Lots of graphic novels and comics collections in this month’s reading stack, along with one very disappointing crime/thriller novel.
The Delivery by Andrew Welsh-Huggins • 2 Stars on Goodreads
God, this book was tedious. I read Welsh-Huggins’ first Mercury Carter book (The Mail Man) a while back and had problems with that one, too, to be honest. The author has a habit of throwing way too many characters into the mix early on. This one is compounded by the fact that some of the characters are referred to by two different names: “Pats Jersey” eventually becomes Donnie, for example. The convoluted plot revolves around Mercury Carter’s habit of inserting himself into other people’s business … this time he comes upon a wrecked car while making a delivery (he offers a high-end and sometimes dangerous delivery service for “special” items) and becomes embroiled in all the business that caused the wreck. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what the plot of this is. I THINK it involves the sale of personal medical data amid some scheme that involves nursing homes or some such, and evidently the author is confused, too, since he stops numerous times to explain what’s happened and how we’ve gotten to the point that we are in the book. He also has Carter ask himself many questions numerous times that made me wonder if this was a stream-of-consciousness type of book, minus any kind of outline or plan. This will be my last Mercury Carter book; I like the character, and Welsh-Huggins writes decent action sequences, but this overly-complicated, character-loaded story is just too confusing.
Lucas Wars by Laurent Hoffman and Ranaud Roche • 5 Stars on Goodreads
I had just finished (and enjoyed) The Last Kings of Hollywood by Paul Fischer, which is about the rise of Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas in 1970s Hollywood, so this was the perfect graphic novel “chaser:” The story of Lucas’s struggles to make Star Wars. For the most part, this book sticks to the same info that Last Kings does (I don’t think Lucas’s relationship with his wife Marcia was as rosy as Hoffman and Roche depict). I love Roche’s art; it’s pure cartooning and his use of color (the book is largely black and white with spot color utilized to add emphasis) is wonderful. He’s also great at capturing likenesses, instilling character while keeping a person’s features. This is translated (by Jeremy Melloul) from the original French graphic novel, and it’s probably one of the best translated comics works I’ve ever read, effortlessly making the switch over to English with no awkward or stilted wording or dialogue. I sincerely hope there’s sequel (Lucas Wars Strikes Back … ?), but if not, this wonderful, evocative, lovely book is more than enough on its own.
Batman: Dark Patterns by Dan Watters, Hayden Sherman, Triona Farrell • 5 Stars on Goodreads
This book flew under my radar last year as it was being published in monthly form. I was aware of it at my local comics shop, but never even looked at it, so this collected version is a bit of a revelation for me. While Dan Watters’ scripts lean a little too much into horror for me, Hayden Sherman’s art is the real attraction here. I was familiar with his work from reading the first issue of Absolute Wonder Woman when it came out (full disclosure: the Absolute line is decidedly not my cup of tea and I fully admit it’s an issue of where I am in my life these days), but he should be permanently assigned to a Bat-book (preferably Detective Comics, if I had my way). His art is somewhere in the center of a Venn diagram of Tim Sale, Paul Pope, and Carmine Infantino, all inspirations to him which he admits in an interview feature at the back of this book. I found the format of this 12-issue maxi-series interesting, too: four 3-part stories that are interconnected. I guess the original plan was to have four separate artists, but Sherman pitched himself as doing the whole thing, and editor Adrianna Turturro thankfully went along with it (she also edited the excellent if awkwardly titled Batman The Long Halloween: The Last Halloween last year). While a little too horror-centric for me (and featuring my least favorite Bat-villain, Scarface, in one of the stories), I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope to see more Hayden Sherman Batman in the future.
Batman and the Monster Men by Matt Wagner and Dave Stewart • 4 Stars on Goodreads
I really like Matt Wagner’s retro take on Batman and this trade paperback collects the first of two mini-series that explores the Caped Crusader’s early years with tales of him battling monstrous or supernatural foes, in a semi-ongoing series of minis called “Dark Moon Rising.” Sadly there were only two in this series (you’d think it would be a trilogy, at least). Originally published in 2006, this story “introduces” arch Bat-villain Professor Hugo Strange, who—through genetic manipulation—has created giant monster men to use for his own gains. I love the way Wagner draws Batman, especially the highlights on the black parts—cape, cowl, and gloves—of his costume. Wagner only did a handful of Bat-stories, and I wish there were more. I believe this book has been out of print for almost 20 years and is due to be reprinted in July and I hope they fix my main problem with it … the covers are sorta/kinda missing. Issue 1’s cover is the front cover of this book; issue 6’s cover is the title page and issue 4’s cover is shown full-page as a break between issues 3 and 4, but the other three issues’ covers are just shrunk down and appear on the indicia page. Why they did this is beyond me, especially since the companion volume, Batman and the Mad Monk, is the exact same size book (144 pages) and runs all six covers as chapter heads leading into their respective issues. Not sure if DC will reprint Mad Monk, too (actually both mini-series in one volume would have been preferred), but I hope their reprint of Monster Men corrects this problem, since Wagner’s covers are outstanding.
Batman and the Mad Monk by Matt Wagner and Dave Stewart • 4 Stars on Goodreads
The second volume in writer-artist Matt Wagner’s retro Batman series, “Dark Moon Rising,” features the Mad Monk, dressed in crimson red, who may or may not be an immortal vampire (no, not that one), as the title villain. This one isn’t as good as the first one, but I still love the way Wagner draws Batman and his use of charcoal (or carbon pencil or whatever it is he’s using, texture-wise) is a giant plus for depicting the character. For some reason this series of Bat-tales by Wagner feels incomplete, like there should have been a third volume, and the final page of the 6-part mini-series collected here certainly points towards the Caped Crusader’s future, while ending a chapter in his young career as Batman by closing the door on Bruce Wayne’s relationship with fiancee Julie Madison (who is also featured in volume one, Batman and the Monster Men). These stories were produced 20 years ago, and DC is poised to reprint them, since these original TPBs are long out of print.
DC Finest Superman: Time and Time Again by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Roger Stern, Bob McLeod • 5 Stars on Goodreads
This is the first “modern era” DC Finest Superman volume so far and it starts off with the beginning of the fondly-remembered “Triangle Era,” when all three Supes titles at the time—Superman, Adventures of Superman, and Action Comics—told pretty much an ongoing, almost-weekly storyline (it would become weekly with the addition of Man of Steel, which is promo-ed at the end of this book). The timeline on this book is 1990-91 and the Triangle Era—marked by a little numbered triangle on each title’s cover—starts with the January 1991 titles. It was a great time to be reading the Super-books, and I fondly remember these as some of my faves from a decade of comics that was, at times, not so great. Writer-artists Ordway and Jurgens were hitting on all cylinders, and the epic 7-part story arc, “Time and Time Again,” that makes up the spine of this book sends the Man of Steel tumbling through time, trying to find his way back home. I love the art in this volume, especially by Ordway, Jurgens, and Bob McLeod, but Art Thibert’s inks on Jurgens are a bit overpowering; Jurgens is much better served by Brett Breeding who takes over on Adventures of Superman part way through this book. I hope they continue with this timeline in future DC Finest Superman volumes; I’ve been tempted to buy the Triangle Era Omnibus editions, but they’re way too expensive and big to read comfortably, so this route is much more palatable, on both the wallet and the lap.
Fantastic Four Epic Collection: Back to the Basics by John Byrne • 5 Stars on Goodreads
Finally, the Epic Collection series gets to the Fantastic Four run by John Byrne. This volume collects FF issues 232 through 248, plus Byrne’s What If FF story from issue 36 of that title, and Fred Hembeck’s Fantastic Four Roast 1. While the Byrne FF has been available in two cumbersome and pricey Omnibus editions, I much prefer the smaller Epic Collections (even though buying the entire run will probably equal or surpass the price of the two Omnibus versions … and other than Marvel corporate greed, why are the Epic books now $54.99 for a less than 500-page book, when the DC Finest line is fifteen bucks cheaper for the same format with more pages—usually close to or above 600 pages?). I haven’t read this run since it first came out in the 1980s, and Byrne is at the absolute top of his Marvel game here, with the first 17 issues of his close to five-year run in this first volume. One thing I’ve forgotten over the year: Man, he sure is WORDY! These are dense issues that take some time to read, which is—for the most part—a good thing, because he is a good writer. This is also one of the few series that looks great even though he inked his own pencils. (His other series look okay for the most part, but like a lot of pencillers, Byrne’s work always prospers with a good inker, like Terry Austin or Tom Palmer.) The FF gang is all here, including stories with Doctor Doom, the Puppet Master, the Inhumans, Galactus, and a surprising new herald for the star-spanning, planet-ending character who is one of Kirby and Lee’s best creations. Byrne’s FF run is one of the few that come up to the high bar set by that duo, and I’m really happy to be re-reading it in this format.
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