Comic Picks By The Glick

Five years ago, I expressed my delight with the cute kitty antics depicted in the first volume of “Chi’s Sweet Home.”  The series has reached its conclusion with vol. 12 and the reason you never read another review after the first… is because my feelings on it never really changed.  Mangaka Konami Kanata’s art continued to be utterly charming in depicting how Chi interacted with her world, to the point that it rendered most of the kitten’s dialogue redundant.  Really, Konata’s art is so expressive that you could probably take out all the words spoken by the non-human characters and still follow the story with little difficulty.  There is an attempt to manufacture some last-minute drama as Chi has to decide whether or not to stay with her biological or adoptive family, but if you’ve been reading the series this long then the outcome should be a foregone conclusion.  As heartwarming as it is predictable, this is series I can’t recommend enough (to cat lovers like me).

There’s a particular story in the (soon to be next) most recent volume of “My Neighbor Seki” that illustrates why I like this series so much.  During the re-take of a test, one which Yokoi passed and Seki failed miserably, shenanigans ensue.  Yokoi is predictably distracted as Seki resorts to rolling his marked pencil like a die, dowsing, and hypnosis for the correct answers.  This is amusing in itself, but I was pretty concerned for Yokoi as her mind was clearly elsewhere during this test.  Yet she does even better this time around… only for the story to end with Yokoi demanding the teacher to do another re-test as Seki came out on top this time.

Lesser creators would’ve punished Yokoi for her distractability and reveled in the fact that Seki’s bizarre stratagems led him to victory this time around.  Yet there’s real good-hearted humor to be had in seeing her do better this time around and not being able to enjoy it at all.  Sometimes, the other person doesn’t have to lose in order for you to win.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

Readers with long memories might recall that I was very much looking forward to reading this new graphic novel from brothers Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon when it was announced earlier this year.  After titles like “Daytripper” and “B.P.R.D.:  Vampire,” and their work as artists on projects from the likes of Joss Whedon, Gerard Way, and Matt Fraction, they established that anything they do is worthy of my attention.  Which is why I’m sad to say that “Two Brothers,” based on the novel by Brazilian author Milton Hatoum, is a real disappointment.  The “two brothers” of the title are Omar and Yaqub, whose relationship is fractured early on by their shared affections for a neighborhood girl.  Yaqub is scarred and sent to his father’s home in Lebanon for five years in the hopes that tensions will die down.  It only proves to be the beginning of the end for their relationship as Yaqub emerges as an intelligent introvert, and Omar develops into a carefree wild child.

What follows is how they mature in ways both good and bad over the years and the toll it takes on their family.  As an example, the story is narrated by the son of the housekeeper who is also the illegitimate son of one of the brothers.  There’s plenty of juicy family drama like that throughout the book and it never quite commits the sin of being a dull read.  Ba and Moon’s fantastic black-and-white art is also a joy to behold (as always), bringing the city of Manaus and it surroundings to life in fantastic and vivid detail.

Where “Two Brothers” goes wrong is in how it never really allows us into the heads of the titular characters.  Though the story is ostensibly about them, they’re kept at arm’s length by the narrative as we’re constantly being told about their exploits and states of mind by a third party.  I never felt immersed in their story, always removed from the action as a result of Ba and Moon’s decision to let someone else narrate Omar and Yaqub’s life.  It’s an unfortunate result, as I’m left hoping that whatever these comic creating brothers do next is something more worthy of their undeniable talent.

Dozle’s arc in the previous volume will likely go down as the emotional high point of this series for me.  But I’ll be damned if mangaka Yoshikazu Yasuhiko doesn’t serve up a chaotically epic final battle between the Federation and Zeon forces here.  While the Federation forces were able to fry Solomon Base in the previous volume with their own solar array, Zeon’s Supreme Commander Ghiren has his own super-laser ready to unleash against the forces allied against him at A Baoa Qu.  Even though this act decimates the opposition, it has consequences that will come back to haunt him as his sister Kycilia enters the battle.  Meanwhile, the Federation forces are down but not out as Capt. Noa hits upon a risky strategy to keep them in the fight and Amuro looks to settle things once and for all with Char.  Toss in Sayla/Artesia’s gambit and you’ve got a whole lot of moving parts in play that could wind up being a giant mess if they’re not handled in the right way.

Yasuhiko, however, is a consummate professional and he makes threading the narrative through all of the many plots and shifting ambitions look easy.  There’s plenty of action on display as the Federation and Zeon forces clash outside A Baoa Qu, yet it’s the twists supplied by the human drama behind the scenes that will keep you glued to the page.  I also have to hand it to Yasuhiko for giving a minor character named Willy Macho (of all things…) a surprisingly affecting character arc that changes the shape of the battle after he finds who this captive Federation soldier really is.  Unfortunately, the mangaka never really got me to care too much about Lalah and her fate here -- despite its artistic pyrotechnics -- left me unmoved.  At least the Amuro/Char rivalry starts getting some real traction here, even as it seems that Zeon’s ace is going through this narrative with some kind of “unlimited lives” cheat enabled.  Still, the pace has picked up considerably, and the final volume can’t come soon enough for me as a result.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

How does Magneto deal with the Final Incursion that heralds “Secret Wars?”  By pulling lots of strings to become more powerful than he ever has in order to repel the other Earth and ensure that mutants live to see tomorrow.  Despite his good intentions, this is Magneto at his most self-aggrandizing and ruthless.  Oh, he wants to save the world all right.  Except that it’s all in service of the man trying to define how history will perceive him after all the other crimes and atrocities he has perpetrated over the years.  Then you have the means by which he acquires the power he needs to pull off the feat of repelling two worlds, and they are morally dubious at best.  Particularly with what happens to his daughter, Polaris.  For all of the lip service Magneto pays to being a bad dad after all these years, it just turns out to be convenient lie to justify his actions in the end.

It’s compelling stuff from writer Cullen Bunn.  He’s got a solid understanding of how Magneto’s mind works, which allows him to bring up some old continuity from the comics and use it to reinforce his points without bringing the narrative to a grinding halt.  As a result, the Master of Magnetism’s final moments feel both appropriate and inevitable.  It’s a good use of the “Last Days” setup, which is good because the scale and power-oriented nature of the story are at odds with the relatively grounded take on the character over the past three volumes.  Interestingly, guest artist Paul Davidson does a better job with depicting Magneto’s escalating power levels for the first three issues than regular artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta, who turns up for the final issue in otherwise fine form for the drama it’s presenting.  I would’ve liked to have seen Bunn do more with Magneto the vigilante and rebuilder of Genosha from the previous volumes, but sales and crossovers did not allow for that.  What we got for these twenty-one issues was still pretty entertaining on its own terms and something that bodes well for Bunn’s Magneto/villain-centric take on “Uncanny X-Men” in the near future.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

This is an epic miniseries with some appropriately epic flaws as well.  First off:  If you haven’t read Grant Morrison’s previous big event comic, “Final Crisis,” then I suggest you do that now.  Because that’s where Nix Uotan -- last of the multiversal Monitors -- was introduced along with other sinister story beats that follow here.  Nix doesn’t stick around long as he gets sucked into the multiverse-destroying plans of the Gentry, but not before getting one hero out with the call to summon the rest.  That leads us through six stories about other heroes in the multiverse, “The Society of Superheroes,” “The Just,” “Pax Americana,” “Thunderworld Adventures,” “Mastermen,” and “Ultra Comics” as well as a guidebook to further flesh things out.  These one-shots are all deeply interconnected regarding the over-arching narrative of the threat to the multiverse.  Yet even if they further the core story, not all of them work as satisfying stories in and of themselves.  “Thunderworld” is the only one that delivers the complete package, while the likes of “Society of Superheroes” and “The Just” end in cliffhangers never to be given proper resolution.

Still, Morrison’s ambition with these stories is grand enough that there’s entertainment to be had even in the ones that don’t quite work.  “Society” still offers some real pulp excitement, “Pax Americana” delivers some amazing formalist thrills in its structure (which also shows the “Before Watchmen” crowd how to properly troll Alan Moore via that seminal work), and “Ultra Comics” is a heady metafictional rush.  Helping matters immensely is that all of these stories feature a stellar group of artists working at the top of their respective games.  From the slick precision of Chris Sprouse, the energetic cartoonishness of Cameron Stewart, to the meticulous design of Frank Quitely, to the bold superhero stylings of Jim Lee, to the lushness of Ben Oliver, and the magnetic weirdness of Doug Mahnke, all of the artists here turn in work that shows you why they’re considered to be some of the best in the business.  Particularly Ivan Reis in the bookend issues, who really sells the epic-level spectacle of the event while doing a frankly impressive job of rendering Morrison’s utterly weird ideas on the page.

I wouldn’t have minded more from the whole event, such is the quality of its individual parts.  Yet “The Multiversity’s” biggest issue is the “To Be Continued” aspect that hangs over just about every aspect of it.  From the issues showcasing the multiverse to the bookends, you’re consistently left hanging in the end (except “Thunderworld” which is why it’s the best of the bunch).  The final issue is the biggest offender as while the reveal of the true nature of the force behind the Gentry is revealed, the ultimate confrontation is put off until a later date.  Given how long it took “The Multiversity” to arrive, we could be waiting quite a while to see its ultimate resolution.  Until then, this miniseries offers so much to take in and digest that pouring over it until such a time as its follow-up is announced doesn’t seem all that bad.  Probably best described as an “ambitious failure,” but the world would be a much better place if all failures were as ambitious (and fun) as this one.

jason@glickscomicpicks.com

Are you ready to overthrow the patriarchy?  Well that’s too damn bad because it’s too rich, clever, and well-entrenched to surrender to any kind of head-on attack.  But what if some very clever women played the men’s game well enough to find themselves in the right place at just the right time to take out a testicle or two?  Then you have the first volume of “Bitch Planet” by writer Kelly Sue DeConnick and artists Valentine De Landro (and guest artist Robert Wilson IV).  It’s a sci-fi spin on the women in prison exploitation trope with a bit of “The Longest Yard” mixed in for good measure.  It starts off with Koko Kamau, new arrival to the off-world correctional facility nicknamed “Bitch Planet,” who winds up getting caught in a riot and framed for the murder of another inmate.  She’s promised her freedom if she can assemble a team of women to play the brutal rugby-esque futuresport known as megaton, to facilitate an inspirational story for the people who run the team.  Koko has some other plans, including finding her sister and showing that the patriarchy has picked the wrong woman to mess with.

This is a million miles away from DeConnick’s other Image series, “Pretty Deadly,” in terms of style and entertainment value.  Where that title was slow, ponderous, and too arty for its own good, this one is a raucous grindhouse thrill ride.  The odds are against the women and the game is rigged, but they’ve got a plan and a willingness to get their knuckles bloody to see it through.  That viciousness propels the narrative, but it also has a wide streak of irreverence and humor running through it as well.  You can see it from the start when Penny, the book’s plus-size breakout character, cracks a guard upside his head for giving her a prison jumpsuit that’s way too small.  Even if there are parts where the book’s message of female empowerment and the evils of men becomes a bit too on-the-nose, its lower sensibilities pull things down before they become terminally high-minded.  Vol. 1 of “Bitch Planet” was a ton of fun, and I can’t wait to see where DeConnick and Landro take things next.

In which Al Ewing tells a great Loki story, which successfully builds on Kieron Gillen's work with the character.

It would appear that mangaka Satsuki Yoshino has found a formula that works for her with “Barakamon.”  While I expressed hope that she’d find a way to mix things up, it seems that the series is going to revolve around “Sensei” Honda slowly growing more acquainted with the quirks of the rural coastal village he’s found himself in.  Along with its inhabitants.  Notable plot points from this volume involve Honda getting addicted to pickled vegetables, finding out why he can never own a cat, getting admitted to a hospital for exhaustion, dealing with schoolgirl Tama’s manga aspirations and fujoshi fantasies, and taking all the kids in the supporting cast down to the beach.  It’s amusing enough, but what we get here is forcing me to break out the “if you didn’t like the first volume, don’t bother with the second” review cliche.  I’d like to say that the appearance of two of Honda’s friends at the end of the volume has the potential to shake things up, but I know better after reading this series so far.

There are times that I’m glad I order most of my comics through Amazon.  If anyone has the guts to buy a copy of the latest volume of “Pandora in the Crimson Shell” in public -- with THIS cover -- know that you’re a far braver person than I.  As for the manga itself, it continues to be an amusing yet harmless sci-fi action comedy.  The threat of Buer is stopped and Nene winds up with administrator control of Clarion after Sahar ditches their escape.  Now, Nene is living with Clarion in her Aunt’s home, though her initial escapade on the island of Cenancle is turning out to have more far-reaching consequences than she imagined.  The fanservice bits only cause me to roll my eyes at their lecherous shamelessness (like that cover, yeeesh…) and are a bit more frequent than I’d like.  In its favor, it looks like the plot is shaping up to be a bit more complex than I initially thought and Nene is at least an adorably ditzy heroine.

On one hand, things get better for the title character of “The Heroic Legend of Arslan” as he winds up recruiting the mercurial yet brilliant tactician Narsus through some clever reasoning.  On the other, Ecbatana, his home and the capital of the Parsian Empire, is brought under relentless siege by the Lusitanians.  This volume effectively makes some good progress towards building up Arslan so we can eventually believe he’ll have a heroic legend while fleshing out the opposing Lusitanian forces and other players on the periphery of this conflict.  As she did with “Fullmetal Alchemist,” mangaka Hiromu Arakawa makes switching between the horrors of war and goofy slapstick work without compromising either.  While I’m not planning on rushing out to get caught up on “Barakmon” anytime soon, the odds of that happening in regards to “Arslan” are significantly higher.