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Archive for the ‘Graphic Novel’ Category

Hope Larson & Tintin Pantoja–Who is AC? (2013)

Posted in Graphic Novel, Hope Larson, Huh?, Humiliation, Lower Dens, Superheroes, Threats, Tintin Pantoja, Tiny Desk Concert on November 3, 2015| Leave a Comment »

acSOUNDTRACK: LOWER DENS-Tiny Desk Concert #84 (October 10 2010).

lowerLower Dens are a band from Baltimore who I’ve heard of but who I didn’t really know.  And after hearing this Tiny Desk, I immediately fell in love with their peculiar song structure and wonderfully expansive sound.

The set opens with “Two Cocks Waving Wildly At Each Other Across A Vast Open Space, A Dark Icy Tundra” which has a long (nearly 2 minutes) instrumental opening.  And then the song proper changes style completely.  It has great interplay of guitar and bass and gentle vocals.  And amazingly the song is only 4 minutes long, even with all that build up.

“I Get Nervous” is slower with waves of guitar washes.  It builds and ends quite suddenly.

Just before the third song, “Rosie” you can hear singer/guitarist Jana Hunter whisper “This is fun.”  She busts out an old beat up acoustic guitar on which she plays a slow 90 second guitar pattern before the chords kick in and then seconds later the vocals come along.  I love the soaring electric guitar over the top.  And again it is over before you suspect (the song is only 3 minutes).

The final song, “What Isn’t Nature” is moody and minor key.  It goes on for longer than the other songs and is just as good.

I have to check out more from this band who totally fell under my radar.

[READ: July 12, 2015] Who is AC?

I really like Hope Larson’s books and I especially like her drawing style.  So I was a little bummed to see that she didn’t draw this one.  Tintin Pantoja’s art style is very different and it was easy for me to forget this was a Larson story.  I liked Pantoja’s style but not as much as Larson’s–it’s just very different.

At the same time I didn’t really like this story that much.  There were some very cool elements but whether it was poorly explained by Larson or if the illustrations didn’t quite convey what was meant to be there, I’m not sure.

The book starts with Lin on a plane writing her zine, Rhea Ironheart.  She is flying to a new city and misses her friends already.  But mid-flight she receives a strange phone call from a number that is all binary.  She answers the phone and blacks out, but what could it mean? (more…)

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Nick Abadzis–Laika (2007)

Posted in Death, Dogs, First Second :01, Graphic Novel, Laika, Nick Abadzis, Nikita Khrushchev, Outer Space, Rana Santacruz, Russia, Scientists, Sergei Pavlovich, Tiny Desk Concert on November 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

  laikaSOUNDTRACK: RANA SANTACRUZ–Tiny Desk Concert #88 (November 2, 2010).

ranaThis is a fascinating Tiny Desk that was posted exactly five years ago as a way to celebrate the Day of the Dead.  Rana Santacruz plays ranchero music.  I did not know what to expect from ranchero music but to me there is a very bluegrass feel.  There is a banjo and a fiddle!  And then there’s trumpet and Santacruz’ accordion playing and Spanish lyrics.

The first song “Tacho El Gacho” begins with horns and has a kind of mariachi feel (Santacruz is dressed like a mariachi), but the song soon switches to that bluegrass feel and is very fun.

He introduces the next song by saying “The next song is called ‘Death.'”   And they play a ten second piece.  They laugh and joke that the real next song is “Dejala Entrar” about a sailor who leaves with death willingly  because of his happy life.  The chorus: “open the door let her in, death herself is here to pick me up.”  This one is like a sea shanty.

The third song is “El Funeral De Tacho” which has more trumpet and feels more mariachi in the opening.

He jokes about all their death songs but says that their songs that deal with death are happy ones.  And indeed, “El Ranchero Punk” feels like a real hootenanny.   The bass player even plays drums on the bass.

I enjoyed this set a lot, and even not really knowing what he was singing about, I totally got into the songs.

[READ: July 7, 2015] Laika

If you know who Laika is, you know that this is not going to be a happy story.  If you don’t know who Laika is, shame on you.  Laika was the first living creature shot into orbit.  She did not survive but she has become legend.

Abdzis has done a ton of research into Laika and the communist/American space race of the 1950s and 60s.  And he has created a wonderfully researched and nicely detailed account of the life of Laika and the people who handled her (and the women who loved her).

The story opens on a man walking through the snow. He has just been released from the gulag and is walking to the nearest town (in freezing weather).  It is Sergei Pavlovich, the future creator of Sputnik (he was falsely accused of treason).  And as the first chapter ends we see his success–Sputnik was the first satellite launched into orbit.  And we see that Nikita Khrushchev wants another satellite in one month. (more…)

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Charles M. Schulz–The Complete Peanuts: 1959-1960: The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip masterpiece: Dailies & Sundays (2006)

Posted in A Charlie Brown Christmas, Angst, Baseball, Butterflies, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Fantagraphics, Football, Funny (ha ha), Halloween, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Peanuts, Talking Heads, The Franks, Tiny Desk Concert, Tom Tom Club, Whoopi Goldberg on October 30, 2015| Leave a Comment »

1959SOUNDTRACK: TOM TOM CLUB-Tiny Desk Concert #82 (October 6, 2010).

tomtom Tom Tom Club were a side project of the rhythm section of the Talking Heads.  They had a hit with their song “Genius of Love” (you’d know the melody instantly).  I’ll be honest–I thought they only had one album out, but I see they had quite a few out and had recently re-formed and put out new records.

This set contains three songs.  “Wordy Rappington” which was on their debut, but which I’d never heard of.  I am shocked to see that it was a double A side with “Genius of Love.”  The song is a kind of amusing rap with a chorus of the children’s song “A Ram Sam Sam.” It is very kid friendly.

I will also be honest that I didn’t like The Tom Tom Club when they came out.  So even though I know the melody of “Genius of Love” I don’t know the song very well.  It’s kind of amusing though in that it name checks all kinds of musicians.  At one point they repeat “James Brown” over and over and then climax with “hit me!”

The music is surprisingly spare: an acoustic guitar or two, some bongos and an accordion (which plays the “Genius of Love” melody).

“Only the Strong Survive” is a cover of song by zydeco band The Franks.  Lead vocals and washboard are supplied by Mystic Bowie.

The band is having a ton of fun.  Considering Talking Heads were always kind of serious it’s nice to see Chris and Tina being silly..

[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1959-1960

This book marks more or less the ten-year anniversary of the first Peanuts strip.  Even though Patty (not Peppermint Patty) is on the cover, she gets very little time in the book.

The big news in this book is the arrival of Charlie’s little sister Sally!  In May of 1959 Charlie’s mom goes to the hospital for a few days.  And then Charlie is a proud big brother.  For a time, Snoopy is jealous and acts like a “fuzzy baby.”  However much Charlie talks about Sally, we don’t actually see her until August!  On a random Sunday Charlie is seen pushing her in her stroller (and missing out on baseball because of it).  There’s no really babyness for Sally.  She has a bottle, but while we saw a lot of baby time for Linus, there’s hardly any for Sally.  In fact, in October Snoopy gets her to dance.  And much later she gives Schroeder a hard time when he won’t play a lullaby for her.

She doesn’t really come into the picture all that much.  But by August of 1960, Sally thinks (still no speaking) that Linus is the cutest thing and has hearts floating around her when she sees him.  Charlie even has to wonder what’s going on here.  But Linus says, “I’m almost five years older than she.” (more…)

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Jon Morris–The League of Regrettable Superheroes

Posted in Ana Tijoux, Graphic Novel, Jon Morris, Neal Adams, Quirk Books, Superheroes, Superman, Threats, Tiny Desk Concert, Vampires, Violence, Zombies on October 24, 2015| Leave a Comment »

regretSOUNDTRACK: ANA TIJOUX-Tiny Desk Concert #77 (August 30, 2010).

Atiojouxna Tijoux was born in France.  Her parents moved there to escape the Chilean dictatorship.  She returned to Chile as a teenager and started rapping first in French and then in Spanish,

This Tiny Desk Concert is just her and a percussionist (Names Thompson) who is playing nothing but a modified tambourine (it’s an impressive variety of sounds he’s getting out of that).

Ana raps in Spanish.  I don’t really know anything that she’s saying.  And I have to admit that many times hearing someone speak quickly in Spanish sounds melodic anyway.  But she seems to be rapping with a great flow. It’s especially noticeable in the final song “Go!” when her speed increases exponentially.  And she is still very clear in her delivery.

I really enjoyed how in “La Rosa de los Vientos” she had sung a chorus at the end (her singing voice is lovely).

[READ: September 4, 2015] The League of Regrettable Superheroes

I received this book with my Loot Crate (this is the Loot Crate edition, which as far as I can tell just means it is smaller).  It is yet another wonderful book from Quirk Books.

This is a collection of superheroes who actually existed in comic book form–forgotten heroes, also-rans and all around second-tier superheroes.  The introduction is quick to point out that none of these superheroes is inherently bad.  Perhaps they had bad timing or got lost in the crowd.  He assures us that every character here has the potential to be great. In fact several have been revamped and revived

Each listed superhero has a brief synopsis which includes a Created By blurb, a Debuted in (giving the comic and the date of first publication) and an amusing commentary to accompany it.  There is a one page summary of the superhero and then a sample page from the comic (sometimes a cover, but more often a page of dialogue–which is always more fun).

Beginning in the Golden Age 1938-1949 (when every Super-Tom, Wonder-Dick, and Amazing-Harry could throw on a cape and a cowl and give Hitler the Business).  Superman debuted in 1938 and soon after everyone was making a superhero. (more…)

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Charles M. Schulz–The Complete Peanuts: 1957-1958: The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip masterpiece: Dailies & Sundays (2005)

Posted in A Charlie Brown Christmas, Angst, Baseball, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Fantagraphics, Football, Funny (ha ha), Halloween, It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Jonathan Franzen, Peanuts, Tiny Desk Concert on October 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

peanuts4SOUNDTRACK: BRIAN COURTNEY WILSON-Tiny Desk Concert #76 (August 25, 2010).

bcwBrian Courtney Wilson is not Brian Wilson. Rather, this Wilson sings  lovely religious songs.

This is an overtly Christian performance and as such I did not really enjoy it. Having said that, his voice is terrific and his backing vocalists are subtle and uplifting without overpowering the music.

He sings three songs: “All I Need” “Believe” and “Already Here.”  For some reason, there’s no video for “Believe” so you have to listen to the audio only track to hear it.

[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1957-1958

Some new themes emerge in this, the fourth volume of the Complete Peanuts.  Charlie seems to get branded with the “wishy-washy” curse a lot more (except when it’s raining and he’s not willing to give up his baseball game).

The angst is getting heavier now too with Charlie Brown saying “sometimes I think my soul is full of weeds).   Then in April 1958 he says “It always rains on the unloved.”   Even the normally chipper Snoopy (who at one point says “to live is to dance, to dance is to live”) gets a little mopey and introspective “when I was a puppy every day was a happy day suddenly bang, and I’m in my declining years.”

I feel like Lucy and Linus are showing up a lot more.  And Pig-Pen, really a one-joke character is appearing less but has not been forgotten.

I particularly enjoyed the concern that the earth was overpopulated (from Lucy).  And after she says “The earth can’t feed this many people” Linus replies “Why Don’t You Leave?” (more…)

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Tadao Tsuge–Trash Market (2015)

Posted in And Flowers and Storms, Drawn & Quarterly, Garo, Graphic Novel, Jefferson Airplane, Manga, Ryan Holmberg, Tadao Tsuge, The Animals, The Doors, The Mops, Translation, Vincent van Gogh, Violence, Yago, Yoshiharu Tsuge on October 11, 2015| Leave a Comment »

tsugeSOUNDTRACK: MOPS-“White Rabbit” (1968).

mopsAfter totally grooving on The Mops’ songs in yesterday’s post I decided I had to check out their cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit.”

And, boy do I love it.  It came from their debut album Psychedelic Sound in Japan which was released in 1968 (“White Rabbit” came out in 1967).   The album also includes covers of “Somebody to Love” by Jefferson Airplane, “Light My Fire” by The Doors and two songs by The Animals.  They received much press for being the “first psychedelic band” in Japan, and performed with elaborate light shows.

Lead singer Hiromitsu Suzuki really nails all the notes (even if he doesn’t quite nail all the words), but I especially enjoy the instrumentation they employ–the violin is an interesting addition.  And the way the instruments are separated in headphones (all drums in the right ear?) is really psychedelic.

It is really a trippy version (“Somebody to Love” is pretty fine too, especially when the really buzzy guitar kicks in about half way through).

Trash Market

Tadao Tsuge is a Japanese cartoonist considered “one of alternative manga’s cult stars.”  He has been making cartoons since 1959 and has contributed to all manner of Japanese publications.

What seems to set him apart from other cartoonists (according to the interviews and such that fill out the book) is that Tadao grew up in the slums of Tokyo and is willing to write about them.  He also worked for many many years at a blood bank (one that paid people for their blood).  It was there, amid the terrible conditions, that he believes he contracted hepatitis.

The amazing thing to me while reading these six cartoons (which I assume are only a tiny fraction Tadao’s total output, but I’m not sure) is that I had no idea when they were written–they have a timelessness that is really amazing.  So when I finally flipped back to the front and saw that the first story was written in 1968, I was blown away. (more…)

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Réal Godbout–Amerika: Based on the Novel by Franz Kafka (2014) [translated 2014]

Posted in Built to Spill, Franz Kafka, Graphic Novel, Helge Dascher, Luck, Réal Godbout, Sex, Translation on October 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

godboutSOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-“Carry the Zero” (1999).

zeroI loved “Carry the Zero” so much that I immediately bought the CD single (that’s what you did back in the 90s).

The Ep contains 6 songs.  There’s two tracks from Keep It Like a Secret (“Carry the Zero” & “Sidewalk” which is good in itself), 2 new songs (“Forget Remember When” and “Now & Then”) and 2 live songs “Kicked it in the Sun” and “Big Dipper.”

The two unreleased songs are good, but neither one is quite as immediate as anything on the album.  Of course, if you’re looking for extra BtS tracks, these are just waiting for you.

The real gems are the two live songs.  Both of them are solo acoustic guitar recordings recorded in a tiny setting.  They are quite different from the album.  I feel that “Big Dipper” fares a little better since the song is simpler.  There are some complex chord changes in “Kicked It in the Sun” which lose a little of their immediacy in the stripped down version.  Which is not to say that it’s bad–the first half of the song sounds great–it’s when it gets to the middle that it feels a little cumbersome.

So this is certainly a die-hards only release, but if you’re looking for some unusual BtS recordings, this is a great place to start.

[READ:October 2, 2015] Amerika

This is a graphic novel version of Franz Kafka’s Amerika.  And it is really well done.  The artwork is fantastic–clean lines, distinctive characters and wonderfully detailed background scenes.

I don’t know the original story at all, so I assume that Godbout was faithful to it (the back of the book says he was). Actually, this graphic novel was translated by Helge Dascher, so I wonder if she translated Godbout of Kafka?

Unlike so much of Kafka, this story isn’t really “Kafkaesque.”  There is some darkness to it and there are machinations of trouble for the main character, but it is not a perpetual state of nightmarish life.

Karl Rossmann is a young immigrant to America.  (Kafka had never been to America, but he gets quite a lot right).  He was sent to America because of an embarrassing sexual incident (which is rendered rather humorously).  When he arrives in New York harbor, he disembarks from the ship but forgets his umbrella.  So he races back on the ship.  But instead of finding it, he runs into the ship’s engine stoker.  The hulking man is suspicious if him, but after they talk for a few minutes Karl convinces the stoker to air his grievances about his supervisor to the ship’s captain. (more…)

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Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke Allen–Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten Holy (2015)

Posted in Adventure, Boom! Box, Built to Spill, Funny (ha ha), Grace Ellis, Graphic Novel, Noelle Stevenson, Unfinished series on October 6, 2015| Leave a Comment »

lumberSOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-Keep It Like a Secret (1999).

keepitThis was the first Built to Spill album I ever bought and from the opening notes of the “The Plan” I was immediately hooked on the song, the album and the band. Doug’s voice is high and strong and it has a great ringing guitar riff and big chords to open the song.  Then comes the excellent third section that seems to have nothing to do with the rest of the song but which sounds great. And then it’s capped off with the crazy guitar solo that is wild noises and seemingly out of tune notes that all gels together.

Like many Built to Spill albums, the whole disc works like this. The sound is a bit more open and ringing, dare I say orchestral than the previous album (which always felt a bit claustrophobic sounding to me). And most of the songs have multiple distinct parts.  But also unlike the previous record, the songs are mostly much shorter (with “Center of the Universe”) turning in at under 3 minutes even.

“Carry the Zero” was the first song I heard by them, and it was the real impetus for me becoming a huge fan (I have put this song on so many mix tapes/CDs).  “Sidewalk” continues with another fantastic, surprisingly catchy song.

“Time Trap” stars off with wild and crazy guitars and then mellows out for the verses.  And I love that the super catchy chorus comes more than 3 minutes into the 5 minute song.  I have about 6 or 7 favorite songs on this record, although “You Were Wrong” tops them all, with its lyrics of clichés from other songs: “You were right when you said all that glitters isn’t gold; you were right when you said all we are is dust in the wind.”  Hilarious, but also right on (and amazing musically too)

“Broken Chairs” is the only long song on the disc running almost 9 minutes long. It even includes a section with a whistle solo.  It’s cool that on a relatively poppy album full of super catchy songs, Doug wasn’t afraid to jam out a little bit (the song is amazing live).

[READ: October 1, 2015] Lumberjanes

I love the premise behind Lumberjanes.  The Lumberjanes are a kind of Girl Scout/Wilderness Adventure group.  They have been around for a long time and the Janes must follow the manual to achieve their various badges.  I love the way the book is set up around an “actual” field manual from 1984 (tenth edition) which has been

Prepared for the Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for [written in] HARDCORE LADY-TYPES.

This graphic novel has received glowing reviews so I was pretty excited to read it.  And for the most part I really enjoyed it.  The story was funny and adventurous.  And, of course it’s cool that all the lead characters are girls.  My daughter (age 7) loved the book and couldn’t wait to show me the last page and wondered when the next book was out.  Since she loved it I guess my opinion is irrelevant, but I didn’t love it as much as that. There were some quibbles I had with the book, but that’s mostly because I wanted it to be awesome!

The first one came on the first page.  The book feels like you’ve missed a whole bunch of pages.  I know all about starting in medias res and all that but it never really catches us up to the action. There’s not really a fair introduction to the story.  And while you don’t really need an introduction necessarily, I feel like a great opportunity was lost in not having one. (more…)

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Charles M. Schulz–The Complete Peanuts: 1955-1956: The Definitive Collection of Charles M. Schulz’s comic strip masterpiece: Dailies & Sundays (2005)

Posted in A Charlie Brown Christmas, Baseball, Built to Spill, Charles Schulz, Comic Strips, Ding Dong School, Fantagraphics, Figure Skating, Football, Funny (ha ha), Matt Groening, Peanuts, Walter Cronkite on October 2, 2015| Leave a Comment »

1955SOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-Perfect from Now On (1997).

330px-Perfect_From_Now_OnBuilt to Spill moved to the major labels and everything changed. No that’s not true. The band (well, Doug mostly) just sounds more serious about their music. What’s impressive is that there are no obvious  singles since each song is over 5 minutes long (except for one).

This is considered a classic 90s album but fans of the band and others.  And while I like it, it’s not my favorite.  A few of the songs are a little too drifty and anticlimactic.  But at he same time there’s some really amazing stuff here.

It opens with “Randy Describing Eternity” a cool song with a great riff and an interesting lyrics.  My favorite song (most days) on this record is “I would Hurt a Fly.” It has a fairly quiet intro with more intriguing lyrics: “I can’t get that sound you make out of my head/ I can’t even figure out what’s making it.”  The song waxes and wanes and even adds some cello. And then at 4 minutes, the song shifts gears entirely, stopping to add a brand new fast section with some great guitar work and wild noisy soloing.

“Stop the Show” is another favorite.  It opens with a slow meandering guitar section and then jumps to a great, frenetic set of verses. After about 5 and a half minutes the song turns into a crazy noisy fest and then switches to an amazingly catchy guitar instrumental solo outro, which could frankly go for five more hours. “Made Up Dreams” has several different elements in it. And even though it’s only 4:52, it still packs in a lot of music.

“Velvet Waltz” is over 8 minutes long. It has slow parts, and a lengthy middle section with strings (in waltz time of course). It builds slowly adding some cool guitar sections and a great long solo at the end. “Out of Site” is one of the shorter songs on the disc.  It has an immediate, fast section that is very catchy. It then mellows out to a slow cello-filled section. “Kicked it in the Sun” is kind of trippy.  At four and a half minutes a noisy section overtakes the music, but behind the noise is a beautiful, pretty guitar/keyboard melody.  Then it shifts out of the noise into a more rocking catchy section.

The final song is the nearly 9 minute “Untrustable/Part 2.”  It begins loud with great lyrics “You can’t trust anyone because you’re untrustable.”  Like the other songs it has several parts.  Around 4 minutes it turns into another song altogether. This continues for a bit and then at 7 minutes it shifts gears entirely into a keyboard dominated romp.

There’s so many interesting melodies and changes in this album, and it clear that it was completely influential on late 90s indie rock.  But I think what’s even more impressive is that each album get a little bit better.

[READ: September 29, 2015] The Complete Peanuts 1955-1956

Moving on to volume 3 of the Complete Peanuts.  Stylistically things are advancing towards the Peanuts characters we know now.  Yet they haven’t quite gotten there.  I think the kids’ faces (not their heads, just features) are still much smaller.  And Snoopy still looks like a real dog, although his nose grows year by year.

In the beginning of the year, there’s a funny line from Lucy, attacking commericalism. Charlie is reading her a book.  He says “Once upon a time they lived happily ever after.  The end”  And Lucy says “What’s on the rest of these pages, Advertising?”  Much later there a joke in which Lucy asks Schroeder how much a musician makes, and he relies “Money?  Who cares about money?  This is art. You Blockhead.”  It is ironic of course that Schulz went on to become so staggeringly wealthy–but maybe that just shows what good art can achieve.

Another one of my favorite sophisticated jokes comes when Lucy is flying a kite.  The joke is all about perspective. It’s hilarious. (more…)

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Mark Millar & Frank Quitely–Jupiter’s Legacy Book One (2015)

Posted in Built to Spill, Frank Quitely, Graphic Novel, Mark Millar, Superheroes, Supernatural, The Incredibles, Violence on October 1, 2015| Leave a Comment »

jup[iterSOUNDTRACK: BUILT TO SPILL-The Normal Years (1996).

btsnormalIn 1996, Built to Spill signed with a major label.  In the meantime, K Records, released this collection of early singles and rarities (not bad for a band with two albums out).

It’s not a bad collection, but it’s also not terribly essential.”So & So So & So from Wherever Wherever” is a very good song, with a weird almost seasick guitar intro and then some big heavy guitars in the chorus.  It, like most of the songs here, is pretty lo-fi.

“Shortcut” is a fast and simple song and is only 90 seconds long.  “Car” is the original version of the song from Love.  This one has no strings and is “Some Things Last a Long Time” is a Daniel Johnston song.  It opens slow with “ah ah” backing vocals and slow guitars although at 90 seconds the guitars kick in and pick up the noise.

“Girl” is done on an acoustic guitar song.  It seems very honest and confessional with the lyric that he would like “someone I can talk to; someone I don’t have to talk to.”

“Joyride” is like the opposite of “Girl.”  It’s probably my favorite song here–sloppy and funny, with a great line: “I screwed her and she screwed me but we never once had sex.”  And the whole second verse talks about the structure of the song, including which chords are being played.  It even includes a car crash.   “Some” is a live recording that opens with slow pounding drums and a long solo to start.  It mellows out by the end.

“Sick & Wrong” is an early single with a surprisingly funky bassline.  “Still Flat” comes from the Red Hot & Bothered collection, so it sounds better recorded than the other songs.  It also has a trombone.  The final song, “”Terrible/Perfect” starts slow but builds big and ends with a long mellow instrumental section.

While there are certainly some good songs here, it’s really for the die hard fan.

[READ: September 29, 2015] Jupiter’s Legacy

Jupiter’s Legacy Book One collects books 1-5 of the Jupiter’s Legacy series.

I didn’t love the artwork of this story.  There was something about it that I found disagreeable.  And it made my initial impression of the story less than great, too.  There is a bunch happening all at once that needs to be unpacked and I was a little distracted by the art.

But the story is so good.  It takes ideas that have been bandied about recently–What do superheroes do if there are no more super villains?  What do the children of superheroes do?  And what would happen if superpowers become illegal–and adds a personal drama (and a very elliptical storytelling style).

The story opens in 1932.  A group of people are requesting transportation to an island which the ship’s captain says simply isn’t there.  The leader, Sheldon, has had a dream about it being there and everyone (including his brother William) trusts his visions completely.  And they do find the island just as Sheldon imagined.

Then we flash forward to 2013.  We see two young people who look a bit like the earlier men and women.  It turns out that they are the son and daughter of the 1932 folks.  They are celebrities living in Los Angeles, and they looks somewhat the worse for wear.  Meanwhile in Vermont actual superheroes are battling Blackstar.  And that’s when we see Sheldon is one of those superheroes.  He has gray hair but, well, he’s a superhero–in tights a cape and he is known as Utopian.  He is super string and has a cool ability of removing a person’s mind from their body and putting it in a safe place while that person’s body is getting pummeled.  This prevents them from fighting back. (more…)

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