Cinema Purgatorio 1 (February 2016)

Cinema Purgatorio #1 I wonder what Cinema Purgatorio is going to be. The first issue has five stories, all by different creators. It’s Alan Moore’s idea, it’s an Avatar horror anthology. The writers are Moore, Garth Ennis, Max Brooks, Kieron Gillen, Christos Gage. Avatar guys. The artists are Kevin O’Neill, Raulo Caceres, Michael DiPascale, Ignacio Calero, Gabriel Andrade. In other words, Kevin O’Neill and some Avatar guys.

Moore and O’Neill contribute the opening frame. There’s a demented slapstick short, then some musings on film and pop entertainment. I can never tell if Moore knows how strange it is to have him talk about film–when his public comments on film are always about a negative interaction with film–or if he really does just like talking about it grandiosely. It’s a strange kind of grandiose though. Moore’s setting up the concept of the book–demented Saturday matinee.

The other writers approach the matinee differently. With the exception of Ennis and Caceres’s Code Pru, which is sort of sitcom gore, everything else is in some way zeitgeist pop. Gillen and Calero do something with fantasy beasts, cyberpunk and Fury Road villains called Modded (get it, gamer stuff). Brooks and DiPascale do A More Perfect Union, which is probably going to be Civil War vs. zombies because Max Brooks (only with historical “accuracy” for Civil War buffs). Gage and Andrade have The Vast, which is fighter jets versus kaiju and what not.

The Ennis story and the Brooks story are writer pieces. But Gillen and Gage are just setting up their artists for awesomeness. Both Calero and Andrade excel in the black and white sort of horror, sort of fantasy, sort of sci-fi realm. The black and white brings out all the little details, focusing the reader on the violence of the situation. Without color, the fantastic element is gone. The same thing happens with Caceres’s art, but that one is still all about Ennis’s dialogue and scene pacing.

The Brooks and DiPascale story is the least successful. I’m most excited for whatever Moore and O’Neill come up with, but also Code Pru and Vast. Modded will be a fine read with good art.

Cinema Purgatorio is, conceptually, a success. Now they just need to ship it on time.

CREDITS

Cinema Purgatorio, The Fatal Officers in “Hushed Up!”; writer, Alan Moore; artist, Kevin O’Neill. Code Pru, You’ll Never Forget Your First Time; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Raulo Caceres. Modded; writer, Kieron Gillen; artist, Ignacio Calero. A More Perfect Union; writer, Max Brooks; artist, Michael DiPascale. The Vast; writer, Christos Gage; artist, Gabriel Andrade. Publisher, Avatar Press.

Code Pru (2015) #2

Code Pru 2

Code Pru wraps up this issue–the series continues as part of the upcoming Avatar anthology Cinema Purgatorio, which seems kind of odd for Garth Ennis. Garth Ennis is the name and Code Pru, with Caceres perfectly creepy art on it, the book seems like it has a lot of potential. Running it into an anthology? Bold move and a good sales pitch for Purgatorio.

Ennis isn’t dealing with religion here. He’s dealing with monsters. Old god monsters, sure, but monsters. But the way he approaches them is the same as he did religious issues. He’s branching out, with less interest in religious commentary and more on his characters. Plus, he gets to tell a lot of dirty jokes from unlikely characters. It’s fun. It’s also scary.

It’s more scary because Ennis didn’t even do a pilot episode for what’s coming. He did a prologue. It’s a cute idea and such a genial, friendly read, Pru can get away with it. But there’s no indication of what’s coming and my expectations are through the roof.

Code Pru 2 (January 2016)

Code Pru #2 Code Pru wraps up this issue–the series continues as part of the upcoming Avatar anthology Cinema Purgatorio, which seems kind of odd for Garth Ennis. Garth Ennis is the name and Code Pru, with Caceres perfectly creepy art on it, the book seems like it has a lot of potential. Running it into an anthology? Bold move and a good sales pitch for Purgatorio.

CREDITS

What’s Past is Prologue; writer, Garth Ennis; artist, Raulo Caceres; colorist, Digikore Design; letterer, Kurt Hathaway; publisher, Avatar Press.

Code Pru (2015) #1

Code Pru 1

Code Pru is that traditional college tale of the four girls rooming together and one of them invokes an Elder God to bring about the end of the world. Because another girl, the tech girl, is mean to the magic cult leader girl. Standard stuff.

It’s accessible–writer Garth Ennis never goes too far, he never gets mean in his humor–and it’s likable. Ennis is conveying a mood of affable misanthropy. No one’s perfect, so let’s laugh at everyone. It’s a nice, showy approach. All of the roommates–except the mean girl leader–get some solid characterization, especially tech girl, who’s ostensibly the lead (she’s Pru). But the other two as well. Ennis is showing off. He’s strutting.

Of course, it wouldn’t work with the wrong art so Ennis has something to strut about given Raulo Caceres’s gorgeously creepy, but never gross, black and white artwork. Caceres has some problems with detail from time to time, but he knows how to make them immaterial against the style. His style is key.

Because Code Pru has to be scary but not unpleasantly scary. Even the Elder God–see, I wasn’t kidding, it’s this Lovecraftian thing because, obviously, Avatar–even the Elder God is kind of okay looking. Pleasant looking.

It’s funny, it’s creepy, it’s awesome. Awesome work from Ennis and Caceres.