Brendan Peveril . net

So, I went to a book signing yesterday. You probably already know who Faith Hicks is from the venerable (by webcomic standards) Demonology 101. Her debut graphic novel is less a zombie story than a meta zombie story, so if you spend a lot of time thinking about zombies it will be your bag. I do that, waste time thinking about zombies.

Anyway, the important parts, there’s clever dialogue, asskicking, and the story skips along effortlessly when it needs to without getting mired in details or labourious fight scenes. The books reads a lot like Max Brooks’ zombie stuff, only without his eerie humourless affect. It’s exactly what it needs to be.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Faith comes up with next and you should be too. I’d try to explain why she wrote “Wolf Blitzer!” while she was defiling my book, but it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It was funny at the time, but you had to be there.

I’m not familiar with Mawil Witzel’s work at all, so I’m writing this as I read the novel originally, in a vacuum as far as that goes.

The artwork is something. Alone, it’s worth the price. He really captures the feel you get from spending too much time on the beach; The borderline heat stroke, the crashing waves, the heat of the sun, the constant press of wind and sand, the cackling flocks of gulls.

As far as the storytelling goes, I’m having a hard time coming up with anything to say that doesn’t sound like a backhanded compliment from a frustrated hack. Maybe it’s a little predictable, maybe it’s a little trite, but it’s effective, charismatic, and it speaks to me. Mix in a little bit of shamelessly blatant self insertion, and that’s what you get. I’m not going to call it ground breaking, or the best thing I’ve ever read, but it’s on my shelf, and I’ll probably read it again a few times.

Of course, maybe I’m being gentle with it because I’m, quite literally, marooned on a beach. If you are too I’d definitely recommend it, and if you’re not it’s worth taking a look anyway.

So, I’m not getting any work done tonight, I’m not in an unbeligerant mood, what will I do? I’ll start with the bad.

Josh Howard’s opening oeuvre in the comic world is good, but, I’m afraid that he doesn’t go as far as he should. He’s writing a story with religious connotations, nay, religious assertions, and he doesn’t break new ground or say anything controversial. He creates a subsystem, claiming to be contrary to the established mainstream, yet never deviating significantly from’t. I am disappointed.

That said, the writing’s solid enough (I’m more than a little worried that my first professional publication (ha ha ha, that was a little joke there) won’t be this seamless) for an artist’s early work (Miller aside that’s high praise). He has an unquestionably sensitive ear for teenage relationship drama, and there’s a good dribbling of sentimentality all around the bits that need it.

The art is great, though. I have a hard time conceiving of a world where this guy couldn’t get a pro assignment before this. Seriously. It’s the cream of the post-manga-American-style. We’re talking Chynna Clugston shit here. It’s sweet. For serious. Do you believe me yet?

Anyway, the shit that matters: There’s a bit of religious intrigue. There’s jailbait. There’s zombies (fuck yes, the zombies). There’s gun play. It’s worth your fucking money, kids.

Also, I’d like to apologize for copping out and just sticking in Wikipedia links. I am so very tired.

[EDIT] I feel it bears mentioning, and should the things I’ve been working on recently come to print it will become obvious, I feel strongly about people writing about religion.

Heavy Metal Hearts + Flowers
A Scary Go Round Story by John Allison

I’ve been a fan of John Allison’s work for a long time, since Bobbins, the sort of first incarnation of Scary Go Round. While his art didn’t really change between the original strips (1998) and this book (2004) (there are some differences; it’s much more dynamic than it used to be), Mr. Allison’s storytelling style developed drastically. While the earlier comics stood almost completely on his quirky artwork and endearing characters this book delivers an great, fast paced, stand alone story.

The only thing I can really criticize? I think it needs more Shelley. Of course, I think everything needs more Shelley.

By Hope Larson

I’ll admit that I read these a while ago, and I still don’t know what to say to convince everyone that they should read it. I was original introduced to Ms. Larson’s work through She’s From Away, a series that hit very close to home for me, about being in a new place and figuring out what being a grownup is all about. She does things with sequential art that you don’t see very often; every page is like a poem. Gray Horses (and Salamander Dream) carry these same themes to a longer format with Ms. Larson’s incredible sense of graphic and narrative grace.

These books blew me away, and changed the way I think about comics. You should own them too.

In the interest of plugging things that deserve plugging, Ms. Larson has a new book out as of a couple of months ago, but I’ve only seen a few pages, so I can only assume that it’s good.

Also, someone out there has a signed copy of Gray Horses with my name on it (literally). I’m checking my mailbox every day wondering when it’s going to show up. You know who you are.

So, yeah, so much for getting useful things done. Civilization is the enemy of productivity. I did get a chance to read The Horror of Collier County by Rich Tommaso, though. Last time I hit the comic shop some irresponsible idiot had given me a coupon for 15% off the whole order and I had a hankering for indy comics and horror; THoCC jumped out at me.

The art and the story telling are really representative of the late nineties indy comic scene, think Clowes and Tomine, without coming across as a rip off of anything in particular. While the art doesn’t particularly stick out, the story itself is a solid fast-paced read with hints of Faulkner. I recommend it if you’ve got some cash and you’re looking for something substantial that’s not going to eat all of your income and time for several months.