Hosive

new york from an indirect angle…..a few indirect angles….

in this segment, i’ll detail my amore for the art and medium of comics. the title comes from a comic shop i frequented as a kid in the city and a nod to my boy q and his blog.

in previous entries, i traced my history with comics…..in junior high, i read an epic fantasy series called elfquest that sadly has not gotten a larger audience via a television show or movie. with the current cultural milieu that includes lord of the rings and harry potter and where almost every comic book is being translated for the screen, perhaps elfquest missed the boat. or showed up too early for it. too ahead of its time. however, i did just discover that they will try again. i wonder how my friends from almost 30 years ago will react to a movie. it may resurrect some latent memories. some deeply buried memories.

elfquest came out quarterly and with each issue, it got passed around my homeroom for weeks even months. my sister also was a big fan. after reading elfquest, many of my friends asked if i had any other recommendations and that’s when i started sharing my comics. i got better copies, hardcover and collected editions, so that i could share stories with my friends. today, i frequently loan out stuff from my library as well as have people come over just to browse and discover stories before hollwood comes to shrink, ruin and reimagine them. perhaps i’ll do a longer review of elfquest in the future.

here’s what i’m currently reading:

dmz proposes that perputual war and conflict is how our species does life. so why do we assume as americans that war cannot take place on our own soil….with our own people. a cival war breaks out in the united states with manhattan island becoming a demilitarized zone.

military folks rave that it is an accurate portrayal of occupation, conflict and warzone life…an incredible achievement. its also about my beloved city as the new york times called it a love letter to new york. the story explores different neighborhoods and how they morphed when things go awry. its like stepping into an alternate nyc…something familiar, something i still love but am weary of.

the story primarily follows matty, a reporter who starts out as an intern until everyone gets killed and he becomes the only news guy in the dmz. themes of truth, media, journalism….how these disciplines get warped in the politics of war are constant. an intelligent, nuanced read that stretches the expectations and parameters of what kinds of stories comics can tell.

i’m reading them in trade paperback form right now.

i’m also reading superman. that can apply to clark or to grant.

grant morrison is one of the current arcitects of the dc universe entrusted with bringing superman, batman and their super friends into the 21st century. a few years ago, dc started these all star lines of comics without the constraints of chronology and back stories to make the characters accessible to non-fans. however, delays have made the comics frustrating to find and follow. luckily, they have collected the superman issues and are releasing them in 2 hardcover volumes. the first one is out now with a second one forthcoming in the new year.

grant takes the grand themes of superman and puts them on steroids(or some drug of his choice): space, heroicism, humanity, courage, good and evil. all the classic characters and relationships are touched upon: villians like luthor, friends like jimmy olsen and lois lane and family like ma and pa; but everything is elevated to something new. he is writing the ultimate and perhaps last superman story.

he’s doing the same over in the mainstream batman line where it is rumored that he is going to kill bruce wayne and replace batman with one of the former robins: dick grayson, jason todd or tim drake.

the art by frank quitely clean, cartoony, trippy and beautiful to view. a great marriage to morrison’s words. these two creators went nuts together in a few previous works including their epic run on x-men.

i can’t wait for the second half to be released!