– Went into the Beguiling last week to see what was what and saw that The Apocalipstix was out, so I figured why not give it a try as everybody seems to be rather hyped about it. Aaaaand – well, it’s certainly high concept (“riot grrrl band tours America after nuclear Armageddon”), but despite that it’s so… slight. I mean, the whole book is three smaller stories: Apocalipstix versus biker gang, Apocalipstix versus giant mutant ants, and Apocalipstix at the Big Band Battle. Of these, only the last is anything more than an extended, not-very-interesting fight scene. Cute enough, and I like Cameron Stewart’s art, but it’s not twelve dollars’ worth of cute. Not even close.
– However, whilst in the Beguiling, Chris Butcher worked his evil wiles upon me by offering me a “if you don’t like it, we’ll refund it” deal on the first volume of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, presumably because he knows I don’t read much manga and wants me to buy more manga so I can personally finance his next trip to Japan. Dramatic manga – at least what I’ve read – can run very hot and cold for me, missing as often as hitting. The translated dialogue in particular often tends toward the powerfully melodramatic at the best of times, and when I have a problem with dialogue I have a problem with the whole comic more often than not. (It’s easier when the story plays the dramatic dialogue for laughs, which is why I think comedic manga tends to be more popular in the West.) Thankfully, Monster‘s first volume isn’t a glaring offender in this regard, and the plot (doctor saves child’s life, child grows up to become serial killer – but it’s more complex and tense than that by half) is actually pretty compelling. I shall pick up later volumes, I believe. DAMN YOU, BUTCHER!
– A friend of mine sent me Exit Wounds a while back and it already won all those awards, so what more can I say about it? It’s breathtakingly good at exploring the emotions surrounding the state of abandonment – depression, loneliness, irrational and rational anger, obsession. Rutu Modan’s art is simple without being simplistic. It feels like a real, natural glimpse into people’s lives rather than just being a story. It’s sad and glorious and if you haven’t read it, you really need to read it.
– Man, that Authority relaunch is actually pretty good. Paul O’ Brien argued – and not incorrectly – that catastrophic change is the last desperate resort of a comics line to make people care about their product. I think the Wildstorm smash-up has more potential than those do, though, seeing as how if you were going to name one superteam who could completely fix a planet on the brink of total destruction – well, it would be the Legion of Super-Heroes, of course, but the Authority would run a close second. Pity absolutely nobody’s going to read it because Wildstorm has relaunched the Authority, like, twenty times in the past five years now, but it’s a really good start, and Abnett and Lanning are writing it and they do dystopic super-sci-fi really well. It’s worth a looksee.
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I don’t want to be the fanboy who’s enthusiasm throws you completely off the books forever, but seriously, Monster is awesome. It only gets better.
So wait – the Authority has been relaunched again? We’re not talking the one that had them stuck in the “real” Earth with no other supers, that got warrenellised to death after only two issues? They’ve gone and rebooted again, have they? Weird. I may check it out then, since I quite like them, generally, although admittedly they kind of jumped the shark around about the time that the PTB told them they weren’t allowed to use the word “Cambodia” in a comic…
one superteam who could completely fix a planet on the brink of total destruction
Well that’s the thing, isn’t it – the planet actually isn’t on the “brink” of total destruction. It’s pretty much destroyed. At least, that’s how the first issue seemed like it was setting things up. I didn’t bother picking up the rest of the Wildstorm reboot titles, so perhaps it’s particularly bad in London and not quite as bad elsewhere.
I like it, but mainly because I like reading Abnett & Lanning’s comic book work, and I’m a sucker for post-apocalyptic nightmares. We’ll see where they go with it, though it really seems like a strange way to do a “relaunch’.
My comics shop guy did the exact same thing a few weeks ago, pushing me to buy “Monster”, and I agree — it’s really good. My qualms with this stuff is that the entire collection is so LONG. To get the entire story I’m going to end up having to spend like $180, which seems crazy to me when I think about it like that.
I’m eager for someone else to point out why this totally makes financial sense in some way plausible enough for me to justify whipping out the credit card and getting them all.
Yeah, if you buy them all in one go it’s daunting. But if you buy all the seasons of your favourite television show in one go, it could easily mean a price of upward 200 dollars.
If you buy one, read it, buy the next, read the next, etc, it’s just 10 dollars a month, and you’d be getting a motherfucker of a read out of it.
That’s a good rationale, Jaap, well played! I guess I think of comics more as books than television shows or movies, and paying $200 for a book seems out of whack. But that’s probably the wrong way to think of it.
I’ll wait for Monster to be posted on 4chan.
So, The Apocalipstix was twelve dollars? Did it have a longer page count or one of those thicker glossy cardboard covers? Cause that is a bullshit price for a 32 page floppy. I wouldn’t pay five bucks for Punisher: Force of Nature (picked it up later when my LCS had a half off sale) and that wasn’t much bigger then an annual, which usually runs four. So, what’s the rationale for paying twelve?
@Lister Sage.
It’s a 155-page digest-size OGN, not a 32-page floppy.
Sorry it didn’t work for you, MGK.
Ah. Thank you Mr. Stewart. I saw it advertised, but other then that it was off my radar.
So wait, lemme get this straight – Wildstorm got rebooted with that Captain Atom crossover, and now it’s getting rebooted again?
My comics shop guy did the exact same thing a few weeks ago, pushing me to buy “Monster”, and I agree — it’s really good. My qualms with this stuff is that the entire collection is so LONG. To get the entire story I’m going to end up having to spend like $180, which seems crazy to me when I think about it like that.
Buying the complete run of Preacher in trades will cost you about the same. I’ve noted read “Monster”, so I can’t compare quality, but it’s not a horrific price.
I have also read Monster, and I can also say that it’s a great manga. Naoki Urasawa in general is good. Although, I’ve read Mangascreener’s scanslations and not the official translation, so maybe they did something real weird with it.
Monster really is a great story. The anime was very good too. If anyone is interested there is a torrent that has all the manga chapters and all the anime episodes here.
http://www.mininova.org/tor/1130519
Enjoy.
It’s not so much that Wildstorm’s getting rebooted as they’ve ignored a bunch of reboots, and launched a bunch of crossover event type dealios (Wildstorm Revelation, Wildstorm Armageddon, and Number of the Beast) that have done what Marvel and DC tend to say they do when they get released (i.e. really shake the status quo the fuck up).
It’s kind of more like Age of Apocalypse than an actual reboot, only without the AU aspect.
If you like Monster, then you’re gonna LOVE Urasawa’s Pluto.
Monster is incredible, and I say this as a person who has sampled dozens of manga titles and liked a total of maybe two.
And for those of us who’ve been following along with the releases, it only comes out every, like, three months, which softens the financial blow a bit. 😉
Thanks for the torrent! I’ve been looking for the anime for some time now.
PS I don’t know about anyone else, but Johan scares the bejsus out of me. I’m just sayin.
Worldstorm: It’s not just London. The whole world has been trashed, and by “trashed” I mean “at a rough guess, somewhere more than 90% of the Earth’s population has been killed.”
Christos Gage’s WildCATS #1 was also pretty good. I’m growing to like Gage a great deal–he’s rarely better than “very enjoyable”, but he’s also (almost) never less than competent, and he hits the right notes in the right order.
Question for you guys. Does Monster read right to left or left to right? I may sound like a cultural elitist, but I never did get the hang of reading right to left with Manga. It’s a good thing Blade of the Immortal, Akira, and Ghost in the Shell all read left to right or I’d really be missing out.
Monster is incredible, and I say this as a person who has sampled dozens of manga titles and liked a total of maybe two.
Just out of curiosity, what was the other one?
Just out of curiosity, what was the other one?
Saiyuki. I have no idea if that says anything in particular about my personality, but what the hell, I love Saiyuki.
Karellan: It’s right to left. (I think I read like the first 8 chapters of Monster backwards the first time I read it. This was in scanlations, mind. It was VERY confusing.)
It’s right to left, yeah, but it’s kind of part of Urasawa’s craft that that doesnt get in the way of a good read, if you know where to start, you have no problem following the page along. I tried a few manga but couldnt get the hang of that opposite directional reading either, but when I read 20th Century Boys and Monster it finally clicked.
I’m waiting for the trade on the Authority relaunch and keeping an ear out to see if it’s any good. I can think of a couple of directions that would be hideously cool for superbeings in a post-apocalyptic setting, especially the Authority, but I’ve really not been happy with how the team’s been treated since the Captain Atom cross-over ended with a weak sputter, followed by Morrison failing to show up for work and Ennis being all Ennis-y. I just don’t feel like investing the money or emotion in yet another kick-start until I’ve been assured that the creative team’s awake and paying attention this time.
That said, I will be picking up Stormwatch PHD when it kicks off again. I like the cast and Gage hasn’t written anything that’s cheezed me off yet.
[…] From MightyGodKing: “…whilst in the Beguiling, Chris Butcher worked his evil wiles upon me by offering me a “if you don’t like it, we’ll refund it” deal on the first volume of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, presumably because he knows I don’t read much manga and wants me to buy more manga so I can personally finance his next trip to Japan. Dramatic manga – at least what I’ve read – can run very hot and cold for me, missing as often as hitting. The translated dialogue in particular often tends toward the powerfully melodramatic at the best of times, and when I have a problem with dialogue I have a problem with the whole comic more often than not. (It’s easier when the story plays the dramatic dialogue for laughs, which is why I think comedic manga tends to be more popular in the West.) Thankfully, Monster’s first volume isn’t a glaring offender in this regard, and the plot (doctor saves child’s life, child grows up to become serial killer – but it’s more complex and tense than that by half) is actually pretty compelling. I shall pick up later volumes, I believe. DAMN YOU, BUTCHER!” […]