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THE COMICS INTERPRETER Vol. 2, #1
(Robert Young,
http://tci.homestead.com)
Have you seen this magazine yet? Any reader of
The Comics Journal or the recently-relaunched
Indy Magazine should give this one a try. Interviews comprise the bulk of
TCI, this time with Hans Rickheit, Paul Pope and Glenn Fabry. The interviews were conducted via e-mail and I think they suffer for it (just a personal prejudice, you understand), but the quality of questions and knowledge of the interviewers (Chad Parenteau, Robert Young) make up for it. And it's obvious from the back-and-forth discussion that these aren't simple Q&As. Still, they don't have the natural flow that in-person or phone interviews often produce. That said, my favorite is with Glenn Fabry, an artist whose work I enjoy but haven't seen all that much of. All three interviews succeed at being interesting and examining the subjects both as artists and as people. Other features in the issue include a number of indepth reviews (of alternative and related mainstream work), Gene Phillips' "Defining the Superhero", a Q&A with Alex Pardee (an artist/self-publisher who's apparently been pretty successful even without Diamond's help), "The Most Interesting Person in Comics?" (a bunch of industry folks offer their picks) and reviews of zines and mini-comics. All of this comes wrapped in an attractive cover by Rickheit. If you haven't seen this in your local comics shop, check with Tower Records (or buy it directly from the
TCI website).
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WORLD WAR 3 ILLUSTRATED: TAKING LIBERTIES (#34)
Content by Various; Edited by Peter Kuper, Kevin Pyle & Susan Willmarth
($5.00 + post. from World War 3 Illustrated / PO Box 20777 / Tompkins Square Station / New York, NY / 10009 USA. Distributed by
Top Shelf Comics)
Review by Tim O'Neil
Although it may seem unlikely, it’s as good a time to be a liberal now as it has been in decades. Our current administration, once so unflappably invincible in the face of criticism, is rocked almost daily by scandal, betrayal and an almost never-ending stream of brickbats from both the left and the right. The left, just six months ago in disarray and panic, is looking more cogent and collected every day as their critique of the current administration gains increasing currency throughout the mainstream of American politics. For the first time in a long time the voice of disaffected liberal America is actually carrying.
So it’s the perfect time for a new edition of
World War 3 Illustrated, right? Well, yes – although I will admit I had my doubts. In the past although there have been many wonderful features and contributors to recommend the magazine, it has often strayed far too close to the realm of political agitprop for my tastes – and I say this as someone who situates himself firmly at the far left of the political spectrum. I am as uncomfortable with leftist propaganda as rightist propaganda, and for the same reasons: propaganda by its nature elicits the uncritical acceptance of a political dogma. I consider myself a leftist not because the left has the best and most convincing slogans but because of what I perceive to be a deep and abiding moral and intellectual bankruptcy on the part of the right. In the past
WW3I has veered frightfully close to the realms of mere sloganeering. But the stakes have never been higher and, thankfully, it seems as if the editors have risen to the challenge.
This is not to say that the issue is flawless – not by any means – but the ratio of meaningful dialogue to noisome, cathartic and ultimately jejune protest seems to have improved greatly. Unfortunately, the worst piece in the entire issue is probably the cover: a snarling camouflaged Doberman drooling over a dog bone with the legend “Iraq” writ across in bold letters while oil derricks loom large against an ominous orange sky. It’s a hideously maladroit sentiment by cover artist Mirko Ilic, considering the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers being put in harms way every day in Iraq, not to mention the thousands wounded and the hundreds who have died. If the US Military and the anti-war left could ever be considered to have a common ground, it’s now. Whatever happened to “Anti-War, Pro Veteran”?
Notwithstanding the cover, however, the issue succeeds in striking the difficult but potent balance between sober commentary and cutting satire. Although the Iraqi war is a constant presence in the background, the issue’s main focus is the erosion of civil freedoms in the United States since September 11th – hence the subtitle, “Taking Liberties”. In between humorous (though no less horrifying) strips by Tom Tomorrow, Keith Knight and Kuper himself, there are informative essays on the proliferation of security cameras in downtown Manhattan and the fiscal logic behind the current Administration’s foreign and domestic policies. Especially damning is an article placing the so-called “Patriot” act within the context of a long American tradition of harmfully restrictive legislation dating back to the Sedition Act of 1798.
I have to question their wisdom in printing excerpts from forthcoming works by both Art Spiegelman and Mike Diana. The Spiegelman piece, a page from his ‘In The Shadow of No Towers’ series, reads unsurprisingly flat when shorn from the context of its larger weekly continuity. Diana’s solitary page, an excerpt from a forthcoming work entitled ‘Go To Hell’, implies a greater mastery than we have seen in any of Diana’s previous, unformed strips. In both cases I was left scratching my head and wondering why they bothered including such frustratingly small passages.
Small quibbles aside, there’s still a great deal to recommend the latest issue of
WW3I. It goes without saying that if your politics don’t run left-of-center, you will find very little to like here. Otherwise, there’s more than enough righteous paranoia and frightening historical perspective herein to keep you angry and afraid for a long time to come.
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< comics/x >
WHISP #1
(
rehab25.net)
Review by Steve Keeter
Poopsheet received a promo copy of
Whisp #1, a depressing comic about drug addiction and torture that nonetheless benefits from genuinely gripping graphic storytelling technique and darkly appealing artwork. The main problems are that (a) the plot is nonexistent, and (b) the point of the comic – which seems to be that drug addiction is bad but the institutions that house drugs addicts are even worse – is made early in the issue and then over-dramatized, pretty much rammed down our throats, for 36 disturbing pages. If you're looking for a reason to be suicidal, this is the comic for you. What is the point of the several pages of brutality depicting a helpless addict being beaten with a two-by-four – or an entire page dedicated to a woman using the toilet? Well, it's only chapter one, so perhaps there is some sort of redemption to follow in the issues to come. And I realize that there are folks out there who enjoy reading this sort of thing... I emphasize again that, except for yielding to the temptation to be overly excessive – the creators have on display real comic storytelling talent, and are actually quite inventive experimenting with unique panel arrangements (one might call them cinematic, and Duffy and Tincher are not afraid to push the limits). And I confess that my opinions are colored by my own personal optimisim and dismay that some creators find apparent satisfaction in emphasizing the dark, violent, and hopeless aspects of society. So you may enjoy this comic –
Whisp #1 is overall pretty well done. To reiterate: good art, interesting panel arrangements, violent and depressing subject matter which drags on for way too long. But not a bad comic overall.
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< comics/x >
SMEARY SOAPBOX PRESS-ENTS #2
(35¢ + a stamp from Dale Martin / Smeary Soapbox Press / PO Box 442612 / Lawrence, KS / 66044 USA. Web:
http://home.swbell.net/grizmart)
Review by Steve Keeter
The star of this zany Dale Martin mini-comic is the Human Spring, a guy who, having been caught in the machinery which twists steel rods into coiled springs, suddenly finds himself endowed with the strength and flexibility of a spring! He happily springs from place to place and eventually unwittingly bounces onto just the right street, at just the right moment – that a crime is about to be commited! There’s some zany dialogue (“Look! Up in the sky” “It’s a FLYING NOODLE!”), but what is interesting is that the Spring’s own dialogue is pretty much written straight – he’s not Inspector Clouseau, he’s more like Stan Lee’s Spider-Man... even as the world succumbs to madness all around him. A curious note on something that was, I’m certain, totally unintended. Dale Martin’s art style here is very similar to that of Steve Shipley in his more cartoony moments. I coulda sworn that Shipley had illustrated some of this! Just coincidence, of course, and perhaps only of interest to those of us who knew Steve when he was involved in small press. Well, whatever. But this is a fun mini-comic, and definitely recommended.
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