Graphic Novels

By Steve Raiteri -- Library Journal, 1/15/2006

The presence below of two favorites from the 1980s—Watchmen by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons and Nexus by Mike Baron and Steve Rude—leads me to muse about golden periods in comic book history. The “Golden Age of Comics” is dated roughly by fans from the introduction of Superman in 1938 to the institution of the self-censoring Comics Code in 1954. Alternately, there's a saying that “the Golden Age of comics is 12 years old.”

I'll go ahead and date myself; I turned 12 in 1978, and I'll readily admit to a continuing fondness for the superheroes I was reading about then. But for me, the later period spanning most of the 1980s was one of two golden periods of comics reading I've experienced. On the superhero side, the Chris Claremont/John Byrne X-Men, the Marv Wolfman/George Perez New Teen Titans, and Frank Miller's Daredevil kicked off this era, and Watchmen and Miller's two Batman books, The Dark Knight Returns and Year One, upped the ante in the mid-1980s with gripping storytelling and a more adult viewpoint.

But a major factor in this era was comics' expansion beyond superheroes. As the system of direct marketing to comics shops developed, numerous small publishers emerged to feed that market, where creators tried out new approaches, new styles, and new types of stories. Dave Sim's self-published comedic fantasy Cerebus was a personal non-superhero favorite during this period, especially its early 1980s “High Society” storyline. Others included the aforementioned Nexus, Moore's run on Swamp Thing, Howard Chaykin's American Flagg, and Paul Chadwick's Concrete. This was also the time of the first volume of Art Spiegelman's Maus, the only comic (so far) to win a Pulitzer Prize. Some other highlights of this period include Wendy and Richard Pini's epic fantasy Elfquest, and the emergence of manga in America. Nineteen-eighty saw a partial translation of Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen, an autobiographical account of the Hiroshima bombing. Before the end of the decade, Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira, and Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa had followed. All of the above-mentioned series are available now in collected editions (though some are incomplete), but other personal favorites are lost in time, including Scott McCloud's Zot! (collected in book form years ago, but long out of print); Thriller by Robert Loren Fleming and Trevor Von Eeden; and Starstruck by Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta.

Neil Gaiman's Sandman, which began serialization in late 1988, served as a capstone to this era. The comics market was already sinking under a glut of black-and-white comics. The collapse accelerated when comics speculators, finding that there was no market for the recent mass-marketed “collectables” they had invested in, left the field in droves, and the industry began a period of retrenchment.

Now, lest you think I'm disappearing into nostalgia—the second of my personal golden ages began about five years ago, and continues today. With the amazing explosion of manga, extensive graphic novel sections in bookstores, a resurgence of diversity, excellent new work in every genre, and the reissue and continuing availability of classics from all previous periods of comics history, there has never been a better time than the present to be a comics fan.

ARAKAWA, HIROMU. Fullmetal Alchemist. Vol. 1. Viz Media. 2005. 192p. tr. from Japanese by Akira Watanabe. ISBN 1-59116-920-8. pap. $9.99. F

In this series' science-fantasy world, alchemy's rule of “equivalent exchange” states that for something to be created, something of equal value must be sacrificed. When the prodigiously talented young alchemists Edward and Alphonse Elric attempted a forbidden alchemical procedure to resurrect their mother, the results were disastrous. Not only did they fail, but Edward lost an arm and a leg and Alphonse's soul was trapped inside a suit of armor. Now Edward, with cybernetic replacement limbs, is a State Alchemist working for the military government, traveling with his brother in search of the Philosopher's Stone that may be able to help them become whole again. Along the way, they find themselves fighting corrupt leaders and righting wrongs. The anime TV show based on this manga, shown on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, has made quite a splash among fans. The more formative manga is, so far, less emotionally compelling than the anime, and closer to a typical shonen (boys') quest adventure story, with cartoony artwork and exaggerated action scenes to match. But both versions are entertaining, with moments of comedy among the fights and the drama, and the manga is recommended for teens and adults.

BARON, MIKE (TEXT) & STEVE RUDE (ILLUS.). Nexus Archives. Vol. 1. Dark Horse. 2005. 216p. ISBN 1-59307-398-4. $49.95. F

Horatio Hellpop's terrible dreams of the galaxy's mass murderers will destroy him unless he eliminates their cause—so he becomes the dreaded Nexus, and uses his mysterious fusion powers to kill the killers. An intensely private figure, he lives on the moon of Ylum with a variety of political refugees he has rescued during his grim errands. When journalist Sundra Peale arrives on Ylum intent upon learning Nexus's secrets, she is drawn into his world far more strongly than she had planned. This hardcover collects the series' inaugural episodes from the early 1980s. The first stories, in black-and-white, are somewhat crude but inventive, introducing the bizarre use of networked, telekinetic amputated heads in jars as a power source. The bright full colors of the later stories contribute to a partial lightening in tone, as Rude's artwork quickly matures (gaining a look reminiscent of Russ Manning's Magnus, Robot Fighter), and Baron adds some comic relief. The supporting cast—including Judah the Hammer, a boisterous, apelike “independent adjudicator” who models his exploits after Nexus's—begin to come into their own. Winner of multiple Eisner Awards, this series is recommended for teen and adult fans of science fiction adventure.

BURNS, CHARLES. Black Hole. Pantheon. 2005. 368p. ISBN 0-375-42380-X. $24.95. F

Burns has been serializing this chilling story, nominated for several Eisner and Harvey Awards, since 1994. It depicts a group of mid-1970s high school students and their everyday lives of partying, drugs, and sex, with one horrific deviation from reality: an apparently incurable sexually transmitted disease referred to only as “the Bug,” which mutates its victims in grotesque ways. One victim grows a tail, another grows a second mouth on his chest; some can still pass as normal in society, while others, more noticeably changed, live in a makeshift tent camp in the woods. The story, told in a suspense-building non-linear manner, largely follows one attractive girl who catches the Bug and is forced into hiding with her boyfriend, while someone is apparently stalking the frightened outcasts in the woods. Burns's highly polished cartooning combines naturalism with jolts of unreal horror; his frequent dream sequences are full of bizarre, nightmarish imagery. The Bug seems not just a metaphor for AIDS, but a metaphor for how teen sex itself is often viewed: as something that taints those who do it, and separates them from those who haven't. With full-frontal nudity, sex, and disturbing imagery, this is for adult collections.

CRANE, JORDAN. The Clouds Above. Fantagraphics. 2005. 216p. ISBN 1-56097-627-6. $18.95. F

In this colorful, attractively designed little hardcover, young Simon arrives at school one day, accompanied by his talking cat Jack, only to discover that he's locked out. Fearing the wrath of his teacher, the mean Missus Poe, he attempts to sneak in unnoticed; but to avoid capture, he ends up barricading himself on the roof, where he and Jack discover a rickety wooden staircase that leads up, and up, and up, into the sky. In their adventures among the clouds—both the fluffy pink clouds and the awful green ones—Simon must rely on his wits if they are to escape a combative flock of birds and find their way back to school again. This is an enjoyable all-ages fantasy adventure, whimsical without being saccharine. Crane's cartoony figures, with their straw-thin arms and ink-dot eyes, have an odd but endearing look, and his colors are marvelous. The witty banter between Simon and his reluctant traveling companion Jack is good fun. With only one panel per page, the book reads faster than its page count would indicate. Recommended for all readers and all collections.

DEFALCO, TOM & PAT OLLIFFE (TEXT & ILLUS.) & OTHERS. Last Hero Standing. Marvel. 2005. 120p. ISBN 0-7851-1823-3. pap. $13.99. F

DeFalco and Olliffe are long-time collaborators on Spider-Girl, and this standalone book is set in that series' future era, when Peter Parker has retired as Spider-Man after losing a leg in battle and his teenage daughter has taken his place. When several heroes and ex-heroes, including Wolverine and Peter, are kidnapped, the Fantastic Five, the X-People, and others investigate, and are drawn into a plot to turn hero against hero. With a large number of characters involved, most aren't dealt with in any detail, but there are some interesting glimpses of some heroes' futures. The action centers on the Avengers, including an aging Captain America struggling with the realization that his skills are waning. Like the Spider-Girl series, this is a straightforward and somewhat old-fashioned superhero book skewing towards a younger age group than most current Marvel comics. The artwork, finished by Scott Koblish, is a bit above average. Readers well used to postmodern superhero comics will likely find the dialog here overdone and the story corny; but younger superhero fans will like it, and long-time Marvel fans will find it an enjoyable diversion.

KOSLOWSKI, RICH. The King. Top Shelf Productions. 2005. 264p. ISBN 1-891830-65-1. pap. $19.95. F

Tired of having his National Enquirer articles about Elvis sightings laughed at, Paul Erfurt tried to become a serious journalist, but hasn't managed it. Now, he's been given one more chance, by an overweight Vegas singing sensation calling himself the King, who says that Paul is the only journalist he'll speak to. The King is no ordinary Elvis impersonator; hiding his identity under a golden helmet, he calls himself the God of Song. He hints at a mysterious connection with the real Elvis and sounds just like him, and he's collected a motley “New Memphis Mafia” of followers. Paul calls in an old private investigator buddy to help him dig up the truth about the King's identity, but the King himself tries to steer Paul in a different direction. While telling a fine mystery story, Koslowski (Three Fingers) also explores, without condescension, the mythology that has grown up around Elvis, and muses seriously on the nature of belief in any God. Koslowski's exaggerated black-and-white cartooning (with blue and grey tones) draws out the inner nature of his characters. With mature themes and nudity (in a strip club scene), this is for adult collections, and it's recommended wherever Elvis is remembered.

MELTZER, BRAD (TEXT) & RAGS MORALES & MICHAEL BAIR (ILLUS.). Identity Crisis. DC Comics. 2005. 288p. ISBN 1-4012-0688-3. $24.99. F

This top-selling, expertly written and drawn mystery has become a flashpoint for superhero fans. When Sue Dibny, wife of the Elongated Man, is brutally murdered, the world's heroes—Superman, Batman, Nightwing, and many others—head out to find the killer, hoping that their own loved ones won't be next. But Flash and Green Lantern uncover a secret in the past of Sue and the Justice League—a secret which, had it not been hidden, would have torn the super-group apart, and which still might do so. Meltzer, author of popular prose thrillers such as The Zero Game, is a long-standing superhero fan, and the dialog and interaction he writes for the heroes is excellent. Penciller Morales, inked by Bair, does strong work in the traditional idealized realism of superhero comics, with an extra measure of grit and emotion added. But long-time fans are liable to balk at the book's revelation, feeling that it badly taints favorite characters and fondly remembered stories. Still, this story has had great impact on DC's current output, making it a must-read for many. Recommended for all collections, but with a rape scene (depicted without nudity), it's for mid-teens and up.

SAKUISHI, HAROLD. Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad. Vol. 1. Tokyopop. 2005. 226p. tr. from Japanese by Stephen Paul. ISBN 1-59532-770-3. pap. $9.99. F

In this shonen manga, 14-year-old Yukio' humdrum life matches his bland personality, but when he's reunited with Izumi, a girl he knew years earlier who's now blossomed into a total babe, she befriends him again and starts to draw him into a larger world. When Yukio uncharacteristically tries to defend Izumi and her friends against some bullies, he impresses long-haired 16-year-old rock guitarist and bad boy Ryusuke, and together, Ryusuke and Izumi introduce Yukio to rock music, which quickly displaces Yukio's Okinawan pop idols. Yukio finds it hard to believe that Izumi likes him, and thinks she should go out with Ryusuke, while Ryusuke seems to be trying to set Yukio up with his younger sister Maho. The story is refreshing and highly enjoyable, barring some clichéd school hijinks that find Yukio forced to join the swim team. Sakushi's art is generally good, barring occasional awkward figures. (Beck, by the way, is Ryusuke's odd patchwork dog.) Tokyopop rates the series for ages 16 and up; so far there's nothing explicit, only some obscenities and mentions of pornography. Recommended for all collections.

THOMPSON, JILL. The Dead Boy Detectives. Vertigo: DC Comics. 2005. 144p. ISBN 1-4012-0313-2. pap. $9.99. F

Death: At Death's Door, the first manga-format Sandman spinoff by cartoonist Thompson (Scary Godmother), adapted parts of Neil Gaiman's story in The Sandman: Season of Mists. This book features an all-new story starring two Season of Mists characters: schoolboys Charles Rowland (d. 1990) and Edwin Payne (d. 1916), who escaped from the Sandman's sister Death, became ghosts, and started a private detective agency. Here, they're hired by a student at a high-class American girls' school to investigate the disappearance of her roommate. The boy ghosts meet some new girlfriends, go undercover in drag, find clues, and begin to suspect the teachers, who refuse to discuss the missing girl at all. Eventually, wholly unpredictable wackiness ensues. The girls engage in lots of entertaining banter, and Thompson shows that she knows the shojo manga style very well: the cuteness, the expressionistic backgrounds, the mixture of sweet, serious, and silly moments. The “suggested for mature readers” label seems more because of the Sandman connection than any of the content (the words “bitches” and “lesbian” are as explicit as this book gets). Recommended for teen and adult manga fans.

WARREN, ADAM (TEXT & ILLUS.) & OTHERS. Livewires: Clockwork Thugs, Yo!Marvel. 2005. 144p. ISBN 0-7851-1519-6. pap. $7.99. F

The members of the Livewires covert government team don't like to be called “robots”: they're “nanobuilt humanform combat mecha,” who for reasons unexplained (at first) track down other quasi-governmental operations and sabotage or destroy them. Each member has different abilities: Hollowpoint Ninja is a stealth and weapons specialist; Social Butterfly is a pheromone-powered mind-controller; Cornfed is a hacker and healer; Gothic Lolita is the team's muscle; and new member Stem Cell is supposed to be the resident technology expert, though at first she doesn't realize it. Writer and artist Warren (Dirty Pair, Gen13) was one of the first manga-inspired creators to gain notice in American comics, and he remains one of the best; this book features his reliable mix of action, humor, and tech-savvy, pop-culture-fueled inventiveness. Here, he provides the script but only preliminary breakdowns of the artwork; the final pencilling is by Rick Mays, whose work is also manga-esque. Though the story is set in the Marvel universe, only one major Marvel character appears briefly. This is not Warren's best work, but it's still smart and entertaining, written with wit and edge and recommended for teens and adults.

Reissues

EISNER, WILL. The Contract with God Trilogy. Norton. 2005. 500p. ISBN 0-393-06105-1. $35. F

This hardcover is the first in a series reissuing work by the late comics master Eisner, with each book containing new material (in this case, a dozen new illustrations). This volume collects three superb books dealing with life in the tenements on Dropsie Avenue in the Bronx, including 1978's seminal A Contract with God, which did much to launch the graphic novel form, and the term itself, on the way to popular acceptance. The second book, A Life Force, is a complex tale of the Depression involving unemployed carpenters, Sicilian mobsters, a refugee from Nazi persecution, and a cockroach named Izzy. Dropsie Avenue, the final book, depicts the development and gradual decline of the neighborhood from 1870 to the present. The books take an penetrating, well-rounded, and unsentimental look at the vicissitudes of life—the hopes tragically destroyed by disaster, war, and death; the new hopes born of love; and the eternal struggle to survive—well matched by Eisner's gritty cartooning. With nudity, sex, and mature themes, this is for adult readers. The great humanity in these works marks Eisner as a literary giant, and any library without the original three books should add this.

MOORE, ALAN (TEXT) & DAVE GIBBONS (ILLUS.). Absolute Watchmen. DC Comics. 2005. 464p. ISBN 1-4012-0713-8. $75. F

When first serialized in 1986–7, this extraordinary story took the comics world by storm, and its fresh approach, more mature and realistic than most other mainstream comics of the time, became a template for much of what came later. In a world where superheroes have been outlawed, the murder of amoral government agent and ex-superhero the Comedian leads some of his former colleagues to investigate, and thereby uncover a plot of incredible scope and impact. Moore and Gibbons delve deeply into the psychology of the heroes, including the uncompromising, illegally operating urban denizen Rorschach; the wealthy super-intelligent businessman Ozymandias; and the atom-powered, blue-skinned, aloof Dr. Manhattan, and the heroes' political, technological, and cultural impact on their unsettled world is thoroughly delineated. Further, Moore proved himself an immensely skilled scriptwriter, weaving together complementary plotlines that comment on and deepen the book's main action. This remains a pinnacle of comics achievement, and no collection should be without it (with mature themes and some nudity, it's recommended for older teens and adults). This new oversized (12”x8”) hardcover, with its colors revised by original colorist John Higgins and with preliminary sketches and story notes appended, is the finest version available.

WATTERSON, BILL. The Complete Calvin & Hobbes. 3 vols. Andrews McMeel. 2005. 1,456p. ISBN 0-7407-4847-5. $150. F

From 1985 to 1995, the lovingly remembered, riotously funny adventures of six-year-old hellion Calvin and his great friend Hobbes the tiger kept newspaper readers laughing uproariously (and sometimes thinking, or smiling warmly). This wonderfully lavish three-book hardcover set collects the strip's entire run. From the very beginning, Watterson showed incredible skills as a cartoonist and humorist. Calvin is completely believable as a genuine little boy: irrepressible, argumentative, curious, naive, messy, and sometimes sweet in spite of himself. His marvelously imaginative fantasies of monsters, dinosaurs, spaceships, and heroes, superimposed over the real world, provide endless story ideas that never become tired through repetition. The somewhat more mature but still playful Hobbes, who appears to everyone but Calvin as a stuffed animal, is immensely endearing. This set presents the strips in a large size, with Sunday episodes in full color, and includes all the bonus features from the strip's original paperback collections plus a new introduction by Watterson. Any library owning all of those earlier collections will have every strip here, but this more durable presentation is highly recommended. This is one of the all-time great comic strips, absolutely essential for every library.

About Comics

The Comics Journal Library 5: Classic Comics Illustrators. Fantagraphics. 2005. 148p. ISBN 1-56097-652-7. pap. $22.95. GRAPHIC ARTS

The Comics Journal has been publishing comics criticism and journalism for adult readers since 1976. This fifth volume in an oversized (12”x12”) series of collections drawn from the magazine reprints five interviews with widely admired artists, originally published between 1980 and 1994. The two most extensive, both conducted by Journal editor Gary Groth, are with Burne Hogarth (1930s and 1940s artist for the Tarzan newspaper strip and co-founder of the School of Visual Arts) and Frank Frazetta (the celebrated fantasy painter and one-time comics artist well-known for his book covers featuring Robert E. Howard's Conan). Also featured are Russ Manning (1960s and 1970s Tarzan artist also known for Magnus, Robot Fighter), Russ Heath (remembered for his war and western comics), and relative newcomer Mark Schultz (Xenozoic Tales). The interviews discuss the artists' careers and their artistic influences, approaches, and philosophies, sometimes delving quite deeply. Each is also profusely illustrated in color and black-and-white, with not only work by the subjects, but also examples from artists who inspired them, all presented with excellent graphic design. With some nudity, this is recommended for adult collections mid-sized and up.

Best Graphic Novels 2005

It was a good year for comics and graphic novels in 2005, but not a banner year that the previous two were. The year started sadly, with the loss of grand master Will Eisner. DC Comics stirred up the type of controversy that sells books with the admired and reviled Identity Crisis. Several manga companies ran into difficulties and were forced to cancel series, take popular books out of print, or in the case of ComicsOne and IC Entertainment, fold entirely.

But despite problems, sales continued to rise, and it's evident that comics are on the cultural stage to stay. Here's my short list of the best and most engrossing new book releases and series startups in 2005.

AZUMA, KYOHIKO. Yotsuba &! Vol. 1. ADV Manga 2005. 323p. tr. from Japanese by Javier Lopez. ISBN 1-4139-0317-7. pap. $9.99. F

Full of both goofiness and genuine heart, the quirky but marvelously true-to-life adventures of the irrepressible six-year-old Yotsuba in the new city she and her adoptive father just moved to are hilarious and utterly charming. A great supporting cast and two further volumes (to date) only add to the fun. (LJ 7/05)

B., DAVID. Epileptic. Pantheon. 2005. 368p. ISBN 0-375-42318-4. $25. AUTOBIOG

In his deeply touching graphic autobiography, B. shares with the world his family's struggles in search of treatment for his brother's epilepsy, and also presents an extraordinary portrait of the making of an artist, with the whole presented in an amazingly vivid expressionistic style. (LJ 3/15/05)

CLOWES, DANIEL. Ice Haven. Pantheon. 2005. 92p. ISBN 0-375-42332-X. $18.95. F

In a deceptively simple style and format reminiscent of Sunday newspaper strips, Clowes unsparingly explores the lives of a small town's residents—a lovelorn teen girl, a boy genius, a failed poet, a comic book critic—and their reactions to the disappearance of a young boy. (LJ 11/15/05)

VAUGHAN, BRIAN K. (TEXT), TONY HARRIS & TOM FEISTER (ILLUS.). Ex Machina Book 1: The First Hundred Days.Wildstorm/DC 2005. 136p. ISBN 1-4012-0612-3. pap. $9.95. F

This story of a costumed crimefighter who hung up his helmet to become mayor of New York has sharp dialog, first-rate artwork, drama, intrigue, humor, romance, super-science, a strong focus on social and political issues, a great supporting cast, and at its center a man who is, despite his protestations, a real hero. Stakes are raised in Vol. 2: Tag—while Mitchell Hundred decides to officiate at a gay marriage, the mystery of his power over machines deepens and becomes deadly. (LJ 7/05)

ROBINSON, ALEX. Tricked. Top Shelf Productions 2005. 352p. ISBN 1-891830-73-2. pap. $19.95. F

A burnt-out rock star, his new lover, and one of his biggest fans, a waitress, a small-time criminal, and a girl finally meeting her biological father: Robinson builds on the reputation he established with the wonderful Box Office Poison with this tale of six expertly delineated characters coming inexorably closer together, towards a moment of tragedy for them all. (LJ 3/15/05)

Noteworthy

The year was also notable for its many excellent reissues, including the oversized hardcover Ultimate Watchmen (for review, see p. 90); Dark Horse's new series collecting Paul Chadwick's Concrete (LJ 11/15/05); Eisner's The Contract with God Trilogy (for review, see p. 90); and hardcover set of The Complete Calvin & Hobbes (for review, see p. 90). And special mention should be made of a project that actually started in 2004, but hasn't been noted in LJ before: Last Gasp's new edition of Barefoot Gen, Kejij Nakazawa's autobiographical story of the bombing of Hiroshima, features an all-new translation, and the four volumes released so far will be followed by six more, finally bringing the whole of the tale to English readers.