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All the Myriad Ways?By Joe Hilliard I like comic book anthologies. You'll find my collection peppered with horror and war anthologies: House of Mystery, House of Secrets, Tower of Shadows, Creatures on the Loose, Ghostly Tales, Ghost Manor, Fightin' Army, Weird War Tales, Weird Western Tales. You'll find mid-70s issues of Detective Comics and Adventure Comics from when DC used those titles as superhero anthologies. Sadly, the anthology has largely died out in the comic book field. The last big splash really was Western Tales of Terror a few years ago. In an age of decompressed story telling, the short illustrated tale has taken a real hit. Which makes Approbation Comics six issue anthology Myriad an interesting a read. Myriad is just that, a myriad of styles and stories. The closest approximation I could think of was the mid-80s Eclipse Monthly which featured everything from superheroes to a Sax Rohmer adaptation to westerns to humor to biographical. Editor Bart A. (Alex) Thompson has collected a similarly eclectic band of stories from slice of life to metaphysical horror to science fiction to pulpy pirates to a dark tale of redemption. With the exception of a few filler stories, each issue is taken up with a continuing tale.
Thompson's own "ChiSai" leads off each issue of Myriad. This tale of Shy, a young woman out for revenge, is strongly reminiscent of Matt Wagner's early Grendel work that appeared in Comico Primer. And while Steve Fox's art in the early chapters is very dissimilar stylistically, it conveys that that same energetic strangeness of those early Grendel appearances. The final two chapters of the story are drawn by different art teams that, while proficient, lose a lot of the hard edges of the earlier chapters. It looks more like a traditional super-hero book in issue 5 and like a Heavy Metal story in issue 6. The story would have benefited from a consistent style throughout. That being said, Shy's story is a good read. Thompson does some deft character creation in painting Shy and her immediate family that pays off as the story goes on. This helps move it from a simple revenge tale; it's got some real meat to it. "Lineage" makes appearances only in the first four issues. It's a fairly convoluted tale set in the far future. There is a lot going on here. Jay Jacobs and artist Chris Tsuda pack a lot in. Alien terraformers. Genetically engineered superhero policemen. A global fascistic government. Fairies. The highlight of this is really Tsuda's pencils. His backgrounds are incredibly deep, creating a real sense of this world. However, as dense as Tsuda's art is, it still seems overwhelmed by dialogue. The story didn't necessarily need to be expanded, but it could have done with a little less explaining over the action. It felt too talky. Part of it seems to be a rush to do a lot in the eight pages. This probably would work better in a longer form, simply to improve the pacing. The constant cliffhangers hurt it. The story is left dangling, and was interesting enough for me to want to read a conclusion. "The Adventures of the Molly Be Damned", subtitled "A Tale of Seafaring, Swordplay, and Sorcery" is the weakest of the stories. Perhaps the subtitle gives a clue; there is a lot going on, with some very abrupt character introductions in the first installment leaving me dazed and confused. The story never really recovered for me after that. I think writer Richard Nelson bit off a little more than he could chew with the parallel storyline of that first installment, and then focusing on what was for me the less interesting thread for the next installment. That being said, I love the ability of the art team of Eli Ivory and Brian Laframboise to go from action-adventure to the cartoonish in the breadth of a few panels. I really liked the exaggerated facial expressions they give to the characters. This is a story that could definitely use some decompression. It needs to breathe a little more to be truly interesting. Like "Lineage", this tale ends on a cliffhanger in issue four.
"Discount Stories" by John P. Ward and art by Steve Doty was a fascinating and frustrating read. Each installment takes on the everyday life of a different employee at a Wal-Mart style big box store. Fascinating in that it takes superficially mundane people doing their mundane jobs and makes them interesting. For the most part, Ward escapes the trite in these tales and presents some fresh work. Frustrating, though, in that some characters are still more interesting than others. I would point to the stoner clerk as one that could have remained a background character rather than move center stage. And yet, that's the point it seems. You may find him frustrating, but he's there. I liked Doty's art in this book. It's clunky. Sometimes the faces don't look right. Sometimes the bodies seem at the wrong angle. Things I wouldn't normally like – and yet they all fit in perfectly with the mood of Ward's stories. I really enjoyed these slices of life, and the wrap up pays off well with what has come before. The last continuing tale, "Frail", written by Chris O'Bryant is the by far the strongest entry in the book. It's a little hard to describe this story without giving it away. Suffice it to say, it involves the battle of good and evil played out over several generations, and yet it's not epic at all, it's small moments of humanity punctured repeatedly by jolts of deceit and violence. O'Bryant has a really good, really strong voice that commands the story. Read this one, and you'll believe evil exists. And while it alternates artists as the Shy story did, it does a better job of keeping the art styles similar. The only weak link would be Rich Molinelli's third chapter where the middle-aged characters look decidedly too young. Read it. It's good stuff. Thompson has a good eye as an editor. Among the fillers is a bizarre William Messner-Loebs Christmas tale that made me remember fondly his work on Wasteland and its strange vignettes. He makes the right decision in which tales to carry forward to conclusion. They are the strongest ones. I enjoyed them all. I actually wish there were more issues; I'd like to see what else Thompson could put together. All six issues of Myriad are in print and available from Approbation Comics. Per Alex Thompson, there will be a complete ChiSai: Karma released with a new part 2 and a fan appreciation edition of ChiSai: Duality #1 the first full issue of the continuing title. Check them all out at their website: http://www.approbationcomics.com/ or their Comic Space page: http://www.comicspace.com/alexapprobation/ . Check them out.  Add A Comment to this article
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