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ONLINE COMICS

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MARCH 12, 2006

WOLVER-LEGO

One of the peculiar aspects of comics being low-brow entertainment is that the industry (unintitionally, I'm sure) has acted as a system of preservation of illustration techniques that go back hundreds of years, with very little meddling from outside forces in the "art world." While art and illustration trends mostly stay away from traditional techniques (and the hard work and knowledge necessary to perform them successfully), when it comes to the human form, comic books - - that is, superhero comics - - drive on in an obsession with muscles and embellishment so expressive that I think it would make Michelangelo nod understandibly.

Using a number of updated classic drawing techniques is Leinil Francis Yu. An artist who lives in the Phillipines, his past credits include Batman and Superman at DC Comics, including the mini-series Silent Dragon for Wildstorm. His ability for using fine lines to create texture and shadow, as well as form, is influential and popular, and hearkens back toward the styles introduced to comics by artists like Neal Adams. Yu is now working for Marvel Comics now doing a Hulk/Wolverine title Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk.

The story is self-parodying hokum in which Wolverine is enlisted by Nick Fury at S.H.I.E.L.D. to pursue the Hulk who has taken up residence in Tibet as lord of a hundred or so girls in bikinis. There are no Chinese occupiers in the Marvel Tibet, but a lot of snow and a lot of bikinis. Confrontationally speaking, Hulk renders Wolverine into two pieces which must then be assembled together again, the man's being diminished to lego-like existence, while he flashbacks the story to the reader. There's humor but not a lot of humanity to the tale.

FRANKEN-UGLYHEAD

The Frankenstein monster has had so many various representations in comic books, for example the Dick Briefer version from the 1940s and 1950s (see a page about Briefer's Frankenstein here) and then there are numerous versions closer to the original Mary Shelley rendition.

In the Grant Morrison written DC Comics Frankenstein #1, he is apparently a ruthless avenger that went into some form of hibernation in 1870 after successfully defeating the sinister, well-dressed Melmoth. Melmoth's minions, "spine-riders," grotesque humanoid-shaped creatures, show up again under the guidance (or controlling, not sure which) of a pimply high school student who is called only by the name of "Uglyhead." He is afforded the power to read the minds of his fellow students - - how this is possible is not explained - - and he uses this power in a megalomania fashion to complete a plan to destroy them. In a plot not unlike Stephen King's Carrie, there is the one lone student who shows "Uglyhead" some kindness, who is then targeted to survive the coming annihilation, and is the readers introduction to the prom-night scene of conflict.

Morrison's story dwells upon the self-loathing of the students, and in an example of the mind-control powers of Uglyhead & the maggot spine-riders, a particular blonde-haired student is controlled to overnight transform into a pimply, oily female counterpart to Uglyhead, because "deep down inside you're Uglyhead, too." The setting for the coming cataclysm involving the whole student body is thus set.

The story now at full tilt, the Frankenstein creature crashes up through the floor of the school - - whether Frankenstein was conveniently buried under the school or tunneled there from elsewhere is not shown. Confronting Uglyhead outside the Excalibur Fantasy Butterfly World (near the school), Frankenstein smashes him through a storefront window and a sword hanging there (by a thread, I guess) falls to sever Uglyhead's "spine-rider" and of course his head.

Apparently rejuvenated by electricity, the story ends with Frankenstein marching off to bring further battle to evil because "something was left undone," probably in regards to Melmoth?

Mahnke's art captures the grimy-pimply look of high school as a land of narcissism and self-hatred. Frankenstein is rendered (and colored by John Kalisz) effectively as the usual corpse-assembled being, but the age-old dilemma of why the creature is called Frankenstein (versus the Dr. Frankenstein that made him) is not explained.

The constant problem of 22 page comics comes to the fore in that space is not given to fill in the basics of a satisfying story. Many of these "main" characters for the tale do not even warrant names, or even identities beyond that of stereotype high school numbskull. Each scene seems hatched full-blown without any background that explains any motivations or even the mindframe of the characters. The Frankenstein character destroys his enemies, along with all of the student body, who were in the midst of being assaulted by the maggoty spine-riders. He then burns the place to the ground, shoveling ashes into the flames. I am impressed with how thorough he is being, though I am left confused by what is the exact nature of the conflict he is pursuing that transcends centuries.

Very well-done art, and some very good moments of writing highlight this tale. The downside are the unexplained plot elements and the cookie-cutter characters from the doomed school body.

Page 20 from the Seven Soldiers of Victory "Frankenstein"
Click to view enlarged 700-pizel wide scan.

NOVEMBER 16, 2005

WHAT THE HEX??!  
[above] Is DC Comics paying royalties to Clint Eastwood for starring him in the resurrected Jonah Hex?

This issue number one is written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti; Art by Luke Ross; Cover by Frank Quitely.

With the Azzarello Loveless and now a reborn Jonah Hex on the stands, DC Comics has thrown a bit of weight behind getting the Western Comic Book back in front of readers. How will this will play out over time is of course something I cannot know, but for the most part it looks like a real effort at gaining a readership. The Luke Ross art is something that would not have looked out of place in a late 1970s Warren magazine (which were comics supposedly produced for a more discriminating adult audience), and the storyline here has enough grit to distinguish it from the more the slightly more gentle Jonah Hex tales from the 70s DC Comic book.

"Cemetery without Crosses" is a tale of child slavery and abuse, with the added ugliness of dog fighting. Jonah more or less avenges the situation, which is the function he served in the earlier run of the title decades ago, a quasi-antihero and avenging angel with a 6-gun. The character is damaged over one side of his face, reminiscent of Erik from Phantom of the Opera, Quasimodo from Hunchback of Notre Dame, and more obviously Two-Face from Batman.

The story poses Hex as having an existential quandary about his place in the world, his relationship to a God with whom Hex has a quarrel (generally over the human condition) and the general loneliness of being ugly and feared. This is a sharpened-up rendition of the original Jonah Hex run which more or less soft-balled the same situation, layered heavily with standard Western plotlines.

(To see what I mean, check out the big DC Showcase edition of Jonah Hex which reprints 500 pages of the old run, most of which has Tony de Zuniga artwork, all in edgy looking black and white, showing off Zuniga's ability to splatter ink and find deep ink-laden shadows in every panel - - beautiful stuff.)

"Cemetery Without Crosses" ends with Jonah more uncertain than before about himself, uncertain about the right or wrong of gunning down people who more or less need gunning down badly. This "quest" is thus positioned for the series run.

NOVEMBER 9, 2005

SKIN DEEP

"Get that ring off, expose some skin!" (page 3)

Rather than use botox, Lance Harrower invents a metal "smartskin" that "bonds with collagen," so that (among other things) he can preserve his wife Alix in a permanent state of youthful comic-book voluptuousness (more or less in the shiny, reflective style of The Silver Surfer). When Lance is not working on making his wife a real trophy wife then he is online surfing superhero-themed pornography.

In this story, porn seems to be a general metaphor in relation to comic book fandom in someway. Alix is negative on her husband's demented dream of superheroic importance. Lance wants to use his invention so that the duo can become an updated version of the "Human Bullet" super team from WW2 era comics, telling his wife of his dream of inviting The Green Lantern to dinner, and generally being youthful and indestructible forever. (That the "smartskin" imparts immortality is something unexplained.)

Yanick Paquette draws Alix as possessing large and unreal breast implants, though these are implants is not actually mentioned in the Grant Morrison story. Alix also sits, stands and walks in a near constant pinup pose, typically in her underwear or something generally skimpy. The interiors of the home in which Alix and Lance live in is all we know about their surroundings, as the exterior and neighborhood are not shown. A room housing very large "inventor equipment" reminds me of Brundleflys setup in the Cronenberg remake of "The Fly." Seeing all of that gear made me ponder what zoning laws are like in Lance's neighbored.

Morrison manipulates the mechanics of forward-and-flashback storytelling expertly, though the tale in itself is thin indeed in this first part of four parts. A great deal is unexplained, and the character motivations beyond Lance's superhero-themed porn-obession are also unexplained. If there is a criticism being leveled at the industry of supergirls in skimpy clothing it is not developed beyond the self-destructiveness of the character Lance.

Lance dies as a result of using his invention (he suffocates from the effect of the metal skin) and accidentally passes on the quickly spreading "smartskin" to his wife, who likewise becomes encased (and does not suffocate, I Don't know why). In a later state of depression caused by her husbands death and her discovering his "secret life" of online porn and an apparent e-mail affair with someone named "Sexy Sally Sonic," Alix attempts suicide by crashing through the apartment wall, and consequently lands unhurt on the street below. She then runs crazily through a subway tunnel (Another suicide attempt? To get hit by a train?) but comes across a subway wreck, and a little boy pleading for help. Alix saves the trapped passengers inside (somehow loses her shirt in the process), and dutifully later dons the superhero costume her dead husband designed, saying "You got what you wanted, Lance."

There are certainly less plausible origin stories, but this one probably is one of the more surreal in the realm of actual human emotion. Without Lance around to enforce the ridiculous porn-obsessed image consciousness upon his wife, why does she inevitably embrace it so fully? There's something about needing money near the end of the story (is there money to be made superheroing? She actually looks like she is about to go work in Vegas as a dancer).

Perhaps this is the theme of the book: prior to his demise, Alix resisted Lance's nonhuman ambitions, but now from beyond the grave he has become her pimp, somehow provoking Alix into subservience to his crazed desires because there's money in it now.

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