I’m back with a look at Daybreak. I’m hoping to be able to get onto a more consistent track, but time will tell if I can manage that at this time. https://youtu.be/jVzHpf4v81k Images used in the video: Daybreak First Person Daybreak Cover
The best thing about the Humble Bundle and other similar deals is that you may go after the bundle for one book that interests you and end up with lots of other stories you never would have considered otherwise. It’s why the publishers are so keen to allow their comics to be available when someone paying them the minimum would be giving them just a few dollars per story, if that. It’s one of the oldest sales tactics - a free taste. The Massive was one such story for me. And I’m glad I was able to read it. While the entire series has already been published, this post is only going to consider the first volume. The main reason for that is that I do not buy DRM comics and while Humble Bundle comics are available DRM-free, the rest of the series is not.
https://youtu.be/rLIl3Cdpzcc Here are all the images referenced in the video: Roger Rabbit Happy to See Me Bone Vol 1 - Undressed 2 Bone Vol 1 - the Bones Bone Vol 1 - Drinking images Bone Vol 1 - Nuclear Salad Bar Bone Vol 1 - Undressed 1
The world can be a pretty tough place and in Lost Dogs we see the worst of it. We know there are bad people out there, but we want to believe in the good of folks or that perhaps bad things won’t happen to us because we’re good people. Lost Dogs shatters all those illusions. Jeff Lemire’s first published comic book is a very fast read, but a very impactful read.
If I have one criticism of Oh, Hell, it’s that the plot feels rushed. In one volume we meet the main characters, learn of the school in Hell, learn the backstories of the main characters, and have a resolution to the plot. George Wassil has a lot going on in this story and it’s too bad he didn’t have the room to spread it out over at least two volumes. I’d been intrigued to read the story since speaking with him at Baltimore Comic-Con 2015. Our main character, Angela (who also goes by Zoel) was found abandoned in a dumpster as a baby. She becomes an exceptionally trying teenager and her adopted parents send her to what they think is another boarding school, but is actually a school in Hell. Who wouldn’t want to see where that goes?
This volume is all over the place. There is a Christmas interlude, we learn of Rapunzel’s plight, and a series of reader questions answered as 1-2 page comics. But the bulk of the volume is about the eye of the storm in the Fabletown and Adversary relations. Each has wreaked devastations upon the other and now Fabletown must see if their Israel Gambit will succeed. The volume is also about how warfare is also a battle about information. As far as Fabletown knows, Gepetto is OK with peace as he’s sent a diplomatic envoy. The reader, on the other hand, has seen Gepetto’s war council and that he prepares for total war. While Pinocchio is correct that the Fables and the Mundys would be swift with their retribution, the first punch will have already been thrown and the Mundy world would be worse off for it.
Almost two years ago Kari Woodrow wrote about Lumberjanes#1 here on this site. Her conclusion was that everyone needed to be reading this comic. Having read issues #1-20, I must agree. When I relaunched Comic POW!, I set a focus for the site that it would examine this story-telling medium that we love and focus on how these stories are influenced by the authors and the time and place in which they were written. Lumberjanes is, without a doubt, about being a girl in America in the 2000s. No matter what kind of girl you see yourself as, you will no doubt find a counterpart in the main characters.
American Vampire has always been more about America than vampires. Because America has always been portrayed as a land of opportunity, it has always attracted those most desperate for that opportunity. That has often led to the exploitation of those least able to defend themselves. Yet, unlike many countries, throughout a good chunk of America’s history, it has been one of the easiest countries to move up the social ladder. For some that meant running away from debts to start anew in America. For others, it was getting free, large tracts of land out west from the American government. From the industrial revolution forward, a good idea and a bit of luck could propel one to the highest heights. A great deal of fiction has explored what happens once someone catapults out of their poorer circumstances - sometimes up just one level and sometimes from poor to rich. Do they now treat their former peers with the same contempt they once received? Or do they remember where they came from and remain respectful of those in poorer circumstances?
Long time readers of Comic POW! know that I am a fervent advocate of DRM-free comics (and this news story). If you’ve seen the site evolve you’ve also seen my tastes evolve. While Marvel and DC continue to tell great stories and explore new characters (like young Ms Marvel), I’ve grown to love indie comics a lot more. The main reasons are that anything can happen (including permanent death of the main characters) and usually the stories have an ending that the author is working towards. So I was very stoked to read today that Image Comics has put out a new Humble Bundle. I was even more excited when I read how Image organized the comics in the bundle: Image Comics is pleased to announce an all-new Humble Bundle digital sale— Humble Comics Bundle: Image Comics featuring Creators Own Worlds—set to bring awareness to equality and to support the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. This Humble Bundle highlights some of the series from Image Comics that are created by or significantly feature LGBT characters. With the Humble Comics Bundle: Image Comics featuring Creators Own Worlds digital sale, fans will experience $400-worth of some of Image Comics’ bestselling and award-winning series at pay-what-you want pricing.
Two things attracted me to C.O.W.L.: the subject matter and the author. I knew Kyle Higgins from Nightwing Vol 3 (AKA New 52 Nightwing) where I enjoyed his writing. C.O.W.L. takes place in Chicago in 1962 when unions are still strong and the Chicago Organized Workers League (C.O.W.L.) happens to be the superhero union. Similar to Watchmen, and very in vogue right now, the heroes are not pure of heart; some of them are just shy of being sadists. The main plot of Watchmen is two-fold, someone is investigating hero murder and someone is trying to create a tragedy to unite humanity and end the Cold War. But knowing that doesn’t take away from the story, which is a deconstruction of Super Heroes and is focused on their stories and personalities. Similarly, the main plot of C.O.W.L. is a negotiation with the city about whether to continue the contract with C.O.W.L., but the story is about the characters Higgins has created. If I may continue the comparison for one more subject, I’d say that both Watchmen and C.O.W.L. benefit from being self-contained stories of about the same length. It allows Higgins to focus on the story without worrying about the long-term implications for his characters.