The Factual Opinion

The Virgin Read: She Finally Got Around To Julia Wertz

Drinking At The Movies
By Julia Wertz, 2010

It seems that I like auto-bio comics. The other thing is that I seem to really like auto-bio comics that are set in locations near to where I've lived. Or where I live.

This one is no exception.

I'm on the lookout for vignettes or anecdotes about people and places where I may have been before, or potentially had hung out at the same time the writer was hanging there. In other words - maybe we totally know each other? 

That’s never the case. It's more likely that I'm just looking for reflections of myself, like I've found a way to expand my own existence--and thereby validate my choices, and my life--by finding out that I was physically near something important, even if it was a passive form of participation. I was just reading Mindy Kaling’s book and realized that at one time she was living in an apartment almost right around the corner from where I'm typing this. When I read the part about how her and her best friend were doing the “Matt & Ben” show,  I totally flashed back to when that was out, when I'd see the flyers, when my circle of friends would say "have you heard about" and "I'm going to see it". I was right here while her story was unfolding. And while mine was as well, I don't think of it that often, and I certainly don't treat it as a narrative that I remember in order. It comes in flashes, in moments of embarrassement and joy. It's lumpy, with certain anecdotes standing out in relief due to the way I've gone back to them over and over again. But I read Kaling--or Wertz--and I start to piece it together the way they have, to remember how I got to that apartment, how I found the people I knew, where we were, what, why--that whole old lesson, all over at once.

Anyhow. What has that got to do with anything? I don't know! But it came along all the same. I just find comics about girls moving to NYC (or Brooklyn) and finding their own way to be interesting because I did that, too. It’s a weird time in a girl’s life when she goes and does it, when she makes this choice and finds out what comes along with it. Having the comics medium to frame it in for oneself is really cool--it is all their own, and the way it flows is so personal and slippery. I wish I had something like that. I just have oodles of complain-y, boring journals. 

But enough about me - I guess I should really talk about the comic. It’s very funny  - Julia Wertz has that sort of self-deprecating humor going on that I can never pull off because I just say something mean and people think I hate myself and get uncomfortable. But what’s really interesting is to see it drawn as well as spoken.  She draws herself in such a way that is quite nearly androgynous. Her hair seems to be in this bob with bangs for her entire life, and according to her she just wears the same black shirt all the time, has horrible posture and just doesn’t take much care of herself. Then you see the photo of her in the back of the book, and she’s totally adorable and bears very little resemblance to her comic book self. I found that endearing and hilarious, and while I don't know what possessed me to never flip to the back and see that picture, I'm glad I waited for it. It's not that she’s not capable of drawing herself, it's that her self deprecations goes so far beyond thought that she draws herself looking nothing like reality.

I loved the format of the book. Generally it sticks to one “story” per page, and they're generally between six and nine frames. Again, I think about how therapeutic it must be to take the days and mini-dramas of one life and boil them down into a six frame story on a single page. Something with a beginning, middle and end, conflict and some form of resolution. What a great way to make sense of the nonsensical time of one’s twenties, when you've lost all the structure of school and are handed the full responsibility of managing the rest of your life. To read this is to remember when I had to start giving myself a bedtime.

I recently “marathon-watched” all of the episodes of Lena Dunham’s Girls, quickly followed by a viewing a of Tiny Furniture. I feel like I was having some sort of weird mid-life crisis where I was nostalgic for the awful pain and uncomforability of my early 20's. I mean, Girls captures it so so well. It was very hardly ‘fun times” for me. And although on paper it probably looks all sexy - I moved to New York to pursue my dreams, go to auditions, live on my own, etc. etc., -- it really was completely excrutiating and I express gratitude upon gratitude daily for the very fact that my life has turned out to be this beautiful thing that it is. Because...ugh, what a rocky road!

Wertz’s honest commentary on her bad choices, her inability to be the adult she thinks she is supposed to be, and her ironic drinking problem in the face of her brother’s crippling addiction just have me rooting for her from the first page. I guess that’s what keeps me reading....waiting to see how and when it starts to change, for her life to improve. I want joy for her so badly.

Toward the end, we get a glimmer of the hope that awaits her - her darling new apartment in an adorable area, a publisher who "gets" her, etc.....but its not all sewn up yet. Nah - gotta keep me interested for the next book, right? Can’t have an auto-bio comic about how good life is in your 30s....that’ll be just boring, right?  

To be honest, it could be about anything. I'm on board no matter what.

-Nina Stone, 2014

The Wife: Takes One For The Team

Astonishing X-Men #50
By Marjorie Liu, Mike Perkins, Andy Troy
Published by Marvel Comics

The first thing that I had to get over, before I even started reading this comic, was this one chick's costume. Can you tell which one? It's the one on the bottom left of the cover. What the hell is that on her? Is that a giant pastie? It would have to be, otherwise how would it stay on? What the hell is the point of that? Why wear a shirt at all? Why go to that kind of trouble to get dressed?

Thankfully, one of this issue's characters speaks for me within the story, and I felt much better. It turns out that she, this Shi-ar Warrior Woman, is kinda hilarious within the story. She's sort of like a robot of force--she has no feeling, empathy, or ability to think things through beyone maiming and killing. So she seems to be messing things up for our other heroes, repeatedly, and yet she finds them to be tiresome and whiny. It's kind of a funny conflict. Not enought to make a story out of, but a solid subplot, an entertaining piece of texture.

So let me get to that story. What IS this story about, this story that has this funny piece of texture?

I don't know.

The X-Men figure something out. And they go to fight the evil of this thing they have figured out. But when they get there, their minds are taken over by weird purple electricity. Which is sort of the cliff hanger... 

Sort of.

The bigger issue in this issue is the man love. I mean, not to me. To me it's not really "an issue". But I'm guessing it is the first time in a super hero comic book that we have an openly gay super hero in love with another man and proposing to him.

As an aside, I must let you know that growing up in the culture of dance and musical theatre, I was around gay men (and perhaps women) a lot. Many who were some of my greatest teachers, who helped me move along my path and were full of encouragement. I have never, ever, ever, ever had a problem with men loving other men or being sexual with them. It didn't occur to me. But I know, as a country, we've had a big problem with accepting homosexuality and that we are at a critical and wondeful new place - especially with the President of the United States embracing gay marriage. So, yes. I see the significance of this story line. 

But - 

I actually found it a drag. Seriously, I mean, at some point in our lives we've all had one of those kind of "fights" with someone we love. And in this case it's this highly emotional, personal fight between two people, loving each other, and yet not seeing each other, and then disapproving of each other. Yuck yuck yuck. I don't like relationship drama in real life, and when it's the kind that's not really forwarding the plot (like a bad song in a bad musical), I don't wanna read about it.

Yes, their relationship plays into the story because, Northstar is completely preoccupied with his relationship drama, and this makes him late to the big event that the X-men are dealing with. By being late, two things happen - one, he sees that they've been, um, possessed or whatever. And two, his boyfriend, Kyle, is kidnapped by the bad guys and used as bait to capture Northstar.  

But see, you still didn't have to write THAT fight to have us understand that they love each other and want to be together. I don't have any better ideas, honestly. I just got really UNINTERESTED by the subject matter of their fight. I can understand that the people behind this comic want it to be a big deal, and I guess it is, in a Guinness Book of Records sort of way, but I can't really imagine anyone remembering it very fondly--it isn't very Notebook-y, if that means anything to you.

Other than that, though, I did find myself immediately drawn into reading this comic, and I read it cover to cover very quickly. The art is kinda weird. The Kyle and Northstar parts seem like they were drawn by one person, and the rest of the comic was drawn by another. Is that just me, or does it seem like that to other people, too? Other than that, the art seemed to generally tell the story well, except....what's with the purple electricity? Is it related to the big Blob-Skreeeeee-thing from BPRD? Seriously. Don't do this to me again.

-Nina Stone, 2012

My Wife: Is Breaking Marriage Vows She Didn't Even Know She'd Agreed To

Fury: My War Gone By #1
By Garth Ennis, Goran Parlov, Lee Loughridge
Published by Marvel Comics

I don't think that I'm as excited about this comic as I'm supposed to be. Or as it is hoped that I'll be.



You see, even though I've been reading a comic a week for about four years or so now, I'm still not all that hip to who's who, what's what, and which story arcs are a big deal. I have heard the name Nick Fury before, and I see from the first page that this series is going to be a walk through the mine field that is the Life & Times of Mister Fury....but that doesn't really "do it" for me if we're being honest. I know that particular story being written by Garth Ennis can have the effect of turning grown men into blubbery balls of (honestly) unattractive, overly excited pre-pubescent boys (complete with high pitched squealing), but all it elicits from me is a confused grunt. Urgh?

This comic is drawn really well. It definitely has the whole 007 vibe going on, where Nick Fury comes across like a bad ass mother fucker who clearly can accomplish whatever he wants, even if we aren't shown the evidence. But I still got irritated reading this. I got irritated by the girl.

What's that about, Nina?

I don't know. I really don't.

I mean, I know that her behavior is her whole schtick and that it is supposed to be obvious that she'd be attractive to these guys, and it kind of is. But she still bugs me.



I mean, first of all, you don't dress like a girl who wants who attention and then get annoyed when you get attention. Annoyed? That's too light a word. You can't go off half cocked when some dude hits on you. Granted, he was an asshole, no one should act the way he did. And no, I'm not saying "she asked for it". But seriously, if you're a woman and you want to go somewhere and not be noticed, then wear a sweat shirt and baggy pants and put your hair in a ponytail. And sit in a corner or something. 



Okay, so I'm playing dumb a bit, I know, this is just it this is on purpose. This is her weird brand of excitement. She likes this shit. I've had experience with this. I've had friends in the past who'd get all excited about our night out. We'd all get dressed for some flirting and partying and fun, and it always broke down into some HUGE drama. And the drama was always as a result of some action that these friends took. And I soon realized that to them, this was the fun, that drama was the point in the first place. It wan't a fun night until the cops came, until the screaming over-the-phone break up happened, until somebody cheated on somebody, and yes, the best way to end an evening out was when a huge fight ensued. These selfish friends of mine could never see how they ultimately ruined nights (and lives) with this behavior - they just got off on all the attention they'd receive, they got off on the "fuck those assholes" victim nonsense all the way home. That was just as important as the drinking, that bitching and moaning in the cab uptown.

That shit is TIRING. It's totally unfun. Reading about this chick just made me think of all that and it just made me tired. Do I have to read/watch as she and Fury get together and she creates a whole world of lame drama that could be totally avoided? I don't know. I know I don't want to take that chance, and she made up a good part of this issue. And then there's the big ex-Nazi.

Oy. It's like all the most annoying humans ever put in a story to irritate me. Nazis and drunk chicks? I don't think so.

So, as you can see, this comic did not float my boat. I doubt my reaction is the majority. I doubt it's even a  wide minority. And that's okay! Because I'm sure its a great comic book to many people. My reactions are wholly personal and, well, some times that happens, right?

-Nina Stone, 2012

My Wife: Doesn't Realize How Hard She Just Called Scott Allie Out

B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: Pickens County Horror #2
By Jason Latour, Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Dave Stewart
Published by Dark Horse Comics

When I was about 11 years old, I was a very clever babysitter. Eleven is a great age to be babysitting a 7 year old and a 5 year old because you’re not so far away from those ages yourself and you still remember how to play. AND you can institute games and activities that are challenging enough that keep them entertained for hours!

One of those games was this:

I would take 3 pieces of paper and fold them in half. We would each draw a head on the top half of the page, without showing the others. Then, we’d put the paper head-side-down, and pass it to the right. It was then our task to draw a body on the other blank half. (And we only had about 3 minutes for each drawing.) When we were finished, we’d each open up our pieces of paper to reveal the hilarity of mismatched heads and bodies - all of the wrong scale, with strange features, and odd body parts. We could do this over and over again, and it never got old.

What has this got to do with anything? I feel like “they” did something similar with this mini-series of BPRD.

The first issue - “the head” for purposes of my metaphor - was a pretty beautiful set-up. It set the scene, introduced the characters (and there were A LOT of characters for one issue), introduced the conflict(s).... In fact, I remember double checking the cover of that issue to see if my eyes had correctly seen “1 of 2” because it seemed like a set-up for a big, long, multiple issue story. With so many moving parts come so many possibilities. I was really excited to read this second issue to see how the mystery would get solved.

So, here we are, and what is issue two like? What's “the body” in our game?

Essentially, I feel like they handed over issue 2 to someone with mental incapacities who then scribbled a big blob and wrote “SKREEEEEEEEEEE!” all over. And then, for the hell of it, all over the head side, too.  Seriously. Did you see this thing? Honestly, I feel like someone went, “oh no. This is too hard. I can’t think of anything. How about this big air-blob-vapor thing just takes over and kills everyone? Yeah! Yeah, that’s IT!”

I don’t know what else to say. This is a very sorry piece of work. That’s all I can say. If you were in school and  wrote this, your teacher would hand it back to you and tell you that you clearly just gave up, and needed to try again. 

And that’s what the editor should have done.

Skree? WTF?

BPRD - I’m disappointed in you.

-Nina Stone, 2012

PS: After I wrote this, I found out that this comic was actually written by the editor. Well!

My Wife: Gets Religious With Johan Sfar

The Rabbi's Cat
By Johann Sfar
Published by Pantheon

This is a very entertaining book with a perplexing, yet somehow satisfying conclusion. It's a book--a comic book--that explores Judaism while gently educating the reader on what Judaism actually is. 

As a seeker and a Jew, I found myself in my adult life identifying as Jewish (a Consecrated, Bat Mitzvah’d and Confirmed Jewish Woman), without really understanding what it is the Jews believe in. Honestly, I didn’t really know anything except for the very basic twist that makes us different from Christians. 

It's only been in the last 5 to 10 years that I started to learn, after attending ultra-religious “Beginner” High Holiday services at Aish HaTorah in NYC. My holiday season always begins with me feeling uplifted, curious, eager to learn, a little bit lost and drunk on belief. And by the end of the ten day period, during those final hours of Yom Kippur, I always find myself poking holes in some of the logic, wondering about the role of women in Judaism, and feeling generally defensive about how much of this stuff do I really am buying into. And every year, I go back and mess around with it one more time. Those feelings--questions, doubts, all the rest--came up while I was laughing my way through The Rabbi's Cat, and are a big part of why I found this comic so affirming.

It actually is about a cat, by the way. A cat who eats a parrot and is suddenly able to talk. He lives with a Rabbi and his daughter (who the cat looooooves and calls his “mistress”), and is a complete wise-ass. What’s entertaining is that this cat ends up representing, in my opinion, Western Thought. Like me, he pokes holes in every argument, and seems to even win a few. His self-loving, anti-God stance is, honestly, witty and amusing. He’s quick and smart and I found myself rooting for him over and over again.

Our cat friend is totally base. Sexually oriented, irreverent, and out for himself. In other words, he's like every interesting person you've ever met. He’s hilarious, and it's completely delightful to hear this story through his words and thoughts. 

In the first part of this book, the cat is the Rabbi’s antagonist. Sfar uses the Rabbi to gently explain aspects of Judaism that are not common knowledge to the cat and reader alike, like in the sequence after the cat tries to tell him that Adam and Eve are just symbols and were not real people. The cat explains to us, “He tells me that among Jews there are no symbols and no allegories. He tells me Jewish teaching works by analogy. He tells me I’m refusing to enter into it because my sight is clouded by Western thought. Western thought is a prehensile, predatory and in the final analysis destructive machine, my master explains.” This passage goes on for quite some time, and is fascinating from start to finish. It's no accident seeing words like “prehensile” and “predatory” used to describe Western thought--I was surprised to find out this dialog wasn't originally written in English.

Overall this entire book ends up being less about the cat and more about the Rabbi. It's about the Rabbi’s dedication to God and to Judaism as he faces the challenges of potentially losing his position (a misunderstanding) to a younger Rabbi, and losing his daughter to the same young man. He goes on a journey both physically and spiritually as he travels with his daughter and her new husband (and the cat) to Paris from Algeria. The Rabbi seems able to maintain a sort of vulnerability and childlike innocence as he navigates the twists and turns his life begins to take. He repeatedly finds himself in challenging situations with Jews who do not observe Jewish law, and though consistently uncomfortable, he never reacts angrily toward them. Until, of course, he does, and ends up breaking Jewish law himself.

What will happen? Will God strike him down? Will his whole life fall apart?

No. None of these things happen. The comic stays true to life, true to itself. And we come to the end of the story with the Rabbi asking his congregation why we follow all of these laws and traditions if we can be happy - as it seems others are -  not following them?

This is a big question. This is THE big question!  

And I love that the answer to this big, big, big question that has been driving this story (and many people’s lives) is a profound: “I don’t know.”  

I like that. I find it wildly satisfying. I find it exquisitely right for a religious leader to honestly say that they don’t know why. It's humble. It's honest. It shows true faith to me, versus the people who try to tell you that they know the "Will" of whatever God it is that they believe in. I think its more honest to just say, “I don’t know.” And maybe even, “I don’t know. I just know that it works for me.”

All this from a comic book about a Rabbi and a cat. That's pretty great, huh?  

-Nina Stone, 2012

The Wife: Has Feelings Related To Dave Gibbons, Is Unaware of Controversy

Secret Service #1
By Mark Millar, Dave Gibbons, Angus McKie
Published by Icon

Mark Hamill?!? This is hilarious. Secret Service opens mid-action on the kidnapping and maybe-rescue-maybe-not of Mark Hamill.

Who then subsequently plummets to his death after he and his rescuer put all their faith in a parachute...that fails!

Sorry. I shouldn't have spoiled that. I'm sorry! I thought that was really funny. I'm sorry that I spoiled it for you.

But apparently, it's not just Mark Hamill who was kidnapped, but six of the cast and crew from the Star Wars films, four from Doctor Who, eight from Battlestar Galactic and five from Star Trek. I can't help but be intrigued by a kidnapping organization of this size and magnitude so dedicated to such an extensive collection of nerd related type people. And not in the usual "oooooh! What's the bad guy gonna do next" kind of way. But more like, "just what sort of guy or girls is this - and what are they like when they're just hanging out" kind of way. 

Anyway, that's all just the introduction. So who is this story really about? Well, first we meet our main spy-dude, Jack London, and then we meet his nephew. (The nephew's name isn't as memorable as the name "Jack London".) I know that Jack is supposed to me as being very James-Bond-y, but honestly, after reading this I just kept thinking about Harvey Spector from the television show Suits. That's sort of the vibe I got. That's actually fine though. I probably feel the way about Harvey Spector that most people feel about James Bond. I think he's the best.  

So, anyhow, this is a first issue and it's setting up a story, and I thought it set that story up pretty well. On the one hand, it's totally different with the whole Star Wars/Star Trek/Battlestar/Doctor Who kidnapping set-up thing, and then on the other hand it's a type of story that has been done before. More than any Harvey-fetish, that's probably why Suits came to mind. It's not to the same degree on that show as it is here, but we've got that situation where the older, seasoned hot-shot has decided to school and guide a younger, punk-ish version of himself. (Okay, that's actually EXACTLY what Suits is like. But it certainly wasn't original there either, so I'm not really picking on Secret Service for that.

I've read a lot of first issues lately, and I think this one has grabbed me the most. Why? I think the art and story - and the format in which they are presented - are a really perfect marriage. In some comics, I find myself either only reading or only looking at the drawings. It's rare that I do both at the same time. But in this case, for some reason, I felt like I was taking it all in at once.  Perhaps it's because the pictures often illustrate what the words aren't saying, and vice versa. There doesn't seem to be any redundancy between picture and word, and everything drawn in a frame has a reason for being there. Nothing seems superfluous or merely decorative. I didn't actually notice that when I was reading it the first time, it was when I went back that I saw how clean the whole process worked.

The facial expressions are pretty phenomenal, too. I think its amazing that he can draw, like, the sister yelling at the uncle...and although her words are angry you can see that there's hurt in her face too. There's a real knowledge of the complexity of a human emotion here and it is illustrated subtly and finely.

I'm definitely intrigued to read more. I'd like to find out what this kidnapper is going to do once he collects the entire cast and crew of all the great sci-fi movies. I want to find out just how the nephew is going to be involved. I haven't been looking forward to a next issue in a long time, and these days, I feel like I have whole crop to keep an eye out for. That's pretty awesome, right?

-Nina Stone, 2012

The Wife: Wants To Get All Philosophical On Some Image Comic

Whispers #2
By Joseph Luna
Published by Image Comics

I suppose that nearly every super hgero comic book creator must have at one time, in their creative process, thought "What if I had a super power? What would I want it to be?" These ideas come from somewhere, right? Some of them had to be some kind of private wish fulfillment stuff turned deadline inspiration.

I think it's safe to say that all of us, in one way or another, have fantasized about being "the Hero(ine)" in some way. Whether by actually saving someone's life, or just saving the day by figuring out the answer to that problem at work, or even just being the person who can make everyone laugh - we all have imagined this at some point, in one way or another. Low grade, high grade heroics--everybody can identify with that, if you make the scale wide enough.

Reading Whispers brought that to mind for me, and with heightened awareness this time. As you may or may not remember (the first issue came out a while ago), the protagonist of the story, Sam, suffers from a severe case of OCD and has just developed the power of astral projection. He seems to leave his body when he is sleeping and is able to visit others in present time and even influence what they do or say. 

At this point, we're still only in the second issue and don't know much else about him except that he is still wildly in love with his ex-girlfriend, Lily. We also know that the extreme nature of his OCD and his denial of its magnitude was a major reason their relationship crashed and burned.

So...if YOU had the ability to visit people while you slept, without them seeing you, hear their thoughts and even influence their behavior....what would you do? In a way, it's like the time machine question - if you could go back and time, what time would you go to and what would you do - you still being you, that is. Or the lottery. Or a bunch of others, sure, but "time machine" is my preferred go-to.

Generally, the answers to these questions, if we're being really honest with ourselves, usually has to do with, well, ourselves. Perhaps going and changing the outcome of a certain event, or making a different choice in some situation so that things work out, well. For US. Right? I don't think about going back and stopping Genghis Khan, you know?

It was with the newly introduced neighbor, Cali, that I began to have a hyper-sensitivity to this understanding.

You see, the issue opens with Sam trying to go read the thoughts of Lily and then getting pulled toward a ferocious, evil force that he can't explain or understand. He witnesses a wild beast that does not truly exist eat a baby. And he's really shook up by it, as anyone would be, because that's the sort of thing that no one ever wants to see. So while he's hashing everything out in a conversation with Cali - what happens, how he saw Vanessa in a bad situation and also visited his mom, how he's influenced people, how he'd like to know what Lily is thinking - she says, "To be brutally honest....you seem a bit preoccupied with yourself and your little soap opera. Saving Vanessa is great, of course, but I can't believe you barely mentioned the part about the Demon eating a Baby!" Later in the conversation she says, "I'm just saying, maybe your ability has a way bigger use, other than adjusting your personal life. "

Huh.

That's what got me started. I mean, with some sort of super power suddenly manifesting in us, wouldn't we use it to adjust our personal life? Would we automatically go use it for the greater good? Even in those hero/ine fantasies that I sited above - what's the point of those? If we save a life, or save the day, or save someone from having bad feelings - is it really about them? Isn't it true that these fantasies are about what we get as a result of our heroic act? It's not really being a hero/ine, is it?

I think the Luna Brothers played with this idea in The Sword. The idea of using power for personal gain, rather than some abstract idea of "greater good".  It's an interesting idea to think about. How often, in this current society, do we take the opportunity to do something just because others will benefit? With nothing in it for yourself? What would that be like, if you had some actual ability to change things at some massive, fantastic level? Would if feel like a huge, weight responsibility? Does it contain a type of joy I've never experienced because I've never been able to do anything that is truly, 100% selfless? Does the ability to use your power for good, to right wrongs, with no thought of yourself, make one a super hero? I feel like none of that is ever addressed in those comics. It's all taken for granted, and honestly, I don't think it has any right to be taken for granted. Explain it. Talk about that. Do something with that.

I'm interested to see where Whispers is going. As this issue draws to a close, Sam, while sleeping, is in a hallway - drawn by a dark feeling, a feeling of evil, a dark energy . As he watches a seemingly normal older man pass by a little girl and talk to her....Sam is able to see the  beastly predator within the man, to hear the evilness say "mmmmm.....yummy" about the little girl. Perhaps its Sam's first opportunity to use his Power to help. Maybe it's just another gross story about pedophiles. I'll have to find out.

-Nina Stone, 2012

My Wife: Maintains The Familial Love For The B.P.R.D. Like A Boss

B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: The Pickens County Horror #1
By Mike Mignola, Scott Allie, Jason Latour, Dave Stewart
Published by Dark Horse Comics

I just spend the weekend implementing, for the first time ever, David Allen's Getting Things Done productivity system. It's on the brain. I can't help it. 

If you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, Allen has come up with a way of operating with a system that gets you and all your millions of task out of your head and into action lists. He explains how the myriad of "open loops" in our mind/psyche/life contribute greatly to stress. These open loops are the open-ended tasks, thoughts, and to-do's that we try to keep in our head. 

So as I finished B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: The Pickens County Horror, I thought to myself, "Wow! That's a lot of open loops!"

In this case, though, that's not a bad thing. In fact, I was thinking that perhaps good comic book writing is all about the open loops and how to structure them within a story so that they're satisfying to experience as a reader. To give you just enough to keep you hungry, but not disappointed with how much is left hanging.

It is hard, honestly, to review this book because it's really very much an introduction to all that is going to soon happen in the next issue. But what's amazing is that every sub-plot or part-of-the-overall-plot has an introduction that leads up to a conflict -- and then that's it. We never come back to each particular subplot again in this issue. 

For instance, the first "scene" is of an old vine-covered house on the mountain, and we come to glean that these backwood-lookin' folks are actually vampires. They're waiting for something to occur....but in the meantime their "little" boy runs out chasing a frog (how ominous!) and comes across a body that, apparently, he and the girl who was sent to fetch him, know all about. Already in this first vignette there are several "open loops" that have my mind churning: what's the Pike Place disaster? What's with the claw on the guy in the wheelchair? Are all of these people vampires? What is "it about time for"? What's with the really old vampire dude? Why does it not smell like morning even though it almost is, and what does that mean? Who is that guy buried in the ground? Why do they know he's there? What the hell just happened?!

Yeah...see, that how the whole book reads! More happened in this one issue than in some comic book's entire run! (I have no business saying that. I'm sure it's true, but I've only read the "entire run" of one comic, and plenty happened in it.) Still, I thought this was very exciting and that there was so much to follow up on and find out what happens next. But it makes it hard to review. Either I give you the blow-by-blow of the entire story, or I just tell you that it's really good, hope you trust me, etc. It's all sooooo unresolved that I don't know what to write about, and writing so much about that aspect makes it sound like I'm criticizing it for that, but I actually don't mean to...

Okay. I'll write about the art. I love the art! Not just how the characters are drawn, but the overall cover palette. I love how each "scene" seems to have a full scenic design that differentiates it very strongly from the scene before it and after it. I love the entire aesthetic--I've always loved that in these Hellboy/BPRD comics. 

Honestly, I am pretty interested in reading this one's next issue. I gotta find out how all this stuff resolves! And what's additionally glorious about this storyline is that it's only going to be two issues long. So, even thought I'm in open-loop-cliff-hanger phase, I just need to hold out for one more issue to experience the resolution of it all - and hopefully get some more Hellboy too! 

-Nina Stone, 2012