|
PIPELINE COMMENTARY AND REVIEW #18
06 October 1997
by Augie De Blieck Jr.
http://www.nic.com/~augie/pipeline
"Augie's Top 10"
In an attempt to figure out what comics I like and which ones I'd recommend
to others and which ones I should drop and how I could fill up three Pipeline
columns, I embarked upon the daunting task of picking my 20 favorite comic
series of the year. Of course, I could only narrow it down to about 40. And
then I chopped it off to 20. Last week, I discussed what would be considered
the #11-20 comics. So this week, at long last, I present to you my favorite
ten series of the year so far. It's an eclectic mix. And it surprised even
me. These ten are in no particular order. I was going to try to number them
for the hell of it, or give you the top 5 and not-the-top-5, but those
efforts were futile. Sorry.
KURT BUSIEK'S ASTRO CITY gets the first mention. I don't think I really
need to explain this choice to anyone here. Most everyone who reads this
column, I suspect, reads this series. And those who don't should start
catching up on their reading immediately. It's the crowning jewel of Kurt
Busiek's series, of which he's writing four currently. It's also the one he
owns. The stories he tells are gripping, involving, fantastic, and
enjoyable. Brent Anderson tells the stories without glitz, but rather almost
gritty realism. Alex Ross paints some beautiful covers, and the people at
Comicraft throw it all together nicely. It is the complete package.
SUPREME is the self-referencing homage to all things comic book-ish. Alan
Moore manages to tell an interesting story while still making wry comments on
the comic book format and the cliches which surround it. It's one big
giant Silver Age/Superman homage, complete with Super-powered sister and
dog. It's also got Todd Klein lettering it, which is something in and of
itself, as Todd is the best letterer in the business and can easily
handle lettering of the modern and silver age. It looks distinctive. With
the addition of Chris Sprouse as regular artist next month, this comic should
stay in this top ten list for the next year.
While we're discussing Superman, SUPERMAN ADVENTURES makes the top ten list.
It's the series based on the animated show and thus, by default, the one
closest to the classic image of the classic icon. It's more than just that,
though. Scott McCloud wrote the book on the comic book format and now gets a
chance to show off his knowledge of it by writing this series. Special
credit goes to issue 6, which might get my award for story of the year. It
investigates the cause-and-effect relations of the smallest things in life,
and tells the story in a most interesting way. Highly recommended. With
Terry Austin on inks, Rick Burchett's artwork is crisp, clear, and effective.
What McCloud does for the story, Burchett does for the art, showing how to
tell a story in the format at hand.
There had to be one Duck book in the top ten list, so I give the nod to UNCLE
$CROOGE ADVENTURES IN COLOR, the excellent album series put out by Gladstone.
Presented over-sized, with cardboard covers, square binding, and white paper,
Gladstone here reprints all of Carl Barks' original Uncle $crooge Adventures
stories, along with informative articles by Geoff Blum, explaining some of
the more subtle nuances of the stories and of Barks' work, in general. Twice
has the album format given way to four-issue specials. The first reprinted
Don Rosa's superlative LIFE AND TIMES OF $CROOGE MCDUCK, and the second (from
this year) reprinted Don Rosa's earliest $crooge stories, which were a treat
for me to read for the first time. Special attention should be given to the
fourth album, which reprinted "His Majesty, McDuck," my all-time favorite
$crooge story, in which $crooge declares his money bin to be a sovereign
state. Hilarity and hijinks ensue.
QUANTUM AND WOODY is Acclaim's best book. Christopher Priest and M.D. Bright
have put together a quirky buddy comic book, focusing on all sorts of
interesting and sometimes barely-connected themes. In addition to the racial
aspects of the series, it's something unique in the current market, for
telling a story non-linearly. Don't let all the over-the-top humor blind you
to the fact, though, that there's a serious story underlying all of this
wackiness.
Warren Ellis did crack the top ten list, with STORMWATCH, a book which took
some chances of its own, to varying results, but always told an interesting,
coherent, and politically-relevant story, without being preachy. Sometimes
scary. Sometimes thought-provoking. Sometimes just plain weird. Warren
Ellis, ably abetted by penciller Tom Raney (who puts in the best stuff I've
ever seen out of him), told exciting self-contained stories. And the final
three-issue story arc, CHANGE OR DIE, might get the nod for best arc of the
year. The second volume of this series starts later this month and is
likewise recommended.
One of the more overlooked books in the market is THE SAVAGE DRAGON. It's
got an Image label on it, yet it still can't finish in the top 100 comics
every month. And simply put, this is the most fun, most engaging, most
entertaining super-hero comic book in the market. As creator, Erik Larsen
exercises complete control over his large almost-ensemble cast, not being
afraid to do drastic things, such as killing off main characters, poking fun
at standard conventions, or blowing up Detroit. The most recent issue
containing the wedding of Barbaric and Ricochet is a veritable Who's Who of
the superhero world, and is worth the price of admission just to look for
Bone's Ted the Bug alone.
DC has had the surprise hit of the year with Dan Raspler's and Dev
Madan's YOUNG HEROES IN LOVE. It's a great book. As I wrote in a letter to
them recently, I think it's possible to have a good solid series with nothing
but characters talking back and forth. Now, YHIL does have fight scenes, but
the strength of the comic lies in the personal interactions and the clever
dialogue about all sorts of obscure DC trivia and super-hero cliches.
As a Child of the 80s (as opposed to the wretched "Gen-Xer"), THE COPYBOOK
TALES is an easy sell to me. It's a semi-autobiographical comic by writer J.
Torres and artist Tim Levin about two 20-somethings trying to produce their
own comic book. In the meantime, there are all sorts of flashback's to their
youth. Those flashbacks work well as 80s period pieces, but they also work
well on the character level, and J. Torres does more than just nostalgize
with this book. He tells interesting stories and juggles two different time
periods with ease. Levin's earlier faults with artistically differentiating
the two time periods are all but gone now, and his style has settled down a
lot more, being more consistant and a little more cartoony, almost.
Finally, as an American History minor, John Ostrander's THE KENTS was an easy
sell. It's set in the mid- to late-19th century and focuses on distant
relatives of Clark Kent's parents. It's told with a great amount of
historical accuracy (although even Ostrander admits to making up a thing or
two and fudging a fact here or there for artistic reasons), and still
maintains an exciting pace and story. It's an epic story, so it's told in
small chunks, with gaps in continuity and aging of the characters. It's done
so well on so many levels, I couldn't help but recognize it here as one of my
to ten favorite books. (Oh, and did I mention that some guy named Tim Truman
is doing the art on the book?)
That concludes my top 40 countdown, at long last. I hope you enjoyed. I
hope I've somehow talked you into picking up a book or two. Please notice in
my top 10 list, there's one historical-fiction book, one autobiographical
comic, a funny animal title, a couple of throwback comics, a humorous buddy
comic, one comic focusing on a new way of looking at superhero cliches, a
straight-forward super-hero comic, a title done in an animated series
style accessibly by all ages, and one eco-socio-political thriller comic.
There truly is something out there for everyone. So go read a comic today!
-Augie, too tired to proofread this - hope nothing too embarrassing shows up
|
