I know, I’m a bit behind with these, due to a glitch with getting copies, but there were some interesting stories this month I wanted to point out.

Veronica #198

Like this one, a fascinating exploration of art history through the lens of Veronica’s self-obsession. The kids are assigned to work in the style of certain famous artists, and she teams up with a talented young painter to make portraits of her. Creators covered include Monet, Da Vinci (as shown on the cover), Picasso, Munch, and Lichtenstein. The story works best if you already know the artists, since what makes them unique isn’t covered, just a representation of their best-known works with Veronica included. If you already have that knowledge, though, it’s pretty funny.

Also in this issue, Veronica gets addicted to “Spacebook”, an online networking site. Things get complicated when her daddy also joins, in a short-but-pointed piece about the different generations wanting different things from their computer time. Plus, Veronica’s geeky cousin Marcy introduces her to an actress who played a bit part on “Space Trek”. That story has another good message, about “famous” people not necessarily being well-off. I’m pleasantly surprised to see Veronica stories with themes I can get behind. It’s a very nice change from the usual “I’m rich and selfish but not unlikeably so” pieces. There are sample pages from each story at the publisher’s website.

Jughead #199

The psychological ramifications of this issue are fascinating. Archie starts by explaining that the girls get frustrated by Jughead because “they’re afraid he’s a bad influence on their boyfriends” with his lack of manners, laziness, and goofy clothes. We’ve don’t really see other guys wanting to be like Jughead… probably because they like having girlfriends, and he doesn’t… but ok, let’s accept that premise for a minute.

Then the girls enlist the help of Trula Twyst, who has a near-magic insight into “the inside of Jug’s head”. Archie warns them against her, because she only has her own interests at heart. (Who, in Archie comics, doesn’t?) She gets all the kids to dress and act like Jughead, under the theory that when he’s no longer unique, he’ll do something else instead. This now makes sense to me, as I’m trying to explain it to you — Jughead wants to be different, whether he realizes it or not, so if everyone’s sloppy, he’ll be neat — but it wasn’t as well explained in the story. Also, even if all the girls are acting just like Jughead, the guys are still themselves, so he’s still unusual that way. I mentioned this was a weird story, right?

Also unusual is how there are a bunch of characters in this story we haven’t seen before. The girls that want Trula’s help aren’t Betty or Veronica or even Ginger or Brigitte. They’re Amy, Barbie, and Candi (A, B, and C slots in the story?). Their boyfriends are similarly unfamiliar. The only well-known characters are Jughead himself and that early appearance of Archie as the voice of reason (??).

Of note this issue is the presence of that increasingly rare comic convention, the editor’s note. Here, we’re told that Trula’s first appearance was in Jughead #89, over 100 issues ago. Just in case you want to track it down. I’m being sarcastic, but I have wondered in the past just how long this character has been around, and I’m very pleased to have that question answered. Plus, I always appreciate it when Archie comics acknowledge their factual history.

The two other tales are much shorter and simpler. In one, Archie and Jughead screw up a task for Veronica, while the second has Jackie Frost, a gal who makes the weather cold, return to town. That’s an excuse for a series of jokes that boil down to “it was so cold my scarf was frozen solid” and so on. There are sample pages at the publisher’s website.

Archie & Friends #138

When I reviewed the first part of this two-part story, in issue #137, I complained about the lack of background explanation, history notes or the like to explain who all these old comic characters were. This issue has two pages to make up for it, although not every character is covered, and the information provided consists of a sentence and a note in what issue they first appeared. (This is of minimal benefit, since most of the characters first appeared in comics titled (Character Name) #1.) At least it’s an attempt.

The story is exactly what was expected: the characters start finding problems in the new world they’re in, so they want to go home. Magic Plot Device, a glowing fallen comet that characters can handle with their bare hands, accomplishes this. Overall, it’s fan-fiction — “wouldn’t it be cool if all these characters met each other?” Not really, not without more for them to do. With this limited space, there’s not much room for that or anything else. There are sample pages at the publisher’s website.

If you’re curious about The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service series, which I recommend, but you can’t find the early volumes, try starting here.

Book 8 begins with that manga classic, the school club recruitment drive. Rei is a new student at the Buddhist College all the Service members attend, and she winds up at the group’s open call for new members. They’re billing themselves as an entrepreneurial “money-makin’ club” to get some kids interested. However, seeing each of the Corpse Delivery Service demonstrate their individual abilities in gruesome detail is quite frightening to normal college students, even those who think they’re far out, so the results aren’t what they hoped for.

The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Book 8
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In addition to re-introducing the characters to the reader as Rei meets each of them, the chapter is also very funny in its portrayal of typical student types and hobbies. My favorite was the gothic lolita who thinks she’s a spirit channeler. The alien puppet takes her apart in amusing fashion. Which led to me realizing that some aspects of this series (like what the puppet is, exactly) are pretty hard to explain accurately, but they’re easy to grasp when reading. So I’m spending more time telling you about the humor and horror than it would take for you to just read and enjoy it.

I also want to call attention to Yamazaki’s chapter openings. Each story, a few pages in, has an eye-catching double-page spread that could serve as a movie poster. The first has slivers of character closeups that perfectly shows their attitudes in one quick image, assembled in an edgy modern fashion. The next features Ao, unofficial team leader, marrying a skeleton as the others look on in varying states of consternation in a chapel. What an intriguing summation of how the group handles romance!

That’s the premise of the next three chapters, containing a story that starts with an art student who can’t find a job. (The underlying message of this series is sometimes “college students are poor and school may not help you prepare for the real world.”) He lives in a manga cafe and is temporarily helping out the Service members, who deliver a ridiculously expensive appliance to a stupid rich wedding planner introducing a new service: marriages for dead people.

There’s something brilliant about combining a funeral with a wedding, since they’re both reasons people often reunite with those they care about but don’t see any other time. The problem comes when only one of the partners is deceased, and the ghost really wants his partner. I think this is my favorite of all the Kurosagi stories so far, but then, I say that whenever I’ve read a new volume of the series.

The art continues to impress. The detailed settings and expressive characters put the reader right into the story. It’s easy to follow the mood and be sucked into the unusual experiences, with their undertones of heritage and legend. The realistic images help ground the more fantastic occurrences. In the ghost bride story, it’s neat to notice how the artist creates formal images of the characters that still look like them, so there’s a double layer of portrayal going on.

The remaining story in this book is also three chapters, about dead babies being left in a drop box set up to save unwanted children from being abandoned. A nurse at the hospital finds surprising commonalities with Kuro, in that they both have a connection to the souls of the recently dead. There are hints that she may return, which I look forward to — yet another reason to continue with the series. And one last trivia item: the always-wonderful endnotes mention, in this book, where Real Genius was filmed as part of a tenuous connection between the campus festival and the editor’s own college experiences. There’s also a short piece on the meaning of goth-loli fashion among the many fascinating cultural lessons. Overall, a stunning, enjoyable read.

Cool Things to Look At

Storming the Tower explores autobiographical comics by comparing how artists draw themselves with actual photos. I was impressed by how faithful many of them were. What a great use of the net! The one omission I noted: Paul Pope. I never fully understood his art style until I met him, and then suddenly, it all made sense — he’s drawing himself.

The funny folks at Comics Alliance explore a set of fan drawings of boy superheroes turned into sexy girls with less clothing.

Wow, DC Got Me Excited About One of Their Comics!

Just when I thought I was done with superheroes, I saw the news that Ted Naifeh (Courtney Crumrin, The Good Neighbors) will be drawing a Teen Titans backup. That’s not enough, by itself, to get me to buy — I like his art but I want more than pretty pictures — but I also love the concept, involving three mystical teens, two of whom are the most exciting new character ideas I’ve seen in superheroes in a while. Black Alice, who can turn herself into versions of other mystical heroes; Traci Thirteen, a magician I liked reading in Blue Beetle and Doctor 13: Architecture & Mortality; and Zachary Zatara, Zatanna’s cousin, become the Coven. Ok, the name’s cheesy, but the rest intrigues me. The story starts in Teen Titans #83.

Girl Comics Reviewed

I don’t get comics weekly any more, so I haven’t seen an issue yet. I love the creators involved, hate the title and what it says about the publisher, but I’m looking forward to reading it.

Unfortunately, the reviews I’ve seen so far have been mixed. Boys don’t like it: Christopher Allen called it “ghastly”, “slapdash”, and “phoned in”. Chris Sims says that although the art is “good-looking”, the stories are a “mixed bag”, singling out the Punisher piece as “aggressively, pointedly mediocre”.

But girls do: Caroline calls it “a treat” although she says she’s already the target market because of her love of comic book heroines. Are there other good reviews about the title I’ve missed?

RIP Milestone

I started reading Milestone at the origin, because they were just coming out when I was getting back into comics (the time that stuck), and I loved seeing stories and art more nuanced and real-world than the flat four-color heroes I remembered. I was excited to see the announcement for Milestone Forever, one last story with the characters, and I’m looking forward to reading it. Given all the history with DC, though, I don’t know why I believed this time the treatment would be different. It wasn’t.

I believe this line of comics makes the whitebread DC folks uncomfortable, and as a result, it’s been marginalized and neglected. The easiest way to see this? Ask yourself why DC didn’t bother to do much of anything to tie into the successful Static Shock! cartoon. And yeah, I know that the deal structure has an affect on their decisions. DC wants to own things, not share. Even though 50% (or whatever) of a lot of money would be better than 100% of none, they still fixate on the 100%.

Saddest of all is this comparison, using a parable from Hardware to show how optimism becomes resignation and an inability to keep fighting a system biased against you.

Cry for Justice Kills a Kid

Spoiler!

The problem I have with killing off Lian Harper is that she and her father had such dramatic possibilities that were found nowhere else in the DCU. He was a single father superhero. She grew up around heroes but had no powers. Her mother was a super-villain (a wonderful metaphor for the ex you don’t want to interact with but have to). She was a kid with her own personality, not just a plot device. There is SO MUCH story potential there that’s been tossed away for … what? Yet another “oh, this story is meaningful because someone dies!” shortcut stretching for meaning? That’s already a cliché in the genre.

The creators have been seen saying “we got a reaction from you, so we got what we wanted”. I think they’re mistaking disgust, apathy, and resignation (“they did it again? I knew it”) for excitement and interest. They have once again demonstrated their lack of imagination publicly, which should show how ill-suited they are for working in a fantasy genre. Unless they’re revealing that they fantasize about killing kids and shooting bad guys in the head, in which case, back away slowly.

Archie Comics has released a new version of their website, with games, character profiles, and most exciting to me, video clips. (Although you have to look under “Fun Stuff / Media” to find them, and note that “Fun Stuff” is different from “Games”.)

I have some questions, of course. First, why, given the increasing emphasis they’re putting on digital delivery, especially on the iPhone and related devices, would they create a site that requires Flash to show you any content? The i-devices don’t use Flash, nor do Android handsets or similar. That seems counter-productive in reaching that new audience, but maybe they’re already reaching them directly.

Speaking of which, why didn’t I see a link to the Archie Digital online comic site anywhere? I hope I overlooked it.

As someone who covers the company, where do I go to find a simple list of titles they release? Is the subscription store complete? One would think so, but when working at DC, I quickly learned that publishers don’t offer subscriptions for everything, especially limited titles (or those not long for the world). There is a convenient list of press releases, although strangely, the one about the website itself isn’t included. I hope that doesn’t mean that the list isn’t kept updated.

The press release also touts the site as being “highly customizable” with “custom visual themes”. I didn’t see any sign of such things, but maybe that’s coming later with the Fan Club. I also found it odd that the press release plugs the timing “Amid the excitement surrounding the announcement of Archie Comics’ new comic series “Stan Lee’s Super Seven” [and] the success of Archie Comics’ Red Circle superheroes with DC”, yet I found nothing about either of those initiatives anywhere on the new site. Maybe, again, they’re aiming at two different audiences.

Regardless of my quibbles, it’s a dynamic site with lots to offer the target group interested in interacting with the characters beyond the printed comic page.

Review by Ed Sizemore

Negima!? Neo Book 3

Negima!? Neo Book 3
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story by Ken Akamatsu; art by Takuya Fujima; adapted by Alethea Nibley and Athena Nibley

Magical monsters are attacking Mahora Academy. It’s up to Negi and his students to defeat the monsters and determine who is behind the attacks. During the course of this investigation, Negi decides that he must become stronger to better protect his students and enlists the help of the vampire witch, Evangeline.

I previously reviewed volume one of this series, and boy, did things change. With volume 3, the fan service has returned with a vengeance. Which is unfortunate, since the lack of such was the main selling point of this version of the Magister Negi Magi franchise.

The stories are briskly paced and plot-driven, which turns out to be a double-edged sword. While the book is a quick read, the character development in this volume feels forced. We see Asuna undergo a massive personality change in the course of one chapter. Negi’s training moves at breakneck speed, and even though it’s magically assisted, it’s still hard to believe how much he improves over the course of one volume.

Fujima’s art continues to be beautiful. He has an excellent sense of anatomy, and his action scenes are dynamic. It’s a shame to see such talent wasted on puerile fan service. I had hoped this would be the family-friendly Magister Negi Magi manga, but those hopes have been dashed on the rocks of otaku pandering.

Honestly, I guess this series is simply another way for Akamatsu to wring money from his fans. I can’t see recommending this series over the original manga. Fans of the franchise might enjoy this alternative take on the series, but those new to the Magister Negi Magi universe will do best to read the original manga. Everyone else should find something better to read.

Orange Planet Books 1 & 2

Orange Planet Book 1
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by Haruka Fukushima; adapted by Kaya Laterman

Rui Nagasaki is a high school student living on her own. She suddenly finds herself roommates with the teaching intern assigned to her class, Eisuke Tachibana. If the school finds out she and Eisuke are living together, they will both be expelled. On top of that, she is in the middle of the classic shojo love triangle; her childhood friend, Taro, is in love with her, while Rui is in love with Kaoru, a classmate.

These two volumes of Orange Planet were an odd read. I’m used to authors beginning a series uncertain about the characters or the setup or the web of relationships and playing with these aspects of the series until all the pieces fall into place. With Orange Planet, the first volume of the manga has a strong sense of the characters, the story, and the setting. For whatever reason, Fukushima was dissatisfied with the story and in volume two began tinkering with the series.

The best and most obvious example is the character of Kaoru. Volume one ends on a cliffhanger with Kaoru announcing that he is in love with “her”. Volume two opens with Kaoru announcing he is in love with “him”. Suddenly, one of the main characters has changed sexual orientation, which ends up negating a large portion of the love triangle in volume one. It’s only the first of many abrupt changes as each chapter of volume two has Fukushima tinkering with the cast and the setup.

Orange Planet Book 2
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This makes for a disconcerting read. It’s obvious by the end of volume two that Fukushima is just randomly throwing ideas at the series, hoping something will click for her. The only aspect of the series Fukushima leaves intact is the general genre of the work. We know that when she figures out what she wants to do, it’s going to be a romantic comedy of some sort. However, the reader is so spun around by the changes that by the end of volume two, all you’re left with is a nauseating feeling of vertigo.

The only comfort readers can take in this manga is the quality of the artwork, which is well done. I’m particularly impressed with the page layouts. Many of the pages looked like they belonged in a scrapbook rather than a comic book. The panels functioned like pictures with word balloons and screentones added to give vibrancy and emotional emphasis to the moment represented. The page layouts are very effective ways of intuitively adding these dimensions to the art.

Perhaps in later volumes, this series will finally settle down and have stable characters and setup. Even if that happens, there is no reason for someone to buy these first two volumes, since they won’t be connected to the new storyline. Readers will do well to skip this series entirely and wait to see if Fukushima’s next series is as carefully planned out as her page layouts.

Princess Resurrection Books 6 & 7

Princess Resurrection Book 6
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by Yasunori Mitsunaga; adapted by Joshua Hale Fialkov

The war among the vampire royalty from the previous volumes continues in these two volumes also. However, there are other players who are using the unrest among the nobles to build their own power bases. Princess Lilianne and her entourage are constantly defending themselves from attacks by various opponents.

There appears to be an odd continuity break at the beginning of volume six. The first chapter has Princess Lilianne in jail awaiting judgment from a tribunal. The next chapter, Princess Lilianne is back home and has unexplained injuries. The imprisonment and judgment are never mentioned again. There is no explanation from the author or the publisher about the abrupt change in plot. I found it disturbing. By the end of volume six, I decided to just go with the new flow.

Princess Resurrection Book 7
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These two volumes contain mostly stand-alone stories. There is some mention of the grander narrative about the vampire royalty, but they are passing references that don’t affect the stories themselves. Instead, we are treated to a variety of horror-themed mysteries. All the classic cliches are here: undiscovered monsters, doppelgangers, haunted schools, and being trapped in the past. The stories are fun, entertaining reads.

The artwork is competent. You can see the influences of horror greats like Umezu and Hino. However, Mitsunaga isn’t really adding anything new to the horror genre artistically. Mitsunaga does a good job of evoking mood, which is essential for horror stories.

My one complaint with the series is the lack of a chart of characters with their real names, nicknames, species, and relationship to other cast members. Also a synopsis of the main plot would be nice. I’ll simply restate my recommendation from the previous volumes. This is a good escapist fiction for horror fans looking for lighter fare.

Pumpkin Scissors Books 3-5

Pumpkin Scissors Book 3
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by Ryotaro Iwanaga; adapted by Ikoi Hiroe (books 3,4) and Joshua Hale Fialkov (book 5)

Pumpkin Scissors is the nickname for the Imperial Army State Section III charged with war relief and reconstruction. They encounter opposition from other army units, civilians cynical from a government of broken promises, uncaring aristocrats, and corrupt politicians. Lieutenant Malvin’s unwavering faith in their mission binds and energizes the unit to keep going, regardless the obstacles.

Pumpkin Scissors Book 4
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As I stated in my previous review, I’m very taken with the cast of characters in this manga. I continue to be impressed by the idealism of Lt. Malvin. As the series progresses, she is confronted with many harsh realities, but she refuses to give up her ideas. Instead, each new obstacle only fuels her desire to see justice and true restoration brought to the empire. I find her as inspiring a person as Corporal Orland does.

Cpl. Orland’s struggle to come to grips with the gulf between his military training and his true personally is still moving. You have to wonder at the inhumanity of a military system that could turn such a gentle man into a fearsome death machine when facing down a tank. Lt. Malvin provides him a model of the soldier he longs to be even though he can’t articulate that desire.

Pumpkin Scissors Book 5
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We also get to see how corrupt and depraved the empire was during the war and continues to be during the restoration. The empire was desperate to win the war, and the experiments they performed on the men of the secret units are proof of how nothing was considered too extreme. The nobles and the politicians still don’t care about the people; they don’t understand the level of suffering they’ve caused and are still inflicting on civilians. Even when they are given a glimpse of living conditions of the working class, they shrug it off as something the poor deserve. I can’t image that such a society can continue to exist for much longer.

Iwanaga has found his artist stride. The line work is delicate and allows for plenty of detail. It’s perfect for a military manga where readers expect the artist to show the details of equipment and uniforms. I would like to see more shading on the characters so that they feel more substantial. Otherwise, the art is well done.

It seems that military stories are the last place where ideas like justice, honor, and duty still have meaning. I continue to enjoy this series and look forward to forthcoming volumes. Readers would do well to give this manga a try. They won’t be disappointed.

(The publisher provided review copies.)

I’m still waiting for TwoMorrows to deem a woman worthy of inclusion in their Modern Masters line of interview books, but in the meantime, I’ll enjoy this Chris Sprouse volume, co-written by our friend Todd Dezago. (The other writer is nice guy Eric Nolen-Weathington.)

Modern Masters: Chris Sprouse
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I find Sprouse’s clean art lovely in its simplicity, and he works incredibly hard to achieve that appearance. As with the other Modern Masters books, the text is a lengthy interview in which the subject talks about his life and work, how he got into the field, key points in his career, and his love of comics. It’s accompanied by all kinds of art samples, including early and rare work, such as pieces for his high school paper and summer jobs. Plus, there are sketches, character designs, and page layouts.

They did a nice job actually connecting the images to what’s being talked about in the text. I’ve had problems with some of the company’s magazines before, talking about things that they never show, but that’s not the case here. I say “they” because I don’t know whether to credit authors, editor, or someone else, but whoever’s responsible, thank you. Nice caption job, too, providing full identification so I’m not guessing at what an image is or where it’s from.

I also appreciated “hearing” Sprouse address the struggles he’s had, his learning curve, and his issues with perfectionism and how it affects a work schedule. He comments briefly on many of his co-workers, but the part that really struck a chord with me was when he talks about emotional impact, how looking back at certain pages reminds him of major changes in his life going on when he drew them, and how difficult it can be to keep enthusiasm going after a while.

Sprouse also walks through the full creation of a page from Ocean before the book switches to pure art gallery, including a short color section of full-page images. I’d forgotten just how much I loved his work on Legionnaires, around the time I first began reading the series. I really enjoyed this volume, going over his career and understanding better what makes Chris Sprouse the talented artist he is.

Boom! Studios sent out an announcement this morning explaining the point of their “Stan’s Back” marketing campaign over the past few weeks. Here’s part of the press release:

POW! Entertainment and BOOM! Studios announced a deal has been struck that will see the production of a series of three superhero titles presented by Stan Lee. These series will premiere from BOOM! Studios later this year.

BOOM!’s Editor-in-Chief Mark Waid, creator of BOOM!’s runaway hit series IRREDEEMABLE and its smash sister book INCORRUPTIBLE, will be writing one of the series. Two other series will follow, featuring A-list writers as a part of the creative team. Further announcements will clarify the teams and the timing for the roll-out.

So, what does “presenting” mean, exactly? If other people are writing, does Stan provide the initial idea? Lend his name and nothing else? Review and approve the work? Nod in the direction of the books before they’re published?

It’s not even rare for Stan Lee to sell his name these days. Heck, Archie is doing a superhero series with him where he’s one of the characters. We’ll have to wait and see what the books actually look like and who the “A-list writers” are (and, presumably, there will be artists of some kind, too) in order to decide whether they’re comics worth reading.

If only Miku could bother to actually tell Kyohei that she likes him, we wouldn’t have to wade through most of this story. Instead, because he can’t read her mind, she yells at him, pouts, sulks, and hits him. What a drippy shojo heroine.

Cactus’s Secret Book 1
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Seriously, one sentence, three words, “I like you” and no need for the majority of the book. I know young women find it difficult to risk their hearts and reveal their feelings, but blaming him because you’re scared is stupid. Not to mention that she knows him as a friend and knows that he can be clueless. Why suddenly expect him to be a whole different person when she’s involved? He even gives her plenty of openings by bringing up the subject when they talk; she fails to take any of them. She thinks she’s being obvious about how she feels, and that’s why he should be able to guess, but that’s not the case, and she needs to take responsibility for getting what she wants instead of hoping it all works out as she hopes.

I’m sure, sadly, that young women can relate to her yo-yo bipolar moods, swinging from love to hate at a moment’s notice, but I fervently hope that they don’t consider Miku any kind of role model. I felt very sorry for Kyohei, who honestly is curious about why Miku’s behavior towards him has changed. Even though she won’t answer him, and just gets madder, he still tries to apologize. Because he doesn’t guess the real reason for her anger correctly (and why would he? Assuming it must have been because she had a crush on him would be egotistic), she throws a fit. He’s a much nicer guy than she deserves.

This is the first time I’ve read a shojo hoping that the two leads don’t get together. Especially given how she hits him and throws things at him. I know this is a manga comedy staple, but I really hope girls don’t take away that acting out that way is acceptable. Take ownership of your own emotions! Don’t expect a guy to be telepathic! He’s not responsible for how you feel or what you do! Don’t be a sexist stereotype!

I also wish that the adapter would have changed one of the key references. The story starts with Kyohei saying that Miku, who’s wearing more makeup than usual, looks like “magician Tenko Hikita”. Although a brief description of the performer is provided in the short list of notes in the back, given the number of times Hikita is referenced, I would have preferred they choose someone known in the U.S., such as Lady Gaga. (The publisher provided a review copy.)