Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus, Vol. 3
By Jack Kirby
2007, Published by DC Comics
Originally Serialized by DC Comics, 1972
It's tempting to just copy and paste what was said here previously about the second volume of he Fourth World--Kirby's work didn't suffer from a lack of consistency until the issues near the finale of the series. The only thing that stills the temptation is that this happens to be the volume containing "The Pact," otherwise known as Jack Kirby's favorite of the 4th World saga--and if the introduction is to be relied upon, one of the favorites of his long career. It's easy to see why--even knowing the basics of what's coming, it's still a resoundingly enjoyable story. There's a lot of great, intelligent stuff out there being written about Jack Kirby's work in this series--and while the Fourth World will always be overshadowed in cultural impact by the King's work on the Fantastic Four, everybody who's spent any time in the Factual's satellite office in Manhattan knows full well that, if it came to a desert island choice, we'd chose Kalibak, Mister Miracle & yes, even Jimmy Olsen over the Stan Lee Angsty Quartet. There's just too much going down in Fourth World for it not be loved.
Sundays
Various Authors/Artists
2007, Published by the Center for Cartoon Studies
There are plenty of comics worth checking out here, but one has to be ready and willing to deal with the ridiculous size of the publication itself, and one has to be ready to wash their hands if they plan to do anything afterwards. (Unless you like pretending you're a newspaper printer and like rubbing ink all over your family.) Nothing in this volume is long enough to be anything but a brief sample of what's being taught over at the Center for Cartoon Studies, a Vermont school that probably won't be producing any future Spider-man artists anytime soon. Instead, it's all the sort of comics that come from people who grew up in the shadows of alt-comics anthologies like Raw and Rubber Blanket. Thankfully, the volume is short on autobiographies of it's mostly white contributors, all of whom probably grew up in the sort of boring suburbs that most boring white people grow up in. If this volume were expensive, it would probably be deserving of some scorn, but taken for what it is--a cheap compilation of a bunch of young cartoonists who will soon be out of school and struggling in the free market, it's not that bad. If it hadn't been for the existence of MOME and Kramer's Ergot, it might even be great.
Sgt. Rock: Between Hell & A Hard Place
Written by Brian Azzarello
Art by Joe Kubert
Published by Vertigo/DC Comics, 2003
The only real problem with a "realistic" Sgt. Rock is that, as much as it tries for believability, the consistent survival of Rock, and his near preternatural ability to find himself in pretty amazingly bad circumstances, drives the the story to strain credibility. Where other war comics (like Two-Fisted Tales and Garth Ennis' War Stories) succeed by embracing the fickle nature of armed conflict by allowing the death to be totally indiscriminate and rarely using characters more than once, Sgt. Rock's adventures always include people who can't seem to die. Is that a petty complaint? Sure. But it's a petty complaint that's true--Sgt. Rock books can't compete in the tension arena against books where everybody might end up losing. If anything, that prospect of failure is what makes war books, if not more well-written, than at least more exciting, then super-hero comics. No matter what, no sniper is ever going to shoot Robin in an issue of Batman--but you can't predict what's going to happen to anyone, even the narrator, when you're dealing with a war comic. Except, of course, if the war comic is Sgt. Rock.
Bringing Azzarello on board as writer lends the work some authenticity--if there's one thing Azzarello is impeccably talented for, it's lending a distinctive voice that speaks to the man's research. (Obviously, that's an assumption, as this reader doesn't have first hand experience with World War II. Still, this comic certainly sounds real enough.) Having Joe Kubert as artist means it's going to look like a Sgt. Rock comic should look--chock full of dusty faces and snarls. But is it any different than any other Sgt. Rock comic, after one gets past Azzarello's chunky, man-heavy dialog? Not really. It's a beautiful book, it's handled by some talented people, and it still ends up being little more than a pretty standard book--albeit one that's a bit pricey and more than a bit in love with itself. There's nothing here that can't be found cheaper somewhere else.
Sleepwalk & Other Stories
By Adrian Tomine
Published by Drawn & Quarterly Publications
Originally Serialized in Optic Nerve, 1995-1998
This is the Adrian Tomine collection that includes "Pink Frosting," otherwise known as the-story-where-Adrian-Tomine-curbs-motherfuckers. Although it was too early in his career to be seen as a response to critics who hate the Tomine style of comics, it's always fun to imagine that. If you've ever seen a picture of the guy, just picture Tomine sitting back with a dog-eared cigar reading online where a 12 year old is calling him "a boring fag" and saying to himself "Goddamn I'd like to put that bitches teeth to the concrete." There aren't a lot of classic curbing stories in the world--but Pink Frosting is one that puts the American History X one to shame.
Other shit happens too, mostly about dating.
-Tucker Stone, 2008
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