Comic Book Interlude 10

1. "Sin City" (complete) by Frank Miller (1991-1992)

I can remember reading the earliest issues/episodes of this back when they first appeared in Dark Horse Presents.  Hard to believe that was what... twenty-five years ago?

Time flies by and so does life.  Here I am at 42 years of age, reading through the ones I missed.

Still great stuff, in my opinion, and the first film remains one of the most faithful and successful adaptations ever.  It's just a shame Robert Rodriguez's sequel was such a letdown.  I think they just waited too long between movies.

2. "Autumnlands: Tooth and Claw" 1-3 by Kurt Busiek and Ben Dewey (2014)

Talking magical animals resurrect a human messiah figure.  In three issues - that's as far as I got.

I really liked Busiek's Astro City, but this one isn't doing much for me.  Perhaps it gets better later on, but then again there are plenty of other comics.

3. "The Complete Alias" by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos (2001-2004)

As I understand it, these days a lot of comic book readers have reasons to dislike Brian Michael Bendis, but Alias surely isn't one of them.  It follows the travails of ex-superheroine Jessica Jones, and was adapted into a Netflix TV series.

Where the Netflix show fails to adequately characterize Jessica, the Alias series is right on the money.  She is presented here in all her neurotic glory, and as a piece of comic book storytelling I can't recommend this series enough.  It goes left when you think it's going to go right, it goes up when you think it's going to go down, and the dialogue is Bendis at his best.

4. "The Multiversity" #1 and #3 by Grant Morrison and Various Artists (2014)

Is there a plot to be found here?  Not sure, but I have the feeling that the issues all tie together somehow.

At any rate, something's going on in the multiverse, and the heroes of several worlds have to contend with it.  Whatever that something is.

5. "The Sandman" 1-75 + Extras by Neil Gaiman and Various Artists (1989-1996)

Looking back on the late 80s/early 90s from the vantage point of 2017, I think that what Neil Gaiman was really trying to do was make himself into the Sandman.  As ways of getting laid go, there are worse strategies.

I've never been a fan of Gaiman the author.  I've read a couple of his novels, and I thought they were extremely forgettable.  In many ways his career parallels that of the earlier Clive Barker, who was enjoying superstardom when Gaiman was just a guy writing comic books for DC.

Yet while Barker was an author who sometimes dabbled in comics, Gaiman was, I think, the reverse.  He is, no matter how much he'd like you to forget it, steeped in the comic book medium, and it is in this medium that he really shines.  Sandman is a very layered, very well-thought out comic book saga, and every time someone bores me with talk of American Gods, I can't help but reflect upon the fact that Sandman was really much better. 

6. "Transmetropolitan" (Complete) by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson (1997-2002)

Hunter S. Thompson type in the future, speaking truth to power.

I've enjoyed other comics that Warren Ellis has written, but this series did nothing for me.  The whole cyberpunk setting seems very late 90s, and I had a hard time figuring out why anyone would care about anything Spider Jerusalem has to say.  He types a riot out of existence?  Really?  One of the silliest things I've ever read.  

...especially in light of recent political developments.

7. "V for Vendetta" (Complete) by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (1982-1988)

"Making England Great Again."

Enough said.