I’m working on more descriptive blog titles. Exciting, no?
Madam Xanadu #1-2: I’ve never been a fan of Matt Wagner. Not in the sense that I don’t like him, but that I simply haven’t read much of his work; I was never quite sure where to start with Grendel – they’re collecting it now, aren’t they? Anyway. This is a pretty okay book, given the recent attempts at resurrecting DCU properties under the Vertigo line. It seems a bit too formal, too much like the Vertigo equivalent of Final Crisis: Look, it’s the Phantom Stranger – how many times can he use “strange” or “stranger ” in a sentence? And hey, now it’s the Demon! It’s exactly the sort of book Vertigo should have abandoned years ago, though I suppose it’s understandable they keep going back to the well – if a book like this takes off, DC gets all the profits.
Wagner is giving us Madame Xanadu’s origin, which is apparently rooted in Arthurian legend; she’s related to Morgan LeFay, and occasionally having sex with Merlin. Which would be fine if Wagner could stay away from the formalistic, Ye Olde English dialogue. It’s not quite Stan Lee Thorspeak, but there’s no flow to it at all. But I like that the book could go somewhere interesting if Wagner leaves Arthurian Times behind, so I suspect I’ll stick with it.
Granted, one of the major motivations is the gorgeous art by Amy Reeder Hadley. She’s got a slightly manga-influenced style, with emphasis on “influenced”, as opposed to “derivative of.” It’s quite lovely, particularly with Guy Major’s colours – just the sort of thing for a fantastical story of magical nymphs and magicians. There are a few instances where style overrides store – Merlin seems entirely too cute, and sometimes the action doesn’t quite flow as it should – but it’s still a very pretty book.
There’s potential here. Hopefully Wagner and Hadley hit their stride soon.
Northlanders #7: Speaking of Thorspeak, Brian Wood thankfully does without for his Viking epic. Which is quite sensible, since no one who lived a thousand years ago spoke anything resembling modern English; I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my comics to read like The Canterbury Tales.
Not that dialogue is really the focus here. Wood and artist Davide Gianfelice give us a lot of carnage, as Norsemen meet Saxons on the field of battle. There are decapitations and disembowelments and guys getting shot with arrows through the throat. There’s even a nice eyeball popping out.
I said before this is a difficult series to analyse on a per-issue basis, but it’s incredibly enjoyable nonetheless. And apparently upcoming issues are featuring art by Dean Ormston and Ryan Kelly, which is pretty great.
Young Liars #5: This month, a loser, a nymphmaniac, a groupie, and a transvestite fight a psychotic dwarf bounty hunter.
If that’s not selling you on this series, I don’t know what will.
Scalped #19: Should I just re-title this blog “Why Jason Aaron is Awesome?” I’ve already got a pretty niche audience, so I don’t see how it could hurt.
As I said before, the thing that really elevates Scalped is Aaron’s ability to tell so many different stories with it: There’s the main narrative, but also all the threads that spin off from individual characters. Here, Aaron fills us in on some of Carol’s history – and, as expected, the daughter of the local crime boss and occasional lover of the badass protagonist has had some pretty fucked up stuff happen to get her where she is today.
At this point, I’m almost expecting at least one “Wow” scene from Aaron in every issue, and he gives it to us in the form of a rendezvous between Carol and Dash, contrasting their thoughts with one another; the two clearly care for each other, but still can’t trust one another with all their secrets.
Davide Furno returns for this brief two-issue art, but him and colourist Giulia Brusco give the story a significantly different look from the last issue. Has Vertigo made a particular effort to recruit European (Italian?) artists? I don’t know, but they’re getting some good stuff.
Anyway. Tune in next month, here at Comics Should Be More Like Scalped.com to find out what I think of the next issue.
(Hint: I’ll probably like it.)