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Off the Beaten Path

12/06/06

Happy Holidays to each and every reader, Thanksgiving was magical, I was on a serious traveling kick, Vegas, Reno, then back to Vegas, plus I'm performing heavily again, not to mention Heroes, which by the way is on this lovely evening. I for one am excited, excited, excited! Hence my missed columns for the past few weeks, never fear, I am here till January, at which time I will be going to Mazatlan-basically what I am saying my faithful readers, is there will not be any interruptions until the end of January. Without further adieu this week's column is about men, I call it-'The lovable Losers' column. First we have possibly the biggest loser in comics, followed by 7 lucky losers (who aren't actually all losers) and one very lovable/hate able loser with some amazing luck or just giant cohones! Any way you look at they make you feel better about yourself during the holidays, cause no matter what your problems are, theirs are bigger, trust me. Thank you, and as always…enjoy.

Title- The Damned

Publisher- ONI
Script- Cullen Bunn
Artist- Brian Hurt
Format- 1-5
Shipping- Good
Age- 15 & up

The Basics-

Meet Eddie, He's dead. Very, very dead, however this is only a slight inconvenience for Eddie, kind of like the flu for you or me. See Eddie is cursed, or as the title says Damned, in this noir book, Eddie is 'Bogey' (Humphrey Bogart-go see a movie or read a book if you don't know the reference) the consummate gumshoe; a loner, an intelligent go to guy with a penchant for stirring up trouble, the kind that kills him, which fortunately or unfortunately brings him back to life. The story is straight noir, think Maltese Falcon or more recently Brick (do a google search if you must)- damsel in distress, double crosses, followed by double crosses, a detective too smart for his own good, caught in the middle of a situation in which he can only play out, knowing it is going to end badly, basically the foundation for great cinema. Take this story and add an underworld full of demons, some black magic and a host of characters normal and strange, keep the slang genuine 1920's, mix briskly add ink and paper, and bake for 20 minutes.

The Art-

As I have stated many times before, my taste in B&W comics is very limited, I am a comic snob, my feeling is that color hides many of an artists flaws, a good painter can bring to life bad art, however B&W art is the true litmus test, you are either very good or very bad, no in between's in my book. In this case it is very good. Similar in some aspects to The Goon, and at the same time all together different; B&W sets a tone a specific feeling is conjured with each brush stroke, noir wouldn't be as good any other way.

The Verdict-

Underworld, demons, 1920's slang, femme fatale, damsel in distress, a guy who just can't stay dead…a leather recliner, Johnny Walker Black & Coke on the rocks by the fire, life just can't get any better. Here's to you Eddie. Cheers.

Title- John Woo's 7 Brothers

Publisher- Virgin Comics
Script- Garth Ennis
Artist- Jeevan Kang
Format- 1-7 (not positive maybe 6)
Shipping- very good
Age- 15& Up

The Basics-

Welcome to the world of Virgin Comics, you may be familiar with some of their other products, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Music, Virgin Air, and a slew of other Virgin's. In case you felt there were not enough major players in the field of comics, Virgin is here to set the record straight, through savvy marketing, interesting collaborations and a commitment to higher quality in their printing process, choice of paper stock and choice of artists, they are taking the comic world by storm. This is their first in a series of Director's cuts, collaborations featuring today's hottest directors side by side with today's hottest writers and artists. John Woo's 7 Brothers is a story (possibly folklore) about, you guessed it 7 brothers. In the first issue we are introduced to the 7 who have 'abilities', in the second issue we are introduced to the reason. Standard fare, the hope is it will be popular enough to be made into a feature length movie, and is thus written with this in mind. John Woo is famous in Asian Cinema for his striking character portrayals and violent not so happy endings, all very original ideas and a style all his own, here we see a watered down version, sadly like most of his US released movies. The story is fun, light and predictable, with a luxurious back-story, which I find more interesting so far.

The Art-

Magical, remarkable, exceptional, outstanding, I'm running out of thesaurus supplied adjectives. The entire book looks hand painted, strikingly beautiful, I am not familiar with Jeevan Kang's previous work, however I will be on the lookout from now on. Each scene is a carefully orchestrated barrage of images, color and technique meant to draw the reader in closer and closer with the turn of each page.

The Verdict-

I like art, I like Jeevan Kang, I like 7 Brothers, because of Jeevan Kang.

Title- Jack of Fables

Publisher- Vertigo
Script- Bill Willingham/Matthew Struges
Artist- Tony Akins/Andrew Pepoy
Format- Ongoing
Shipping- very good
Age- 16&up

The Basics-

Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack is a con artist and a prick! In Bill Willingham's surprise spin off (were we truly surprised?) Jack, if you follow Fables (a book due a review in the up coming weeks) you would be familiar with Jack, if not, I'll fill you in. He is one of many Fables living in our world, remember all the nursery rhymes/fairy tales you read and heard as a kid? Picture all of those characters as flesh n' blood beings stuck in New York City. There's the right idea now, well our buddy Jack is the cockiest, and quite possibly the stupidest of them all, despite his utter incompetence he seems to land on his feet each and every time he begins his face first fall from the top of the world, only to turn right back around and start his march back to the top. In this series we get to see how and more importantly Why many of these adventures lure our intrepid hero over and over again. I won't ruin the surprise by telling you where the story begins, which consequently is where it leaves off in the last Fables book, suffice it to say, the current story arc is interesting, filled with hundreds of fables you love, hate, and in some cases have no idea even existed. Bill Willingham spins a tale worthy of Rumplestiltskin.

The Art-

Similar to the art in Fables, however not quite as compelling, or interesting gone are the sides and borders, calligraphy and with it the overall unique appeal of Fables. This book relies heavily on story and character development over detail and artistic value.

The Verdict-

Full of wit, humor, kinky fable sex and intelligent use of four letter words, each page is clever and entertaining. You gotta root for the a$$hole once in a while, besides who isn't turned on by the thought of our favorite fairy tale character having kinky sex?

Anthony Dominguez
www.anthonydominguez.com
myspace.com/anthonydominguez <TOP>