"Prophet" by Brandon Graham

Set in the far-distant future, throughout the universe, "Prophet " tells the story of a plan to re-ignite the dying human race.  A series of sleeper clones, all named John Prophet, awake from their slumber to find themselves on planets and space stations knowing only intuitively their ultimate missions.  This first book, "Remission," collects chapters 1 - 6 of the rousing of four of those Prophets.

It's hard to write a review of a book that's really only the opening chapters of a sci-fi epic.  I really liked Brandon Graham's "King City," with its laconic pace, visual puns and cyberpunkish setting, and when I met him at Stumptown Comics fest I asked him what I should read next. I don't remember which book he suggested, but "Prophet" was his second choice. It is less Cyberpunk, leaning more toward technical sci-fi in the style of Iain Banks.

Farel Dalrymple's excellent style reminds me of Moebius

It's clear that Graham is a fan of Moebius (Jean Giraud), and the way "Prophet" uses multiple artists makes me reminisce for "Heavy Metal" magazine.  All of the artists draw a good story while still being creative with the layout, but I preferred chapter 5, the only one drawn by Graham. The other artists, Simon Roy, Farel Dalrymple, and Giannis Milonogiannis also all seem drawn to the style of Mobius (pun intended).
As mentioned, Graham tells a story at a casual pace, so while there is a lot of action, the plot points are few and far between, but I wouldn't expect otherwise during the exposition.  For this volume it is enough to explore and learn of the character(s) of John Prophet.  All the Prophets are clones of the original, but there is an interesting surprise near the end of chapter six -- enough to make me want to read the next volume.

Kirby's Precursor to the Fourth World Saga

Most people who read comics know that in 1970 Jack Kirby left Marvel for DC and started an amazing explosion of creativity with his Fourth World saga.  This introduced an avalanche of characters including the New Gods, Mister Miracle, The Forever People and the villain Darkseid.  He also expanded his footprint in the DC world by creating the post-apocalyptic Kamandi and the bizarre world of Omac.

As a young reader in the 70's, I saw these worlds as new creations, bursting into life through Kirby's left parietal lobe and his skilled hands. But I recently ran across a copy of "Alarming Worlds #1" from 1957 that made me realize Kirby had been working and re-working the ideas found in the Fourth World for quite a while. Evidently he was just waiting for the best time to bring them to the foreground, and this shift to DC provided just the chance.

For example, in "Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen" #133 Kirby introduced the Project, designed to create superhumans from clones for the benefit of mankind.  This was later called Project Cadmus.  In "Alarming Tales" there's a story called "The Cadmus Seed."

Superman explains The Project to his pal Jimmy Olsen

Professor Horace Googer grows humans from seeds in the project he calls "the Dragon Seeds of Cadmus."

In another story called "The Fourth Dimension is a Many Splattered Thing!" a man tries to apprehend a mysterious thief by traveling to the fourth dimension through an early version of a Boom Tube.

Clark Kent returns home in Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen via a Boom Tube

In a little bit more of a stretch, a janitor discovers a wacky version of Metron's chair in the story "Donnegan's Daffy Chair".

The New God Metron has a space-time chair

A janitor has an extra-terrestrial experience in "Donnegan's Daffy Chair"

 

"The Last Enemy" is a short story of a time traveler from our present who finds the distant future populated by intelligent animals is the best example of Kirby reusing and reworking his ideas.

The dogs run Canada in Kamandi #28

"The Last Enemy" in Alarming Tales, 1957

Considering the impact and amount of creativity that Kirby gave to the DC universe, it's surprising to realize he only spent about five years at DC. Yet, the heroes and villains that he created continue to play major roles in the publisher's comics.  Darkseid, for example, played a pivotal role two of DC's recent comic events, Final Crisis and The New 52.

On the other hand, after DC Kirby would continue to re-work his earlier ideas, but with considerably less success. He seems to focus on gods and massive events, omitting the small human-scale stories that made his work from the 50's and 60's endearing (yes, even his monster stories were endearing).

In the end, it's interesting to see how an artist can take the germ of an idea and play with it, evolving the story. Which is perhaps what I like to see about many of the recreations of the golden age heroes from Marvel and DC that were reinvented in the 60's and 70's.  In some cases, such as with Captain America, the original artist (Kirby!) got the chance to evolve the hero in a second generation.  I'm just thankful to find a copy of Alarming Tales so I can see the originals.

Related articles

• More About Carmine Infantino
• The Superhero Factory: An Unauthorized Corporate History of Marvel Comics
• Gods Among Men

Separated at Birth? #1

I was reading the Art Spiegelman chapter of Arie Kaplan's "Masters of the Comic Book Universe Revealed!" In it he mentioned Spiegelman's "Ace Hole Midget Detective."  Of course this reminded me of Hanna-Barbera's Saturday morning cartoon "Inch High Private Eye."  I wondered which came first?

Kaplan cites 1974 as the year Spiegelman published Ace Hole, while Inch High ran on NBC starting in September, 1973.  Pretty close. Maybe something was in the water.  Or, maybe this was a prior term. This site says that "One Inch High Private Eye" is slang for a "short person usually found in the work place who is enjoys snitching on fellow colleagues to the big boss."  Or, maybe the phrase is some derogatory slang for the male member?

Art Spiegelman's "Ace Hole Midget Detective"

Hanna-Barbera's "Inch High Private Eye"

2013 Stumptown Nominees for Best Webcomic

The 2013 Stumptown Comics Awards are open for voting.  There are five nominees for "Best Webcomic."  Voting is open to everyone, although you have to submit your email address so you don't abuse the voting process.  Here's a brief description of the nominees:

Upgrade Soul by  Ezra Clayton Daniels is self-described as an immersive science fiction graphic novel written and illustrated by Ezra Claytan Daniels.  "It's the story of an elderly couple who become the guinea pigs of a visionary procedure that aims to revivify them by filtering toxins from their bodies on a molecular level. When the procedure experiences a fatal complication, the couple is faced with severely deformed, though intellectually superior duplicates of themselves. Soon, it becomes clear that only one version of each individual can survive, and the psychological battle for dominance begins."

Brief Histories of Everyday Objects by Andy Warner is a charming set of cartoons that provide exactly what they say they do, in an entertaining way. The history of kitty litter, for example. They describe their philosophy: "While we aren’t implying that it’s time to pull away from the classics, we do believe that there is a more entertaining way of consuming content: Visual Stories. That’s what Tapastic is built around and that’s what we are excited to share with all of you!"

Modest Medusa by Jake Richmond is an adventure story about a man who finds an infant Medusa has invaded his house. She comes from another land through a mystical portal that's in his storage closet.

Vattu by Evan Dahm.  Vattu is an adventure story set in 855 in a strange world. It begins when a girl name Vattu is born to a tribe of nomads. The action is low-key, but concise, and the story is told with as few words as possible. Simple, like the lives of the nomads on the grassy plain.

The Secret Knots by Juan Santapau.  Santapau describes his work as "comics about things we do without knowing why."   He has been at it for a while, since the archive reaches back to 2006.   Most of the short stories seem to be self-contained in a single web page, although there are hints that the characters live in a shared world.

Check 'em out, then go ahead and vote.

"Same Difference" by Derek Kirk Kim

Derek Kirk Kim's graphic novel "Same Difference" involves two parallel stories of college friends, Simon and Nancy. The book is essentially a short story, taking place over only a couple of days.

They start out in a cluttered but comfortable pho restaurant, and it ends in the wide open spaces of the beach and the night sky. From the restaurant, Simon sees Irene Cook, a friend of his from high school who once asked him to the Sadie Hawkins Day dance, but he lied to get out of it because she is blind.  Meanwhile, it's revealed that Nancy has been toying with the emotions of a guy named Ben Leland, who is infatuated with the woman who used to live in Nancy's apartment.

In the course of the story, both Simon and Nancy are offered easy chances at redemption, but they stumble along the way, afraid to do the right thing because it will expose their lies.

The dialog is chatty, but like Kim's other works, the characters were interesting enough that I was compelled to keep reading.  Also, there's always at least one or two dialogue-free panels per page, leaving space for reaction and reflection.

I loved the introduction by Gene Yang  ("American Born Chinese") as well as the afterword by Kim himself. Kim explains some of his process in writing, and what "Same Difference" meant to him:

No matter what I do in the future, "Same Difference will always be my most significant work. Not the most complex or proficient, and hopefully not the best, but the most significant...Same Difference gave me my own voice. For the first time, the creative process became an honest, organic channeling of myself.

Although the artwork is uneven at times, and as Kim mentions in the afterword, he even had to redraw Simon's nose on nearly every page, the resulting work truly is an honest and engaging story.

Related articles

• Review: Good As Lily by Derek Kirk Kim

"Philip K. Dick's Electric Ant" by David Mack and Pascal Alixe

I've been re-reading all of Philip K. Dick's novels, so as a pause I decided to get the comic book adaptation of "Electric Ant." Based on the 1969 short story published in Fantasy and Science Fiction. Garson Poole is the owner of Tri-Plan Electronics, a company that develops hi-tech weapons systems. After a car accident the doctors tell him he's an electric ant, an organic robot, "a precursor to the more modern replicant."

Naturally, this is disturbing news and Garson not only has trouble breaking it to his girlfriend, but it also makes him doubt his purpose as "owner" of the company, and his very existence. Prying open a seam in his chest he discovers a spaghetti of components, including a spool of punched tape which seems to control his senses, or possibly even his reality. He begins to tinker with the tape, covering over some holes, adding new ones, and that's when reality begins to break down.  The ending, like "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch," is ambiguous, but slightly hopeful. We are left with the impression that Garson Poole has transcended this reality.

With flying cars and a light touch of Film Noir retro, David Mack does a good job of incorporating the modern interpretation of PKD into the story.  I liked the TV blurb "...this segment of the Palmer Eldritch Empathy Hour brought to you by Perky Pats."  I have not read the short story (it's on my list of "to do"s), but I gather from summaries that it has a slightly different ending than the comic.

Pascal Alixe's art, at first, was disturbing to me. The blocky human figures with heavy dark lines felt rough, more like a WPA mural from the '30s.  But the style grew on me, and it felt appropriate to the theme. As Poole explores his body, and the dissolving reality around him some forms become more organic, and Alixe even throws in some Dali-like melting objects.

Published in 2010 by Marvel Comics, the book includes the covers by Paul Pope, and a sketchbook at the end, but no other commentary on the work. They credit Brian Michael Bendis as a consulting editor.  They also give thanks to the Dick estate, and refer to Electric Shepherd Productions .

Related articles

• The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch by Philip K Dick (1964)
• A Maze of Death by Philip K Dick (1970)
• Now Wait for Last Year by Philip K Dick (1966)

Cheverny Chateau: The inspiration for Marlinspike

A couple years ago I took a trip to France and visited Chateau Cheverny, Hergé's inspiration for Marlinspike. Located in the Loire valley, the Chateau is a minor one, along the string of other castles, including the very impressive Chateau Chambord. Also, the interior is nothing like Marlinspike, being much more cozy. Still, it was fun to visit "Captain Haddock's Castle" and walk around the grounds. There is a zoo directly across from the Castle, and, of course, a gift shop with lots of Tintin-themed knick-knacks.

A comic shop in Poitiers display an impressive array of comic-related figurines, including Tintin and Haddock in the middle

"Good As Lily" by Derek Kirk Kim

Derek Kirk Kim's graphic novel "Tune: Vanishing Point " has been getting some acclaim this year. Intrigued, I decided to get a couple of his books from the library and check them out for myself.  So, my first introduction to Kim's work is his 2007 work "Good As Lily," illustrated by Jesse Hamm.

Some sites have called this a YA graphic novel, although in my opinion the "YA" tag is purely for marketing. Kim's pacing is delicate yet interesting.  The story starts with a bang as Grace Kwon is kidnapped in broad daylight as she sits in the park.  She's not alarmed, however, and we discover it's because her friends have abducted her for a surprise 18th birthday picnic. During the party we meet each friend and learn about his or her relationship with Grace. Just as the story feels like a shoujo manga like Peach Girl, Kim introduces a magical element in the form of a strange pig pinata sold to Grace by a strange old woman.  The scene of them breaking the pinata is strangely satisfying, words alone can't accurately describe the feeling.

What evolves from there is basically "Back to the Future" in reverse: three versions of Grace from other periods in her life manifest themselves to live with her.  The nine-year-old version, which Grace calls Katie is a glutton for cookies and candy.  The not-yet-thirty-year-old "Shana" seems to dread the future, but also is fixating on Grace's cute Drama teacher.  And the 70 year-old "Jessica" only wants to smoke, drink and watch "Antiques Roadshow" (because "Walker, Texas Ranger" isn't on for another two hours.)

You could say the story is also similar to "A Christmas Carol," with the three ghosts visiting, except that these other versions of Grace aren't ghosts. They interact with friends, lead fundraisers, start food fights and both help and hinder Grace as she tries to navigate the pinball events of high school.

Kim has put together an engaging story, with a satisfying arc and resolution.  The plot points are only occasionally predictable. You know that the boy she's grown up with, and overlooked since 3rd grade will obviously be the future boyfriend, but who could have predicted how they finally pay for production of the spring play? (I'm not telling.)

Kim has made much of his career doing webcomics, and halfway through book I was worried that this would be an ongoing story, drawn out over multiple volumes. The weakness of many webcomics is that they don't always focus on a definitive end. "Good As Lily," however, didn't disappoint -- the resolution was clear and satisfying.

After reading "Good As Lily" I'm excited to read more of Kim's work.  For those who are interested in the artist's commentary, Kim's website has a series of posts providing a commentary on the development of the characters and the art. The Wikipedia article on Kim is disappointingly short, although I'm sure it will grow in time.

Kim's website is http://www.lowbright.com/  or you can follow him on twitter @derekkirkkim.

Related articles

• Tune: Derek Kirk Kim's alien abduction romcom