Something is changing in Lapham’s art. His figures and faces are getting more streamlined, less thorough and there are a lot of almost all black panels.
Perhaps he’s rushing. But only on the art.
He’s still working hard on the story. This issue has a woman whose drunk husband comes home, followed by a bunch of acquaintances from the bar looking for money. Most of the issue is this oddly dangerous situation, since the acquaintances are drunk cops.
These characters might tie in to previous issues, but I can’t remember. Lapham gives the married couple a lot of back story; he handles it really well in the dialogue and I’m hoping he doesn’t waste the time doing an issue on it.
As the strange evening progresses, there are plot developments, characters bonding, characters not bonding. It’s a really great issue. The hopefulness even matches the streamlined, rounder faces Lapham draws.
A
CREDITS
While Ricky Fish Was Sleeping…; writer, artist, and letterer, David Lapham; editor, Deborah Dragovic; publisher, El Capitán Books.
It's a strange issue. There are a couple big things going on, one with Mike at the LeMonde Christmas party and getting in a fight with Kara. The other one is the more historical story line with the new TV star with a big secret. It's an unexpected secret too; good stuff on that story line.
Sal Trapani inks Mayerik fairly well. Everyone looks a little too Marvel house style for it to be a horror comic, but it’s good art. There’s a lot of action in the issue, with Man-Thing getting involved with these Native American kids who decide to attack an industrialist destroying the swamp. They do it in costume, which gives the book an odd feel.
And I’m done. While it’s obvious Carey isn’t done with all his reveals on Suicide Risk, he’s also gotten to the point of no return. When you start aping Back to the Future, okay! it’s just for a joke and it works all right… But Carey reveals his superhero universe to be based on Highlander II: The Quickening and there’s no excuse for it.
Lapham starts fresh this issue, set a few years before the Virginia and Beth storyline; this time the protagonist is a hen-pecked husband who breaks down and kills someone. The experience proves a boon for his ego and he changes his life. Actually, he mostly starts drinking, sleeping with some other guy’s wife, hangs out at strip clubs, romances a stripper with a heart of gold.
The parts of Nailbiter work better, for the first issue anyway, than the whole. Writer Joshua Williamson introduces the very silly idea of an epicenter of serial killers; while the Pacific Northwest does (or did) produce the most serial killers, Williamson localizes it to one very strange town.
Gerber writes the heck out of the first feature length Man-Thing story. There’s a lot of new information introduced, with Gerber doing a lengthy flashback. The flashback–to Atlantis and an explanation of something the present–takes the place of a backup story. But put as a second chapter, it relieves a lot of drama. Not too much, just about right.
Ennis pulls Red Team up a notch with this issue. He’s got a lot on the killer cops, but they’re after a pedophile priest–and Ennis manages to restrain himself when they’re all talking about the Catholic Church too. It’s impressive.
It’s another great issue. Lapham’s uneven overall, but when he does a great issue, it’s truly great.
So Ennis is going to go through various interrogations, which surprised me. I sort of figured there’d be a big shoot out at the end, Reservoir Dogs style. Maybe he’s still got time.
The Man-Thing feature is pretty good. Gerber starts clarifying the nexus in the swamp and also the real villains behind the story. They’re not the most original villains–demons from hell–but the way Gerber sets it up is strong. While there’s a forward-thinking element to the top story with the kids hanging out with Man-Thing, the demons are gloriously aged.
Garth Ennis must have really wanted to write for “The Shield”. Or maybe Dynamite asked him to do something ready for Hollywood and not too expensive so he came up with Red Team.
A lot of stuff comes to a head this issue, which is double-sized, and even has some backstory on how the characters ended up in Seaside. Maybe it was during that first party issue. At least it seems to be the result of it. I think. If it’s so important, Lapham should have included CliffsNotes.
Please excuse the colloquial expression, but what a piece of utter crap. Did anyone read Nathan Edmondson's script? Maybe it's just me. Maybe I don't like terrible plays from twelve-year olds, so I don't like Edmondson's script for Genesis. I can't even imagine if I'd paid seven dollars for this tripe.
Oh, very good news–Val Mayerik is on the pencils (with Frank Bolle in inks). From the first couple pages of Man-Thing, it's clear the art is going to be a lot better. It shouldn't be particularly obvious, as it's a Man-Thing story and Mayerik doesn't illustrate him until later in the story but the way Mayerik draws the supporting cast is enough to show things have turned around.
Thanks to the Internet, unofficial, fan-made productions can get a lot of exposure. Why people haven’t been doing more unofficial superhero comics is beyond me. It makes great senses but you don’t hear about many.
Lapham does integrate Virginia (who called her Ginny, I can't remember) into the Seaside cast. And all of a sudden, if it weren't for the meth heads or whatever they are trying to rape a thirteen year-old girl (they're the comic relief, actually), Stray Bullets would be almost a sitcom. A quirky one, sure, but a sitcom nonetheless.
Something about Hawkins's presentation of facts–the way he uses his protagonist to narrate her past from her present, it makes Tales of Honor very palatable. There are a lot of absurd details, like how the protagonist has the psychic cat who she keeps with her. And takes with her on diplomatic meetings.
This issue's better than the last, with Spock kidnapped by Klingons and Kirk trying to figure out how to resolve the situations. No Dracula appearance–maybe Mike W. Barr didn't like that idea either (or maybe Wolfman always insisted)–but there are still a bunch of dumb monsters showing up.
Glass brings in something I don’t think I realized the comic was missing–the Jim Gordon character. Some kind of person for Furious to have a conversation with about things, even if it’s brief.
Ginny finally gets to Seaside and truly meets the cast there. Havoc ensues. Madcap havoc. There’s violence and there’s a little bit of evil, but Lapham plays it all for humor. Not even surreal humor. He’s got a cast of supporting characters he mocks and mock them he does.
There’s a lot to like about this issue. There’s a fantastic twist at the end, but all of a sudden it made me wonder if Esquivel might have tried pitching this series as a Marvel movie. Not because of anything in the issue itself, but how perfectly the twist works. It overshadows everything else in the comic.
With the limitless possibilities of a comic book, Wolfman goes instead with the Enterprise encountering some kind of haunted house in space. It’s bewildering, but somehow appropriate–it certainly feels like an episode out of the television show, what with the budget and everything.
Again, there’s nothing so much wrong with Clockwork Angels as there’s nothing particularly right about it. Gorgeous art from Robles–sort of a gentle steampunk. There’s nothing dangerous but there’s lots of pretty technology and architecture. There’s no mood.
The Stop Button 