I've always had an interest in comic book characters in other media (films, video games etc.), but never actually bothered to read any of the source material. So it was decided that I would drill another hole in the bucket that is my wallet and add another hobby to my repertoire. At least this one doesn't require any additional work, right?
I made the choice of sticking to purchasing only collected volumes, known as trade paperbacks. These collections generally compile a specific story arc together (especially relevant for older comics), sit much nicer on the book shelf, are absent of adverts and are a lot easier to lend out to people. That's my train of logic anyway.
Here's a look at what I've been reading during June and July:
Mad Max - Fury Road (Vertigo)
Mad Max: Fury Road, as perhaps indicated in previous posts, was my favourite film of 2015. This collection of four stories, written by George Miller himself (director on all four Mad Max films), acts as a prequel to the namesake film. Given to the respective character's actors during production to add depth and history to their roles, these tales tell of the origins of the film's protagonists and main antagonist.
The first follows the rise to power of the despotic tyrant Immortan Joe; following Colonel Joe Moore's initial actions during the fall of the world to his subsequent discovery and takeover of what would come to be known as the Citadel. Included alongside this is a short story concerning the entry of the Warboy Nux into Immortan Joe's army.
The second story deals with the abhorrent actions of Immortan Joe and his 'family' that led to Imperator Furiosa's betrayal and subsequent breakout of the five wives. Some very mature themes are explored here; rape, misogyny, abortion and slavery to name a few. These themes could perhaps have been dealt with better, but I'm glad they are dealt with at all. The implied plight of the wives' in the movie is fully explained here; their actions given much more motivation.
The last two stories centre on Max Rockatansky himself, filling some of the gap between Beyond Thunderdome and Fury Road. Places and people featured in Fury Road, namely Gastown and the Buzzard clan are fleshed out here. Max's V8 Interceptor almost serves as it's own character; their reunification his main goal. This contrasts with Max's ultimate inability to save any of the people he cares about, a theme touched upon in all the films.
A must read for any fan of the films.
Red Skull Incarnate (Marvel)
Red Skull, Johann Schmidt, is probably my favourite Marvel Villain. He is never portrayed as a particularly complex character. His plans and schemes are certainly complex, but his goals are generally pretty one dimensional; global domination, kill Captain America, global destruction. Megalomania, if you will.
Red Skull Incarnate takes us back to 1920s Germany. Schmidt is in an orphanage, Nazi Brownshirts are marching in the streets. A bag of salt costs 16 billion Reichsmarks. We follow Schmidt as he grows up, bearing witness to hyperinflation, the Bierhalle Putsch, the Great Depression, the Reichstag Fire, the rivalry between the SA and SS, the Night of Long Knives and finally the assassination of Ernst Rohm. The would be Red Skull is cleverly woven into these events (sometimes slightly bending the true version) whilst developing the character's own narrative.
The cleverest aspect of this comic is its ability to teach history to the reader without even realising they are being taught. A lot of the major events that led to the rise of the Nazi party are covered here.
A series of end notes helps to explain the real world historical events and atmosphere as they occur chronologically in the story, even providing citations for further reading (which I am sure to take a look at).
Uber - Volume One (Avatar)
I have a soft spot for Weird World War Two dieselpunk supernatural super-science, and Uber certainly ticks those boxes. All weird war fiction has a divergence point; some time, place or event where the time line splits from our own. Uber's version of World War Two remains concurrent with our own right up until the 30th April 1945. The Battle of Berlin rages outside the Fuhrerbunker. Hitler points the gun to his head. He does not pull the trigger. News has reached him just in time:
The Wunderwaffen have arrived.
Panzermensch. Human tanks. Formed by exposure to the crystalline compound 'Woden's Blood', they are are nigh indestructible, able to manifest arcs of energy capable of annihilating both flesh and metal. These Panzermensch are lead by three 'Battleship' class individuals, who have the ability to decimate entire armies by themselves.
With Berlin saved, Hitler is quick to retake the offensive. The Panzermensch lead the attack, routing the allied armies on all fronts. The allies' only hope lies with an undercover biologist, Freya Bergen, who must escape back to England with information on how the allies can fight these Tank Men, and potentially create their own.
Incredibly violent and graphic, Uber fills a somewhat unique little niche within the Nazi super-science genre. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Chrononauts - Book One (Image)
Danny Reilly and Corbin Quinn are the world's first chrononauts, explorers in time.On their maiden time jump, Quinn is knocked off course missing his intended destination (the landing of Christopher Columbus on the American continent). Danny goes in after him, ending up in the city of Samarkand (located in modern day Uzbekistan) in the year 1504. What follows in a rather fun, if somewhat stupid and unbelievable, romp throughout time.
There isn't really much I can explain about the story without spoiling it, but if you want to see Romans with M16s fighting alongside Samurais in sports cars attacking a medieval castle, this is a comic you want to read!
Monstress - Volume One: Awakening (Image)
Five years ago, Humans and Arcanics were at war. An uneasy peace now exists between the two races; a great wall now separates the Humans in the west from the Arcanics in the east. Arcanics, hybrids of Humans and Ancients, share characteristics of both their progeny; appearing as humans with animalesque characteristics. Many posses the tails, wings or ears of animals, clearly marking them as Arcanics. Others, including our protagonist Maika Halfwolf, appear outwardly human.
We find Maika, alongside other younger Arcanic children interred within a research facility, run by the Cumaean Order (a human religious organisation). Arcanics are experimented upon and killed to facilitate the harvest of Lilium from their bodies, a substance with extraordinary healing properties (capable of even raising the dead).Maika manages to engineer her escape from the facility; we follow her on her subsequent journey, both to safety and process of self discovery. She soon discovers that she knows less about her past than she thought, and knows even less about the monster stirring within her...
Monstress does an excellent job of building a fantasy world unlike any other; the world combines both western and Asian influences, technology is combined with fantastical elements, all framed by a beautiful art deco, vaguely steam punk aesthetic. Both Human and Arcanic societies are matriarchies; positions that would generally be held my men in our society are held instead by women. Women make up the bulk of the soldiers in the army and hold positions of power within political, religious and educational spheres.
Humanities' treatment of the Arcanics (perhaps deliberately) echoes the treatment of Jews and other minorites by the Nazis during the holocaust. Arcanic children stand behind barbed wire fences while Human overseers look on. The experimentation on Arcanics definitely mirrors Jospeh Menglele's human experimentation at Auschwitz. The parallels are clear to see and are certainly chilling.
I would like to praise Monstress most for its portrayal of an amputee protagonist; Maika's left arm is missing at the elbow. It is fantastic to see a handicapped character portrayed in such a positive light; she is quite capable of fighting as effectiively as any 'normal'able bodied hero. Hopefully her missing arm isn't reduced to some horrendous plot device in future volumes.
Oh, this comic also has talking Cats. With eyepatches. And swords.
No comments:
Post a Comment