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Graphic Novel Round-up: Messiahs and Men

2011 was the year of the SF superhero, with multiple authors using the medium of the novel to explore various shades of the four-colour hero. Al Ewing's The Gods of Manhattan had a distinct Alan Moore sensibility with his fusion of pulp stars and postmodern sensibilities. Mark Charan Newton's The Book of Transformations investigated the sacrifice of the superhuman - the losses (physical and intangible) suffered in order to become something else. And Kim Lakin-Smith spun the whole thing on its head by looking at the increasingly blurry lines between superhuman and subhuman in Cyber Circus. (Also worth mentioning: Grant Morrison's Supergods, his book-length, utterly fascinating, semi-autobiographical ramble through comic book history.)

Back on its home turf, comics have never shied away from self-examination. Below the jump, a look at how Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis and Denise Mina have all gone about the task.

Review Round-up: Alternate alternate histories

Just when we'd thought we'd wrapped up our Steampunk discussion, two more pieces came along. Ian Sales' "A Light in the Darkness" and Geof Banyard's "The Steampunk Literary Review" showcase different extremes of the subgenre's spectrum - from the serious to the satirical.

Mr. Sales' "A Light in the Darkness" (2011) is an elegently constructed triptych. The first point of view is Second Lieutenant Wilfred Owen, entrenched at the front in 1917. The second is the inventor Nicola Tesla, also 1917, but in America (at his famous tower in Wardenclyffe, never completed in 'real' history). The third narrator is a nameless, contemporary figure - a prisoner in a mysterious institution. 

While Owen endures the miseries of WWI trench warfare, Tesla schemes to reshape all of human existence. His tower is the final piece of his "Stratospheric Lighting System". It will send electricity leaping into the sky, starting a chain reaction that will end darkness forever. Tesla will banish the night. 

The other two protagonists have more hesitant relationships with light, both physically and conceptually. For the unnamed contemporary figure, the bright lights of his cell blind him. They are both an instrument of torture and a warning that the next round of physical interrogation is about to begin. As his suffering continues, the lines between line and darkness, vision and blindness, begins to blur.

Graphic Novel Round-up: Kiki de Montparnasse

Catel and Bocquet's massive graphic novel biography Kiki de Montparnasse has a lot going for it. It's comprehensive, to begin with, covering the life of Alice Prin (the early 20th century model and artist better known as Kiki) from her first breath to her last. The art is lovely, stylish without being mannered or fussy. Kiki's main draw is its subject: Kiki herself was a fascinating woman, and Catel and Bocquet do well by her.

As well-executed as Kiki de Montparnasse is, however (and it is well executed, don't get me wrong), it's still a problematic work, and serves to illustrate the potential – and the peril – of biography.

You're probably familiar with Kiki herself, though you may not know it. The French model, artist and muse inserted herself directly into the center of Paris' extraordinary arts culture in the early decades of the twentieth century, most famously as Man Ray's on-again, off-again lover and inspiration while he was experimenting with photography. Kiki is an appealing subject; she was wild and uninhibited and aggressive in her interests and spun madly at the center of a maelstrom of sex and drugs and the avante garde. Her appetites caught up with her in the end, but she lived her life to the fullest at a time when women were beginning to chafe at the boundaries society imposed upon their gender.

Graphic Novel Round-up: Cinderella & Northlanders

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love (Chris Roberson / Shawn McManus) is, to the best of my knowledge, the first Fables spin-off that isn't written by the series' fairy godfather, Bill Willingham. Cinderella's a good character for it, too. As far as most of the Fables are concerned, Cinderella is just another of Prince Charming's spurned ex's - an innocent Fable running a shoe store in New York. However, she's really one of Bigby's "Tourists", a group of Fable super-spies that scamper around the mundane world, protecting Fabletown from threats magical and mundane.

From Fabletown with Love throws Cinderella into a magical-weapon-smuggling conspiracy, one that ties in to the new influx of Arabian Fables and her own lost past. The plot and its many twists are closely tied to the series to date - although the characters are all minor (or new), the locations and major players all stem from the post-Empire, pre-Dark Ages era of the series. And the story is - structurally - almost perfect. In something reminiscent of The Losers, Cinderella and her untrustworthy allies (like Aladdin) work their work further and further into the layers of conspiracy, eventually finding (and defeating) the criminal mastermind.

Cinderella is a fun, twisty little side-quest in the Fables world. It doesn't, however, ever really strike its own path.

Graphic Novel Round-up: Man, Manly Man and Mark Millar

A belated round-up of some recent (and not-so-recent) reading in graphic novels.

The Authority: Under New Management (Warren Ellis / Bryan Hitch and Mark Millar / Frank Quitely): Watching a title go from Warren Ellis to Mark Millar is like watching someone hand the Porsche keys to their cider-pissed 16 year old nephew. Ellis, of course, ends his spectacular run on the title with, well, something spectacular. It is the eve of the 21st century and God, that is, the Ellisian alien pyramid-tentacle-thing, has returned home, and It is a little miffed that Its beloved space-sphere is now crawling with pesky monkey-creatures. Jenny Sparks and the Authority need to save the day. Sparks, "the spirit of the 20th century" is one of Ellis' most enduring creations and this is her finest hour.

Of course, turn the page, and you're suddenly watching a banal imitation of Captain America threatening Apollo with rape. 'Cause, see the American overlords are coming and something something something, let's see how fast she can go! Lookit, no hands! Millar takes something exquisite, sleek and dramatic and promptly slams it into a wall of puerile adolescence. "Provocative" doesn't mean superviolent - a lesson that I'm sure Millar will learn once people stop buying his titles by the tens of thousand (sigh). Quitely's strength is still the visualization of the subtle and the surreal - not drawing superheroes. Putting him on the job is like making sure that the self-same Porsche has a stereo loaded with the best in contemporary jazz.

Post-Script: London MCM Expo, 28-29 May

"I accept chaos. I am not sure whether it accepts me."  - Bob Dylan

Every year, we spent 363 days forgetting the vastness that is MCM Expo. And then two days realizing it anew. MCM Expo is big. Very, very big. Elbow room was already at a premium by 11 am on Saturday morning - an hour before it officially even opened. And who could blame the fifty thousand or so impassioned geeks that crowded every square inch of real estate - the Expo promises something for everyone.

In fact, experience has shown that the key to maneuvering the Expo is to hit your comfort zone early (and not often). Go early and make a beeline for the stuff you really care about - be it the Steampunk corner, the Comics Village, the games demos, the sneak previews, etc. etc. etc. As the day wears on and the convention gets more crowded, it becomes harder to have a more in-depth experience with anything. So get your autographs and your sampling done before the sun's over the yardarm, then spend the afternoon doing some shameless gawking.

PK Interview: INJ Culbard

Our favorite graphic novel of 2010 was - without a doubt - Mr. I.N.J. Culbard's stunning adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness.

Lovecraft's work is inspiring, but also incredibly tricky - something to which a thousand film-makers, novelists and artists can attest. Mr. Culbard stunned us (and the Guardian, Geek Syndicate, etc. etc. etc.) with his amazing interpretation, both in the svelte editing and the jaw-dropping artwork. With pen in hand, we tracked the man down in an expedition of our own.

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PK: How did you first get in to comics as a reader (not a creator)?

INJC: I got into them because I couldn't read. I've always "read" comics.

PK: …and as an artist?

INJC: I saw an ad from Dark Horse Comics about their new recruits program so I went for it and got "in", whatever "in" means. This was 2004 I think. It was published in 2006. I followed that up with some work in the Judge Dredd Megazine, a six page short of my own called "Monsters" with a hero in it who was a sort of Kung Fu fighting all action Wogan via James Bond and then I met up with Matt Brooker, who lives near me, and he gave Ian Edginton my email and Edginton mailed me to ask if I'd like to draw Dorian Gray for SelfMadeHero and I said yes please. That was essentially it.

10 Quirky New Releases from the London Book Fair

We've just returned from stalking the hallowed halls of the London Book Fair. We're swimming in glossy pamphlets right now, but here are some of the more interesting titles that we've found. If you're looking for the next Robrandon RR Martinfus, this isn't the list - what follows are some of the quirkier, more fun titles we spotted today.

(All links go to the publisher. If you're keen to pre-order, why not take the details to your local bookshop?)

Invaderoma (Drago). Combines the catalogue for Invader's first Italian exhibition with the photos of his Roman invasion. Long our favourite street artist, we're quite excited to see his 8-bit aliens tackle yet another great city in their 19th invasion. Drago have also published a gorgeous reference book - From Style Writing to Art: A Street Art Anthology. (Out now) 

Anno Dracula by Kim Newman (Titan). Re-release of the award-winning steampunk vampire alternate history (fangpunk? bloodpunk?). 1888 - Dracula is married to Queen Victoria. Hijinks. Etc. Newman is signing at Forbidden Planet for the launch. (May)

INJ Culbard x HP Lovecraft

Following the success of At the Mountains of Madness, INJ Culbard is producing a second graphic novel adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is due in October. 

If you can't wait that long (I can't), Culbard is teaming up with Rob Davis to adapt "The Dunwich Horror" for Self-Made Hero's Lovecraft Anthology in April. (Plus, launch party!) Ink & colour us excited.

We're shilling commission-free - we just loooove this work. (How much? Have a read.) Lovecraft adaptations are a dime a dozen, but Mr. Culbard has proven that he can do it right. Well done to Self-Made Hero as well, for keeping Mr. Lovecraft front & center.

Guest Post: The Goddamn Plane Has Crashed Into The Mountain! by Den Patrick

[Editor's note: We're very pleased to have another guest post from Den Patrick, whose writing, lettering and editorial work can be found in Weaponizer, the upcoming DECONSTRUCTED and every issue of the Transformers Comic.]

The Goddamn Plane Has Crashed Into The Mountain!
(Or Thoughts On My First Panel at the SFX Weekender 2)

I found myself under the blazing lights of the screening room, sat alongside Pat Mills, Tony Lee and Bryan Talbot. Bryan Talbot has been making comics longer than I’ve been alive, and Pat Mills launched 2000AD. 

Paul Gravett I am not. A quick look at my shelves confirms most of my purchases as Hellboy orIron Man. That said, I do have some non-US titles and had dutifully packed them to take with me as talking points. Plus there’s the small consideration that I edited (at the time of the Con) two children’s titles for the UK newsstand.

With hindsight, I now realise the panel went sour very quickly. Instead of talking with enthusiasm about the wealth of comics being originated in Europe, Japan and the new wave of Indian creators, the tone quickly settled into ‘Why Comics Don’t Work In The UK’.