At this point, it seems pretty clear Edmund Burke was right to caution restraint
when it comes to Revolutions. Aside from the Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution,
every revolution since the American Revolution has brought even greater suffering
and oppression than the people endured under the prior regime. Look at the
Iranian, French, and Cuban Revolutions. Yet, activists and college kids still
think it is cool to be a revolutionary. Cuba is a perfect case in point, but this
graphic novel ignores all the future censorship, imprisonment, and torture.
Instead, Brremaud largely tells a cynical gangster story in Havana Split,
Volume 1, illustrated by Vic Macioci, which goes on-sale tomorrow.
Apparently,
the CIA kicked John Botia to the curb, because he was too violent.
Nevertheless, he is one of the good guys. Since then, he has worked for Arnaldo
Valdes’s sleazy detective agency, reluctantly partnering with slimy Jose
Cojones, who makes it even sleazier. Valdes’s daughter Lily Turner left them
because of their seediness, but she returns after her mother’s death, having tired
of her step-father, for undisclosed reasons.
It
turns out to be a heck of time to visit—and not just because of the ruthless
Communist guerillas in the jungle. Using a gambling debt as a pretext, gangster
Don Alfonso kidnaps Valdes, demanding Botia and Cojones abduct his rival’s
lover, in exchange. Ordinarily, “The Ambassador” is nobody to trifle with, but
his irrational love for the starlet Concepcion has become a clear liability,
which Don Alfonso intends to exploit.
The gangster
versus gangster skullduggery is reasonably amusing, but Brremaud constantly undermines
the good will with kneejerk anti-Americanism. It is particular insulting to the
memories of the 141 fallen CIA officers, who are commemorated with a star on
the Agency’s Memorial Wall. Basically, this graphic novel accuses the agency of
mass murder, just to appeal to some readers’ biases. That’s pretty irresponsible
(especially since there is not a single word of implied criticism of Castro and
the horrors to come).
It is a
shame, because Macioci’s art nicely evokes the hip, sophisticated vibe of 1950s
Havana. Rather ironically, they also include the great Cecilia Cruz in a scene,
because Castro loved her music, but she despised the dictator and mourned the pain
he inflicted on her nation.
In his own way, Washington Irving profoundly influenced comic book history. He is
generally credited with popularizing “Gotham” as an informal monicker for New
York City. (Of course, it became a city unto itself, in Detective Comics.)
His most famous tale also inspired Walt Disney and Tim Burton, but neither has
yet produced a sequel. However, IDW has, continuing the story of Burton’s characters.
Fifteen years after he dispatched the Hessian back to the way-down-below, Ichabod
Crane is summoned again in Casey Gilly’s Return to Sleepy Hollow, illustrated
by Savanna Mayer, which releases today.
Initially,
Crane left town with Katrina Van Tassel and his orphaned ward, Masbath.
However, she apparently returned to Sleepy Hollow, to assume family’s leadership
position and atone for their sins. She dutifully serves the community as their
undertaking and a pioneering, but unofficial, pathologist. Unfortunately, she
has had way too much work lately. That is why she wrote to Crane (a
criminologist rather than Irving’s schoolteacher) requesting his help.
Except,
she didn’t. It was one of the restless spirits possessing her medium daughter,
Lotte. The Van Tassels know there is Headless Horseman-level supernatural
danger afoot. However, Crane has been in denial, having convinced himself the
occult events of the movie were really just a collective delusion. Once again,
he must learn the truth the hard way.
The
highest praise you can give a licensed property like Return to Sleepy Hollow
is that fans of the film will enjoy the comic sequel almost as much. That
is largely true in this case. Gilly’s story hews closely to the tone of the
original and treats the surviving characters with the respect they deserve.
Honestly, this is a perfect example of why licensed comics and novels are often
far superior to studio-produced sequels and reboots. They give the fans what
they want.
Admittedly,
the characters do not resemble the original cast, but that is probably a
function of rights and permissions. Johnny Depp has excellent lawyers—just ask
Amber Heard. While Mayer’s Crane is closer to Depp than her Van Tassel is to
Christina Ricci, what really matters is the way Gilly’s narrative feels like a
logical extension of Andrew Kevin Walker’s screenplay.
It was hard for Jewish Americans see how the world turned its back on their pain
and suffering in the days following the 10/7 terrorist murders and sexual assaults.
It was probably even worse for their French counterparts. At least most
mainstream American political leaders expressed their outrage, including Biden.
In contrast, Macron fell mute and disappeared for a week, while voices of hate immediately
started protesting the victims. It was particularly painful for French leftwing
Jewish intellectuals like cartoonist-filmmaker Joann Sfar. In the days that
followed, he tried to make sense of the world’s twisted reaction in his
notebooks, which have been polished into To Life, which just released in
stores.
To
Life has enough
structure to pass for a graphic novel, but the term notebook warns readers to
expect a looser flow. Even before 10/7, French Jews were increasingly reluctant
to display the Star of David (and Macron said nothing). Yet, Sfar was rather
defiantly inclined to start wearing the Chai, because of its meaning: “to life.”
As the
news of Hamas’s mass murder and weaponized rape trickled out, Sfar desperately
sought news of his cousins in Israel. Although he briefly lived in Israel with
his parents, they quickly repatriated back to France, so he always considered
himself French—and rather left-of-center. Nevertheless, the surge in
anti-Semitic violence (predating but accelerated by 10/7) and the Charlie Hebdo
assassinations already started challenging his world view.
Eventually,
Sfar visits Israel, to check-in on family and collaborate with the crew
producing a TV series based on his Klezmer graphic novels. The great
irony of To Life is that Sfar feels like a liberal Jewish Frenchman in Israel,
where engages with Arab Israelis and Jewish Israels who are keenly critical of
West Bank Settlers, Netanyahu, and the ultra-Orthodox. Yet, in France, he feels
increasingly like an outsider.
When this classic franchise premiered on television over sixty years ago, it spawned
its own genre. Some of its stories had elements of horror or science fiction,
but in nearly every installment, fate played an active and ironic role in characters’
lives and fates. We know what a “Twilight Zone” story means, but writing a good
one is no easy task. Yet, the example of the original series has inspired three
follow-up TV series, a theatrical film, and multiple runs of comic books. Real series
fans have to give the latest comic incarnation props for printing the stories
in glorious black-and-white. Consequently, fans will experience some of those
good old eerie vibes when they read IDW’s The Twilight Zone: Stories from
the Fifth Dimension, a bind-up of issues #1-5, which goes on-sale tomorrow.
These
stories never have an “on-screen” presenter, which is maybe a missed
opportunity, but it is maybe more respectful of the late, great Rod Serling that
way. However, the covers often visually allude to classic episodes, as well as
the art of the title sequences. Fittingly, the first story, “Blanks,” written
by Dan Watters and featuring Morgan Beem’s art, is by far the most Twilight
Zone-ish of the collection.
A
cutting-edge medical researcher has been summoned to a remote island laboratory
and treatment center, with the goal of literally curing death. The billionaire
funding the research has only a few months to live, so he insists on serving as
the first test subject. However, when he wakes, he finds the serum has been
successful, but has also caused some highly ironic (a word you have to over-use
when writing about the Twilight Zone) unintended side effects. Cue that
famous music. This is a particularly good “issue” because Watters’ narrative
allows Beem to create images that are reminiscent of classic episodes, but the
particulars are entirely specific to this story.
“World of
Your Wildest Dreams” written and drawn by Tom Scioli, also starts with very Zone-worthy
premise, as a crew of astronauts approach a mysterious planet to explore. What
happens on the surface initially feels somewhat familiar (in fact, Star Trek
fans might notice similarities to one of that series’ classic episodes).
However, Scioli gives it another half-twist at the end, which gives it an ironically
sad tone. It also represents a bit of a ringer in the collection, because
Scioli uses color tints. Ordinarily, that would not be an issue, but it sort of
feels like cheating, when compared to the other stories.
Frankly,
writer-artist James Stokoe’s “The Relic” might be the weakest link, even though
his post-apocalyptic art is often stunning. However, the heavy-handed treatment
of its themes (particularly the legacy of American “commercialism”) often feels
like a finger-wagging lecture.
He spawned two films, an animated series, and two dramatic spoken-word records.
Yet, Prince Val of Thule never gets his just due as one of the greatest comic
strip heroes of all-time. They call Beowulf an epic, but a bard could
tell his story in one sitting. Prince Valliant has told a single continuous
story every Sunday (originally Saturday) since 1937. There were also two
original comic book continuities. The first, which adapted and continued the
storyline of the 1954 film starring Robert Wagner, represented the first
publication of Prince Val not drawn by creator Hal Foster (and the first to feature dialogue balloons, instead of descriptive text boxes). It was a big-event movie,
but not sufficiently successful for Fox to greenlight the proposed follow-up.
Nevertheless, if you love that film, the next best thing to a sequel is
Fantagraphics collection of the seven beautifully-restored Dell comics in the treasury
volume Prince Valiant: Peril of the Round Table, written by Paul S. Newman
and illustrated by Bob Fujitani, which just went on-sale.
Unlike
the 1954 film, Newman’s first issue includes more of Valiant’s familiar
backstory from Foster’s strip, chronicling how the Pagan Sligon deposed Val’s
father, King Aguar. Taking shelter in Britain, Valiant squires for Sir Gawain,
eventually rising to knighthood in his own right. The film ends with Aguar’s
restoration, so for subsequent Dell issues, Sir Gawain essentially serves as an
unofficial ambassador to Thule. Such is the closeness of their alliance that Valliant
and Gawain jointly engage in quests at the behest of both King Aguar and King
Arthur, including even an attempt to reclaim a certain chalice, on behalf of
the latter.
Frankly,
it is impressive how well Peril of the Round Table holds up when
compared to vintage runs of the strip. Foster was the absolute gold standard of
newspaper cartoonists. At the peak of his powers, the Valiant panels
were truly museum worthy. While Fujitani’s art is not quite as richly detailed,
he has a similar sense of dramatic composition. Indeed, his full-length splash
pages just jump out at readers. Plus, the restored colors look vibrant, while
retaining a nostalgic vibe, in keeping with comic books of the era.
Newman’s
storylines also shrewdly incorporate very real medieval history and traditional
lore. At various times, Val and his protective companion Baltar take on the
Frisians, the Jutes, and Beber pirates. Generally speaking, the Thuleans join
Arthur’s campaign to protect Christendom from lingering Paganism. Yet, their
Norse roots still sometime re-surface.
It seems like the Burning of Falmouth is been largely forgotten today, in an era
when politicians nourish historical grievances over atrocities, both real and
exaggerated, in order to politically exploit them. Yet, our young nation
suffered such British war crimes during the years that led up to 1776 (but that doesn't interest those politicians). While news
of these outrages stoked patriotic fervor, incompetent leadership undermined the
Continental Army on the battlefield—like Benedict Arnold, even before, you know.
On the other hand, George Washington
inspired confidence, but he desperately needed supplies. At least these are the
major themes that stand out from the graphic novel adaptation of the first part
of the first book in Rick Atkinson’s Revolution Trilogy, the third of
which has yet to be published. Obviously, there is much more to come, but Nora
Neus started the process of translating Atkinson’s history into a sequential
graphic format in The British Are Coming: The Graphic Edition, Vol. 1,
illustrated by Federico Pietrobon, which releases tomorrow.
Aptly,
it starts with the Boston Tea Party. Back then, Boston hated paying taxes, especially
without representation. Over in England, Parliament considered the Colonies a revenue
center, so they levied new taxes accordingly. The Coercive Acts were passed and
Boston was specifically targeted to make it an example. Instead of submitting,
the other Colonies rallied to support the city. Against this backdrop, the
Royal Navy’s bombardment of Falmouth generated sufficient outrage to convince
most middle of the road Colonists the it was time to dissolve their political bonds
to the British Empire.
Obviously,
the graphic edition was conceived with the Semiquincentennial celebration in
mind. Indeed, why let all that good space on bookstore theme tables go to
waste? In this case, it will be a worthy use of the publisher’s coop money.
Atkinson’s history is solid (and so far, free of Progressive ad hominem attacks
on the Founding Fathers). Washington is rightly praised and Arnold is appropriately
scorned.
This investigation will start much like that of the Scandinavian series The Bridge and
its American remake, except the span between Aleutian Islands will soon melt.
One of them is under American jurisdiction, while the other is dominated by the
Soviets. Right smack in the middle of the so-called “Ice Curtain” a young woman
was savagely murdered. It will be a difficult case for FBI Special Agent Kevin
Collins, because of the physical circumstances and the politics in artist-writer
Syzmon Kudranski’s Now Man’s Land, which releases today in a trade-paper bind-up.
In
1963, the Cold War was warming up, but not yet scalding. Collins, a veteran of
WWII counter-intelligence assumed he would be retiring. Instead, the director assigns
him a highly sensitive case. He doesn’t really have any choice, but his long-neglected
wife finally leaves him anyway.
Once he
arrives at the remote Diomede Islands, Collins decides the most practical course
of action would be to work with KGB agent Sonia Fiodrow, rather than against
her. As Collins learns her backstory, he realizes they both probably received
this assignment, because they are expendable. He is old and broken down, while
she is the daughter of samizdat-publishing dissidents.
Regardless,
they will work well together. Siodow is more familiar with the indigenous people,
while he better understands the killer’s Biblical allusions. However, their
unknown sub is not a fanatical Christian—more like the exact opposite.
No
Man’s Land starts
slow, but it is loaded with interesting ideas. The nature of the murderer is
strange and complex—in ways befitting classic Russian literature. Siodow’s
family history also powerfully indicts the oppressive Socialist system, but not
in the way you might expect.
New Left hippies were narcissistic hedonists with an irrational hatred of cops.
That would have made them perfect vampire food. Consequently, the Woodstock
concert would have been like an all-you-can-eat buffet. At least there is still
a Van Helsing still living incognito near the Hudson Valley town in Darin S.
Cape’s graphic novel, Woodstake, illustrated by Felipe Kroll, which recently
released in stores.
Somehow,
Dracula relocated to the Hudson Valley, so Van Helsing duly followed. As the
unusually long prologue establishes, Van Helsing managed to kill the vampire,
but as usual, he wasn’t sufficiently dead. At least the good doctor realizes
the monster will rise again, so he trains his son Alexandru to be ready. To
protect his identity, Van Helsing changes their family name to something very
rock & roll sounding, which represents the graphic novel’s cleverest bit.
Fast
forward thirtysome years, at which point Dracula has rejuvenated enough
strength to start settling some old grudges. Meanwhile, Jon Harper and his
girlfriend Nina Murray are bound for Woodstock. She just wants to enjoy the
show, but he is preoccupied with scoring a Hendrix interview for his rock ‘zine.
Dracula is coming too—to feed.
The
timing for Woodstake is somewhat unfortunate, because it compares rather
unfavorably to Herik Hanna’s Altamont, which also followed a group of
friends trying to find each other amid the chaos of another notorious hippy-era
rock concert happening. However, Altamont is a much more compelling horror
story, even though it is completely grounded in real-life events.
Frankly,
Woodstake largely lacks the ironic bite of Altamont. Although it
is arguably revealing to hear Harper’s friend Artie constantly refer to U.S.
servicemen as “baby killers,” it is unclear Cape understands how profoundly
offensive that sounds, especially to the children and grandchildren of Vietnam
vets. As a rsult, a whole lot of potential readers will root for Dracule to exsanguinate
Artie and take possession of his nasty soul.
Growing up in Soviet Ukraine, “Genya” had to be part of the “1%.” That is not a demagogic
reference to economic standing. It is an acknowledgement of the discrimination
she faced because of her Jewish heritage. Plus, there was a nuclear catastrophe
during her childhood. Yevgenia Nayberg illustrates her own graphic memoir of
growing up Ukrainian in the fateful year of 1986 in Chernobyl, Life, and
Other Disasters, which releases today in stores.
There
will be no gruesome images of Ukrainian fire-fighters keeling over in sub-standard
hazmat suits, because Nayberg wasn’t there to see it. She was “just” a kid, but
Chernobyl still loomed large over her childhood.
In
fact, Nayberg and her mother successfully found refuge in Russia with her aunt
and cousin throughout most of the crisis mismanagement. However, they both
returned to Kyiv earlier than most, so Nayberg could sit for her art school
exam.
Indeed,
her memoir still has much to say about the Soviet experience, especially her
realization that nobody believed the state media. Obviously, that lack of trust
made everything worse. Nayberg also gently but firmly documents the Soviet
Union’s pervasive anti-Semitism. Consequently, Nayberg had to study and
practice harder than anyone else, because only 1% of Jewish applicants would be
admitted.
Of
course, she was also a young girl dealing with school and her peers, so there
are plenty of coming-of-age episodes that young readers will readily identify
with. Just about any reader who had a youthful passion for art and drawing will
relate to her as a character, even if they do not share her memories of sweeping
her apartment with Geiger-counters.
It shouldn't surprise anyone that the autocrat is also a kleptocrat. Indeed,
plundering Russia was always part of the plan—the KGB’s plan. It even had a
name: Operation Luch. $50 billion was siphoned out of the country and used to
reassert the KGB elites’ power after the fall of Communism. That is exactly
what happened, with Putin reaping the greatest benefits, both in terms of money
and power. French historian Yvonnick Denoël chronicles the Russian dictator’s enrichment
and the ruthless consolidation of his position in Putin’s Fortune, illustrated
by Gildas Java, which is now on-sale at book and comic retailers.
His
boss at the KGB knew Gorbachev was doomed to fail, so he entrusted Operation Luch
to his trusted subordinates, including Putin. They immediately started implementing
his plans with help from some key allies in the East German Stasi and the
Russian mob. Indeed, one of Denoël’s biggest “scoops” is his revelation of
Putin’s longstanding cooperation with various criminal clans, which simply
carried over from their alliance with the Communist Party.
Basically,
Putin started creating a spider’s web of dummy corporations and holding
companies, whose boards were all packed with KGB veterans. Money flowed out of
the Soviet Union and later Russia, through lucrative western investments and
back into slush funds that purchased state enterprises at fire-sale prices and
financed Russian political campaigns.
At
this point, just about all of Putin’s Fortune is already in the public
record. Unfortunately, few people care. Perhaps Java’s starkly noir art can
help, to an extent, because it vividly the soulless evil of the titular tyrant
and his regime. His ultra-cool art is also clearly intended for adults, because
it graphically illustrates the debauchery of Putin and his cronies, whom useful
idiots like Marjorie Taylor Greene bizarrely celebrate for their alleged “traditional
values.”
If you aren’t paying attention to what is taught in our schools, that is just
fine with many other nations. They aren’t necessarily friendly, which is why they
are so eager to shape our lesson plans and curriculums. Some whistle-blowers
have called attention to tremendous sums spent by China and Qatar, but our NATO
“ally” Turkey also conducted similar propaganda operations. If your kids weren’t
taught about the Armenian Genocide, maybe that wasn’t an accident. For an
Armenian American like Nadine, having a history teacher corrupted by foreign
money is not merely a pedagogical issue. It denies her family’s history and
trauma. However, Nadine and her brother Sayat learn the truth for themselves in
Nadine Takvorian’s graphic novel Armaveni, which is now on-sale.
Nadine’s parents never spoke of
what happened to the family during the Genocide and her grandmother Armaveni, a
survivor, is no longer alive to give her testimony. Her parents believe they
are protecting their children, but their reticence frustrates Nadine,
especially when she realizes her history teacher, Mr. Ward is spinning and even
censoring his lessons, to favor the Turkish nationalist version of history, even
including Genocide denial.
Eventually, her mother relents,
explaining Armaveni’s story as best she knows it. Nadine and Sayat get a fuller
historical grounding during their Church-sponsored tour of Armenia. However, she
initially clashes with Ani, her roommate, who resents Nadine and her family for
their perceived Turkishness. Yet, the siblings really receive an education when
they make a stopover in Turkey to visit surviving relatives. There they find a
climate of fear, where they must not speak Armenian or discuss sensitive
subjects (most definitely including the Genocide).
Armaveni is not autobiography per se, but
just about everything is based on actual events in her life and her family’s
history, so it is entirely grounded in truth. Regrettably, that also includes
Mr. Ward. Indeed, the extent that Turkey seeks to influence the American
educational system will be an eye-opener for many readers. Ironically, the
Institute for Turkish Studies (directly cited in the graphic novel) was
defunded by the Turkish government in 2020, due to maverick board members who
supported historical research on the Armenian Genocide and perhaps for not adequately
valorizing Erdogan. However, it is safe to assume such efforts continue, from
other, less publicized agents of the Turkish government.
Takvorian also illustrates the
horrors of the 1915 Genocide (literally so, since this is a graphic novel). Hopefully,
better educated readers will not be totally unfamiliar with the rudimentary
facts, but there is far less media attention devoted to the Armenian Genocide,
compared to other notorious historical atrocities. Consequently, much of Armaveni
will be revelatory for younger readers (who will also more readily identify
with Nadine). The very term “genocide” was coined to describe the Ottoman
Empire’s systematic slaughter of Christian Armenians. This was a true genocide,
unlike recent attempts to redefine and invert the word into meaninglessness,
which is another reason why this graphic novel feels so timely.
George Orwell was a socialist, who wrote the most insightful and devastating critique
of socialism in the history of English literature. He was complicated. Nevertheless,
reports the upcoming animated adaptation of Animal Farm will be
reconceived as a satire of corporate capitalism is frankly Orwellian. It is
like transmuting Margaret Atwood’s Handmaid’s Tale into an indictment of
radical feminism. Happily, this graphic novel adaptation gets Animal Farm right.
Socialism is hypocritical, wasteful, oppressive, and often alarmingly violent
in Christina Dumalasova & Katerina Horakova’s faithful adaptation of George
Orwell’s Animal Farm, illustrated by Michael Purmensky, which goes on-sale
this coming Tuesday.
If you
do not the story of Animal Farm you truly need to read this graphic
novel—or better yet, Orwell’s original novella. Regardless, it allegorically
represents the Russian Revolution, when the animals of Manor Farm rise up
against their abusive drunkard farmer, Mr. Jones.
Inspired
by the venerable boar Old Major, the revolution initially appears to be a
smashing success. However, once Old Major dies, a power struggle emerges, between
two pigs, the earnest Snowball and the Machiavellian Napoleon. Frankly,
Snowball might not fully realize he and Napoleon are rivals, until it is too late.
Regardless, Napoleon and his sycophant pigs soon consolidate power, with the
help of the attack dogs they raised from puppies.
Instead
of finally enjoying some rest, the animals find themselves working even longer
hours—except the pigs, of course. This seems to contradict the Revolutionary
Laws painted on the barn wall, but every time the animals check, they find a
mysterious new addendum to explain it away.
Honestly,
Dumalasova and Horakova do both Orwell and readers full justice. Their
adaptation brilliantly exposes the methods of totalitarian regimes, as well as
the ruinous economic implications of socialism. Orwell always described himself
as a “democratic socialist” with the emphasis on the democratic, but he
constantly cautioned socialism without democratic safeguards would inevitably descend
into totalitarianism. Seeing Orwell’s words so vividly illustrated can only
inspire skepticism of and aversion to the crooked ideology it ruthlessly
satirizes.
Indeed,
socialism often gets called out throughout the graphic novel. It also fully
explores the corrosive consequences of propaganda. Unlike the 1954 animated
film, Purmensky’s animals are never cute. Yet, some, like tireless Boxer the
horse, are invested with such dignity, the tragedy of their fates hits even
harder.
Three people died during Woodstock, yet people talk about it like it was a
triumph of peace and love. In contrast, four people died at Altamont, which has
been described as the “death” of hippy “innocence.” That’s only a difference of
one death, but to be fair, it was a murder. Regardless, Matt “Doc” Malanski and
his friends are headed to the disastrous 1969 concert expecting another
Woodstock, but instead they get Altamont in Herik Hanna’s Altamont, illustrated
by Charlie Adlard.
Like a
character from Hair, Malanski embraced the counter-culture, but was
drafted anyway. After serving his tour of duty as a medic (and losing an eye in
a friendly fire incident), he rejoined his girlfriend Jenny and their hippy
circle of friends. As soon as they reach Altamont Speedway, they pick up on the
negative vibes. However, they are determined to stay to hear the Stones—even when
they hear Jagger was slugged in the mouth when he arrived.
They really
should have left after their first dust-up with the Hell’s Angels, but Malanski
figures they should be fine when he recognizes his former Army buddy Charlie is
one of the senior Angels policing the show. As readers should know (and Charlie
duly explains), the Angels were hired to handle Altamont’s security, because they
agreed to be paid in beer.
Unfortunately,
Eddie the Angel takes such an unhealthy interest in Jenny, so Charlie fires
him. Yet, that probably makes him even more dangerous. Malanski also must
constantly corral their friend Schizo, who even under the best of circumstances
is usually extremely stoned and unstable.
Clearly,
Hanna (and presumably Adlard) considers the legacy of the 1960s to be rather
mixed. They largely bought the New Left propaganda regarding Viet Nam, but
still recognize there was a dark side to the movement that Altamont fatally exposed.
It builds to a surprise ending that is genuinely shocking, in a good way. Hanna
never hints that it might be coming, but it makes perfect sense when it comes.
It didn't start in 2022. It just got a heck of a lot worse. Russia has been
attempting to conquer, subjugate, and obliterate Ukraine for centuries, even
though the democratic nation considerably predates its frequently belligerent neighbor.
Educator Mariam Naiem takes a wide-angle perspective on Putin’s illegal war,
tracing its historical roots in A Brief History of a Long War: Ukraine’s
Fight Against Russian Domination, illustrated by Yulia Vus and Ivan Kypibid,
which goes on-sale today.
What is
now referred to as Kyivan Rus formed in the 9th Century, ultimately evolving
into modern day Ukraine. Do not let the “Rus” part fool you. Russia came much
later, but they adopted much from Kyivan Rus, including Cyrillic letters.
However, instead of gratitude, Russia responded with war and cultural
appropriation.
Indeed,
Naiem’s “brief history” is often illuminating, as when she explains, through
character proxies, how Soviet propaganda successfully demonized Ukraine’s
traditional folk heroes: the Cossacks. She spends considerable time on the
Holodomor, the Soviet-engineered Ukraine genocide-by-famine. Frankly, she maybe
gives the Soviet state too much credit for their ambitions of industrialization
and the “foreign hostility” they allegedly faced. However, the horrific consequences
for Ukraine are inescapable.
Educated
readers should be familiar to some extent with the Holodomor—even though it is
doubtful many students learn about it in American public schools. In addition, Naiem
also offers nutshell lessons in less-publicized Soviet assaults on Ukrainian
nationhood and identity, like “The Executed Renaissance,” the systemic purge
and execution of Ukraine’s leading artists and intellectuals during the 1920s.
History subsequently repeated itself in the 1960s, when the dissident activists
known as the “Sixtiers” faced similar treatment from Khrushchev, the “reformer.”
Godzilla is surprisingly fast for his size and he is always furious. Still, he is
not an obvious accomplice for a caper, because he is impossible to control.
Nevertheless, there is no denying he can create quite a distraction. That is
what Jai will count on in the collected issues of Van Jensen’s Godzilla:
Heist, illustrated by Kelsey Ramsay, which goes on-sale this Tuesday.
The
highly motivated Jai discovered how to use radio frequencies to lure Godzilla
to a location, like a casino in Macau, and to employ an energy beam focus his fury
on a specific area, like a vault. Jai’s fleet of spherical drones also help lead
Godzilla back to the sea, once he has secured the loot. It goes off like
clockwork thanks to the big guy, but it is only a warm up for the main event.
Soon, a
professional crew of hardboiled thieves and mercs approaches Jai for help with
a really big score. They don’t explain why, but they want Godzilla’s help (via
Jai) to break into a vault underneath the British Defense Ministry at
Whitehall. Jai plays it cool, but that was his plan all along.
Obviously,
Jai intends to double-cross them at some point, so it is a safe bet the Roman
Letter Gang (Alpha, Beta, Kappa, Chi) would double-cross him too. The question
is where will the inevitable triple-cross come into play. Of course, none of this
matters to Godzilla, who will be smashing things regardless.
These
are bulish days for Godzilla. On the big screen, Godzilla Minus One was
a breakout hit, while in comics, Godzilla has encountered Marvel and DC
superheroes—and even the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Jensen’s Heist is
a clever concept and the execution clearly shows a deep understanding and
affection for the Kaiju genre. It is fun in an aptly capery way, but Jensen
still addresses the human collateral damage (including a lot of British
servicemen guarding Whitehall).
Frankly,
Jai is really the only character who gets much development, but his motivations
are fully explained. Most of the bad guys are basically stock figures, but seriously,
they are going to be overshadowed by Godzilla anyway.
Consecrated ground doesn’t get much more consecrated than Vatican City. It is also
highly fortified. For a few hundred survivors, it is the only remaining
sanctuary after the vampire apocalypse. The Holy See houses relics that are more
precious than ever and plenty of firearms, but it also holds the secret behind the
siege that unfolds in Mark Millar’s Vatican City (collecting issues 1-3).
Illustrated by Per Berg, Millar’s recently released bind-up is now available
for your holiday shopping convenience.
Mysteriously,
all the Swiss Guards no-show on the day of Swiss Air Force veteran Guido
Cavelti’s interview—probably because most of them are dead. Consequently, Cavelti
leads the Vatican’s defense, despite his lack of official standing. Since the
Pope is touring Africa, most Vatican personnel are absent. However, the venerable
old Monsignor never strays far, because he knows why the sun-shielded vampires
have assembled outside the Vatican’s walls.
It turns
out all the history you know is bunk. There was a time vampires ruled the
world. Somehow, mankind killed their queen, who was subsequently entombed under
the Vatican. Of course, anyone who has watched enough Dracula movies
know that vampires are never too dead that they can’t be brought back to undead
life.
Even
though the horror comes from vampires, Millar’s concept holds massive appeal
for horror fans who grew up with the heroic priests of William Peter Blatty’s
exorcism novels and films. This is an unadulterated good versus evil story,
especially considering the ruthless cruelty of Karl, the leader of the vampire
army.
However,
it is massively depressing that the vampires utterly destroy America and most
of Europe, but largely leave Russia and China untouched. It would make sense if
it were a form of professional courtesy, from one form of evil to another. However,
Millar has yet to even suggest such a point. Frustratingly, Millar also breaks
the siege way too soon. If Netflix eventually adapts Vatican City as a series,
it should spend several seasons exploring the mysterious secret corners and
crannies of the Vatican.
Indeed,
Netflix would have the option, since Millar wrote and commissioned Berg’s art for
Vatican City under his Netflix development deal. There is no guarantee
of a future series, but the streamer gets a co-creator credit. (FYI, Netflix is
not currently available in China.)
The rebels in Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress knew
TANSTAAFL, “there’s no such thing as a for lunch.” Unfortunately, it is unclear
whether the new revolutionary government on planet ‘Aides understands that principle,
or if they ever will. Consequently, the new political system will be decidedly
unstable on ‘Aides—make that Lutheria. Frankly, they get confused themselves. At
least they still have their champions, redubbed the Freedom Guard, to fight off
intergalactic threats in Aubrey Sitterson’s Free Planet Volume 1,
illustrated by Jed Dougherty, which went
on-sale this week.
‘Aides,
as it was once known, was a remote backwater, but it was “blessed” with rich
deposits of a rare non-earth mineral coveted by the empire. It was also a safe space
to sequester scientific facilities, especially those that might engage in
dangerous experiments. Consequently, the planet had a large working-class
population and a small but highly educated middle class that ultimately joined
together to declare independence from the Empire.
Whatever
you call the planet, they also benefited from an extremely charismatic military
commander, Oliver Gracchon. However, instead of leading the planet through
their early days of sovereignty, he retires like Cincinnatus, placing his trust
and the people’s fate in the hands of the Freedom Guard. And then he gets
himself kidnapped—presumably at the Empire’s behest.
Right
now, you’re probably wondering about the planet’s annual GDP and trade deficit
numbers. If so, Sitterson has you covered. To his credit, he takes world-building
seriously. Nevertheless, the regular data-dumps and detailed ethnographic
extracts often represent way too much of a good thing.
Sitterson
still has identifiable characters, which is a blessing. However, their personas
ae often defined by their demographic. For instance, there are two “machinist”
clerics of the Teomekhean faith, orthodox and reformed, whose primary role is illustrating
religious schisms. There is also the mixed human-robot relationship, which is
awkwardly strained, because Commander Gloria Sunandez is ashamed to be publicly
associated with Talun, in a romantic context.
Carl Laemmle was the only old school Hollywood mogul who denounced Hitler and the
National Socialists prior to WWII. Fittingly, most of his Universal Monsters
hailed from Old World Europe. The Mummy was the exception in 1932. His
origins were in the Middle East. Again, that was fitting. Originally intended
to be a film about Alessandro Cagliostro, it morphed into tale of intrigue from
the ancient Egyptian past, inspired by the discovery (and curse) of Tut’s tomb.
Half-English and half-Egyptian Helen Grosvenor was a woman caught between worlds,
but that makes her more vulnerable to uncanny peril in writer-artist Faith Erin
Hicks’ Universal Monsters: The Mummy, Image Comics latest retelling of
the classic horror films, which releases today in a bind-up edition.
Like Universal Monsters: Frankenstein, Hicks shows readers the events of the film from a
different perspective. This time around, we see much more through Grosvenor’s
eyes. In fact, we are fully immersed in her head, where the High Priestess Anck-es-en-Amon
has been cohabitating all Grosvenor’s life. She always considered the voice in
her head a friend. However, when Imhotep reawakens Anck-es-en-Amon’s passion, she
belatedly recognizes the high priestess is a threat to her own bodily autonomy.
Ironically,
Hicks’ retelling allows much less time for Imhotep and even less for his
titular Mummy appearance. However, it adds a sinister dimension of
psychological terror. Yet, it also makes Anck-es-en-Amon a less sympathetic
figure, so terms like “feminist revisionism” really do not apply (and nobody is
complaining about that).
The town of Graves End is even spookier than Riverdale, but it ought to be. It is
hard to imagine the CW show without the years of groundwork laid by children’s
and YA author R.L. Stine. He popularized horror for a generation of young
readers, placing the scares in the settings they knew best: school, camp, the
neighborhood, etc. Stine is still writing—probably more than ever, including graphic
novels. With obvious seasonal timing in mind, the first two installments of his
latest franchise have been collected in the omnibus The Graveyard Club,
illustrated by Carola Borelli, which releases this Tuesday.
Graves
End is only distinguished by two things: the multiple cemeteries that define
its boundaries and the large flocks of bats that often fill its skies. Bad
things tend to happen there, like the disappearance of Parker West’s father.
Almost nothing good has happened to West, except maybe his wooing of Patti
Olsen, a fellow member of his loose group of pals, who call themselves the
Graveyard Club, in honor of the one place they feel comfortable. However, that meant geeky Caleb came out the loser. Yet, the
motley crew remains united against the bullying of corrupt Officer Ray-Ray
Higgins and his nasty son Billy Roy.
In the
first story arc, Revenge Game, their pal Trip convinces the gang to
finally go for some serious payback. Of course, that is a dangerous door to
open in the horror genre. In fact, it almost costs Trip his life when Billy Roy
presumably retaliates. Indeed, thing go dark quickly, in ways consistent with
the early season of the aforementioned TV series.
One of
the coolest stories, is a shorty, “The Girl in the Graveyard,” sandwiched
between the two full length tales. It is a great example of how Stine has “re-purposed”
traditional motifs for younger audiences. More importantly, it delivers the
kind of atmosphere that fans look for from horror comics.
Following
the middle yarn, Fresh Blood continues to dial-up the supernatural
elements. West is brooding even harder these days, because the anniversary of
his father’s disappearance is fast approaching. It also affects fellow “Club”
member Rhonda, since her father also vanished that same night, during their
weekly poker night at the now abandoned Dockside Inn. Wanting some answers,
they decide to visit the shunned building, naturally agreeing to meet at the
dark of night. Of course, it turns out to be a great place for some serious
horror business.
Like Superman and Batman, His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama is now the star of
his own graphic novel, but his superpowers are mindfulness, nonviolence, and integrity.
In a way, you could argue he also exhibits precognition. As the 13th
Dalai Lama, he foretold impending threats to Tibet and its Tibetan Buddhist faith,
both from foreign and domestic sources. Yet, due to his nonviolent convictions,
the 14th Dalai Lama still tried to negotiate a peaceful arrangement
with the CCP occupiers, to preserve the nation’s culture and traditions. It did
not work, but it led to an ironically triumphant exile chronicled Tom Taylor’s
graphic novel, The Path of the Dalai Lama, illustrated by Matyas Namai,
which releases this Tuesday.
In
addition to unexpcted enthusiiasm for advanced science, His Holiness is also surprisingly receptive to
comics and graphic novels, because he gave Taylor and Namai his blessing for
this project, based on their comic adaption of Orwell’s 1984. Their
collaboration follows the historic events that might be familiar to many, especially
if you have seen Martin Scorsese’s Kundun, despite Disney’s efforts to
hide it. Yet, they cover some telling and undeniably significant incidents,
like the 13th Dalai Lama’s aforementioned prophecy and the year and a
half he spent as a hostage to Muslim Chinese warlord Ma Bufang, before the
young newly identified reincarnate was finally allowed to continue to Lhasa.
Clearly,
Taylor’s graphic novel will not appear on the CCP’s reading lists. In addition to
documenting the horrors of the late 1950s invasion and colonization, he also devotes
considerable space to the late 1980s mass protests and the mid-1990s
self-immolations, which have been almost entirely forgotten by the Western media
in recent years. Taylor does a decent job channeling HH’s personality, but his
real strength comes in the way he crystalizes decades of personal and national
history into 100-some pages of incredibly striking comic panels.
