The Gamer's Quarter

[seryogin]

So the new Dan Dare is out, which happens to be written by Garth Ennis, for whom Dracko has a boner for.

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/119602836263595.htm

Does the character still mean something to you people? Does he matter?

I'm kinda sorta involved with this and that's all I can legally say.
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[dark steve]

why is preacher supposed to be good again?
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[dessgeega]

i didn't dislike grant morrison's dare comic but it seemed kind of unnecessary, at least after alan moore's marvelman. then again, i don't have much of a familiarity with the original comics.
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[Harveyjames]

All I remember about Preacher was that it was written by someone who was apparently shooting for Tarantino-esque dialogue and landed on 'load of dick jokes and swears'.

The original Dan Dare is pretty amazing because it's a British comic with a Japanese budget- they had a massive team working on it. They had model builders, researchers and costume designers, and even paid people to come in and act out the panels. It was a pretty huge operation. That was when UK TV was still in black and white and dominated by gritty realism and so comics, with their full-colour escapism limited only by the imagination of the artists, genuinely had something to offer that couldn't be seen in any other medium.

I haven't seen that site in years. I had a thing reviewed on there once: http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/109263105026046.htm

Hey Virgin Comics seems like kind of a weird business endeavour! Outsourcing all the art to the Asia makes sense, I guess, since it's worked for the animation industry for all these years. But why make comics that are targeted squarely at the dwindling core comic reader demographic who reads Wizard Magazine? Why aren't they doing an Iwata and trying to make comics that appeal to people who never knew they needed comics in their lives? Or, reading the market as it stands, the biggest growth sectors in graphic novels are in hugely popular Manga like Naruto and the blossoming girl's manga market, so why aren't they chasing a piece of that pie instead of going with this dated mid-90's Image Comics style of drawing? It seems a little bit half-arsed, but maybe they've got something up their sleeves.

[Dracko]

Not only is Garth Ennis writing, but Gary Erskine is on art and none other than the legendary Bryan Talbot does the cover!

Last week saw the release of the new Grendel mini-series by Matt Wagner, Behold the Devil, Hunter Rose era. You're damn right I'm excited to see what Ennis does with this classic character.

I didn't like Morrison's take on the character. It was just him blatantly droning on against Margaret Thatcher and then inserting a pointlessly sexualised and weird alien conspiracy into the midst. It was utterly without purpose and did nothing with the character.

Guys, Preacher isn't the best Ennis comic. It's one of the defining ones of the 90s for a reason though. All I'll say is: The apparent anti-religious themes are besides the point. It's about friendship and forgiveness. He's done better since, mainly with the likes of Punisher MAX, and I know Dan Dare is in good hands because he also wrote a mini-series abut another, lesser known classic British hero, Battler Briton, which is worth a read.

[seryogin]

This is a Dracko question, but I'm wondering which edition of From Hell to purchase?

Also, is Watchmen worth reading? I read most of it a long time ago and found it ridiculous and with bad art. A while later a man by the name of Shaper MC told me that its stupidity is kind of the point. It's like Metal Gear Solid 2 of comic books, making the stupidity of the comic book trappings obvious to all....

Now I don't like comics... other than the EC comics of the 50s... and don't care about superheroes unless they're Japanese... will this still be interesting?

I will read From Hell, though, and only because Shaper says that it's the best book he's ever read and those are some powerful words coming out of someone who's read Mishima's best novels.

So, what do you think?
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[sediment]

yeah, watchmen is a complete and total homage to golden age comics. if you approach it with that in mind, it's really quite good - most of the heroes portrayed are the gutsy bare-knuckle types prevalent from the age, and it also has a modern look back at the sexual suppression of the period as a pretty significant theme.

i really liked it. your mileage may vary.
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[Dracko]

The Watchmen has very little to do with the supposed Golden Age of comics. If you're looking for something along those lines, try All-Star Superman. Which is the only characterisation of Superman I can tolerate, even appreciate. It's really quite good.

I wouldn't recommend The Watchmen. I read it once, got the point, it was enough. Your first assessment was correct, Sergei. Get the latest edition of From Hell. I own the one before that, and the pages are horrendously fragile. You'll get the extra content out of the later ones too, such as Alan Moore's annotations and a bonus comic about Gull-catchers and other Ripper fanatics.

It's a shame you don't like comics, Sergei. There is some genuinely brilliant stuff out there, which surprised even myself. How do you feel about French BDs, or any other non-American comics, for that matter?
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[daphaknee]

dracko i love you for not caring about the watchmen!

[Harveyjames]

Although having said that Watchmen was a bit of an eye-opener when I first read it, since it kind of made all the stuff I'd been into prior to that look kind of juvenile and rubbish (mostly Judge Dredd). It was the first comic I ever read with that level of scope and ambition and intelligence. But I can take it or leave it now.

[seryogin]

[Dracko]

Yeah, I suspect you've been reading the poor stuff. You might even find older works more interesting, even though I'd argue we're witnessing a pretty massive creative outburst in comics at the moment. Give Jim Steranko a go. I suggest his illustrated novel Chandler: Red Tide first perhaps, before going for his superhero stuff (Nick Fury in particular).

Frank Miller is kind of hard to "get", in a sense. It helps if you keep in mind that it's all just a big joke for him, best exemplified by his current work on All-Star Batman. I never liked Sin City in the first place. Maus is a bore at the best of times and the depiction of an abusive, selfish comic creator at the worst. Ellis is just a hack who drops pseudo-science half the time, but he has made some good stuff. Most recently, Crécy, which is as hateful and funny as a history lesson should be. How familiar are you with the works of Grant Morrison?

What works of Ennis did you read at first? And I gave you some suggestions on my LJ which I still think you should check out.

Calvin and Hobbes is excellent, of course. Have you ever read any Enki Bilal? He's a Serbian-born French comic book creator who writes and draws stunning works of surreal sci-fi and historical fiction.

You might find more joy with foreign comics, really.

I could probably think up tons of other appropriate suggestions really, but yeah, try your hand at From Hell first.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[seryogin]

I've actually discovered Bilal today, while looking at that graphic novel guide. His art looked pretty impressive. Is he published in English?
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[dessgeega]

i keep meaning to pick up a copy of from hell.
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[Dracko]

[Harveyjames]

[Harveyjames]

http://www.silverbulletcomicbooks.com/reviews/109263105026046.htm

Hey guys are you impressed by the review of my comic book

[Scratchmonkey]

I've never really been able to get into anything other than autobiographical comics, which were a huge trend in the mid-to-late 90s. There's something about comics which is perfect for the "fly on the wall" feeling.

Otherwise, it's pretty much collections of Calvin & Hobbes, Pogo and the Far Side.

[Harveyjames]

The problem with autobiographical comics is that the life of a comic book artist usually amounts to little more than drawing comics, going to comic book conventions and J'ing O.

[Dracko]

Harvey, you should read some Joe Sacco.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Harveyjames]

Oh yeah he's good.

[seryogin]

[Scratchmonkey]

[Dracko]

Joe Matt's Peepshow is only ever interesting because he's the saddest of the sad, going so far as to include his own lewd desires over members of his audience. The entire thing is a train crash, and frankly, I don't think I want to read it any more.

Scratchmonkey, give Jonathan Hickman's The Nightly News a look. It's fiction, yes, but it might be up your alley.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[Harveyjames]

[Scratchmonkey]

[seryogin]

[Harveyjames]

I kind of enjoyed Sin City the movie. I was appalled by 300, though!

[sediment]

Sin City the comics come in seven freaking volumes and are really... really ... hard to capture in terms of an explanation of quality or taste. they're simultaneously really shitty and not that bad. it's like watching a t-rex have sex with a warthog while performing the rock opera Tommy.
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[Harveyjames]

I read To Hell And Back all the way through as it was released. To start with I was gripped by it, and month by month the realisation that I was by no means in the hands of a master storyteller crept in like cancer. I mean it's quite terrible. I did think the episode with the blue chick was pretty hot, though.

[boojiboy7]

As long as you realize Sin City is just a giant vent for all of Miller's frustrations (both in terms of being a comic writer and a person), it is pretty funny. I mean, they aren't great, but they are amusing in their own little way. DKR is still really good, but it is kinda hard to judge it now seeing as how much it kinda changed Batman or at least ushered in changes for him.

So i guess what I am saying is that I find Miller enjoyable, but it is totally cool with me if you don't. I really want to read his new Batman run though. A friend of mine who is an American comics junky started out hating it, and then later told me he thinks it might be some of the best Batman in a long time.

[Dracko]

All-Star Batman is our generation's Iliad.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[seryogin]

I was just about to ask that.

I read Batman: Year One and enjoyed it to my surprise. Miller's corny noir heart of gold bullshit doesn't wrankle me as much when he's writing about Batman. The art was pretty okay too.

So I looked into his new Batman run and it seems pretty good. In the sense that it seems to have pissed off all the right people, since Batman comes off as a psycho asshole.
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[Dracko]

Which is exactly the point. Think of it in the same way as Thomas Harris and his Hannibal Lecter character: He wrote Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs, then people wanted more. So he basically goes "You want more, you fuckers? Have more!" and writes Hannibal.

All-Star Batman is clearly designed to take the extreme version he wrote out of Dark Knight Returns and tell people to shove it. I think it's comedy gold, personally.

Year One is fantastic, but it comes off as more of a Commissioner Gordon story to me, which is by no means a bad thing.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[seryogin]

Hey, dracko, what's the essential reading as far as Alan Moore is concerned?

From Hell is a given.

But what about the DC Stories collection? I've heard you say that The Killing Joke is the best Batman story ever.

How is Grant Morrison's Arkham Asylum?

EDIT: What do you think about the All Star line in general?
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[Dracko]

Ah, so you enjoyed From Hell, did you? As far as Moore goes, V for Vendetta is quite good. I greatly enjoyed the adaptations of his The Courtyard and Hypothetical Lizard that were made (the former is a Cthulhu story, the latter a drama set in a brothel exclusive to mages and wizards).

But as far as essentials go, the adaptations he did of his performance art pieces, Snakes & Ladders and The Birth Caul, again with Eddie Campbell as a collaborator (on that note, check out Campbell's The Fate of the Artist if you can) are phenomenal. They're collected in a book called A Disease of Language, which I still need to get. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen is top notch stuff too. Harvey seems to recommend Promethea and the incomplete Big Numbers too. The Ballad of Halo Jones is one of his older works back when he worked with 2000AD, and it's pretty grand sci-fi feminist stuff. As far as DC goes, you've got Marvelman and his Green Lantern shorts. If you're bringing up The Killing Joke, he wrote a similar story around Superman, called For the Man Who Has Everything.

I really want to read his novels at some point.

I didn't like Arkham Asylum first time round and I still don't, but I won't deny it has some tantalizing ideas and dialogue.

[boojiboy7]

I read Arkham Asylum right when it came out in 1989 (I was 8 ). This lead me to thinking a lot of strange things, but man did I love it.

[Harveyjames]

[Harveyjames]

You guys are all reading Big Numbers as I post it week by week on my blog, right? harveyjames.livejournal.com

Next week I'll be combining the unpublished artwork for the third issue with the unpublished script, for the first time ever! After that, post-mortem, and interviews.