Edison Beaker, Creature Seeker - Frank Cammuso
Eight Million Ways To Die - John K. Snyder
A pitch-perfect adaptation of the beloved Matt Scudder novel, in which the monstrous cruelty of New York, particularly a case involving a dead hooker who wanted out of the life, keeps the grim detective edging ever closer to sobriety. Scudder's eternal struggle between his fatalism and his dogged interest in rough justice is brought vividly to life. The art, also by Snyder, is on point, all rough sketches colored with washes of red and grey. Even Block's sometimes cartoony characters (a classy pimp who becomes an art mogul!) are made more believable on the graphic page. [5]
El Deafo - CeCe Bell [Harry Abrams]
An autobiographical tale
(in anthropomorphic rabbit form) of growing up with hearing aids and the
search for a friend who can accept you for who you are, not avoid you
as a weirdo or lay on the "you are a special wonder" nonsense. Funny
and heartfelt, with cute drawings. [4.5]
Elmer - Gerry Alanguilan [SLG]
Some
sort of singularity brings sentience and speech to chickens, who then
must fight against an incredulous, violent human race for the respect
and rights that they deserve. It's a human-rights allegory dressed in a
rather outlandish premise. Despite the originality of the setup, the
allegory is not startling; it's surprisingly by-the-numbers. Library.
[3]
Emmie and Friends - Terri Libenson
Essex County - Jeff Lemire
Set in the Canadian farming community of Essex County, this somewhat gloomy book tells the interconnected stories of three unfortunate residents. The first part, Tales from the Farm, centers on young Lester, sent to live with his Uncle Ken after his mother’s death from cancer. He draws crude comics, unable to express his pain and awkward with Ken. He befriends former hockey player Jimmy, working at a gas station after his head injury. The second part, Ghost Stories, shows a man named Lou alone only with his memories of the rift that tore him and his brother apart, then as deafness and dementia set in and he is moved from his farm house to a nursing home, estranged from his brother and growing deaf and succumbing to dementia. It's terribly bleak. The third part, The Country Nurse, follows Anne as she flits about the county visiting and caring for others, all the time struggling with her own family situation, while her centenarian mother is in a nursing home, recalling her life. The art is ink-heavy and blocky, and while it fits the dreary tone of the stories, it didn't exactly draw me in. [4]
The Eternal Smile - Gene Luen Yang and Derek Kirk Kim [First Second]
Three
short stories, each dealing with fantasy life vs. reality, and how
while the former is fragile and an escape, it also serves as a source of
strength in dealing with the latter. Well done but not exceptional,
except the final story which goes in a slightly unexpected direction.
[3.5]
Eternals by Jack Kirby: The Complete Collection - Jack Kirby
The nineteen issues and annual of Kirby's Eternals. Beautiful, gorgeous colors on Kirby's madman-visionary art. The faces of panicked people, detailed machinery, bizarre robots, arcane symbols, and flamboyant costumes all burst to life. The story itself is not particularly great, although the drug-trip concepts (Deviants! Uni-Mind! Celestials!) are fantastic. There's no attempt to set the story in the existing Marvel universe, although it clearly is set there. The idea that they are the source for Earth legends such as Greek and Roman gods is particularly dissonant, since said gods, you know, exist in the Marvel Universe. The Kirby dialogue, with its high-flown quasi-Shakespearean histrionics mixed with New Yawk street talk, is endearing of itself but sort of undercuts my engagement in the story. [3.5]
Ex Machina - Brian K. Vaughn
- 1. The First Hundred Days - Mitchell Hundred is elected Mayor of New York City. He can talk to and control machines as a result of an encounter with an alien device. He used to be a superhero who called himself "The Great Machine" but was largely regarded as a nuisance. Taking on all the liberal issues of the day like school vouchers and gay marriage, he also has to deal with conspiracies against him, his past a costumed vigilante, and the bizarre alien tech that made him the way he is. A little dated and almost quaint nearly ten years later, but extremely well done. [5]
- 2. Tag - Mayor Hundred deals with post-9/11 guilt, a serial killer, and Roma fortune teller who seems to be the real thing. [4.5]
- 3. Fact v. Fiction - The zigzagging chronology of the narrative continues to be extremely well done in this story. [4.5]
- 4. March to War - Finally (in flashback, of course) we meet Hundred's "arch-nemesis," Pherson, who can talk to animals after a botched experiment to replicate Hundred's powers. I'm not sure that playing his words backward would make the animals turn on him. Even in this fictional setting that's just... not how anything works. Vaughn continues to offer theoretical fixes to the problems of the day, such as capital punishment. [4]
- 5. Smoke Smoke - A thief disguised a fire fighter! People self-immolating on City hall steps! A mole on Hundred's staff! [4.5]
- 6. Power Down - The power goes out, Hundred loses his powers, and a man comes from another brane to warn Hundred about something. [4.5]
- 7. Ex Cathedra - While Hundred meets with the Pope, some Russians try to hack his mind. More of his past is revealed, and he sees a slave ghost. This story continues to be a page-turner, a suspenseful puzzle begging to be solved. [4.5]
- 8. Dirty Tricks - Kremlin continues working with the mole in Gracie Mansion to bring Hundred back to the flying suit. Still a terrific mix of action, suspense, and humor. A brief but funny vignette about a graphic novel autobiography guest starring Vaughn and his illustrator is a great capper. [4.5]
- 9. Ring Out the Old - New year, new elements of the past and what exactly gave Hundred his powers come to light. [4.5]
- 10. Term Limits - Maybe it's just me, but this seemed to end quite abruptly. I feel like many threads were dropped unceremoniously (like the dimension traveler from Power Down), or given strange endings. The sudden drunken gayness of his longtime bodyguard comes out of nowhere, and Hundred's rather nefarious self-serving side is a jolt. [3.5]
Exiles - Judd Winick
- Down the Rabbit Hole - A team of alternate universe mutants are brought together by a mysterious power (a convenient plot device) in order to "rectify" supposed problems in the multiverse. Blink, Morph, Mimic, Nocturne (Nightcrawler's daughter) and others bond as they go from reality to reality, making sure things happen the right way. Winick's dialogue is fast-paced and cute, and this is a fun way to cherry-pick interesting bits of the ridiculously complicated X-universe lore. [4]
- A World Apart - The merry brand of alternate reality misfits team up with a version of Alpha Flight to fight Hulk, and find themselves on a Skull-occupied world fighting in gladiator games. Still fun, although it occurs to me that this is very much MTV's "The Real World" is superhero form -- a group of attractive strangers, brought together by an outside force, romances form, one of them is obnoxious, see if they can get along, lots of cheesecake, etc. Interesting. And while he's a great character, Morph's non-stop "horny dude" persona gets old after a while. [3.5]
