigo is certainly embracing the supernatural. This week and last week have seen two new arrivals onto the shelves with a common theme of the undead and their surrounding “lives”.

New Deadwardians is the new eight-part title from Dan Abnett (who is without his normal comics partner in crime Andy Lanning) and has relative newcomer INJ Culbard providing the artwork for this title.

The story is a strange one as our main character, Chief Inspector George Suttle, is the only police officer assigned to investigating murders. Unfortunately for him this is in a time - the Deadwardian Age - where it is hard enough to die let alone be murdered. The upper classes have voluntarily become vampires with the great unclean becoming exactly that – zombies.

The majority of the comic is set up to introduce this new world and loosely how it has come about. It’s also to introduce Suttle fully and how his position in society sits. Society is a key thing with this story too - sat in between the vampires and zombies are normal humans. A lot of time is spent in the dialogue to show this; a lot of accent is displayed through the use of common spelling and the almost cockney twang to it all. It’s cleverly done and will get the reader into the whole feel of it whilst also adding to the class divide, but I didn’t find it completely enthralling. The story only really picked up for me towards the end when the mystery of how do you kill a dead person without using the only known methods was posed.

Culbard’s artwork really didn’t inspire me either. It came across as basic and far too clean for the age that the comic was set in. A time full of grime and soot yet not a single spec of dirt was to be seen. It has a very muted tone to the colours which does seem to fit but that only fed the pedestrian pace further for me.

I loved the concept of this comic but the production just hasn’t hit it for me. (Whereas I loved it! A great start to an intriguing new comic, BF)

Created in a more contemporary time, and set in New Orleans, Dominique Laveau has a similar supernatural theme to it. However whereas in New Deadwardians Suttle had a firm grip on who he was, what his life revolved around and where he fit in the world, Laveau has none of this.

The whole comic is set in Treme in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The whole area is struggling to recover and survive, which is exactly where this begins with a werewolf attack on the residents. Fighting for her life and backed into a corner something strange happens saving her life. The search for answers is then the only avenue she can go down as she needs something to ground herself once more. In all of the action she hasn’t realised the shadowy figure watching in from the background.

Further development of the story shows how underneath the city lies a long standing religions and beliefs which have fought and changed over time. Some rising, some falling but all of them still being followed to differing levels. Completely unbeknownst to Dominique, she falls into the lap of her ancestors and the potential and power that is also entwined with it. As it slowly dawns on her what might have happened, as she still cannot quite believe it, the full scope of it all comes to light. Alongside the mysticism comes a darker, riskier side. If she felt that her evening earlier was bad, well the comic ends in a more sinister situation.

Selwyn Seyfu Hinds is a strange choice for me. I’ve couldn't find any previous comic work or indeed any fiction at all but that’s not a bad thing. Fresh blood so to speak. The story is punchy and very fast paced. In fact it rarely slows down which made for a very quick read for me. Even the “quiet” moments in the comic have an undertone to them which makes you read them and look around the whole page as you don’t want to miss out on any details. Careful planning has gone into how each of the characters act and interact with distinct personalities coming through. What’s also nice is that the characterisations can subtlety change even in this single issue as our heroine starts to piece things together. A nice touch.

The artwork is by Denys Cowan who has worked on Detective Comics in the past - in fact his depiction of Henri Ducard was then taken and revised to create Liam Neeson's character in Batman Begins. The dark setting and broken imagery that Cowan creates works incredibly well and supports the writing well. It can become a little too detailed in some frames and detracts away occasionally but on the bigger pieces I found that it gave you enough and kept up with the fast story.

The two elements worked well together and made for an enjoyable, albeit rapid, issue. It didn’t really expand on all of the elements but gave enough information to dangle some hooks for you to snap up. Of the two comics this was the one that grabbed me most this week. For a different take on an era combined with mystery then New Deadwardians would be worth a look at but for pace and excitement check out Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child.

Matt Puddy can see this year's Marvel summer event looming on the horizon

New Beginnings - Saga #1 & Saucer Country #1

This week we have two very different new comics to take a peek at. In one hand I have Paul Cornell’s Saucer Country and in the other Brian K Vaughn’s Saga. Both are brand new this week, both are sci-fi but both are from very different ends of the spectrum.

Saucer Country, on DC’s Vertigo imprint, is a new “real life” comic following the campaign of a Hispanic, divorced woman aiming to go from Governor to President in modern day America. Now this all sounds very politically correct (please excuse the pun) but there is a twist given away in the title for this is Saucer Country, land of the little green – or grey as you prefer - men.

The opening issue is one mainly dealing with the prejudices that Arcadia Alvarado is facing publicly but also opens up her private life too. She’s plagued with vivid dreams whilst sleeping and has a mind that plays tricks on her whilst she’s awake. All pointing towards something bigger and subliminal that is try to creep out but she just can’t quite get there. Equally you are also introduced to Professor Kidd who is her polar opposite with full blown interactive visions. Kidd isn’t the focus of the story in this issue so he’s brushed over but there is something to build from. The story starts to capitulate with an impassioned and driven speech, however the final twist is left to burst into the story as it ties everything together. We are being invaded and the Governor is there to stop it.

Cornell is a well known writer and most recently has finished a stint on Stormwatch, Demon Knights and Batman & Robin for DC. I’ve known a lot of his work over the last couple of years whether it is comic or TV but this time I have to admit I struggled. The story is labelled as for mature readers and that is completely true. I actually think it was a little mature for me as I use comics as my own little world of escapism. Please don’t misunderstand me when I say this though as it’s well written and full of feeling, just not what I expected or was looking for.

From a very similar writing creed we also have Saga from Brian K Vaughn. This comic has to have one of the most unique openings I have ever read with the immortal line of “Am I shitting? It feels like I’m shitting!” and from there on it, in its very own quirky way, the story continues. Moving from one extreme in Cornell’s writing to the other end of the scale Saga is almost a Shakespearian Romeo and Juliet affair, if you crossed it with The Terminator. The story is told in part in a retrospective point of view from the daughter who has just been brought into the world.

As much as it is a different type of story, it’s also the same too. This is all set with a political backdrop. The war is based on prejudice and a lack of understanding of a different people. When stripped back to its bare bones this is a story that has been told numerous times in a variety of forms. It is the surrounding aesthetics that make it different and new.

Vaughn’s previous writing on the Buffy comic is quite evident here as there are horns and wings aplenty! What is interesting is that Vaughn’s opposing stance in the story is an almost mechanical and robotic one. The mix of cultures, ideas and images does create a lot to think about especially when it has a hint of lore also interwoven through its fabric. The other strange thing about it is that the more I think about it the more I notice, like the strong feeling of responsibility, tradition and honour that also underlies it all. I’ve been really impressed by the story and found it a very entertaining read as well.

Fiona Staples has provided the artwork and is not a familiar artist for me. Her work isn’t as detailed as I prefer but it is packed full of emotion and sentiment. There are frames when the written pieces are only in support of her work so I’d count that as an achievement. It also supports the story as a whole and works very well with the writing.

Of the two comics Saga has made a bigger impression on me and is the one I would most likely follow. Saucer Country definitely has an X-Files appeal but isn’t the type of thing I read, however it is something that I think others will take a shine to. Interesting work from both screenwriters indeed!

Matt Puddy is resting his foot and eagerly awaiting The Hunger Games

Why Should I Read... Preacher?

"Why?"

As humans, it's the first thing we learn to ask. It's inherent, in our nature, in our very core of existence to ask, to want to know. The problem we have is what we do when we don't have an answer to hand.

Preacher takes you through one man's "why". Your guide is Garth Ennis, and to be honest with you, Garth is more than a little messed up. Reading Preacher is a little like asking a syphilitic Bulgarian whore to guide you through your home town. You'll think you know what you're going to see, but you sure as hell won't have looked at it this way before, and when you've finished you'll be itchy and smell funny.

You can read about Garth Ennis all over the place. He's regarded very highly in his field and he made his name on Preacher. I don't need to sell you this stuff. It's been done. But I can tell you why I love it.

Real life is a smorgasbord. An eclectic mix of happiness, anger, sadness and contentment. For most, life is lead by its relationships. Your family, your friends, your boss, your significant other - all the people who have direct influence over your life. The best stories, in this blogger's erstwhile opinion, are those which show you people. Ennis creates characters who are relatable. There's nothing unique about that, any good writer will do it. What Ennis does is show you people. People in their glory, people in their shame. He centres his story around a reverend. A reverend who fights, drinks, swears and has sex. All good reverends should, because that's life. The reverend can speak with the Voice of God, is hunted by saints, angels and the Vatican army, has a best friend who's a vampire and wants to punch God in the face. Well, that's not so much what people are about, but it's the hook for the meat to hang on.

That's Ennis' magic. Here's a story about heaven and hell, about vampires and secret Papal armies. Here's a story about people who shoot themselves in the face and don't die, but just end up looking like an arse. Here's a story about a man who has sex with a massive pile of meat shaped like a woman. Here's a story about a cowboy who takes over from the Angel of Death. Ennis serves all this up to his readers and we tuck in like a fat kid at second breakfast. You eat and you eat, because all the swearing, fighting and fucking sit on your meal like so much salt and pepper. It tastes good. Ennis cooks up depth, intrigue and history and heaps them on your plate while you're still savouring your favourite mouthfuls. When you are almost full, he brings you comic relief as a palette cleansing sorbet. It's not too saccharin, it fits and you know why it's there; because without it you'd vomit when you moved from your starter of drug addiction and child abuse to your main of religious fanaticism and the loss of family.

You finish eating. You wipe your mouth with your serviette and you walk away from the table, full from the banquet of fantasy reading. A few days later, when you look at yourself naked in the mirror, you have love handles. They're not made of vampires and rednecks like you thought they were. They are filled with the understanding of human condition.

Is my meal metaphor played out? Yeah, it probably is. Don't worry, I'll close out with the one I almost used and you'll be grateful for the food bit. My point is that Preacher has something to sate any appetite. It is made up of all the brutal ridiculousness of life. You can read Preacher and take away as little or as much as you like. Ennis has a multilayered story, that ebbs and flows as well as anything else I've ever read.

It's hard to read though. It's crude, cruel and filthy. Like life. Trouble with that is that the reader will have to want to confront life to read it. So if when you asked why for the first time, you couldn't cope with "I don't know yet." as an answer, Preacher isn't for you. The art work is visceral, gritty. Ennis's story blends with it beautifully, to create a purple-headed beast that takes "I don't know" and shoves it up your arse. You can scream all you want, but that's where it's headed. My advice would be relax and enjoy it, otherwise you might tear something.

Chris Boyle has more metaphors than you've had hot dinners.

Why Should I Read... Transmetropolitan?

Have you ever been drip fed an alternate reality? Chances are you've only found one or two authors who can give you a whole new world to be in. Warren Ellis can be added to that list. Actually, if you read all 10 volumes of Transmetropolitan, you will probably put Warren Ellis at the top of the list.

This isn't a review. Transmetropolitan, along with the rest of Ellis's work has been reviewed by better minds than mine (and worse, for that matter) and the information about the work is out there. So no, this is not a review. It is simply me sharing what I think are the reasons to read this wonderful story.

The world in which Transmetropolitan is set is pretty much our own. It's a little more advanced, and a little more extreme, but it's certainly on a par. One of the first things I noticed about the world created here is the superb idiosyncrasies that it holds up to a fish eye lens. It uses these to highlight the stupidity of humanity and wry humour is certainly the spotlight used to do it. In the futuristic world of Transmetropolitan, smoking has not been eradicated, despite it's lethal consequences; instead, each carton is sold with a blister pack of pills, preventative medicine for cancer, heart disease and emphysema. An idea that wraps our idiocy and potential up in one neat joke and drops it into the background, for you to take at your leisure.

The artwork of Transmetropolitan is, much like the story, chaotic, multi-faceted and fast paced. It allows you to take what you want from it, but always has more to offer. The panoramic streetscapes are my favourite pieces. They have the feel of a "Where's Wally?" masterpiece, if Wally was a lunatic with a penchant for whores, sci-fi, stimulants and violence. The more you look, the more offensive fun you see. Whilst artist Darick Robertson varies his style through the series, the feel is maintained and continues to fit the story in such a way that you don't have to think about it. You're not looking at the artist's rendition of the world, but the world itself. It's not always pretty, but it is honest, and painfully so.

The character work that Ellis presents is masterful. Every character is apparently one dimensional. A stereotype, representing an easily identifiable subsection of society. But every character has a depth, or a depravity to them. The politicians, criminals, journalists, and street kids all have a multilayered back story that's whispered to you, like a secret you deserve to hear. In doing this, Ellis illustrates the complex nature of people every time he introduces you to, or revisits a character. Holding up a mirror to everything around you, without pious, is a gift that Ellis gives without prejudice and it's one that everyone should take.

But most of all, if there is one reason above all others to read Transmetropolitan, there's a man. A man who is the best and worst of things. A man who is a juxtaposition of everything a self aware man is. A man burning with the rage of righteous indignation, the messiah of the observant. A man who can be summed up in three words:

Spider. Fucking. Jerusalem.

Now, everyone I've introduced to this book tells me that I love Transmetropolitan because I'm so like Spider. Whilst to me, that is a massive compliment, it's not true. Spider is much more of the man I wish I could be. The fact that he's a fictional character makes me all the more pathetic I'm sure, but make no mistake about it: Spider Jerusalem is a hero. He looks at what you look at, the things that you see as wrong, and he strikes them down, with witty and foul language, unrelenting savagery and complete lack of boundaries. All those social frustrations you have are taken on and sorted out, with extreme prejudice. For every time you wished you could assault the dregs of society for being the millstones around the necks of society, Spider does it for you. For every time you wish you could expose the short comings of our leaders to the masses, Spider does it for you. For every time you wish you could be a bastard, Spider is THE bastard.

Plus, the guy has a gun that makes people shit themselves.

So why should you read Transmetropolitan? It's a funny, sweary, dirty, satirical side swipe at the world. It just might wake your brain up enough to make a positive change. After all, you can't sleep forever, can you?

Guest blogger Chris Boyle is just getting warmed up...

New Beginnings Extra - Spaceman #1

I’ve never really read any comics on the Vertigo label. Not because I don’t like them or think they’re bad, but because I’ve not really taken the time to get to know them. I have enjoyed some of the film adaptations such as Constantine and The Losers but I am aware that the Hollywood influence will have distorted them a little to make them more media friendly. So getting to take a look at the new nine part title Spaceman was a very interesting experience.

Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso have worked together to produce the title. Both are well respected and I’m sure most readers may have come across their work knowingly or otherwise. Readers of Vertigo titles will possibly know of their run on 100 Bullets in 2001 where they won the Eisner Award for best serialised story. They recently produced the excellent Flashpoint miniseries, Batman: Knight Of Vengeance.

Spaceman is set at some point in the future with an almost bleak outlook. Man has reached even further out into the stars while at the same time not being able to prevent the world declining. The decline is in every respect as well, economically, ecologically and socially. There is a distinct Blade Runner feel to it, but without the overcrowding or technological impact, but with the exception of genetically engineered beings such as Orson.

The story follows Orson and his new life back on Earth after the Mars mission. Life is hard, especially for someone with a simian appearance and also a lower intellect than others around him. But life continues all the same. Some of the language can be a little confusing at first but it’s consistent meaning you can establish a base and get into it and become more involved in the story. The issue is very much about establishing the world around Orson. Meanwhile there is also a back story running about a kidnapping. Whilst this does become an integral part of the story, in the build up I really liked the poke at celebrity society and reality TV that it makes. You can’t help but feel that very quickly Orson is going to be thrust into the limelight with interesting consequences.

The feel of the comic is further helped by the artwork and colouring. The linework is incredibly fine and there is a lot of detail but without cluttering up the frames either. It makes it a very light and easy read. Each page is also washed with colour too which enhances the feeling of them. Combined together I think Risso’s work really enhances the story.

To mark the new beginning Vertigo have made this title just $1.00 for the first issue. It’s a good way to entice readers as I would also be tempted simply by this fact alone if I was looking for something new and for £1.00 (in Proud lion) you’re not really going wrong at all.

I can see this will get the interest of some readers too, but it needs to develop more and give more of a direction in the story as it is very open and could lead to anything.

Matt Puddy managed to avoid all references to Babylon Zoo...

Five By Five - Comics, week 1: Y: The Last Man (lucky so and so)

In an effort to stem the tide of my loquacity, (a Herculean task, as evidenced by my over-use of brackets) for the forseeable future my columns are going to narrow in focus a little. For the next five weeks, that focus will be on comics, a different one each time around, in an effort to expand my graphic novel horizons. If you’re expecting a traditional review then I would direct you to The Watcher or any of Proud Lion’s other fine review features, as this is likely to be more of a meandering - post-modern series of musings in the manner of James Joyce, Virginia Woolf, or y’know, that drunk guy you met on the train once.

Luckily Proud Lion’s proprietor Mr Fardon himself knows me well, so I sit clutching a comic (or graphic novel to give it its grown up moniker) that could have been made for me in my eager, hot little hands. Let’s face it, even the title has me quivering with anticipation: ‘The Last Man’. Is this some kind of feminist revenge fantasy?* Or a comment on the increasing infantilisation of the male gender as society plays out its own Peter Pan complex? Well no, but it’s just as exciting in its way. A plague of unspecified origin has wiped out every male sperm, foetus and fully grown mammal on the planet, leaving only protagonist Yorrick and his training-resistant helper monkey Ampersand untouched. The blurb on the back refers to this cataclysm as ‘gendercide’ and within the first few pages Yorrick’s sixty plus, ass-kicking, Congress-person mother is talking about being spanked. I’m already hooked.

Now just to get this out of the way, I realise there may be a (hopefully small) contingent of male readers out there who have only just flicked back to reading these words after a dreamy hour or two of staring into the middle distance and imagining life as the only man left on the planet. It may be all bikini clad lovelies, feasting like a king and endless blow jobs in your head, but Yorrick’s predicament is no mere male fantasy. And his position as lone male survivor makes him both different, and thus a threatening outsider, and valuable, and thus a potential commodity. One of his first experiences in this brave new world, sees him outed as male by a supermodel and almost sold to a brothel. The plague that kills of the men renders Yorrick a woman of sorts, and turns the world’s female population into men, all of a sudden struggling to grasp the vast powerhouse that swings open to them.

It’s a fascinating idea. I consider myself to be a feminist (raving only by request or on special occasions) yet if there was a major disaster it would be male voices I would look to for reassurance and guidance gliding out of the TV and radio, a kind of paternal authority that the modern world hasn’t managed to shrug off. Even in Western countries men outnumber women to a significant extent in positions of power across the board, from business to academia, from politics to religion. So perhaps it’s no surprise that when all the men suddenly up and die, it is the Secretary of Agriculture, a reluctant ‘farm girl’ as she describes herself, who suddenly becomes the President of the United States, dealing with squabbling political factions, religious extremists and a panicking populace into the bargain.

And this, of course, is another reason why anyone hoping for some kind of lone male utopia in Y: The Last Man will be disappointed. The women that remain are real and complex, with their own conflicting agendas. There are some of them who would like Yorrick to get busy spreading his seed around as much as possible, but there are plenty more who would just as soon kill him on sight, or study him in a lab, or put him to work in a freak show. Yorrick himself equally resists stereotyping, since far from playing the field, he spends the largest part of the story seeking out some sort of lovey-dovey, hearts and flowers reunion with his long-term girlfriend Beth. The characters throughout the story are eclectic from the singled minded Agent 355, to Israeli soldier Alter, to Yorrick’s own sister, Neo-Amazonian Hero.

The flip side of all of this though, is that the writer of Y: The Last Man could perhaps be accused of copping out of exploring what a world ruled by women would really be like, or at the very least they take the easy option out of it. In the story, the world ruled by women is... pretty much the same as the world ruled by men. And for the most part the characters portrayed as most sympathetic are those who seek to keep it that way. Yorrick is first in, lecturing his mother and her political colleagues when someone suggests throwing out the old constitution in favour of ‘Something new’. Now worthy a document as the constitution may be, I’d have liked to have seen more of the women deciding for themselves what sort of society to re-build, but maybe that’s just because I’m a crazy feminist. And crazy feminists don’t fair too well in this story. The only women really embracing the new world order are the misandrist Daughters of the Amazon, a collection of damaged and abused individuals for the most part, who turn away from their mistreatment by men and who believe that the plague is Mother Earth’s own purification ritual, cleansing herself of the male disease. They’re a problematic, if rather compelling group, not least because they very definitely do want to create a new kind of society, but one in which hatred of male-ness is central.

Despite this, it’s worth pointing out that Last Man would pass the Bechdel Test with flying colours. It’s a fascinating, thought-provoking read and the characterisation is largely spot on. And against my better judgement, I think Yorrick’s Mum might be one of my new heroines...

*Note: The majority of feminists do not really fantasise about the death of all men. Some of us even quite like them…

Kate Townshend is back, and better than ever!

Proud Lion Recommends I, Zombie

Phew, that last blog post is a monster. And not much fun for people who don't play boardgames. So now it's time for another monster, of a comic book and zombie variety.

The Walking Dead is a fairly definitive and seminal zombie comic, and there have been many imitators in recent years.

But I think we can all agree, DC/Vertigo tend not to jump on the bandwagon, preferring instead to give us considered and well produced storytelling such as Hellblazer, Sandman, Preacher, Transmetropolitan, Y: The Last Man, Fables, House Of Mystery and the wonderful Pride Of Baghdad OGN.

Next from this pedigree stable comes I, Zombie. This quirky and fun horror-fantasy comic is written by Chris Robertson, who recently wrote the excellent Fables spin-off, Cinderella: From Fabletown With Love.

The artwork is from the pencil of the wonderful Eisner Award winner, Michael Allred, creator of Madman and the man behind the much loved X-Statix mutants.

I was never a huge fan of his redesign of X-Force as it came after the wonderful Warren Ellis inspired Counter-X redesign that included a personal favourite of mine, Peter Wisdom, who came in and shaped the Cable-enamoured X-Force moppets into a no-nonsense Black Ops team. There was a really Global Frequency vibe there.

Still, there's no denying I was in the minority as X-Force sales and it's follow up X-Statix went through the roof. People still adore Doop and Allred's art really helped to sell that.

I Zombie #1 is out Friday May 7th in the UK due to the May Day Bank Holiday, and will cost just £1.00, part of DC/Vertigo's new debut issue for a dollar initiative. Here's the solicitation from the DC website:

Gwen Dylan is a gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery…and a zombie detective. Once a month, she has to eat a human brain – both to keep from going all "Night of the Living Dead," and to keep her own memories intact. As a result, Gwen's mind is crowded with the dead person's thoughts. And lately, she feels compelled to fulfill their final requests. Torn between a mysterious mummy and a dashing young monster-hunter, Gwen is set for adventures beyond imagination! A were-terrier, a swinging '60s ghost and a pack of paintball blasting vampires complete the cast of I, ZOMBIE.

It sounds fantastically mental! Gwen and the others debuted in a seven page story last year's House Of Mystery Halloween Annual and DC were kind enough to post those seven pages again on their Vertigo blog, entitled Graphic Content. You can find that blog here, but we've grabbed the seven pages for you to enjoy right now. Check out the awesome Shaun Of the Dead reference too!

If you like it, don't forget to place a pre-order! There's a Darwyn Cooke variant for issue #1 too, as seen at the beginning of this post. We have a couple coming in, but they won't last long!