How good is Local? Reloaded

After completing the 12 issues, I’m still unsure how to answer that question… I was quite into it at the beginning but somehow got kind of “bored” and lost my enthusiasm as the story evolved… Basically, it’s Megan, a kind of weird girl who travels the country “just ‘cuz”. She completely sucks socially; her love life’s a mess, her family as well… And every issue, she meets even weirder people that make her go on travelling “just ‘cuz”.

The concept was pretty good, though, as one issue represents more or less a year, which means you get to see her evolving from teenage to adulthood, and one of the latest chapter makes you realize she’s changed quite a bit as she’s confronted to another girl who could have been her a few years back. Yup, that girl is a completely mess as well and she ends up stealing a lot of Megan’s stuff, including the jacket she was wearing at the beginning of the book.

I know what you’re going to say “But you said 1 issue = 1 year so how could someone steal the jacket she was wearing at 17? She must have been around 28 in that issue?? Would someone hold on an old jacket for 11 years?” and I understand your confusion… This is a bit contradictory with the fact that places that actually exist in real life have been used in the book, probably to make readers relate more to the story, make it more “palpable” so why make her keep a jacket for 11 years? So it can be stolen I guess…

All in all, it’s not a bad book, though, I just think I was really excited to read it and I had high expectation as it was “the best indie comic of 2008”, but it just fell a bit short and I feel slightly disappointed. Better luck next time, I guess…? I’m now reading V for Vendetta, what could possibly go wrong with Alan Moore, huh?

How good is Local?

I have been following Megan’s adventures for a few days now. I’ve been reading the book occasionally and am about 5 or 6 issues in right now, so it’s about half way through the whole run.

It’s a kind of “slice of life” book that takes us around the U.S. together with the main character. Each issue takes place in a different place, which I thought was a nice concept and has Megan has the main character, who appears to be a bit of a “funky” person as she somehow manages to always meet some weird people along the way and get herself in uncomfortable situations.

The whole book reads a bit like Demo, a previous Wood story, as each new issue has no link with the previous ones besides Megan. The art is really nice, and as mentioned in a previous post, the book itself is pretty awesome thanks to its oversized heavy-weight pages (almost Bristol-like) and the way the 12 issues are bond all together. It’s a thick thick hardcover book that reminds me of those old school bibles.

So while I’ve been enjoying discovering Megan and following her around in her trips and all, I can’t stop thinking of one thing… “Why?” I mean, so far she’s been going to different places in every issue but we still do not know the reason behind… I mean, in the first issue It was kind of obvious, but then why? I hope I get to find that out as I read on.

Spider-man: Blue is a goner

I’ve turned the last page of the last issue a few days ago and will be on reading other things… This story was less than transcending to me, maybe because I started reading with very high expectations… Well, not as high as before reading Superman for all seasons but high nevertheless.

In the last book, we finally get to know the identity of that “shadow” that had been lurking around since the beginning of the book, trying to help other villains (and there’s been a plethora of them) finishing off Spider-man. It also gave birth to one of the most pathetic attempt at drawing that character; that drawing reminded me of Village People for some reason.

The character also makes a strange mistake and abducts Harry Osborn instead of Peter Parker, based on the only reason that he borrowed some of Parker’s aftershave… It didn’t really make sense to me; I think he should have been confused between the two of them as Parker must be, after all, wearing HIS OWN aftershave as well… Or didn’t he shave on that day?

So after a rather disappointing last 2 books, I’m back in my “Wood Mood” and picked up my Local hard cover. One of my friends bought it for me while he was in Malaysia as bookstores over there seem to be selling comic books together with other books in English. It was really nice of him to carry this massive book back for me in his already packed suitcase.
I had set it aside for a while as I had read a few books written by Wood and wanted to read something else. I unpacked it a couple of nights ago, and let me tell you the book itself feels great. The hardcover looks and feels nice when holding the book in my hands, they had the clever idea NOT to include a dust jacket (god I hate those). The pages are oversized compared to the traditional comic books which makes reading the story a more submerging experience. I also enjoyed the extra weight and thickness of those pages as it adds a “quality feel” when flipping through the book… And nothing beats that “paper and ink” smell when opening a brand new book!

Still in a Wood Mood

One more down, some more to go… After finishing Demo’s last story, I decided to start reading Fight for tomorrow which happens to be yet another Brian Wood’s story. It’s funny, I thought I’d be growing tired of Brian Wood’s work after reading his 4 other books but I am not… It must be because of 2 things, the first one is they’re usually quite different stories that don’t give me a “Déjà vu” feeling when reading them, and the second one must be because he’s just a good writer/artist.

I have not purchased Fight for tomorrow in a trader paperback format but bought all the single issues. Honestly, the story isn’t super original, but the way it’s written kept me wanting to read more after finishing every issue. I also liked the way it’s set in the Asian community of New York. I don’t live there and do not know if they have those small Buddhist temples like in the one in the book but it felt quite believable.

The art was nice as well, the fighting scenes were fun to read, I enjoyed the way they were sketched, the smudgy edges after receiving or giving punches added something to them… Only one thing, I somehow got some trouble recognizing the main character sometimes… His face just kept changing appearances and I’m not sure it was because of the bashing he’s getting all along that story…

Anyway, all in all, this book is not going to change the way you think about comic books, but it was entertaining enough to have me read it in one go and still enjoyed it even I was left with a “yeah I saw that coming from far away” feeling. Still pretty good, just not revolutionary, which is actually nice sometimes.

Am I still reading?

The answer is yes, only it is at a very slow pace… As a matter of fact, I joined a new guild in WoW and have been enjoying partying with them a lot. We do all kinds of stuff; even more since patch 3.2 went live… We burst through heroics again to get all those emblems of conquest, we’re farming Trial of the Champion in both normal and heroic modes to get some sweet new gear… Tons of fun…

So yeah, I’ve been pretty busy in my virtual world but am still reading some comics and I found the perfect book that fits nicely for these busy gaming times. After finishing Kraven’s Last Hunt, I picked up Brian Wood’s Demo from my shelf and am pretty happy I did. Demo consists in a collection of 12 stories that have nothing to do with each other, and as they’re not related at all, it enables to you read one issue at a time without worrying about how long will pass before you manage to read the next one… So after each story, you can decide to read the next one right after or just let the book sit there for a week, which, I admit, I’ve been doing… So anyway, if you’re being caught up with life recently, this book is for you. You’ll be able to stay in touch with the world of comics without having to spend too much time (in one chunk that is) to do so.

I think Brian Wood must have had loads of fun working on that book as he got to play around with different stories that touch a plethora of topics which I, by now, know he likes bringing up in his books, from war to relationships or discrimination, family, jobs… Different aspects of society are being depicted and you should get touched by AT LEAST one of those stories and the fact that they begin and end in a single issue makes the message they carry even stronger in my opinion.

This is probably one of the books you MUST own, so drop everything you’re doing and order your copy now!

About those 2 characters…

Yes, I was actually right. As I was mentioning in my previous post, Wood was introducing 2 characters at the end of Channel Zero and they were Mustafa and Special, some of the main characters in different books which are Couscous Express and The Couriers. I’ve actually read the former over the week-end and it’s pretty interesting to see how Brian Wood makes them evolve… I have not purchased The Couriers yet, but reading the first story made we want to buy the 3 volumes…

Back to Couscous Express, I really recommend it to someone who wants to read something fresh, something new. The art is pretty nice, but what really grabbed my attention here was the story. It’s simple, but yet very compelling and also very different compared to other books… Good stuff, I won’t say much more, just go buy it!

I was in a “Wood Mood” when flipping Couscous Express’s last page so I went on reading Supermarket from the same writer. The story, once again, was great and the art really matched it to perfection… The atmosphere of the book felt amazingly close to when watching some Tarantino movie, though… I suspect Wood must have watched Kill Bill a lot beforehand… Or maybe Tarantino read Supermarket a dozen times when working on Kill Bill?? Who knows… I still recommend picking it up… Those books are by far some of my best purchases so far…

As a matter of fact, I am still in a "Wood Mood" and it so happens that I acquired a Local hard cover from a nice friend who did not mind bringing it back to me all the way from Kuala Lumpur... So that's probably going to be my next read.

Still seeing life in black and white…

Why? Mainly because I’m reading Brian Wood’s books. I’ve just finished reading Channel Zero and am quite happy with my purchase… It’s different than any other comic book I’ve read lately, maybe because it’s a bit closer to “real life”… Things like those described in his story could actually happen, and are happening in some form or another in countries like France or China who are recently implementing ways to control the way their people uses the internet, which contents they download and monitor what they store or install in their personal computers.

Back to the book itself… You’ll be able to follow Jennie 2.5 in her struggle to wake up the American people from their lethargy as they just became a consuming population who’s willing to believe anything that the now state controlled media says. There are also a couple of issues focusing on another character who actually became a “cleaner”… His job is to cleanse the street from its scum; the only thing being almost anyone is scum right now. You litter? I shoot you. You smoke? I shoot you. You spit your chewing-gum? I shoot you. You stink? I shoot you… I wonder if Wood was basing his inspiration on Singapore… ^^

Towards the end of the book, Wood introduces 2 characters that I think are in Couscous Express and The couriers. Maybe the stories are tied up in some way? I’ll write about it after reading them.

Long time no hear (or read)

Hi all (not that anyone is actually reading this blog), I haven’t been around for some time… Well, life caught up with me, I got really busy at work and I basically spent all my spare time trying the new WoW patch 3.0 like everybody else.

Of course I still managed to get some reading done. I was in a Batman mood so I went through Haunted Knight, The Long Halloween and am about 70% through Dark Victory… And I have to say I really love those books. The first time I read Haunted Knight, I still had the chills from Batman: Year One and I have to admit I felt kinda disappointed by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s work at first. Not that it was bad or anything, it was just not up to par. But that was a mistake; it’s actually a great book that sets the tone for the next two. I love the art and storytelling and how the mix of both can make you feel the characters’ emotions, even when you cannot see their faces as lots of time, they’re just filled with black ink… I’ve recommended those books and the past and still recommend them now.

I’ve also mentioned one author I liked very much: Brian Wood. This week I finally read the first issue of DMZ and it is awesome. The art is great (he’s using colors as opposed to Channel Zero), it’s really detailed and dynamic too… Plus the story is really catchy. I was planning on waiting for all the trade paperbacks to be released before purchasing them but I got caught up and feel I want to read more right now… Maybe I’ll order the first 5 in my next purchase. I think the next one is coming up some time in February 2009.If you haven’t checked his work yet, head to his website’s download section and get some of the files available. They’re in PDF format so you may want to get a PDF reader first.There’s also a nice Channel Zero review written by Nooch over at J!NX.com you may want to check out.

Brian Wood

In one of my previous posts, I advised you to pick up the Local trade paperback, which I didn’t know much about at the time. I took some time to look around for other details on this Brian Wood dude… Here’s what I found: before being the comic books writer/illustrator that he is now, he was actually designing video games… And not the crap ones you’ve never heard of as he worked on titles such as Grand Theft Auto and Max Payne. He even worked on short films for Nike! I suddenly realize why they managed to get so much money from me…

Anyway, as I really like his work on Local, I’ve checked other books he’d worked on and here’s what I found:

Channel Zero
Channel Zero Jennie One
Couscous Express
Pounded
The Couriers
Demo
The Tourist
Supermarket
DMZ (still working on the series. Planned ending in 2009)
Fight for tomorrow
The New York Four
Northlanders (still working on that one too. Planned ending in 2009 as well)

So I’m not saying they’re ALL going to be good books, but considering Brian Wood’s track record, I believe they’re worth a good look.
And if you like what he does and want to stay up to date with what’s going on with him, I suggest you visit his website or his blog or both!