I work at a comic book store. I read comics. I thought I'd share a few of my favorites with the handful of people who read this blog (thank you, Ewa & Erin). My taste in comic books has shifted from typical super hero fare to more "grown-up" offerings thanks to many hours spent investigating odd books while straightening shelves and conversation with co-workers. Don't get me wrong, Spidey and his flunkies will always have a place in my heart yet a smaller part of my entertainment budget. I have since opened my mind to other facets of the comic industry. I mean how many times can I read about some terrible threat to the world as we know it...I'll stop, I'm boring even myself.
This is a partial list of what I am reading and enjoying lately:
The crown-jewel of comic-dom in my humble opinion is "The Umbrella Academy", WOW! What an incredible book. UA is far-and-away the best bit of literature I have read in the last ten years, I know, I need to read/get out more. The characters and settings are unlike anything I've experienced before as a consumer of graphic storytelling. True, the heroes are charged with "saving the world", but in the world of the UA, it is a cooler saving of the world than the Marvel/DC comics versions. Umbrella Academy allows the reader to jump in and get swept away on kooky adventures without having to know the history of the characters. These are new heroes/anti-heroes - no thirty-year history to muddy the waters, you discover things about these characters at a nice, steady pace. Very refreshing. Gabriel Ba has quickly become my favorite illustrator. I have attempted to gather as much of his work as I can. His twin brother Fabio Moon has chops, but not as appealing to this consumer as Ba's work. The fact that I have conversed with Gabriel over the web, and can report he is a genuinely cool person, helps. Dave Stewart is the most tasteful colorist working today. He lends a very interesting slant to the book. His sloppy, outside-of-the-lines application of hues totally works in context. I know next-to-nothing about Gerard Way. I have yet to hear any of his music. I'm not in a big hurry to listen to My Chemical Romance. I'm afraid that I will not like them and then in turn, my opinion concerning the wonderful comic he pens may be soiled. I can not bring myself to have a bad opinion regarding any facet of this delightful bit of literature. And furthermore, you know a creative team is doing something right when my favorite character has appeared in less than ten pannels and has been dead for the duration of the first two story archs. Perfection!
Where to begin with the über-talented Mr. Ware and his engaging Acme Novelty Library and Jimmy Corrigan works. This man is a machine, or at least I was under the impression he was. His illustrations look as if they were created in Adobe Illustrator. When I found out he drew every line and circle used to create his art, I liked his stuff even more. His published sketchbooks inspired me to start traveling with a sketchbook and Micron pen of my own. Mr. Ware packs a shit-load of quality into each of his books - writing, copywriting and the afore-mentioned illustrations. He uses every inch of the page and covers of his books to entertain his audience. Ware's creations are what comics would become if more people broke out of the super hero mold. Introspection, daddy-issues, illness, man-children, and sexuality have never been so easy to dive into. His books take forever to read, there is so much to each page, sometimes due to the amount of text but mostly because his beautiful illustrations take time to consume. You owe it to yourself to check his stuff out.
The Muppet Show Comic Book by Roger Langridge. This is one of the most anxiously-anticipated comics by the staff at Heroes Aren't Hard To Find. I fell in love with Roger's art by way of his uproariously-funny Fred the Clown comic. There is an old-sckool yet timelessness to his illustrations. Also, he has a sense of humor that jibes with my own. I haven't finished reading the Muppet comic. So far, so great!
These paragraphs are getting shorter. I have an appointment to see a man about a duck, so I'll make this quick. I didn't want to overlook or leave out my other favorite comic: "Liberty Meadows" by Frank Cho. Man, can this guy draw and boy, is he funny. He draws the prettiest women in comics, super-heroine or otherwise. I'm choosing to focus on the non-superhero stuff here, although his work for Marvel Comics is truly top-notch, as well. I missed out on the "Liberty Meadows" comics but have since purchased several of the collections. Frank does more with ten brush-strokes than I or many others can do with 100! If I knew how much I'd be into Cho's work, I would have bugged the hell outta him last year at the Heroes-Con after-party I decided to skip - my mistake and Frank's relief. Anyway, it's probably a good thing because that was back in the days of binge-drinkin' snaps. It would have more than likely been a train wreck.
Thanks for reading, I promise more meat and less filler in later posts.
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