Graphic Perception: THE HANDMAID'S TALE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

THE HANDMAID'S TALE: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL

Writer: Margaret Atwood

Adapatation & Art: Renée Nault

Doubleday $22.95

Mike S: Firstly, a disclaimer: The Handmaid’s Tale has long been my favourite modern novel and so I approached this adaptation with huge excitement and a smidge of trepidation about the potential for it to ruin it for me. I needn’t have worried: it is a work that is simultaneously gorgeous and horrifying. Nault faithfully follows the plot and style of Atwood’s dystopian novel in which the land of the free has become a theocracy where fertile women are enslaved for their uteruses. The book is composed of over 300 pages of hand painted watercolours. The story's narrator, Offred, says, “Everything Handmaids wear is red: the colour of blood, which defines us.” Nault’s reds are rich and layered watercolours, veering from rust to flame. In depicting life in Gilead’s toxic, war-torn Colonies, Nault takes advantage of the form: the graphic image of the cancer-eaten jaw of an 'unwoman' worker is on full display, adding to depth to an area of the novel which is largely unexplored. In the Gilead scenes Nault only uses Red, Green or Blue respectively, while flashback scenes are pained with a full spectrum of colour that evokes a 'normal' period, signifying the seismic global shift. Her illustrations have a boldness, depth and power not typical of this medium.

Graphic Perception: MINKY WOODCOCK: THE GIRL WHO HANDCUFFED HOUDINI

MINKY WOODCOCK: THE GIRL WHO HANDCUFFED HOUDINI

Writer: Cynthia Von Buhler

Art: Cynthia Von Buhler

Titan/Hard Case Crime $24.99

Jo S: I’m not totally sure I remember what made me pick up the first issue of Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini: I’m pretty sure it would have caught my eye because of the deliciously cheeky title, and the introduction of a girl, denied the chance to be a private investigator, who becomes an assistant to the most famous escapologist in history, and quite possibly the mention of Conan Doyle and spiritualism. The release of the collected series in hardback has given me a chance to relive the unfolding of the story and it was an enjoyable journey once again - rereading a story based on historical events does have the advantage that there are really no major spoilers to change one’s perception the second time: we already know Houdini dies at the end!

This series appears on the Hard Case Crime imprint, which allows Titan to delve into some more unusual stories in the hardboiled crime genre: you could say these look a little dated these days, deliberately reflecting ‘50s pulp magazines but the relatively recent comic book strand gives fresh opportunities, and Cynthia Von Buhler’s creation sits beautifully in this arena. Von Buhler’s background spans across an unparalleled range of artistic styles; she is a fine artist, sculptor, playwright, singer, performance artist, burlesque artiste and producer of immersive theatre. It’s easy to see how she has gone forward with this series, which is now a theatre experience in its own right. Her breadth of experience and passion for performance permeates the whole book - the titular character is clearly an aspect of Von Buhler’s own personality, with her forthright fearlessness, relaxed attitude to exhibitionist behaviour and persistence in the face of continual discouragement.

Graphic Perception: MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES

MY HEROES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN JUNKIES

Writer: Ed Brubaker

Artists: Sean Phillips & Jacob Phillips

Image $16.99

James R: At first, I was a little taken aback by the price of the latest offering from the world of Criminal. It's officially a 'Criminal novella' - a first for this series. In recent years, Criminal has appeared as lush, oversized one-shots, echoing the '70s comics that featured in their narratives. My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies is 72 pages, (roughly the equivalent of three issues of a 'standard' book) but this tale crams a lot into what seems like a simple story at first glance. Is it worth your hard-earned cash though?

Firstly, it's great to see Brubaker and Phillips back doing these stories. Since its inception over at Marvel's Icon imprint (Remember that?! Given Marvel's recent shambolic editorial decisions, it seems less and less likely we'll ever see Marvel invest in a line that indulges in adult themes again!), Criminal has always showcased the duo's best work. Brubaker has an obvious love of noir, and Criminal was the book where that was fully unleashed - in series such as the excellent Sleeper, the noir was always tempered by the demands of superhero books. In teaming with Sean Phillips, the two made one of the most remarkable collaborations in modern comics - Phillips' art perfectly suited the gritty world of the Undertow bar and the nefarious stories that it contained.

Graphic Perception: AN ANDROID AWAKES

AN ANDROID AWAKES

Writer: Mike French

Art: Karl Brown

Elsewhen Press £13.99/$24.99

Matt C: Perhaps this is stretching the definition  compared to other entries under this heading in the past - it's ultimately more 'novel' than 'graphic' (the prose far outweighs the illustrations) - but on balance there's enough synergy between the words and images to earn it look here. Besides, the science fictional content and the general ingenuity of the narrative means it's more than worthy of being given attention as its approach to telling a tale set in a future dominated by robots feels unique and fresh, one that reveals its inventive structure the further it goes along.

PD121928 is an android writer who has a finite number of opportunities to have one of his stories published before he faces deactivation, and he currently has 14 more chances to avoid rejection before he's switched off permanently. With this setup established, the narrative then leads into a succession of short stories as we read though PD121928's increasing elaborate attempts to create something a publisher will deem worthy of introducing to a wider world. What initially seems like a series of fantastical, creative but unconnected tales soon reveal themselves to be full of similar motifs, overlapping characters and common themes, the most prominent of these being loss.

Graphic Perception: AVENGERS: RAGE OF ULTRON

AVENGERS: RAGE OF ULTRON

Writer: Rick Remender

Art: Jerome Opeña, Pepe Larraz, Mark Morales, Dean White, Rachelle Rosenberg & Don Sanchez Almara

Marvel $24.99

Matt C: There was clearly no way Marvel were going to allow the release pass by of what may well be the biggest movie of the year, featuring some of their premier characters, without an attempt to cash in on the buzz (and we’ve come a long way from direct comic book adaptations making much of an impact). The most obvious method for doing this was, as we've frequently seen over the last few years, to introduce a storyline that in some way utilizes the exposure the movie is getting, usually by featuring a villain making their nefarious return. This option was off the table as Jonathan Hickman’s magnum opus running through Avengers and New Avengers was barrelling towards its conclusion in Secret Wars and there simply wouldn't be time to take a detour at this stage. Uncanny Avengers was the other possibility, but the mix of X-Men and Avengers in that title probably dilutes the potential to feed off the hype (and we’ve all heard the rumours about Marvel not wanting to push the X-Men franchise while 20th Century Fox retains the cinematic rights to the property). The canny thing to do would be to use one of the aforementioned writers to produce a one-off story featuring the homicidal robot, Ultron, and with Hickman a little busy setting up Marvel’s major comic book event for 2015, Remender is wisely allocated the task of penning something new (but in continuity) for the publisher’s latest original graphic novel venture.

Graphic Perception: THE MICHAEL MOORCOCK LIBRARY - VOLUME 1: ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ

THE MICHAEL MOORCOCK LIBRARY - VOLUME 1: ELRIC OF MELNIBONÉ

Writer: Roy Thomas

Art: P. Craig Russell & Michael T. Gilbert

Titan Comics $22.99

Rob N: It wasn't too long ago that I reviewed a Titan published graphic novel adaptation of the classic novel, Elric Of Melniboné by Michael Moorcock, and now they're putting out another adaptation of the very same book, but by a different creative team. It's Volume 1 of a proposed 14 book set of 'Eternal Champion' collected editions (and on the basis of the reprint material likely to be available to Titan, I'm guessing that will mean six Elric books, four Corum books and four Hawkmoon books). People unaware of this fact may perhaps be understandably confused when they find themselves reading essentially the same story as before, but with radically different artwork (though the Ruby Throne volume only covers the first chunk of the book - this much longer version is complete in itself). Still, when a novel is as good as this one, you can't really begrudge Titan from releasing it in two different versions.

Graphic Perception: THE CHRONICLES OF LEGION VOLUME TWO: THE SPAWN OF DRACULA

THE CHRONICLES OF LEGION VOLUME TWO: THE SPAWN OF DRACULA

Writer: Fabien Nury

Art: Mario Alberti, Zhang Xiaoyu & Tirso

Titan Comics $10.99

Matt C: A prequel to the well-received bande dessinée Je Suis Légion (abortively translated into English as I Am Legion by DC in 2004, then successfully by Devil’s Due a few years later, and successfully again by original French publisher, Humanoids, shortly after), this second volume of The Chronicles Of Legion (originally published in France as Les Chroniques De Legion: Livre 1) picks up where the first left off, following feuding brothers Vlad Tepes Dracula and Radu through three distinct time periods as they hop from one host body to the next. While I Am Legion dealt with a more familiar schlock mix of Nazis and vampires - but added a sheen of class and intelligence - Chronicles Of Legion is more ornate and traditional in its approach, straying further into gothic territory as it digs into the centuries-spanning history of its central characters.

Graphic Perception: ELRIC: THE RUBY THRONE

Elric: The Ruby Throne

Writer: Julien Blondel

Art: Didier Poli, Jean Bastide & Robin Recht

Titan Comics $12.99

Rob N: Any review I may offer of a comic adapted from the works of Michael Moorcock comes with the caveat that the author in question happens to be my favourite fantasy/sword and sorcery writer, so it’s true I’m approaching this particular work with more than just a few preconceptions in mind. These days you may be hard pressed to find more than a single solitary book by the great man in the Fantasy/SF section of Waterstones, but throughout the 1970s Moorcock ruled the roost with 50 or so slim paperbacks to his name, all of which could be found squatting on the shelves of every bookshop you cared to visit, like an anarchist hippy commune occupying a boarded up townhouse in Ladbroke Grove. Appealing very much to the counterculture at the time, if you were a hippy or a punk in 1977 and you liked SF/fantasy, then you probably read Moorcock’s books. Times change and so do popular tastes, and while you could never claim he’s now forgotten, he no longer seems to capture the popular imagination of fanboys reared these days on a diet of Lord Of The Rings, Robert Jordan's The Wheel Of Time and Game Of Thrones. So it goes.

Graphic Perception: EL NIÑO

EL NIÑO

Writer: Christian Perrissin

Art: Boro Pavlovic

Humanoids $44.95

Rob N: The first thing to say about El Niño is that it's a big towering monster of a story. Indeed, as R.E.M. might say, it's bigger than you and you are not me, and even in its minimalist digital format on my iPad it feels strangely weighty, as if they've gone and printed it on especially heavy molecules of electrically charged and magnetically ionised air, or whatever digital files of comics are made of these days. Weighing in at almost 400 pages of densely written story, El Niño isn't the sort of slim pamphlet you can happily peruse in your half hour lunch break while snacking on a sun blushed and caramelised dolphin steak with a mozzarella baguette, and believe me, I've tried. The publishers helpfully describe it as a Heart of Darkness tale, alluding presumably to the Joseph Conrad novella, but personally it puts me in mind more of Eric Ambler's classic 1939 thriller, The Mask of Dimitrios (a novel that enjoys the unusual accolade of being the book James Bond reads while flying to Istanbul in From Russia With Love) in which the protagonist hears a possibly apocryphal tale of a mysterious Keyser Soze style criminal and, fascinated by the story, proceeds to follow a trail of clues across Europe in the hope of finding out more.

Graphic Perception: SANCTUM

SANCTUM

Writer: Xavier Dorison

Art: Christophe Bec

Humanoids $29.95

Rob N: Over the next few months we here at the PCG will be delving with our sticky chocolate-smudged fingers into the back catalogue and upcoming new releases that make up the exciting but also sometimes frustrating world of European comics. Anyone who has ever been on a spontaneous weekend break to Paris with a new girlfriend who worryingly insists on ordering the really expensive bottles of wine in a restaurant, will no doubt have stumbled on quaint bookshops during the daytime, displaying the alternative world of a comics industry that seemingly hasn't heard of superheroes. Masked men in spandex punching each other in the face just doesn't seem to do it for those curious Frenchies and their pastry-loving Italian and Belgian counterparts, and instead the comics scene across the Channel is comprised mostly of Fantasy, SF, Crime, Horror, Historical, Thrillers and so on, much like the strange world of 'books without pictures'. Where they also differ from the American market is that their output is predominantly written as standalone 'graphic novels' – a term I've never personally been very comfortable with, and yet I have to admit it seems very relevant in terms of European writers and artists.

Graphic Perception: 39 MINUTES

39 MINUTES

Writer: William Harms

Art: Jerry Lando, Linda Sejic, Jay Leisten & Brian Bucellato

Image/Top Cow $19.99

Matt C: 39 Minutes won Top Cow’s annual ‘Pilot Season’ initiative back in 2010, and from what I can gather the series was originally set to debut in 2011. That didn’t happen according to plan and instead of a miniseries back then we’re getting the whole lot in the form of an original graphic novel this week. Three years is a long time in the comics business, so chances are some folks who voted for 39 Minutes might have given up hope of seeing the finished product – heck, I can’t remember if I even voted in the Pilot Season that year, but then my memory’s note quite as reliable as it used to be. The point is, it’s finally here, and for those either in or not in the know, here’s the skinny: 39 Minutes is a pretty tense and addictive crime thriller.

Graphic Perception: SWERVE

SWERVE

Writer: Jon Judy

Art: Dexter Wee & Chris Hall

Arcana Studios $19.95

Matt C: I do love a good rough and ready crime tale, and while I don’t have a problem with the tried and tested clichés being trotted out (as long as they're handled well) if a writer can tell a familiar story in a not-so-familiar environment, that often sweetens the deal considerably. In Swerve, Jon Judy weaves a tale set in the world of mid-‘70s pro-wrestling, where what occurs behind the scenes is a bit more deadly than what happens on the mats.

Eric Layton is our hero here, a kid who makes all the wrong decisions for all the right reasons, getting dragged further into a confluence of drugs and murder at the behest of his increasingly unhinged boss, Tony Frank. It’s a narrative arc that most people who’ve had even a minor dalliance with the crime genre are familiar with, watching an essentially good guy getting into deeper water, to the point where there’s no turning back. Judy keeps things edgy and visceral, with the constant threat of explosive violence always running in the background. The dialogue’s tight and to the point, and when the shocks hit, they hit hard thanks to the judicious pacing and some stark, punchy and often brutal artwork from Wee.

Graphic Perception: THINGS TO DO IN A RETIREMENT HOME TRAILER PARK (WHEN YOU’RE 29 AND UNEMPLOYED)

THINGS TO DO IN A RETIREMENT HOME TRAILER PARK (WHEN YOU’RE 29 AND UNEMPLOYED)
Writer: Aneurin Wright
Art: Anerurin Wright
Myriad Editions $24.99

Matt C: This has been tucked away in my ‘To Read’ pile for a few months now, primarily because I felt it was a tome that needed to be consumed in one go rather than in bite-sized chunks, and time wasn’t allowing me to crack it open. With a few hours finally to spare I can confirm that the decision to read the whole thing in a single sitting was the right one, as  Things To Do In A Retirement Home Trailer Park proves to be an unforgettably moving comic book experience.

Graphic Perception: LOST DOGS & THE UNDERWATER WELDER

LOST DOGS
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Art: Jeff Lemire
Top Shelf $9.95

THE UNDERWATER WELDER
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Art: Jeff Lemire
Top Shelf $19.95

"The very essence of literature is the war between emotion and intellect, between life and death." - I. B. Singer

James R: I can clearly remember the first time I saw Jeff Lemire's work. I was sat in the Vertigo panel at the Bristol Comic Expo in May 2009, and Bob Wayne was doing his usual overview of what we could expect from DC's mature books in the upcoming months. "Next, we have Sweet Tooth... this is from writer and artist Jeff Lemire… It's a post-apocalyptic tale that's, well, it's very different, and it's one of the best first issues I've ever read." Behind Bob was the cover of Sweet Tooth #1, and the innocent face of Gus, the series' protagonist,  stared out. The eyes seem to play a key role in Lemire's work, and there was an ineffable quality to that image of Gus and his stare. Even though I couldn't say precisely why, I knew I had to get on board with this series. Jump forward to today, and I'm incredibly pleased I did - not only has Sweet Tooth been one of the best series of the new millennium, but Lemire has established himself as one of the premier writers in comics, and the creative force behind three books of DC's New 52.

Graphic Perception: BATMAN: EARTH ONE

BATMAN: EARTH ONE
Writer: Geoff Johns
Art: Gary Frank, Jonathan Sibal & Brad Anderson
DC $22.99

Tom P: Do you need another Batman origin? Do you need another Spider-Man movie? Do you need another slice of pizza? Yeah, okay, I'm greedy and I always want more Batman (or any of the above). The biggest selling point of Batman: Earth One for me was Gary Frank - when he and Geoff Johns collaborate on something its like Loeb and Sale or Morrison and Quitely. Like all the best partnerships, it works.

This is my first visit to Earth One having passed on Straczynski's Superman effort, which while critically shunned was a huge financial success for DC (and I still intend to try it one day just to see if it's as terrible as I heard it was). For this book, with this team involved, it was a day of release purchase. The New 52 didn't reboot Batman at all; it's the same as it ever was and thanks to the work of Snyder and Capullo on Batman, it's great stuff. So this is an entirely new origin for the Dark Knight. The book is wonderfully bound with a textured spine and a mix of matte and gloss - quality American printing at its best (even the new DC logo looks quite slick, so it must be growing in me!). The back cover is adorned with glowing reviews from various high profile folks, but it’s Brad Meltzer who gets the best point across about Frank's detail when it comes to the eyes. No black makeup on this Batman's eyelids!

Frank’s work on Earth One is much like the current Justice League backup feature,  Shazam! i.e. it’s brilliant. Since I first saw his work in the quite awesome Supreme Power, anything he pencils is now marked as ‘Sold!’ as far as I'm concerned. As with Shazam!, his work here is complemented by Jonathan Sibal's crisp inks and Brad Anderson's evocative colours.

I loved this interpretation of Batman as a highly inexperienced, headstrong and sloppy Caped Crusader. He makes a lot of mistakes and goes through a lot of pain to learn from them. This is backed up by a kick ass take on Alfred as a former Royal Marine, a guy knows his stuff and has a few surprises up his sleeves, much like Johns does. The writer subverts and rearranges a lot of the well known myths and established rules of Batman, mixing them with a few nods to various things that I found at times fun and horrifically creepy.

It feels like a quick read but that's my only real complaint and its fair to say a few things stood out to me that could have had a bit more time spent on them. That being said, I can happily recommend you try this if you’re a Batman fan. It's a worthy of your time and released to coincide with the lead-up to The Dark Knight Rises. It's not quite up there with Year One or The Long Halloween/Dark Victory which are, for my money, the definitive takes on Batman’s early years, but Batman: Earth One leaves you with the feeling that Johns and Frank are just getting started and after this strong beginning I would love to return to this world again if the same team are involved. 9/10

Graphic Perception: RIFT RAIDERS

Review by Stewart R


RIFT RAIDERS
Writer: Mark Sable
Art: Julian Totino Tedesco and Juan Manuel Tumburus
Kickstart Comics $14.99

The pairing of Mark Sable and Julian Totino Tedesco impressed me last year with brooding, conspiracy malarkey in the terrific Unthinkable for Boom! Studios and so any opportunity to grab more of their collaborative efforts must be taken when they arise. Luckily for me Kickstart have managed to reunite the duo to spin a tale of adventurous time travel as four orphans discover that their parents are actually alive and well and hidden throughout time. With the knowledge that their families are out there trapped somewhen the plucky group of teenagers set out to steal precious antiques and items from days gone past that could be the key to their parents’ freedom.

Stories involving or focusing squarely on chronological navigation can sometimes get bogged down by the ‘science’ behind it all, or can linger too long in one particular epoch, changing the feel of the story to that of a period piece and treating the whole journey more as a secondary point to the events taking place in the current setting. Sable manages to avoid these pitfalls by clearly detailing the mission at hand and ensuring that the hopping between eras is swift and fleeting which is certainly needed to keep the momentum in a self-contained 96-page book. Time (and page space) is of the essence they say...

He also opts to throw the reader straight into the action without any need to use page after page of back story to explain just what sort of characters Dodger, Myles, Layla and Sikes are; their reactions and interactions during the adventure are enough to tell us what their individual motivations and traits are and once again it helps to keep the story on track. To this end we do end up with a certain familiar group dynamic: the greatly talented but roguish protagonist, the brainy kid with steadfast morals, the feisty female with deadly skills and the begrudging companion with a dubious grasp of ethics and a thirst for power, but this familiarity is a help more than a hindrance to the plot and their characters are strong and rounded enough. Certainly the strained, almost antagonistic relationship that Dodger has with his parents is captured nicely and proves a refreshing change to the usual sugary, familial mold dotted throughout many a comic book tale.

The easiest thing to spot throughout Rift Raiders is that Sable and Todesco are placing the focus squarely on fun with some neat set pieces and a decent amount of humour dotted throughout the white-knuckle ride - the result of taking a lackadaisical approach to the loss of two prehistoric eggs is a particular highlight. Whether he's rendering partially completed pyramid tombs in ancient Giza or Zeppelin war weapons gliding over New New York, Todesco has certainly altered his art style to fit the lighter, fantasy-based antics contained in Rift Raiders compared to the darker, realistic feel that he captured in Unthinkable. There’s a younger, animated style on show and combined with Tumburus’ vibrant colours it makes for a pretty book indeed. Todesco’s ability to alter and adapt his style highlights him as a rising talent in the industry and definitely one to watch over the next few years.

While the positives are mounting up here there are a couple of niggles within Rift Raiders. Occasionally it feels that Todesco is cramming too much on one page in order to get the best impact out of the next and the big villain of the piece, Casimir, isn’t featured enough for my liking. However, I put these points down mostly to the limited format; had this been a new ongoing comic series Sable could have easily spun things out and delved into character development a great deal more and lingered further on the ramifications that time-travel could potentially have for those involved, but for a self-contained adventure graphic novel everything we readers require is right here and contributes to an enjoyable read.

If you fancy a change from the superhero and noir crime genres and feel like grabbing a slice of time-hopping fun then this is probably one of the first places you should look. It’s certainly a positive start for a new publisher in the industry, helps to highlight the breadth of work that these creators can produce, and hopefully promises great things to come from all involved. 7/10

Graphic Perception: THE OUTFIT

Review by Matt C

THE OUTFIT
Adapted & Illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
IDW $24.99

The character of Parker has turned out to be the perfect match for Darwyn Cooke's artistic and creative sensibilities. While it's abundantly clear that he can turn his hand to any era, Cooke's style of illustration has always had its visual roots in the mid-20th century, evoking an era of slick, exciting, jazzy cool. Additionally, although he's dabbled heavily in superheroics, his storytelling interests have always swayed towards the crime genre, from his noirish take on Catwoman, through to the detective activities the Spirit, and now onto these adaptations of Richard Stark's Parker novels. It's one of those cases where, having seen the finished work, you couldn't imagine any writer/artist other than Cooke pulling it off with such effortless brilliance.

Although it works as a standalone read, The Outfit is effectively a continuation of last year's The Hunter. Parker made his feelings clear to the Outfit last time around: leave me alone and I leave you alone. The message doesn’t seem to have sunk in properly though and Parker discovers there's a price on his head following an assassination attempt he thwarts with relative ease. He doesn't like the idea of having to look over his shoulder for the rest of his life so he sets a plan in motion. Outfit joints have previously been off limits for career thieves but Parker gets in touch with various old cronies and arranges for a host of Outfit operations to get hit at once. Understandably, the Outfit head honcho isn't pleased and redoubles his efforts to take Parker down, but Parker has other angles to work and is prepared to carry his grievances directly to the top.

Structurally, The Outfit is quite different from The Hunter, which more or less had an A to B narrative. First off, The Outfit contains an extended flashback that was previously issued as The Man With The Getaway Face earlier this year. While it was effective as a self-contained read, in this context, as part of a bigger picture, layers of the story that were previously hidden suddenly manifest themselves. Cooke breaks things up further when he tackles several of the heists performed on various Outfit establishments: one is relayed in prose with only a couple of illustrations; another employs a far more exaggerated, cartoonish art style; the last relies on stripped back linework to tell its tale.

From an artist standpoint, it's a marvellously inventive approach, showing how Cooke grasps the various possibilities the comic book medium has to offer. It does break the momentum of the story though; The Hunter felt like a hardboiled, unstoppable juggernaut, smashing its way towards its conclusion, but The Outfit - because of its structure and the portrayal of Parker as man not fuelled by the same level of violence as before - can't match the impact of the first book. It has many bruising moments, but The Hunter had you in a headlock from its opening page.

This is a minor quibble though as The Outfit is still a prime example of contemporary comics storytelling at its finest. Cooke's now halfway through his project to release four Parker graphic novels and all the signs suggest that, once completed, it will be viewed as one of the most important, vital additions to the medium in recent times. 9/10

Graphic Perception: THOMAS WOGAN IS DEAD

By Matt C

THOMAS WOGAN IS DEAD
Writer: David Hughes
Art David Hughes
Tabella £5.99/$11.95

Thomas Wogan is one of those archetypal British losers that are instantly recognisable due to their prevalence in homegrown popular culture over the years. He's the kind of unassuming guy that would go unnoticed in a crowd, but shine a spotlight on him and he becomes a unique and curious character to observe. Locked into a never-ending daily routine, his habits and hobbies are as bewildering as they are hilarious, and they're never anything less than fascinating.

The title might drop a bit of a hint about the plotline, but it's not quite as clear cut at that . Deciding - for reasons only known to him - to break his monotonous routine, Wogan inexplicably finds himself naked in a nondescript waiting room. Seated in the other chairs are a cuckoo, a sea urchin, a toad, a bat , a fish and an egg. What follows is a series of vignettes where the occupants relay to each other exactly what they were doing before mysteriously appearing in the waiting room. Unsurprisingly, a common theme begins to emerge.

Potentially depressing subject matter is enlivened by a large dollop of black humour as the general mundanity of the characters' lives becomes clearer, with the reasons they find themselves in the waiting room ranging from the bizarre to the ridiculous. Wogan himself is an endearing creation (despite himself), his obsession with the minutiae of Delia Smith's life being a particularly successful running gag.

Hughes’ witty script is packed with wry observations and his art is mixes it up to great effect: there's an air of realism to many of the animal cast as well as the backgrounds, while the human characters - particularly Wogan himself - have a far more cartoonish look about them, adding a layer of pleasing incongruity to the proceedings.

Thomas Wogan Is Dead is wonderfully witty little read that tackles one of the major, universal, unanswered questions. It theorises that, for all the human race's protestations of being the superior species, we are destined to end up in the same place as every other living thing once the lights go out for good. 8/10

Graphic Perception: NOIR: A COLLECTION OF CRIME COMICS

By Matt C

NOIR: A COLLECTION OF CRIME COMICS
Writers: Various
Art: Various
Dark Horse Comics $12.95

If you've stepped inside a comic shop over the last year then you'll probably have noticed there's been something of a resurgence in the popularity of crime comics, from Brubaker's phenomenal Criminal to DC’s Vertigo Crime line of graphic novels. It's entirely appropriate that this has happened, the only head-scratcher being why it didn't happen any sooner. The medium’s roots can be found in the pulp magazines of the '20s, '30s and '40s, and while they also dealt with muscled supermen and alien worlds - which helped ignite the popularity of the superhero genre - a good many of the pulps dealt with villains, anti-heroes, private eyes, guns, gangsters and general hardboiled shenanigans.

With plenty of publishers now jumping aboard the crime ‘bandwagon’ (if it’s fair to call it that since crime comics have always been a mainstay of the industry) Dark Horse has joined in with the recently released Noir: A Collection Of Crime Comics, an impressive package with an enviable roster of creators. Along with the likes of Ed Brubaker, Brian Azzarello and David Lapham, there are several lesser-known names as well as folks you’ll possibly never have heard of (but in many cases you’ll find yourself wanting to see more of their work).

Calling this book Noir does rankle be a bit though: to me, the word ‘noir’ evokes shadowy back streets, duplicitous dames, and bruised and battered anti-heroes who’re a little out of their depth. Noir however, is much broader than that, encompassing a wide variety of crime and criminal acts (although it’s questionable whether Alex Di Campi’s contribution can actually sit comfortably inside the genre at all). This doesn’t detract from the quality of the stories, it just seems like the wrong choice of word, although if you look at the copyright page you may wonder if Dark Horse have actually managed to trademark the word ‘noir’!Chris Offutt’s hitman-based tale (with terrific visuals form Kano and Stefano Gaudiano) and Ken Lizzi’s prose-heavy short are highlights, but it does save the best until last by placing the contribution's from Brubker and Azzarello - the two guys who are angularly more well-versed in the crime genre than many of their peers - right at the end. Brubaker is joined by regular collaborator Sean Phillips on art duties for a brief but tough Criminal story featuring the same alluring seediness and undercurrent of explosive violence that’ll be familiar to any fan of the ongoing series. Azzarello delivers the cream of the crop though, joining forces with the Brazilian twin-brother art team of Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba to cleverly subvert a familiar origin story to thrilling effect. These two entries slot perfectly into what I understand the definition of 'noir' to be, and are textbook examples of how to deliver a strong and succinct tale of bad deeds within just a few pages.

Although the quality varies when you read this book from cover to cover, it does provide an excellent snapshot of what crime comics are capable of in 2009, and anyone who's more than a casual observer of this type of storytelling would be advised to investigate these vignettes of life on the wrong side of the law. 7/10

Graphic Perception: PINOCCHIO: VAMPIRE SLAYER

By Matt T

PINOCCHIO: VAMPIRE SLAYER
Writer: Van Jensen
Art: Dustin Higgins
SLG Publishing $10.95

After the relatively highbrow graphic novel offerings reviewed here in recent months, Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer brings things firmly down to tongue-in-cheek level with a hefty thud. If the title wasn't enough of giveaway, the opening few pages will be, as the writer takes it upon himself to apologise to Carlo Collodi for taking a colossal about turn with his beloved fable. In saying that, the initial summarisation of the puppet-who-wanted-to-be-a-real-boy's life up to this point proves just how batshit the Pinocchio concept was. Granted, covering the entirety of the story in two pages, complete with extremely basic illustrations and some hilariously self-aware dialogue, wasn't bound to give the original a decent run at making sense, but having a walking, talking puppet transmute into a donkey after being conned by a fox still doesn't ring true as a classic plot of modern literature.

Still, the twists and turns that follow hit the kind of levels that a reader of something like Helen Killer (i.e. me!) would expect: Pinocchio: Vampire Slayer is mad, action packed and absolutely hilarious in places. The shift away from Collodi's story to that of a vampire slayer isn't dwelt on for too long, instead letting the basic black and white inks set the mood. There isn't a whole lot outside of standard supernatural fare, and the twist can be seen plodding into view from about a mile off, but getting there is so much damn fun I found myself giggling like a schoolgirl more than once. Jiminy Cricket turns up, and is repeatedly 'killed' by Pinocchio, and there are a couple of wisecracking sidekicks to lighten the mood further. The banter is the kind we've come to expect from modern comics, and the source material isn't simply used as a basis to be discarded, as a few of the original characters make an important appearance.

The art is basic, but adding colour would perhaps remove the lighter tone to be in keeping with the vampiric setting, and the action benefits greatly from the reduced detail. You won't be enlightened by the content of this book, nor will you come away from it with a newfound angle on life, love or anything even mildly important. But, if you're anything like me, you'll laugh like a drain and want to read it over and over. 8/10