Less Than Heroes
David Yurkovich
Top Shelf
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Graphic Novel
151 pages
$14.95 USD
ISBN: 1-891830-51-1
Threshold is a group of four super heroes -- Cosmopolitan, Meridian, Malevolence and Recoil. They have been contracted by the mayor of Philadelphia to fight super criminals, but the city of brotherly love isnt exactly a Mecca of criminal masterminds...yet. Soon, there will be a bit of a migration, as some of New Yorks toughest criminals -- Mosaic, Letter Head, Lady Locke and more decide to lie low and hide from New York's elite super hero team. There is also a government conspiracy playing in the back ground...a Shadow NASA was set up, training men to go much, much further than the moon...and what comes back may be beyond the government's power to control. No one thinks Threshold is up to the challenge...and they may be right, but Threshold will give it their all.
I fell in love with the team in just a few moments. They are very endearing...in the introduction, you get a lot of their personality. They are very flawed. Cosmo begins the introduction, focusing it on him, but is quickly reminded by Meridian -- the sole woman of the team, she's extremely sensible and smart, and is, in some ways, the leader -- that there are others. The into keeps getting interrupted, once by their need for snacks. How can you not like a group of people who try so hard to be heroic, yet are filled with small, interesting details -- Recoil is obsessed with teeth and dreams of being the ADA spokesperson, Meridian writes adorable little kid's books.
The anti heroes are just as interesting as the heroes. They bicker, the Ice Machine, in particular, is the creator of very bad puns. One of the most innovative characters was made from a combination of black magic and a stamp album, which he is determined to fill with new souls.
While there is a very strong comedy aspect, it still has a very serious edge. The idea seems to be to both satirize elements of the super hero genre while making it realistic. Perhaps satire is too strong a word...there is a sense of respect and kindness, and you don't feel like Yurkovich is making fun of it to be cruel. The comedy plays well, showing up some of the sillier aspects of the super hero genre while leaving the things about it that are good. The story becomes a smart tale about people doing their best, despite their flaws, despite their failings, to do what's right. This means you have some moments of comedy, but you also have excitement, as you wonder if they will be able to pull things off and save the city in time...because it's no longer inevitable that they triumph.
The art style also echoes this intent. Black and white, thicker lines, a little more angular than the super hero comics which are usually finely drawn, very correct, in color. It reminds us that this isn't your usual super hero comic while creating a very expressive style.
A smart, brilliant work.
4 of 5 capes
Cindy Lynn Speer, GWN Reviewer
Two Sisters
Matt Kindt
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Graphic Novel
334 pages
$19.95 USD
ISBN: 1-891830-58-9
It begins with a roman cup of unusual design. A Roman slave steals it to help her find her freedom...and it travels throughout the book, through time, connecting twin stories in unusual ways. The main story is about Elle, who is forced to become an English spy, fighting the Nazis in WWII. The secondary story is about a young woman who is forced to become a pirate to survive.
In a way, the pirate, whose name we never learn, and Elle are sisters. Their stories parallel oddly in the story...when Elle pretends to be a cast away in order to gain access to a Nazi ship, the pirate's own actions slightly mirror Elle's. There is also another story woven in. We learn early that Elle has a sister, Anna, whose a few years older, but they aren't as close as they once were. We don't really know Anna's fate...did she get the mansion she always wanted, or did the sisters get separated at the orphanage? We do see their childhood together, the older, vibrant sister, the shyer Elle, who loves and admires her dearly. One wonders how much of Elle's decision to spy was based on how her more impetuous sister would act?
The mixture of these stories is brilliant. Kindt is very sparing with words...there aren't any, in the pirate story, and he never uses captions. This means the art, a very expressive style, takes the bulk of the narrative. It has a great deal of flow to it. Stark black and white with sometimes very thick lines, it concentrates on movement and action. The chronology, of course, is very mixed up...and sometimes we are not sure what is going on, so it forces us to ask a lot of questions. For example, after a particularly emotionally wrenching assignment that required her to kill, Elle has sent money to her sister...though we don't really know why. The next scene, we see her sister, with a shovel in hand, burying clothes that look like what Elle wore on the assignment...as she was seen, earlier, burying the special dress Elle wore to a party the man she loves invited her to. Why? How did she get it? Is Anne showing her disapproval of what her sister has done? Or simply burying things for her that Elle would rather not remember?
The action is very well done. You feel like your moving through the panels, and the espionage, with its secret codes and careful planning is quite exciting. You get the feeling the Elle both enjoys what she does...switching purses, gathering intelligence...as much as she hates the having to kill.
There is another clever aspect to this story...once you've read it all the way through, the ending is such that you practically have to start over. It's something that really left me surprised, and moved.
Beautifully wrought and exciting.
5 out 5 codebooks
Cindy Lynn Speer, GWN Reviewer
Owly
Andy Runton
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Graphic Novel
156 pages
$10.00 USD
ISBN: 1-891830-62-7
This book is comprised of two graphic novellas, "The Way Home" and "Bittersweet Summer." Owly is a sweet hearted owl, who, at the beginning of the book, desperately wants a friend. He puts out bird seed for his fellow birds, but they run away when they see him. He frees a pair of lightning bugs from their jar, but they, too, flee. Finally he rescues a little worm, who, at first fears Owly for being, well, an owl, but soon he sees the good heart behind the beak. It turns out that Wormy was swept away from his own family, and so Owly decides to take him home. "Bittersweet Summer" is also about friendship...about how being friends means letting go...and that goodbye is not forever.
This book is one of the sweetest books I've ever read. I actually made "aw!" sounds when I was reading it, something, I promise, I am not ordinarily prone to do. There is no dialogue...the rare word balloons are filled with a couple of symbols, and the only written words we see are when we get a peek at Owly's photo album, and are able to read the captions. This means that the art has to do all the work, and the expressions are simply adorable. You get so much more out of the story, because you have to depend on the eloquence of the expressions.
There are also messages of other sorts hidden in the work. The true meaning of friendship, learning to be accepted for who you are, finding ways to help your friends deal with their problems, allowing the people you love freedom, these things are all here. But the message isn't over done.
This is advertised as a for all ages book, and it truly is. All the characters are very sweet, and Owly is so well meaning and good. Such kindness is wonderful to witness, and will certainly touch any heart.
5 of 5 flowers
Cindy Lynn Speer, GWN Reviewer
Lance Barnes: Post Nuke Dick
Stefan Petrucha and Barry Crain
Moonstone
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Graphic Novel
136 pages
$11.95 USD
ISBN: 0-9726443-3-4
Lance Barnes was in a position many adventurous, hard boiled detectives have found themselves in...a bomb in front of him, a pair of snippers in hand, a timer counting down a last few seconds, and a decision: which wire to cut?
He cut the wrong one, turning the world into a nuclear wasteland. Of course, when the secret is discovered, thanks to his secretary Peg's act of desperation, they are both kicked out of the city, forcing them to find a new place for themselves. Along the way they solve mysteries, get into trouble, and somehow manage to survive.
It is a very interesting concept. Lance Barnes mixes post apocalyptic satire with the traditional hard boiled detective narrative and attitude. He has a long suffering secretary who has a wooden leg...and yes, I was not joking earlier when I called her Peg. It's a chance to turn the world upside down, and a chance the writer seems to take a great deal of joy in...here, a mall becomes a place where tribes of people, taking a certain store as their totem and cultural structure, fight...where half dog, half human characters find themselves persecuted for being who they are, where no one has been untouched. In many ways, it's very funny...Lance and Peg, in particular, have some pretty great interaction, but there's also some slapstick, such as when poor Peg is attacked for her crutches in a city where to be granted admittance you have to be missing a piece of your anatomy. Barnes is extremely flawed...outside of destroying the world, which he's never forgiven himself for, he's very self centered -- unwilling to admit Peg means anything to him, focused on his own needs. Yet, there are redeemable qualities -- he's clever, braver than he admits, and willing to keep fighting, even when the cause is dead.
The art, black and white with shades of gray, is an excellent counter part to the story. His ability to draw people is amazing...Peg is pretty, Lance ruggedly handsome, yet, into the same panel, he is able to conjure some extremely freaky people. The actions in the panel are especially cool...you can really feel the movement. The style also feels very noir...hence, I think, the choice of going without color.
A marriage of a B grade sci-fi flick with a Sam Spade novel, this book is a clever mix of genre and adventure.
4 out of five cigarettes
Cindy Lynn Speer, GWN Reviewer
