You Decide 2005 (September)
It is once again time for the latest edition of You Decide 2005!!
The offer, as always, is as follows:
You folks out there all pick a comic title that you think is good (let's try to keep it recent, unless it is an older story available in trade format), and I'll try to hunt down a couple of issues or a trade (no guarantees I'll find them, but I think I'll be able to do okay), read them, and put up an entry about it.
It may not be instanteous, but I eventually get around to every title (or maybe one of my fearless blogmates will do a bit on it).
So a whole entry just on one comic that you think is cool...hopefully it will bring the attention of our three blog readers (plus the 9 other blog writers, so hey, that's TWELVE possible new readers!!!).
Sound cool?
If so, then you decide!!
The offer, as always, is as follows:
You folks out there all pick a comic title that you think is good (let's try to keep it recent, unless it is an older story available in trade format), and I'll try to hunt down a couple of issues or a trade (no guarantees I'll find them, but I think I'll be able to do okay), read them, and put up an entry about it.
It may not be instanteous, but I eventually get around to every title (or maybe one of my fearless blogmates will do a bit on it).
So a whole entry just on one comic that you think is cool...hopefully it will bring the attention of our three blog readers (plus the 9 other blog writers, so hey, that's TWELVE possible new readers!!!).
Sound cool?
If so, then you decide!!
posted by Brian Cronin at 9/04/2005 03:51:00 PM
21 Comments:
Rocketo.
From Speakeasy Comics.
pretty, pretty pictures.
Sock Monkey, by Tony Millionaire (assuming you haven't covered it before - I haven't read all your archives). Funny, anarchic, surreal, and strangely sweet.
The series just ended last month, but I hope GrimJack: Killer Instinct by IDW is recent enough to be considered. A new updated mini by the original creators of one of the most underrated comics during the Eighties
Listen up, because I'll only say this once. At least until I say it again. Cromartie High School, Vol. 1. It's a manga. Get all 3 release volumes even. Cromartie High School.
How about Corey Lewis' Sharknife? It's a Big Fight comic with a really sexy (if a bit confusing) art style. It's really cool. And Warren Ellis thinks it's cool.
Santo Inue's manga Tokyo Tribes, a hip-hop manga about rival street gangs in (duh) Tokyo, is quite exciting! It's a bit Tarantino- you get movie references all over the place, but it also manages to be alternately funny and shocking at times. Hey, it was nominated for an Eisner- wait does that count for anything anymore? :P
I browsed Tokyo Tribes in the store, but remember finding some of it so disturbing I put it back on the shelf and never picked it up again. Can't remember the exact scene, but it was harsh.
Kareshi Kanojou no Jijou! Kare kano in the US. And if you're going to review something in particular, try Volume 10.
Okay, so Rocketo #2 (#1 is sold out!!), Sharknife and Kare Kano Vol. 10 are coming up!
Donjon aka Dungeon by Sfar and Trondheim. Sir Tim Drake told me it was out in english, so I think you can find it if necessary.
edit: hey, anti-spam protection. Cool!
Yotsuba&!, by Kiyohiko Azuma. 2 volumes out, 2 volumes yet to go.
Spider-Man & Human Torch: I'm With Stupid. In digest form now.
I considered it my favorite comic of the year
Spider-Man/Human Torch was a good pick. Pretty good book that I'd never have sampled if not for the cheap price of the digest form.
iI nominate Sillage published by Delcourt in Europe, and published as Wake by NBM. The story is basically "jungle girl gets adopted by aliens and become their secret agent," a concept that only pin-up artists would come up with (and Budd Root of Cavewoman would drool over). But we're dealing with Jean David Morvan, one of the top dogs of the European comics scene; conisdering his track record there, we trust he might come up with high caliber with the concept.
And what a concept. A nomadic highly-advance alien armada, various alien species and mechs, a huge universe as the creators' sandbox and of course, Navis, the spunky jungle-girl who become the aliens' secret agent. All this courtesy of the art by Philippe Buchet.
It doesn't stop there. Every volume of Sillage plays around with various genres. Remember last articles back where one good comic seekers list down what makes a Good Comic? One of the items listed is "elasticity" and Sillage is it. The first volume, "Fire & Ash" you have your jungle-girl taking on aliens invading her turf. Pump that simple plot with drama, tragedy, revoution and good ol' space opera, and we have a compelling introduction to Navis and how she bcome part of the alien armada called the Sillage (or the Wake). Second volume, "Private Collection" plunges you into political intrigue as one high-ranking official tries to seduce and own Navis. Later volumes takes you to many other genres like steampunk ("Gearing Up"), fantasy ("Sign of the Demons"), war ("Artifice") and prison (Maximum Insecurity)
And lemme tell you about Navis. She's hot. Not exactly Lady Death hot, but she's really hot. Philippe Buchet gave Navis the most near-realistic, athletic body proportions, perfect for the jungle-girl in space. Buchet has a lot fun playing around with her (don't laugh) like making her fat in beginning panels of Vol. 2. Most important of all, she's spunky, rebellious, and has a lot of attittude. Her face has an anime feel with her big expressive eyes, restraint by the Western comic art style, but nevertheless allows multiple range of emotions. And the fact that she's the only human in the universe (so far) adds more burden to her as a character. The only to feel bad about whether it's a good idea to feel attracted to a TEENAGE girl who went around topless when we first met Navis.
Navis has friends to rely on. There's her mentor, Mackel-Loos who adopted Navis and taught her ways around the Sillage. Snivel, a robot sidekick. And there's hulking Bobo, a slave-turned-politician, who first met with Navis.
Sillage is quite popular in Europe, having spawn spin-offs like Les Chroniques de Sillage, an anthology set in the Sillage-verse, and Navis, a "prequel" to Sillage about a younger version of the heroine, Baby Looney Tune-ised.
So let's summarise Sillage: Great art, an expansive universe, compelling characters, multiple genres, and of course Navis.
Seek Sillage, Good Comic Seekers!
I think I'd like to read your comments about "From Eroica with Love".
After that Tenjo Tenge disaster people tend to overlook the rest of the CMX manga catalogue even more than before, but I really like that series. It's a little gay, but damn funny ;)
Originally published in the 1970s and still running in some form or other, IIRC.
I know where I can get a copy of From Eroica With Love!
I'll make that the next one (it is a random volume, though, so I hope it is understandable for a new reader!).
How about Thieves & Kings? It's been terrifically good since the get-go, IMHO (despite Oakley getting a little distracted by his own universe and new characters, and putting the original main plot on hold for quite a while).
Creative and interesting layouts. Fun and interesting characters. A nifty, Indiana Jones feel set in a (mostly) fantasy world. A consistant publishing sched from an indie publisher. Trades are in print for the whole series.
Strange Detective Tales #1
The Intimates.
Because I need a little help understanding it, yo.
And it's run it's entire course.
I already did Intimates as a "You Decide"!
Frumpy the Clown by Judd Winnick
Frumpy the Clown...nice pick.
I'll see if it's "gettable."
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