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Breakdowns - Fantastique!

"When you're in your little room
And you're workin' on somethin' good
But if you got somethin' good
You're gonna need a bigger room"

The White Stripes, "Bigger Room"

Before I get into the reviews-which contain a handful of Fantagraphics books, among others, hence the column title-I wanted to start a new mini-feature here. I know from the feedback that there are quite a few readers who are relatively new to comics, and liable to be confused by some of the lingo, by why this or that creator is so respected or reviled, and by how the industry works. That kind of thing.

So, starting now, I'll try to cover some of this ground, in a way that should hopefully inform newer readers, while not boring the longtime ones. We'll do it at the bottom of each column, so as to get right to the reviews. And while I have my biases like any critic--or any human, for that matter-I'm trying to provide a service here that's as objective as possible.

ROAD TO AMERICA by Baru. Drawn & Quarterly. $14.95
It's 1955, and a young Algerian named Said is making his way as a rising star in the Paris boxing world. The problem is that Algeria is in the midst of trying to break away from French rule, so Said finds himself pulled by both sides, when all he wants to do is box. This reminds me a bit of THE NATURAL, or in fact many other sports stories, where the lead character is a kind of innocent, a talented angel with the purest desire: to play. All he wants is to play, but he is beset by people and their political and other, baser, motivations.

It's not quite as easy to pull this off with boxing, which has little of the pastoral beauty and grace of baseball, but Baru makes up for this largely through the beauty of his art, a fluid, clear line style that sings with the delicate accompaniment of the coloring, which resembles water colors and is beautifully matched with the creamy, off-white paper. The resolution of the story-suggested in the title-seems a bit of a cop-out, not requiring much of a choice or sacrifice on Said's part. Still, before he gets there, his conflict is real, and we care. Not a perfect book but a good one, and with a setting and subject unusual in comics, at least those published here.

THE DARK KNIGHT STRIKES BACK #3 (OF 3) by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. DC Comics. $8.95
It should be said at the outset that Frank Miller clearly approached this project with passion. This was not merely a guy phoning it in to get a big paycheck. Quite frankly, if this sequel had more closely followed the style of THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS, it would doubtlessly have been embraced by more people. If this sounds like I'm weaving a tapestry of excuses why we should pretend the book succeeded, I'm not. What I'm saying is that the book fails not due to lack of effort and vision, but because the effort is inefficiently directed and the vision is tragically blurred. It's a big, shiny, screaming train on a figure eight track in the middle of nowhere, connecting to nothing and serving no one but the conductor. And that's fine for him-the work should appeal to the creator first. But those expecting a definitive statement on Batman, on superheroes in the 21st century, or on anything else, will probably find this an attractive but inaccessible curio, if not a severe disappointment.

What I liked about the book is something many hated: the art. Miller is one of the most influential American comics artists of the past 30 years, and like a true artist, he keeps changing, here adopting raw, basic forms and rounded caricatures encompassing diverse styles from manga and Vaughn Bode'. Combined with Varley's confrontational, empathetic coloring, it's an exciting style, though so consistently high-pitched as to be eventually wearing.

The true flaw in this work is that Miller delivered a story that promised to be hopeful, but was, in fact, a cynical bummer to almost anyone not named Mussolini. Or in other words, were we waiting fifteen years to see Batman make all the Silver Age heroes look like idiots, and to see Superman reject his humanity and embrace Fascism?

Not only is the message antithetical to the majority of the readership's beliefs (free will, heroism for its own sake, superheroes as moral paragons), but the message is unfocused. Miller seems to lose interest in Batman and lets the story unravel to include pointless appearances with non-icons Green Lantern and Flash, ugly and unfunny "satire" with the "superchix", and a subplot with Superman and Wonder Woman's daughter Kandra that comes almost out of nowhere, the poor pacing and set-up muting the dramatic impact. The amusing Greek chorus of bystanders also ends up crowding out the superheroes so there's little time for nuanced characterization. And it's a sure bet "nuanced" will not be mentioned in many reviews of Miller's work. He's not interested in it.

Perhaps Miller is just taking the "male power fantasies" of superhero comics to their logical, nihilistic conclusion. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and all that. And if that's what he was after, maybe he could've told us that, instead of claiming the story was optimistic. What we have instead is a creator telling a story people don't want or need to hear. Worse yet, he seems to think he's creating something new, when similar ideas have been explored as far back as KINGDOM COME a decade ago. It's a time for a reappreciation of heroism, for creating new mythologies, and tearing down old ones is appropriate only if it says something valuable about our culture to which we've been blind. Miller's shocking inverse zeitgeist these days suggests his next project might be showing all New York cops and firemen to be corrupt, racist and cowardly. Fortunately, his next project is only about Jesus.

KRAZY & IGNATZ 1925-1926 by George Herriman. Designed by Chris Ware. Fantagraphics Books. $14.95
Newspaper comics have never had the same stigma of juvenile irrelevance that comic books have had. Political humor like DOONESBURY or POGO or absurdist humor like THE FAR SIDE have succeeded in uniting millions, if only for a shared laugh at the water cooler. Before any of these strips, there was KRAZY KAT, which is as funny as any of them, yet largely forgotten today.

Herriman's masterpiece faced negative reaction and puzzlement from many readers and even editors, yet publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst kept the strip alive for yearst. He got it. So, too, did Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway, the latter of whom would have strips mailed to him during his European expatriation. And yet, it's not an opaque, artsy strip at all. It's not part of a significant movement. It's just a dog, a cat and a mouse. And it's just damn funny, time after time.

Some readers look deeper, to find social commentary or even an anthropomorphic manifestation of the Id, the Ego and the Super-Ego, but I think such interpretations, however valid, may turn off more readers than they bring in, just as using a quote from Pulitzer cartoonist Art Spiegelman and a cover design from Chris (ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY) Ware obfuscate the most important message these comics have to give: they're just damn funny, time after time.

Krazy Kat is a genderless feline in love with Ignatz Mouse. Ignatz loves nothing better than to throw a brick at the back of Krazy's melon. Krazy takes this as a sign of Ignatz' affection, every time, but Offissa Pupp, the canine cop, sees it well and truly as assault, and routinely brings Ignatz in to the station if Ignatz doesn't scheme his way out of it or escape. And Pupp may just be in love with Krazy, too. Somehow, this simple premise, varied a bit with guest stars like Krazy Katfish, Krazy Katbird and the Mock Duck, keeps eliciting laughter, page after page. Herriman's rough squiggles are misleading, and actually quite controlled and expressive. The middle panel of each full page strip also contains a non-sequitur gag as a kind of bonus. What you'll find in this volume is a year's worth of strips a few years into the run, on thick, cream-colored paper, with many more to come. There are very few works of literature, let alone comics, that I'm interested in from 75 years ago, but aside from one or two dated references, the work remains as fresh, vital, and hilarious as when it first hit the presses. This review has actually been a long time coming, as I've been reading the book just a few glorious pages at a time, like sipping a fine armagnac or something. Now I'm the hoity-toity one-remember, it's just damn funny, time after time.

LUBA IN AMERICA by Gilbert Hernandez. Fantagraphics Books. $19.95.
I'm still a neophyte of Los Bros Hernandez; in fact, this is my first trade paperback of any of their work. But what is apparent right off the bat is that in Gilbert Hernandez, we have a creator overflowing with wit, compassion and a zest for living. The characters here will be as real to you as they clearly are to him, from lisping, sex-crazed psychologist Fritz to her bodybuilding sister Petra to Petra's wise-beyond-her-years daughter Venus, and finally to the enigmatic, iron-willed Luba, who in this volume tries desperately to bring her husband, her burnt-beyond-recognition true love, to the States with her. As good-hearted and wise as Luba is, she hasn't reconciled with her lesbian daughter Maricela, nor does she have a clue how important she is to the family. The sadness of bruised innocence and parental lapses in judgment are just some of the more poignant elements in this complex tapestry of lives lived. Hernandez has the confidence of truly knowing his characters and trusting them enough to let them dictate the direction of each story, so every page is a delight and a surprise. Horny Fritz and spunky Venus are always good for laughs, but there is a depth and richness to them and every other character, even minor ones like Sergio and Pipo. Hernandez loves them all and invests them with such care that there are no heroines or villainesses, no stars and foils. Just very interesting people, people you want to know more about with each story.

GREETINGS FROM HELLVILLE by Thomas Ott. Fantagraphics Books. $13.95
By now, we're all used to the extensive effort put into the visual elements of even the simplest film script, such as xXx, that we don't think about it. But even at their most corporate and assembly-line produced, comics are produced by a much smaller group of artisans, and the attention to detail on simple stories can still be mind-boggling.

Which brings me to Thomas Ott's work. Knowing little about him other than his being a German comics creator, I expected this collection to be cryptic tales of varying parts Kafka, Murnau and Lang, but was surprised how simple and even funny these are. Elvis Costello talks about a "German sense of humor" in one of his songs, and it's meant as an oxymoron. But in these five stories, Ott tells dark tales that are surprisingly free of nuance, which makes the painstakingly grim art-seemingly white ink on black paper, for an horrific woodcut quality-all the more fascinating. There's an EC Comics feel to a story about a man trying to commit suicide. Using the "it was just a dream" device is clichéd but works well enough here to get us to the large-scale punchline. Other stories are more disturbing-an assassin in sunglasses kills a man for his eyes, which are then put right in his empty sockets-but still straightforward. Ott's work comes from his Id but in a purified form, free of extraneous details and red herrings. He gets an idea and draws it. I liked the book quite a bit, but am hoping that future work becomes a bit more complex. Perhaps a full-length graphic novel would be an even better vehicle upon which to depict his obsessions. Until then, enjoy these dark but eminently enjoyable short stories.

SOLDIER-X #1 by Darko Macan and Igor Kordey. Marvel Comics. $2.99
One look at the gorgeous, painted cover by Kordey lets you know that this take on Nathan Summers is about being a real, flesh and blood citizen of Earth 2002, literally finding his own place in the sun. His fellow citizens, especially in the opening airplane scene, are given to exaggerated gestures and hot tempers, echoing Nathan's own struggle for control, but Macan treats all with compassion and empathy. This issue also gives a lot of focus to Irene, a Daily Bugle reporter and follower of Nathan's exploits, and presents her as a possible love interest. Love interests are a standard addition whenever a writer takes over a book, yet here there is already a feeling that she might complete the puzzle, be the somewhat ditzier Lois Lane to his stoic, less wholesome Superman. Kordey continues to amaze, being not always technically dazzling but with extra doses of passion and sensuality. Great start to the series, and here's hoping their previous CABLE issues are also collected.

Okay, so this is the first of our little lessons, taking its title from when a comics page doesn't use panel borders, letting the art "bleed" right to the edge of the page. I'll start with a brief view of a big subject:

What's the state of the comics industry today?

Sales of comic books have been decreasing for decades, aside from a surge in the early to mid-90s from an influx of speculators who thought all the shiny #1 issues were going to be worth big money. When they wised up, or got tired of the glut of crap being passed off as entertainment, they left, and the industry went into a steep decline.

Nowadays, the decline has at least stabilized, with marked growth in some areas. Marvel, nearly bankrupt two years ago, has climbed back to the top of the charts with an influx of talent and fresh approaches to the books in their main superhero line, as well as the popular Ultimate line, featuring Spider-Man, the X-Men and other characters in new versions not dependent on forty years of past continuity. A press release today touted a 15% increase in sales for August 2002 over August 2001, and with Marvel's trade paperback sales increased 240% over 2001. To trust these figures, that's healthy growth in both the monthly issues and the more "general audience" friendly book market.

But while Marvel is once again the big seller, and can now boast legitimate movie franchises in SPIDER-MAN, X-MEN and possibly still BLADE, upstart publisher CrossGen Entertainment is really the innovator in the industry, and with only two years in business. Carving out a niche for more fantasy-based titles for various age groups, with excellent production and dependable shipping, they have also adapted the manga method to their own ends with two monthly, affordable ($9.95 each) anthology books collecting back issues of their books, making it easy for a new reader to get a taste for several titles that may appeal to him or her. Their "Comics on the Web" program is also popular, a subscription-based program that lets a reader catch up on the entirety of their line for little more than pennies per issue. And their aggressive marketing has led to a landmark deal to publish select titles in China, as well as their selling the rights to most of their books to film and television producers.

Other publishers like Dark Horse and Oni Press have found ways to publish personal, idiosyncratic work alongside more commercially-oriented, genre-based and licensed entertainments, while publishers like Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, Top Shelf and Alternative Comics are in it mainly for Art's sake, creating the odd breakout book to make New York Times or Time Magazine best lists, putting out mostly beautifully produced books that will delight and challenge, rather than embarrass or affirm the preconceptions of the new readers brought in. Persistent stereotypes such as the continuity-obsessed, socially retarded "fanboy" and Comic Shop Guy from THE SIMPSONS prove the industry still has a long way to go to convince the masses that comics are as worthy of respect as the worlds of cinema or novels. For instance, how often do you see an adult reading comics in public, or find graphic novels such as TORSO or SCENE OF THE CRIME in the MYSTERY section of your bookseller? Still, in a baby-steps way, the past couple years have been fairly encouraging. It's nice not to read so much doom and gloom anymore.

Next Week: The Important Minds in Comics

Chris Allen

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