July
12
Five for the Road
Some suggested travel reading for those of you taking planes, trains and automobiles to San Diego for this week's Comic-Con.
Nil: A Land Beyond Belief
Creator: James Turner
Slave Labor Graphics, 240 pages, black and white, $12.95
So? Part Chris Ware, part Monty Python and all bizarre, Turner offers a unique graphic novel. Nil is the story of Proun Nul, who lives in the land of Nil, where no one believes in anything. Their lives are celebrations of misery as Nil wars against its cheery rival Optima. When Nul is accused of murder, he heads for the front lines in an attempt to gain amnesty in Optima. Turner’s art is simple and uniformly constructed to give the strange world of Nil a stark, mechanical and industrial feel. The mechanical lettering adds to the feeling. It’s the story, which is the sort of thing that would please the Tim Burton who made “Nightmare Before Christmas,” that elevates the look with its tale of nihilism and the dangers and pleasures of belief and pleasure. Nil is fascinating, dense and strangely fun. Grade: A-
Street Angel, Vol. 1: Princess of Poverty
Creators: Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca
Slave Labor Graphics, 208 pages, black and white, $14.95
So? Street Angel is hard to describe, but the most important thing to know is it’s one of those stories that could only be done in comicbook form. The story’s about Jesse Sanchez, a 12-year-old homeless, skateboarding, ninja-fighting girl. And it gets weirder from there, as Street Angel gets called in by the police commissioner for help and speaks to him only through a megaphone, and she infiltrates the evil Dr. Pangea’s headquarters by finding Ninja Roger’s lost key card. And that’s just the first of five issues in this collection of the miniseries. Rugg and Maruca create a comic with a style that perfectly suits the stories they’re telling and the result is a truly unique and amazing reading experience. Grade: A
Princess Ai, Vol. 2: Lumination
Creators: Misaho Kujiradou, Courtney Love, D.J. Milky
TOKYOPOP, 185 pages, black and white, $9.99
So? The story of the lost princess from the land of Ai who wanders through Tokyo continues at much the same pace as the first book. This time, Princess Ai’s talents as a singer lead her to a small degree of celebrity that is ultimately a prison. This is innocent fun, full of teenage angst, romance and gossamer popstar fantasies. Grade: B+
Zombie Tales
Creators: Andrew Crosby & Keith Giffen; Mike Nelson & Joe Abraham; John Rogers & Andy Kuhn; Johanna Stokes & J.K. Woodward; Mark Waid & Carlos Magno; Keith Giffen & Ron Lim
Boom! Studios, 48 pages, color, $6.99
So? If pirates are the new monkeys, then zombies are the new pirates. This collection of a half-dozen short zombie stories runs the full gamut of styles, though mostly plays the genre for fun. Standouts include screenwriter John Rogers and Andy Kuhn’s “Daddy Smells Different” and Keith Giffen and Ron Lim’s “Dead Meat.” Production values are nice, and the talent and topic combine to make this a decently entertaining diversion. Grade: B
Smoke and Guns
Creators: Kirsten Baldock, writer; Fabio Moon, artist
AiT-Planet-Lar, 104 pages, black and white, $12.95
So? With cigarettes, guns and girls, the only thing this hilarious romp is missing is the rock and roll. Baldock tells a story of Scarlett, a cigarette girls so tough she starts and finishes ganglike territory disputes the only way she knows how; with guns and explosions. Sly and sexy (thanks to terrific inky art from Brazil’s Fabio Moon), this is a quick read that elicits howls of over-the-top laughter. While not the deepest and most satisfying read ever, it’s cool enough that you’ll still want a smoke afterward even if it kills you. Grade: A
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Nil looks really nice - I somehow missed this. Thanks for the info! Please check out some of my free comics/fonts as a thanks.
-Josh
www.refreshingcontent.com
Posted by: Josh Farkas | July 18, 2005 at 07:39 PM