Ghostdancing 3 (June 1995)

For the first time, Delano just writes an issue–meaning there’s no crazy illuminati explanations this time around. Instead, it’s just an issue. And it’s a good comic book.

The potential finally starts to be fulfilled here, with the coyote guy meeting up with the comic’s messiah figure (who just happens to get a romantic interest as well). Delano layers the issue, showing some of their adventures in the present action, then having some of them shown as others discuss them.

The comic finally feels like Delano is enjoying writing it, instead of just presenting information to the reader.

Unfortunately, the better writing made

me pay more attention to the artwork, the first time so far.

Richard Case’s work here is mediocre at best. He’s frequently lazy with proportions and his work has a cramped feel to it.

I’m a little wary as Delano has to eventually sort the book.

CREDITS

Third Tremor; writer, Jamie Delano; artist, Richard Case; colorist, Danny Vozzo; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Tim Pelcher and Art Young; publisher, Vertigo.

Ghostdancing 2 (April 1995)

The second issue has a whole bunch of problems. Some relate to the first issue, some don’t. The biggest one–Big Brother is real and has been fighting the Native American culture for five hundred years, all of Western culture is a fake, controlled by them–really annoys. Delano’s got some solid ideas, but when he tries to explain this illuminati nonsense? It flushes the book down the toilet.

For a page, it’s actually seeming like it’s going to be interesting, a bunch of unrelated stuff coming together… instead it’s all connected. The rest of the series, besides some cliffhangers (Delano introduces bad guys this issue to hunt the good guys), will undoubtedly reveal and resolve.

It fills entirely plotted and unimaginative, in the narrative sense. Delano fills it with characters and spends his time on them, instead of on the work itself.

It’s not lazy, just a bad approach.

CREDITS

Second Tremor; writer, Jamie Delano; artist, Richard Case; colorist, Danny Vozzo; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Tim Pelcher and Art Young; publisher, Vertigo.

Ghostdancing (1995) #1

Gd01

So far–and one issue of six isn’t far enough to judge, I know–Ghostdancing isn’t impressing me. It takes the entire issue to get to the hook–the animal gods (or something like animal gods) have lost one of their own and it turns out she was a big hippie music star in the sixties in “the real world.”

Clearly, the search for her over the rest of the series will be what makes or breaks the series.

But, what Delano does here is different. He juxtaposes a bunch of characters together, the narration boxes featuring very deliberate prose. It’s good prose too, but incomplete, since he’s letting the visuals do some of the work. But they can’t do quite enough work because the concepts he’s writing about are so abstract. So, it’s a comic where the medium fails the work.

It’s an interesting read to say the least.

Ghostdancing 1 (March 1995)

Clearly, the search for her over the rest of the series will be what makes or breaks the series.

It’s an interesting read to say the least.

CREDITS

First Tremor; writer, Jamie Delano; artist, Richard Case; colorist, Danny Vozzo; letterer, Todd Klein; editors, Tim Pelcher and Art Young; publisher, Vertigo.

Rawbone (2009) #4

Rawbone 4

Eh, it falls apart. I don’t know much about pirate stories, so I don’t know if Delano’s making some kind of comment on them or if the supernatural element is a genre standard, but whatever the reason, it doesn’t work.

It doesn’t help the colorist seemingly forgot La Sirena is supposed to be black or Delano not killing off her girlfriend for the third time after seemingly doing so. It’s an iffy issue and a bad conclusion, without any real grounding. It’s a supernatural close, a considerable deus ex machina and it reveals the series’ defects. A solid ending wouldn’t have invited such examinations. But with this one, it’s clear the whole thing’s a ruse, a diversion, an exercise.

Worse is this issue’s nonsensical writing. It’s very wordy and Delano passes a lot of time in these pages, more than the other three issues combined. The result is very messy.

Rawbone (2009) #3

Rawbone 3

It’s hard to say whether Rawbone is better served by the abbreviation of a four issue series–reading it, one can see it going longer–or if it’s just going too fast. This issue is a mover. It’s an action issue, with the pirates attacking, La Sirena going for her lover (to unexpected result) and Delano does get in some good scenes, but there’s not a lot of heft to it. In fact, there’s a scene where Sirena explains herself as being anti-heft.

Ryan Waterhouse’s artwork is unfortunate. He’s apparently going for the ultra-stylization of Juan Jose Ryp at times, but only during the action scenes. Otherwise, it’s all very bland, with his characters looking alike (I couldn’t tell the Major from Billy, excepting the Major’s skin condition).

But Delano’s writing, with the exceptional, colloquial harshness, is where Rawbone‘s strength lies.

I have no idea where it’s going.

Rawbone (2009) #2

Rawbone 2

The second issue barely resembles the first. Between the change in artists (from Fiumara to Waterhouse) and Delano’s change in protagonists (still the pirate La Sirena, but this time with her sidekick being Billy Blue, an indentured soldier–it isn’t even until the end the girlfriend comes up; by that time, Delano and Waterhouse have made serious romantic implications between Sirena and Billy), it doesn’t feel connected. There isn’t a disconnect, since it does directly follow the last issue, but it feels different.

Except the futility, man’s brutality toward women, those remain. Rawbone‘s one of those angry, experienced comic books–it’s kind of like Promethea in this sense. You can feel, reading it, Delano’s distain for the standard characterization of female characters. Here, in Rawbone, he takes that standard comic book standard (the lesbos fascination, that sturdy link between porn and comics–even more than Greg Land), and goes wild.

Rawbone (2009) #1

Rawbone 1 Why does Delano spell pirates “pyrates”? It’s kind of annoying. Actually, it’s really annoying, because it’s about the only thing I don’t like about Rawbone #1. The comic’s not up to Avatar’s usual graphic extremes, which raises the question–as always–why Delano didn’t try selling Rawbone to Vertigo. It’s a period piece about a star-crossed lesbian romance. There isn’t a single male character who isn’t something of a monster in the issue.

I’m not complaining, mind you. Rawbone‘s a fine comic so far (and at four bucks for twenty-four pages of story, I’m picky) it just seems like it could reach a wider audience (even with the heavy anti-Catholic sentiment of the story).

Fiumara’s art is good–he nicely makes the ample nudity uncomfortable, like there’s something ominous about it. We never get to see the two not in some kind of danger.

A fine start.