A SORT OF HOMECOMING *(see below) #1,2
Damon Hurd and Pedro Carmello
Owen’s best friend Dave is dead. The depths of the loss move through him in waves of nostalgia, pain, past joys now lost, bitterness given up, and the worst aspect of loss, the knowledge that except through this pain he will never see, feel or hear his friend again but for memories. The homecoming entitled is about the journey one makes to return to those things in our past that are lost, forgotten or treasured as well as his physical travel home to grieve and bury his friend.
However well done this is, and it is, I have a seriously hard time with it. I have suffered loss, as well as Owen and have gone through this all, but, the problem is not in the reality of the situation so much as the lightness of the art in depicting it. I appreciate art to offset mood and tone, Michael Golden’s Nam used cartoonish figures in such a fashion as to tell a dark horrific story
yet retain the humanity of it. UNFUNNIES however vulgar of story as depicted with cartoon characters the vulgarity is less pointed. In this work the style seems to me to be less personal, less a work done to offset the tone as simply the style of the penciler, and is just too light in tone for the depths of the story to penetrate my heart.
In this case I am personally moved by the story as I lost my father and the friendship of my best friend in one horrible year. The emotions in this are accurate but not nearly as dark or empty as I felt. I have heard some call this work maudlin and I think that it is anything but. If anything, it is not dark enough for the study it proposes to accomplish.
Grade B/B+
From ARCHAIA STUDIO PRESS
ARTESIA AFIRE #1-6 (Book Three of the Book of Dooms)
By Mark Smylie
Mark Smylie tests me. Upon reading this mature reader series I have considered starting my review with “one thing is for certain, this artist knows what naked people look like while following their most carnal natures.” Or “this work is so good in so many ways that if you do not like it you must be stupid.” But neither are as high minded or accurate as I would like to be. This series follows a Captain/Witch and her company as they fight what seems to be a futile war. It is epic in nature and covers both actions small and major, personal and public. He uses politics, religion, sorcery, spirits, and combat to illustrate the many themes that run through the Captain’s world. Why it is good is because if there is such a thing as a mature work that refuses to be aloof this is it. It also refuses to degrade itself with puerile depictions of the human sexual mores that fill this woman’s life. It is simply truly mature. The writing is so deep that the art is more like a brilliant tapestry than a sequential depiction, it is a genuine artifact of a real experience. Oh and if you read this and do not like it you are not stupid, you simply didn’t like it. I like it, and it is among my favorite stories. Please buy it, or pick up the TPBs, it will rock your world.
Grade A
From IMAGE
REX MUNDI
By EricJ, Arvid Nelson and Jeromy Cox
Rex Mundi is a continuing story of what has as a backdrop an alternative history, a world controlling (?) knight’s templar secret society, a Modern Church inquisition and a world where England, Prussia, France, Russia compete with the Holy Roman Empire as the major hegemonic powers. But in addition to all these is the time spanning tale of those who control or seek to control the mystic Holy Grail. Book one found now in Trade Paperback is a brilliant chapter in the story, but it doesn’t stop there. The series, up to issue #9 continues, in the era of 1933 Paris and with the attempt to solve a series of murders related to the Grail.
Good lord this is a perfectly convoluted story with what must have been an assload of work to make it so real. I have a variety of niggling issues with this book, but none make this anything but a must read.
'Little Prince' Mystery Solved
PARIS, April 7, 2004
It was one of French aviation's enduring mysteries: Antoine de Saint-Exupery, the flying ace and author of the beloved tale "The Little Prince," took off on a World War II spy mission for the Allies and was never seen again.
After 60 years, the twisted wreckage of the aviation pioneer's Lockheed Lightning P-38 has turned up on the Mediterranean seabed, not far from the rugged cliffs of Provence, Air Force Capt. Frederic Solano said Wednesday. Tests show it's a match.
It was a stunning revelation: Teams have been searching up and down the coast for decades, and many experts believed the plane was probably too far out to sea to be recovered.
In France, the discovery is akin to solving the mystery of where Amelia Earhart's plane went down in the Pacific Ocean in 1937. "This was our holy grail," said Philippe Castellano, president of an association of aviation buffs who helped authorities identify the debris. "We never even imagined this."
The plane, smashed into hundreds of pieces, lies 60-90 meters (100 to 300 feet) below the surface, about three kilometers (1.86 miles) from the coast between Marseille and Cassis. The key find was a tail piece bearing a tiny serial number, 2734 L — the same as Saint-Exupery's, Castellano said.
Press Release from the Comic Buyers Guide
FROM NEWSPAPER TO MAGAZINE; CBG MAKES THE SWITCH THIS SPRING
The longest-running magazine about comic books, Comics Buyer’s Guide, gets a new look for a new generation this June, designed to meet 21st century needs and catch the attention of the comics buff.
Issue #1595, shipping in June, brings the first installment of the monthly slick Comics Buyer’s Guide magazine. New features include:
* 244 squarebound pages with a five-color heavy-stock cover each month
* Full-color features up front
* Feature articles on media projects with ties to what was, what is, and what will excite readers
* The largest monthly price guide in comics, reporting prices based exclusively on actual transactions (an industry innovation that began in CBG’s annual 1,500-page Standard Catalog of Comic Books)
* Expanded coverage of anime, manga, and other comics-related collectibles
* More than 100 reviews of current and upcoming comics, more than any other monthly publication
Also, every issue of CBG will include such existing favorites as comics’ most inclusive convention and creator appearance calendars. And, of course, opinions galore from CBG’s existing (and expanding) roster of celebrity columnists.
“From its bimonthly beginning in 1971,” CBG Editor Maggie Thompson said, “Comics Buyer’s Guide has changed its frequency several times. But, until now, it has always been a tabloid on newsprint. Now, at last, we’ll be able to simultaneously focus in detail on new topics and convey what’s so great about the classic material, all in the same issue.”
Contents will be loaded with facts, figures, and fun — with a $5.99 cover price in a package designed to captivate both the longtime fan and the casual shopper.
PRESS RELEASE from Slave Labor
Who is Captain Tupelo?
PUNK ROCK LEGEND In 1977 NYC’s Famous Monsters burned up Greenwich Village with their own dangerous brand of rock ‘n roll. Hammering out caustic three-chord anthems in dives across the city, the band gave voice to a sonic revolution. Their guitarist/songwriter, punk rock's Golden Boy, went by the name of Captain Tupelo.
URBAN MYTH Punk rock fell. The Monsters broke up. Soon rumors spread among the city’s homeless- underground whispers of a strange street avenger dressed in a pea coat and captain’s hat. They called him their protector and savior. They said his name was Captain Tupelo.
SUPER HERO No longer are tales told of the good Captain cruising the streets in a battered taxi cab, seeking out crime with his former band mate, the 11 O’Clock Man. No one can recall if the drug he was injected with actually gave him “special” powers. Today, hardly anyone remembers the story of Tupelo.
Until one night…and one murder… will make certain that no one will ever again forget his name.
Captain Tupelo and the 11 O'Clock Man battle the Lullaby Squad, a secret organization devoted to maintaining the status quo in the 4-issue SLG mini, Tupelo by Matt De Gennaro and Phil Elliott. The miniseries is now collected into a 144 page oGN that includes a CD of rare Famous Monsters tracks. The myth and the music will be in stores in June 2004. A preview of issue #1 of Tupelo is available at SLG's website. http://www.slavelabor.com/tupelo_prev/tupelo_prev.html
Alexander Ness
The Land Of Frost
Box 142
Rockford MN 55373-0142
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