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Y: The Last Man 4: Safeword
by carl_lazarevic Y: The Last Man: Safeword is the fourth entry in author Brian Vaughan's phenomenal series about the adventures of the last surviving man; and his male pet monkey, after a mysterious plague has wiped out every other mammal with a Y chromosome. It follows the end of the third book (One Small Step), but these books follow a strict ... chronology so you really should start way back in book one (Unmanned). Otherwise, beware spoilers aplenty. While reading the Y: The Last Man saga I have found a series of mature comic books that happily featured adult content in a very grown up way. Sadly the next book in the series managed to change all that, and at times made me feel very awkward while reading it. The storyline follows on from Ampersand's attack in the filler story of the last book. The gang are trying to find him some medical treatment when Agent 355 realizes that Yorick's tendency to charge into dangerous situations is putting everyone at risk. So she decides to leave him with an agent named 711 (no jokes allowed) who used to be her partner. Once 355 and Dr. Mann have gone though, 711 wastes no time in drugging Yorick. He awakens tied to a chair with 711 standing over him in; what I can only describe as, her Sunday best bondage get up. What follows is a string of torture and humiliation scenes as 711 tries to get to the route of Yorick's self destructive behavior. Now I should add that my negative feelings toward this issue should in no way show that the writing itself is bad. There are still plenty of both the literary and pop culture references that we have come to know and love. In fact, one of these openly tells the reader what Yorick's problem is before his experience begins, and when it happens the lines are delivered as sharply as ever. However it's in the darker aspects that this issue really shines. Some of the imagery you see; as Yorick relives the worst moments of his life, will feel genuinely disturbing. Others will make you feel the same sense of disgust as Yorick himself. One moment that really stands out is Yorick's memory of the first time he left his home after the men all died! In fact these experiences really do give you a good look into the main characters psyche, and why he has the hang ups that he does. So what is my problem then? It's just that; even with all that strong writing, the central concept that united states agents are trained to use bondage as a suicide intervention is just to silly for words. It made the whole thing feel quite puerile and therefore some of the artwork felt unnecessarily sexualized. This not only makes me feel awkward while reading it, but just cheapens what would have otherwise been a mighty fine story. Vaughan simply did not need to use the sexuality angle to tell this story, when the torture and mind games were more than enough. Fortunately that was only half of the story. The Safeword story was never dragged out beyond necessary, so another storyline had to be told to make this book a worthwhile length. This time its the filler story that saves everything. In it Yorick and Co. are once again interrupted in their journey after the Interstate is closed down by a bunch of Southern soldiers named 'The Sons Of Arizona' who believe the government has killed all the men. Yorick meets, and hits it off (platonically) with some bald mechanic named PJ. Meanwhile Dr. Mann tries to make a deal with the revolutionaries and Agent 355 must try to save her. This was a terrific story, with some highly unsettling scenes of Dr. Mann being tortured that are tempered with some superb banter between Yorick and PJ. They hit it off almost instantly like best friends, and Yorick confides in her about why he has been able to abstain from sex in a world where he is the only man alive. He is simply not interested in taking advantage of the loneliness of women he knows would not have slept with him before. This is the kind of thing I like about Yorick. He is a man of genuine honor who could do us all proud, and I find him very relatable for it. It's moments like this bit of light hearted banter that make me love the series. The artwork is as strong as ever, although it does feel a lot darker this time around. It's still bold and colorful for the most part, but just seems to change slightly as the story goes in darker directions. It's not like the colors get muted or anything. Yet the scenes of torture and beatings do look a little more realistic, when the cartoony visuals should have stopped them from hitting this hard. It's an impressive effect, especially considering the fact that the art style doesn't change, it's just your perception of it due to your attachment to these characters. 711's big reveal still looked a little unsettling though! Ewe! At the end of the day, if you want to follow this series then this book will be a necessary evil. It is still a strongly written story, and I hope it wont detract from the overall picture too much. However that does not change the fact that the central concept is both silly, and slightly unnerving. Consider yourself warned! Read the complete review |
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Blankets - Craig Thompson
by miwa When considering American comic books, many people will immediately think of DC or Marvel: lots of high action and fantasy, drawn cheaply for an audience of mostly men and boys. For many fans those kind of classic superhero-centric comics are what they enjoy, and it is hard to argue their worth when many sell for lucrative profits to ... collectors. However, that is not all there is to comic books in America, as Craig Thompson has to show in his first feature-length graphic novel, Blankets. Many argue the differentiation between comic book and graphic novel, but certainly in length alone Blankets may even longer novels. A doorstopper of a book nearly 600 pages, it is more subdued and thoughtful than many of its action-based comic book contemporaries. In literary terms, Blankets is the graphic novel equivalent of many a coming of age novel, drawn from Craig Thompson's experiences growing up in an Evangelical Christian family and experiencing his first love. Written chronologically, it starts with Craig's relationship with his younger brother, Phil, when they are both young children. They share a bed together, so hijinks often ensue. Thompson's art is often quite sparse with a lot of blunt lining, but during scenes with Phil the art takes a turn for the bold and almost hallucinogenic as the boys imagine their bed has turned into a ship and Craig has fallen overboard. Occasionally getting into arguments and punished by their strict parents, as much as the brothers annoy and aggravate each other, they always came back to bed to huddle together from the cold outside. Rural Wisconsin is a lonely place with severe winters, and snow is a prevalent theme throughout - blanketing, suffocating, beautiful or transient as it melts away. Craig's experiences with religion are also strong throughout his childhood and into adolescence. He regularly attends church and instilled with the fear of the Lord (including some very claustrophobic paneling when his parents discover he has drawn a "rude" picture of a naked lady and tell him that he has been influenced by Satan), but it is also how he meets his first love, at a so-called Bible Camp. Raina is drawn with lots of curvy lines and soft shading that contrasts with the rather straight, lanky lines that make up Craig's graphic equivalent (sometimes only a triangle for a nose and sharp elbows are visible under all his layers of clothes). They begin a shy first love as they correspond in letters over the following year, but it is always the winter that is theirs, and it is then Raina invites Craig over to meet her family. Though sensitive issues are brought up, such as the religious upbringing both Raina and Craig had and the disability of Raina's adopted siblings, they are neither handled with offensive negativity or in a condescending way. Simply, it feels real. Raina carries around a vague sadness as all is not fair and well in her family, but this is balanced out with Raina and Craig's explorations, both in the snowy hills and frost-tangled forests of Raina's hometown, but also of their own relationship. Visually, as Craig tries to apply what he learnt in the Bible to his love for Raina, he creates some beautiful artwork with integrated text, rather like a miniature murals or illuminated paintings medieval monks produced. It is obvious that Blankets is a labour of love. While Craig Thompson's art isn't the most intricate or impressive style I have ever seen, it gives a sense of roughness and personality that compliments the subject matter. Meanwhile, more abstract sections of art, such as Craig and Phil's imagined adventures and Craig's daydreams about Raina, are imbued with a sense of passion - they almost seem to soar off the page - and a more outright testament to Thompson's talent. Blankets' storytelling style is hardly original in matter or structure, but it has something more important - sincerity. It's this sense of sincerity that transcends the confines of the comics medium and makes Blankets an unforgettable, bittersweet story of the loves and losses of growing up. Like the blankets that keep young Phil and Craig warm and the quilt Raina makes Craig in the beginnings of their relationship, reading Blankets is a return to the warmth of youth in a cold climate. Price (ATOW): £14.40 Paperback: 592 pages Publisher: Top Shelf Productions (5 Aug 2003) Language: English ISBN-13: 978-1891830433 Read the complete review |
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Asterix Versus Caesar
by Jake Speed Asterix Versus Caesar is a non-canonical book adaptation of the 1985 animated film Astérix et la surprise de César. It's hardly essential but curious completists will probably want to have a look at some point. Astérix et la surprise de César was based on Goscinny & Uderzo's Asterix the Legionary and Asterix the Gladiator. Pierre ... Tchernia (a friend of Goscinny & Uderzo) shunted the two books into one story for the film (which I'm not familiar with to be honest) rather in the same manner that Steven Spielberg's disappointing The Secret of the Unicorn borrowed from two or three Tintin books to make one story. I find this approach to adapting Tintin and Asterix for the screen irritating but I suppose to be fair to them the original books are not terribly long (usually fortysomething pages) and it does make sense for cinematic purposes to cherry pick what you think are some of the best plotlines and situations from the graphic novels in the same way that, for example, Christopher Nolan borrowed from famous Batman comics for his Dark Knight films. Plus of course, Asterix and Tintin are somewhat niche and most people won't even notice or care anyway. So Asterix Versus Caesar is not going to be hugely novel or fresh for anyone familiar with the books that it filches from and to be honest you'd be much better off digging out your copies of Legionary and Gladiator. You should also be warned that this is not the traditional speech bubble graphic novel in the Goscinny & Uderzo style. The structure has narrative text of Asterix telling us the story alongside cells taken from the animated film. You can see what the salient weakness is. It's a copy of a copy of a copy and this sense of abstraction is not exactly a selling point. The cells are wonderful to look at but the flow of the story doesn't work as well as it does in the more standard Asterix books. It reminded me somewhat of Michel Regnier's Tintin and the Lake of Sharks - a 1973 "Tintin Film Book" based on an animated feature of the same name. Like that book, Asterix Versus Caesar lacks that trademark charm and nuance you get from the bona fide series. An occasional feeling of depth (inherent from its construction as stills from the animated feature) is mildly interesting though. The story begins much as it does in Goscinny & Uderzo's Asterix the Legionary. Obelix falls in love with the beautiful blonde bombshell Panecea (drawn as a curvaceous caricature of a young Brigitte Bardot) but is heartbroken when he learns that she is already engaged to the square jawed Tragicomix. Our portly hero is now completely distracted and not his usual uncomplicated boar guzzling self. In Asterix the Legionary, Tragicomix was forced to join a Roman Legion to fight in Africa (where Caesar is fighting against a rival Roman faction headed by Caecilius Metellus Scipio), thus sending Asterix and Obelix on a rescue mission that involved them joining the army (1st Legion, 3rd Cohort, 2nd Maniple, 1st Century to be pedantic) as recruits so they could go to Africa and rescue him. This plot is more or less the same except that here both Tragicomix and Panacea are kidnapped by Romans in the Gaul forest and taken to the Sahara where panels of them wandering the desert evoke the Tintin adventure The Crab with the Golden Claws. So Asterix and Obelix duly join the army to facilitate a trip to Africa where their friends might be and then the story eventually branches off to incorporate Asterix the Gladiator. The young lovers escape but are captured and given to Julius Caesar, their ultimate fate - it seems - to be thrown to the lions at the Circus Maximus. Asterix and Obelix, as ever always on the trail of the lovestruck duo, must now join a gladiator school to save them and matters are complicated because Asterix has lost his magic potion (lest we forget the Gauls have a potion brewed by their venerable druid Getafix which gives them super strength and allows them to bash up those pesky Romans by the hundreds should they feel the need). The fusion of two fine books certainly gives Asterix Versus Caesar a good story with plenty of action and comic capers but unfortunately because of the narrative structure the pacing always seems somewhat off and while the illustrations are very good they do seem to lack a certain something and don't have the charm of the standard Goscinny & Uderzo albums. There is an uncanny valley quality at times. It's Asterix and Obelix and the characters we know but somehow slightly different. The comparison to Tintin and the Lake of Sharks is the best I can come up with really. It's like an alternate universe story. I think the fact that (unlike Tintin and the Lake of Sharks - which was an original story) this uses canon plots from the real Asterix series is both a plus and a weakness but mostly a weakness. It's like a curiosity riff on something that you already know very well. There are some other recurring characters (besides the Gaul regulars) from the books this is based on like Cauius Fatuous from Asterix the Gladiator and Ekonomikrisis the trader. I liked the depiction of the cells where Asterix is in prison and nearly drowns from a huge rainstorm. This adds some tension to the book even if you are always aware that they aren't going to kill him off. I enjoyed flipping through and looking at the polished film panels and it's nice for completist purposes to have this in the collection but I can't say that I'm likely to return to it too much if at all. Asterix Versus Caesar is really one for Asterix collectors only. If you are new to Asterix this is really not the place to start and will only ruin Asterix the Legionary and Asterix the Gladiator for you. This is an interesting oddity in the Asterix universe and a nice companion to the film but never much more than that. At the time of writing you can buy a used copy of this for a few pounds (a new one seems to be over £100 for some reason). Look out for one of the Asterix omnibuses as this features in a couple and they are usually quite reasonably priced. Read the complete review |
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Paperback: 200 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Vertical Inc. / Published: 11 Sep 2007 |
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Paperback: 216 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Viz Media, Subs. of Shogakukan Inc / Published: 26 Nov 2009 |
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Hardcover: 240 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly / Published: 1 Aug 2008 |
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Paperback: 200 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Viz Media / Published: April 2004 |
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Paperback: 135 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Viz Communications / Published: 5 Aug 2002 |
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Paperback: 576 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Tor/Seven Seas / Published: 3 Mar 2011 |
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Paperback: 184 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Viz Media, Subs. of Shogakukan Inc / Published: 4 Mar 2008 |
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Paperback: 208 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Del Rey Books / Published: 26 April 2005 |
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Paperback: 184 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Zenescope / Published: 20 Sep 2011 |
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Hardcover: 288 pages / Comic Book / Publisher: Fantagraphics / Published: 21 Oct 2010 |
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