Author: Ryan

And they all lived happily ever after.

Or not. Adrian Tomine doesn’t do happy endings. He barely even does “endings” in the usual sense: His stories tend to be snapshots, moments in the life of the protagonist that keeps going on after the story ends. Epiphanies and revelations are in short supply, and those that do come along don’t always change someone’s life for the better. Often, the life-changing moment comes only in the final panels, and the audience never sees what effect it ultimately has.

Tomine has stuck with this structure while increasing the length of his stories. The latest issue of Optic Nerve concludes his epic three-part story (told over three years – people who complain about DC and Marvel books being sporadically scheduled are wusses) about Ben Tanaka and his trouble with women.

Ben is still kind of an asshole. Not as much of one as he appeared in part 1, but not as sympathetic as he seemed when he was being jerked around by crazy women in part 2. He’s self-involved, hostile, and paranoid. He’s obsessed with racial biases, both real and imagined, and he’s generally pretty tactless and socially inept.

Like many of Tomine’s protagonists, he’s not terribly sympathetic. Unless, of course, you happen to have something in common with him; unless you’re kind of self-involved, maybe a little hostile, chasing after some vague ideal you heard about when you were 10, and generally have no idea what you’re doing with your life.

I don’t know anyone like that, though. Nope.

Ben doesn’t really elevate or redeem himself, but Tomine reveals kind-of-ex-girlfriend Miko to be less than blameless in causing their relationship woes. It’s both a cliché and an avoidance of one: The obvious resolution to the story would be for Ben to realize he was wrong and plead for Miko’s forgiveness. Tomine doesn’t fall for the predictable sentimentality, though: Even at this crux in his life, Ben doesn’t now whether he should be angry or sad, whether he actually wants to be with Miko or not. His final lines make one wonder whether he’s learned anything at all.

Ben’s turmoil is only increased – though he barely knows it – by the life of his best friend Alice, the former radical, commitment-phobic, who actually appears to have settled down in New York. Alice is a lot like Ben: She’s moderately hostile and self involved, and generally pretty blunt, if not tactless. But she’s managed, even if it’s subconscious, to look at her life and make a change for the better.

Ben, on the other hand, is just stuck and confused: He honestly doesn’t seem to understand what happened to his life, not even the parts that are his own fault. And while some readers will just want to smack him, others may end up with an eerie, creepy sensation that this all seems just a bit too familiar.

Not me, though. Nope. Upcoming thirtieth birthday has nothing to do with it.

Ben could be a hero or a villain, though he wouldn’t fit either role terribly well. He’s just a guy with some faults who makes some stupid choices and has some bad luck. He’s kind of an asshole, a bit of a fuckup, but he’s not really a bad person. In typical Optic Nerve fashion, Tomine just presents Ben as he is at this moment in time, and lets the audience decide how to feel.

In Optic Nerve, Tomine takes an “art as a mirror” approach. His lack of commentary or conventional narrative lets the audience decide what to feel about the characters (if such a thing can be decided consciously). For some, Tomine’s stories all look the same, borderline nihilstic tales of unlikeable losers. But for others, who maybe see something of themselves, he continues to tell compelling stories about real people in unfortunate circumstances.

For my money, no one does “real life” like Tomine. Every issue of Optic Nerve is a cause for celebration, and also for a bit of sadness: As much as I enjoy each issue, it always comes with the knowledge that it will probably be another year or so until the next issue arrives.

But it’s always worth the wait.

Hawkman is much cooler when he’s an alien than when he’s just some guy who found some stuff in a tomb.

(also, just about everyone is cooler when written by John Ostrander)

Jason Aaron seems to be pretty hot stuff lately. I’d never heard of the guy before last year’s The Other Side, in which he teamed with Cameron Stewart for a gruesome and morbid look at the Viet Nam War. It wasn’t the most original voice, but Aaron established himself as a strong and distinctive voice, even if he didn’t quite seem sure of what to say with it yet. He’s followed that mini up with a Vertigo ongoing, a fairly impressive gig for a guy without a lot of comic work to his credit.

After three issues, I’m still not sure what to make of Scalped. Aaron’s still got style to spare, but the substance ain’t all there yet.

The basic story is fairly simple: Dashiell Bad Horse swaggers back onto the reservation, stirring up shit and breaking faces. This quickly brings him to the attention of the corrupt Tribal Leader Red Crow, who decides he can use the take-no-prisoners Bad Horse in the reservation police force, which sees duty both legal and extra-legal. But all is not as it seems, as Bad Horse is quickly revealed (to the reader, if no one else) to be working for the FBI.

The hook to the series is that it’s a crime drama set on an Indian Reservation. But thus far, Aaron hasn’t done much else to distinguish Scalped. I’m not convinced the series would change significantly if it were relocated to Cleveland, as Aaron has loaded up on all the crime genre standbys you’d expect to see: the badass antihero with a mysterious past, the corrupt crime boss, the dangerously sexy babe, the one honest cop, the manipulative Feds. It’s about as generic a setup as you could imagine, spiced up only mildly by the locale.

But as with The Other Side, Aaron shines with the details. It’s tough to explain – the last two paragraphs certainly don’t read like descriptions of a book towards which I have mixed feelings. There’s just something about the book that makes me want to stick with it. The characters seem aching to bust out of their formulaic restraints: For all that he should be a walking cliché, Dashiell Bad Horse is a compelling main character. He’s just completely full of rage towards nearly everyone: I want to know what’s keeping him on this assignment in a town he loathes. Also, I want him to get his nunchuks back, because that’s kind of a cool idea.

Everyone just seems better than they should be: Even Carol, Red Crow’s daughter and Dashiell’s old flame. Even Officer Falls Down, the One Good Cop who has the bad tact to embarrass Red Crow. (He also gets a great name – as he laments, not everyone gets cool animal names) Scalped is a book that’s just bursting to be better than it is: Aaron is teasing and taltalizing, but not quite delivering.

While Aaron’s shortcomings on The Other Side were masked and compensated for by the outstanding Cameron Stewart, he isn’t paired with such a gifted artist on Scalped. R.M. Guera has the gritty, atmospheric feel of the book down – he’s downright ugly at times, but in all the right ways – but he’s not the strongest storyteller, particularly when it comes to fast-paced action. The first issue’s introductory confrontation isn’t terribly clear, and the gunfight and car chase in the third issue could use more clarity and oomph. Scalped has an emphasis on character and backroom politics than shootouts, but Guera’s going to need to crank up his action sequences if the book wants is going to succeed.

It was unfair when I mentioned J.H. Williams’ covers for Crossing Midnight, and it’s probably unfair here, too, but one can’t help but wonder how the book might have been improved if cover artist Jock were providing interiors as well. Jock’s one of the most dynamic artists around, and most books would be significantly improved by his interiors – and, frankly, I’d rather see his work on the upcoming Faker, anyway – but hey, the cover’s there – I can’t help but judge some of the book on it.

Jason Aaron has loads of potential, but both he and Guera need to tighten things up if they want to make Scalped a must-read. It’s an entertaining enough read, but that’s not always good enough – Aaron’s given it a strong voice, but he needs to firm up exactly what he wants to say with it. I’ll probably stick with it for a few issues more – another story arc or two – but eventually there will come a reckoning. I’d love it if Scalped took the big step up, but right now I can’t say I’d be crushed if the book ended after ten issues. There’s a lot of wiggle room, and some great things to be done if the creators are up to it.

I loved the first issue of Jeff Smith’s SHAZAM! And the Monster Society of Evil. It was just such a perfect and adorable vision of what that franchise should be: Family friendly, funny, light, adventurous.

The second issue is pretty great, too, with the even-more-adorable introduction of Billy Batson’s long-lost sister, the inevitable Mary Marvel. Seriously, if you don’t think Mary is the cutest thing ever, you may be a robot or something. Possibly a communist.

But the second didn’t wow me quite as much as the first, despite possessing much of the same (if not more) charming and entertaining qualities. And it’s dawning on me why: Smith is really just setting up.

It’s two issues in, and only now do we have the full cast (complete with Talky Tawny, Dr. Sivana, and the as-yet-unseen Mr. Mind), fully comfortable with the basic concepts. And that’s fine, except for the fact that this is all there is: Smith has another two issues in this four-issue mini, then he’s off for parts unknown.

It’s not enough. It would be one thing if this were an ongoing series, or even a 6-to-8 issue series. Or if there was the promise of follow-up series. (Maybe it’s been discussed – I certainly hope so – but it hasn’t been announced.) But Smith seems to be doing his version of the Marvel Family Origin and then abandoning it. And while it would be nice to think DC would follow up on Smiths’ vision, they have few creators with the talent, and even fewer with the inclination. (Maybe Darwyn Cooke could take a break from The Spirit?)

Granted, Captain Marvel doesn’t have the same problems as Batman or Superman, where it seems everyone wants to take a crack at their legendary origins. Captain Marvel isn’t all that well-known – while most people are probably familiar with the basic concept, the actual origin isn’t exactly common knowledge. Perhaps Shazam! needed this injection to get it back on track.

But I can’t help but feel like it’s a bit of a waste, like I wanted something more from Smith. Mostly, I suppose, it’s that I do want more – more great Captain Marvel minis like this one. And it’s possible, though Monster Society of Evil took so long to see print that I doubt we’ll see a sequel any time soon.

Still, it’s a testament to Smith’s talent that the series is only half-done, and yet here I am complaining about it. Comic fans really are a greedy, ungrateful lot, aren’t we?