Mary Louise Eklund

Tag: Vertigo

Comic Comments – It’s Simply Nuts & Bolts from Another Planet

As you can tell from my previous Saucer Country reviews I am highly impressed with this comic thus far. I even went back to get the first complete arc before going on with the next stand alone issue. This issue is Saucer Country: The Bluebird Perspective another stand alone that is a companion piece to A Field Guide To Flying Saucers that was issue 6. In that issue the Professor introduced us to the lore of alien beings visiting humans. Here a group of scientists and engineers have taken the the perspective that yes UFOs do exist and they are actual spacecraft from another planet or dimension.

the required legal statement – All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

The creative team for the issue is as follows: Paul Cornell, Writer – David Lapham, Art – Giulia Brusco, Color – Sal Cipriano, Letters – Mark Doyle, Associate Editor – Will Dennis, Editor – Saucer Country created by Cornell & Kelly.

We are introduced the Bluebirds through the new member Astelle Johnson a rising star in aerospace design. We’ve seen her in previous issues at a meeting being introduced and using the Bluebirds’ computer hacks to follow just what Professor Kidd is doing with the Governor’s campaign. Good plot thread connections coming together into a bigger picture here. That takes writing skill and Cornell shows he has that in every issue.

In this issue we learn that the Bluebirds were founded by WWII vet Joe Bermingen an RAF officer who saw Foo Fighters (no not the rock band the UFOs reported by allied pilots in WWII). He knew from his sighting that they weren’t Nazi test craft but alien. From there his life was centered on engineering craft like it and later upon finding crashed alien craft and back engineering it. The further the story goes the stranger it gets, but Astelle listens trying to understand it all just like us the reader.

This book does well to weave together all the various thoughts on the belief that UFOs aren’t paranormal but real machines to bring aliens here. It is ironic that the Bluebird spokesman dismisses Professor Kidd’s mythology with a grain of truth approach as going down the rabbit hole, given how far down the rabbit hole the story of Joe Bermingen goes. By the end of it even Astelle is left asking her mentor “Do you believe?” Science doesn’t need belief that’s an issue of faith – something Professor Kidd is investigating. So just like all the various lines of thought and mythology around UFOs in the real world become vastly inter tangled so do they in Saucer Country plot lines.

The story isn’t confusing at all Cornell has composed it well so that we the reader can follow Astelle, the Governor, and Professor Kidd down the rabbit hole without question. It all leads us deeper into his story of what happened to the leading Presidential candidate and her ex-husband that night in the New Mexico high desert? Will it change the election? If elected will that experience that changed her life change the world as a result of her Presidency? Just what is the truth of it all? I’ll keep reading for answers which is more that I ever expect to get in real life.

The art is up to the high standard as usual. I’m intrigued by the Bluebirds coming into the forefront of the tale. I want to know what role they will be playing. Now to bring the conspiracy group out more and ohh those spooky not quite human like but human non the less men in black we see here and there in the story. Lapham is excellent in working in Easter Eggs and visual hints to later issues in his art. I’m sure the SERPO screen we’ve seen Astelle viewing will come into play. Along with the fact that there are visual hints the Men In Black aren’t really men. The manner he handles the illustrating of the Joe Bermingen story is fantastic and just shows us enough to question what the rest of the story is, what did Joe really see as a Foo Fighter?

Well written story getting more complex but leading the reader on to more coupled with excellent art that adds more visual clues to the story telling makes this one of the best comics on my pull list. In short Vertigo has hit another home run with this issue.

Excellent scene that pulls on reality. It is true that control towers get radar ghosts they cannot determine the cause. I’ve talked to a few people in the industry most feel it has to do with weather and the earth’s own electromagnetic field. I’ve been told the newer systems are set up to filter out this anomalies. There are others who wonder if this is such a good idea. Should such things just be ignored? That’s where the rabbit hole goes – to tie them into the Joe B. story at the center of the Bluebirds was another great writing touch.

This draws on the theory that what is seen is actually top secret craft being flown. Before the Stealth lines were de-classified there were reports of triangle shaped UFOs – were these the stealth planes? Aurora is a line in the US budget for top secret military something. Retirees from the real area 51 contend that yes, yes it is. Again another excellent job writing in another of the ideas of UFOs into this story and illustrating them well.

I can’t wait to read issue 8!

November 12, 2012
Comic Comments – The Aliens Have Me

I’d heard good things about Saucer Country from the first issue. When I read that issue 6 was a good jumping on point, I jumped. I didn’t regret it. Honestly that issue was strong enough to put the title on my pull list and send searching for issues 1-5. The first arc of the series is entitled RUN. Just like the excellent writing in this book the title has layers of meaning and can apply to the high strangeness of the story or the mundane. That’s what makes this book so compelling it’s written with all the complexity, tightness, and layers of an excellent science fiction thriller.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

Now the creation team: Paul Cornell, Writer – Ryan Kelly, Art & Covers – Giulia Brusco, Colors Issues 1-3 & 5 – Guilia Brusco & Lee Loughridge, Colors Issue 4 – Sal Cipriano, Letters – Mark Doyle, Associate Editor – Will Dennis, Editor – Saucer Country Created by Cornell & Kelly.

The story centers around Arcadia Alvarado the Governor of New Mexico who is the leading Democratic candidate for President. She and her ex-husband had a strange experience in the desert that is causing strange flashbacks for her and emotional disruption for him. This first arc deals with two types of running – Gov. Alvarado deciding to run for President and her ex-husband running from his memories of that night.

It is a nice contrast between her reaction and his to their shared missing time experience. He’s terrified but she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. At first their paths diverge. He goes to a known hypno-therapist that specializes in alien abductions. She confides to her campaign manager and personal assistant saying she doesn’t want it to go public but wants answers. They turn to a Harvard professor that studies mythology believing the UFO phenomena is modern mythology with some truth in the center spawning it all.

Eventually the two paths conjoin again but not without first going through many of the common threads of the UFO/Alien abduction discussion. More angles are brought to play by new characters. The arguments that the hypno-therapist leads the subject comes into play. The conspiratorial/disclosure group that believes the government not only knows about the aliens but may be in cahoots with them show up. The UFOs are nuts & bolts from another planet are represented. The concept that it’s inter-dimensional/paranormal occurrence is there. The hostile alien take over contingent has it’s thumb in the story pie. The friendly human like aliens here to guide us past our warring ways are in the waiting room too. The remarkable and impressive thing is Cornell weaves all these things together in a riveting compelling story.

I must praise Cornell for researching the topic well. He’s got it all and woven it together seamlessly without making it a confusing mess. That’s talent as a writer. The layers of story going on is impressive along with the number of players that are converging but not confusing the plot. At the core of his story is the unknown event where what’s true and what’s fiction blur as much as reality and fantasy for the characters. Much applause to him and I’m anxious to see where he takes us next.

The art is excellent and among my favorite art in current titles. I like the realism with just enough comic flare to make the people seem believable but still better than real life. The flashes into the alien memories, thoughts, and concepts are well done to evoke the feeling of the character experiencing them. From the evil torturing aliens to the friendly guiding ones that reveal cues to the future – all are beyond normal but yet fit their roles. The excellent execution blends well and supports the fantastic writing.

This title is firmly planted on my pull list. This along with several other new titles coming along are proof that excellence in writing and art will create a buzz in the comic community. You don’t need a big franchise or formulas to sell comics the first print of these sold out quickly and even went into 3rd printings on some issues. Comic book fans are hungry for great art and stories. The big guys are meeting the market for it but the small guys are. Saucer Country didn’t only meet the market it made a slam dunk!

**YOU KNOW WHAT’S NEXT POSSIBLE SPOILER SCANS** Enjoy!

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November 8, 2012
Comic Comments – When Men Are The Fairest

I was looking forward to this issue of the Fairest from the previews. The stand alone issue is entitled Lamia. It’s a noir crime story told with the Fable characters and set in the 1940s LA. Think LA Confidential but with Fables Beast taking the lead detective role. Yes that’s right this issue of Fairest centers on a male character. He’s off to capture a female dragon that he has been containing every few decades since the fables took refuge in the mundy world. As always he’s teamed up with St. George to contain the threat. I have to say the story is excellent. The twist at the end left me shocked so much I had to read it twice. The old ‘did that mean what I thought it meant?!?’ reader’s double take. Cudos to Matthew Sturges for penning such an awesome story. I PROMISE no spoilers or hint of spoilers on the great twist.

Speaking of the writer Matthew Sturges, I’d like to acknowledge all the people that made this awesome issue happen. Shawn McManus – Art & Colors, Todd Klein – Letters, Adam Hughes – Cover, Gregory Lockard – Assistant Editor, Shelly Bond – Editor, and Bill Willingham – Creator & Consultant.

Next we need to get the legal statement out of the way – All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

Ahh the story – a female dragon named Lamia is loose in the mundy world again. It is in November of 1946. Beast and St George team up again but this time under the names Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe. We learn other famous literary detectives through the years have been Beast and St George working to contain Lamia when she escapes.

Now you’d think the mundies like us would notice a big green scaly lizard taking victims in 1946 LA. Ahh but one of Lamia’s powers is she can transform into a beautiful woman. This is why all her victims are men and how she lures them in. The story is of her containment yet again.

The art of the issue supports the noir crime theme excellently. The panels are either the cool grays or sepia tones of yesteryear. The only exception it to add the color red. This is used well not to be a gimmick to highlight the gore of Lamia’s kills but also to add to the neon and other things of the time. It isn’t over done at all. It’s actually very restrained adding to the power of the just one color pop. Adding the over all dark depressing feel that such a requirement for noir crime.

I don’t rate comics when I review them. Because I don’t want to become the arbitrator of what’s good and what’s not. I’m here to share my opinion on the books. It might be a great comic and I know that but I don’t care for it. How do I rate that? However I’d have to say this one comes down to being a 10 out of 10 for me. It hits all the right notes I want when coming to a comic for a story. Great art, excellent writing, well done plot, and twists within twists at the ending. Bravo! to the Fairest team for making this one of my must reads.

** NOTE NONE OF THE SCANS BELOW SPOIL THE TWISTS** I chose scans that more display how wonderful the use of art was with the story. I am limiting them so I don’t spoil the great plot surprises along the way.

As you can see part of Beast’s narration of the story appears as a letter home to Beauty. Here you can see how the gray tones and the touch of red add to the feel of the story and highlight the noir setting.

Here we see Lamia transform as she escapes from Beast. She sheds her woman appearance to slither out a vent. Here the art moved from the grey hues of the top page scan there to the more sepia tones of the interiors. Since this issue is mostly in those tones sepia indicates indoor settings and greys outdoor.

Again this was an awesome issue. If you are interested in getting into comics but aren’t into the superhero idea do try Fairest or its parent comic Fables. Both are excellent!

October 30, 2012
Comic Comments – Wide Awake

This is the first arc of the Fable spin-off Fairest. It takes issues 1-6 to tell the story of Sleeping Beauty (Brier Rose) and the Snow Queen (Lumi) waking from their slumber imposed by Brier’s curse but used by the Fables to destroy the Adversary. Okay, I know if you don’t read the Fables title this a lot of jargon to take in. Hold on I’ll do some ‘splainin’ after we get the legal disclaimer and artistic credits out of the way.

All images are the property of their owners I reproduce them here under the Fair Use Doctrine of the copyright law for commentary and critique. No more than three pages total from any one issue is reproduced.

I love giving credit to the creators. First off Fairest is created by Bill Willingham. The credits beyond that are as follows. If not issues are noted the credit stands for all the issues 1-6. The credits are: Bill Willingham, Writer; PHil Jimenez, Pencils and Variant Covers for Issue 1, Andy Lanning, Inks Issues 1 & 2, pages 1-7 & 12-20 in Issue 3, Issue 4 with Andre Pepoy on pages 12 & 13, pages 1, 3-9, 12-14, & 17 or Issue 5, pages 2-14, 16-20 of Issue 6′ Andrew Pepoy, Inker pages 2, 10-11, 15-16, 18-20 of Issue 5 and pages 1 & 15 of Issue 6; Andrew Dalhouse, Colors Todd Klein, Letters; Adam Hughes, Covers, Romulo Fajardo, Jr., Variant Cover Colors Issue 1; Special Thanks to Zander Cannon, Issues 2-6; Gregory Lockard, Assistant Editor; Shelly Bond, Editor.

For those who don’t follow Fables let me first explain the concept. Think of any fairy tale, folk lore, or fable you’ve ever heard that is now in the public domain and those are the denizens of Fables. There are many different worlds in Fables Oz, Arabian Tales, King Arthur’s Court, and so-on. These are call the homelands. We are a world in this universe know as Mundy because magic isn’t as predominate here. The book started when many characters were fleeing the homelands because of a villain called The Advisory. These refugees settle into life in New York City in a neighborhood called Fabletown. Except for the animals because talking animals would draw attention land was bought in upstate New York for them and they settled there on The Farm. The war raged on with The Advisory for many issues but finally his empire in the homelands was defeated with a multi-pronged attack that included Brier Rose (Sleeping Beauty) sneaking into his capital and pricking her finger at just the right moment to put all in charge of the empire into a sound sleep due to her curse. There have been many arcs since then and the capital slept away as Fabletown/Farm won the war and started the return of those who wanted to go back to the homelands. Recently goblins took Brier and Lumi (Snow Queen was formerly of Advisory inner court) not sure which one was the Sleeping Beauty since both were beautiful. Upon leaving they torched the capital killing all the other sleepers in the city. THAT’s where the Fairest series begins.

I do encourage you to read all of Fables it’s a fantastic story way beyond the normal comic. It’s well written, entertaining, adult centered, story using characters from our childhood. However if you aren’t up to reading all those TPBs (even from your local library) then you can catch up with the Wikipedia article on the title or peruse the list of characters at Wikipedia.

Now we are all on the same page as it were, let’s get on with Wide Awake where the ladies awaken. The story starts with Ali Baba finding a bottle in the ashes of The Advisory’s capital. In the bottle is a Bottle Imp whose power isn’t to grant wishes but instead to know things, specialty being the Mundy world. Still he knows where the greatest treasure of the capital city that has not been looted is kept. He leads Ali to the goblin encampment and the women. After some adventure and misadventure Ali wakes the beauties by kissing Brier with true love in his heart. Only the twist is the true love isn’t for Brier. The Lumi wakes in a really bad mood. She freezes all the goblins immediately and but feeling generous tells Ali, the Bottle Imp, and Brier to RUN! They take her at her word. Eventually they are caught and held as guests/prisoners of Lumi. There we learn Lumi LOVES stories. Bottle Imp tells how Brier became cursed something she didn’t know herself, how Lumi came to serve The Adversary, and a bit about how Ali became the Prince of Thieves. Later the knowledge gained from these stories helps Lumi and Brier win a large battle and come to a chilly friendship. Bottle Imp is granted his freedom for his help. We find out who was the true love in Ali’s heart when he kissed Brier. Brier not only gets revenge on the Dark Fae that cursed her but also learns that what she wants isn’t true love but true builders love – a foundation to build a future with someone else.

The story is like all in the Fables franchise extremely well written. Honestly the character development that continually builds on itself. This series is impressive and multi-faceted. It has a good sense of humor in it with the Bottle Imp bringing most of it. I love how things that were small at first become more important as the story moves along. If you read any in this universe you have to be on your toes watching for where those small plot pivots are! Excellent for engaging a reader beyond surface entertainment. There is a lot of thought and writerly talent brought to bear in the story. Excellently done.

Fables is know for extremely artistic covers that represent characters in the story. Fairest is following in that tradition but I don’t think it’s as strong. The cover of issue 5 falls very short of that mark. The Photoshopped glowy fire in the background is pathetic. If it had centered on just Lumi and her polar bear that would have been great but now we had to grey them up and add some Photoshop horror. Issue 1 is by far my favorite cover. It is a wraparound cover with all the fair ladies that will make up Fairest pictured tending the waking Brier who kicks off the series. Great concept! Excellent execution!

The interior art lives up to the VERY HIGH standards of the Fables franchise. It’s beautiful but story supporting. The people are consistent and well done. The sheer details put into the panels are breathtaking. It’s wonderful to just thumb through and enjoy the images. However I do miss the Fables trademark theme page boarders but that’s never been a feature of their spin-off books. I’m a big fan of the theme boarders. I think it comes from loving the old line illustrated books. Except these are in color! I’ll point them out when reviewing Cubs In Toyland arc when it is complete in that title.

Over all this didn’t disappoint it brought great story with fantastic art the very things I expect from the Fables franchise. It’s a sound and strong beginning for this title. It did not fall short on any measure and honestly I expected nothing less.

Next up for Comic Comments is a Zenescope title. We’ll visit Grimm Fairy Tales, Myths & Legends issues 16 & 17 for The Gathering story arc.

Up next is pages and panel comments: **SPOILER ALERT**

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August 31, 2012