Rachel Rising #7 (Abstract Studio)

Creator: Terry Moore

So Rachel Rising has passed the six issue mark and the end of its introductory arc. In the first chapter following that arc, we get more character development and complications. The mysterious woman who seems to be at the centre of everything that happen appears in a different guise for the first time, or at least possesses the mind of a passerby to mutter her quotation at Rachel, "And they shall fall like snow". This is slightly spoiled in an uncharacteristic slip up on the part of Terry Moore as he holds the readers hand to tell them exactly what she is referring to:

"Death. She's talking about death."

I've not known Moore not trust his readers to interpret the work themselves before, and this is just clumsy and irritating. It feels so clunky that I'm not sure if it's a piece of misdirection put in by the artist, but even then it feels out of kilter with how the rest of the story has been told thus far (if such a thing had happened in the first couple of issues then I may well have dropped the title).

Nevertheless we shouldn't make too much of this. It stands out more because the rest of the comic has been so good, and Moore is such a great storyteller normally. The remaining sixteen (of eighteen) pages is as good as ever. We have a new character introduced in Detective Corpell who is investigating the crash that ended issue six, declarations of love to a corpse, more people coming back from the dead and a rather macabre Star of David. That final scene with the Star of David leads one to speculate that this could be something to do with the Holocaust, but would that be too obvious? I'm hopeful that it won't lead into some sort of hackneyed revenge tale, but will remain much more interesting and fulfil the promise it shows, and which Terry Moore's pedegree reinforces.

The underlying themes within this work are starting to emerge, and they are consistent with the artist's previous work in that the themes are ultimately about the personal relationships we create with each other in our everyday lives, and the importance of these relationships even in the face, especially in the face, of bigger, more dramatic events that happen both around and to us. In Strangers in Paradise we had the whole crime thing, in Echo there was the imminent man-made apocalypse, and here it is people dying violent deaths and then coming back. In all of these the important things, the aspects that Moore lingered on longest and that readers cared about, were the relationships the characters had built up with each other. Here we have Rachel, Jet, Aunt Johnny and Earl, and what the reader cares about is what they mean to each other. I would say that more than death, what readers fear in all of Terry Moore's work is that the characters will do something to betray each other, to hurt each other emotionally, and a desire to see people treat each other with kindness and love is no bad thing.

Anyway after all that, I'm still unsure as to where it is all leading. What I am sure about is that, wherever the journey leads, it is incredible fun getting there.

Courtney Crumrin (Oni Press)

Written & illustrated by: Ted Naifeh
Holly Hart is a young girl, a tween, who moves to a new town thanks to the success of her father's recent novel, a political thriller that it is hinted was little more than hack work. Their new house is next to a rather Adams Family looking mansion belonging to Professor Crumrin and his niece Courtney. Holly soon finds herself taking up with Courtney after a supernatural encounter in the local woods. Courtney, much to Holly's delight, is actually a witch. Courtney, rather taken by having somebody who wishes to spend time with her, begins to teach Holly  how to cast spells. Thus begins the downfall of Holly Hart.


All ages comics, whatever has become of you? It seems like the American comic industry is little interested in pursuing the next generation of comic fans, intent instead to weigh down ever more ludicrous super-hero icons with more violence and sex than the concepts where ever designed to hold, in order to cater for an audience of (mainly) men who have never grown up, but like selfish children wish to keep hold of their toys and not let anybody else have them, demanding that The Avengers, Spider-Man, Batman or whoever speak to them and their lives at 42 in the same way they did when they were 12.

At least there are some in the industry trying to produce work accessible to all ages, and behind a cover that puts one in mind of Mike Mignola's Hellboy lurks this charming and entertaining comic. Ted Naifeh's art is cartoonish enough so that the supernatural elements feel more like creatures from Scooby Doo than from Stephen King, which is ideal in this context. Storywise there is enough meat here to keep readers young and old enthralled, with clearly defined characters, a subplot concerning the possible demise of Courtney's uncle, and revelations at the conclusion of the issue that make you want to read the next issue as soon as possible. I particularly like Holly's first choice of spell to learn which is one to make her the most poular kid in school. For somebody who has always been an outsider, looking enviously on at the kids who belonged, this would surely be the first thing you would leap upon. Whilst in the story it seems to show a certain shallowness of character, I think it also shows the very strong desire all humans have to want to belong to something.

All in all if you like good fantasy stories well told then you should certainly take a look at Courtney Crumrin, safe in the knowledge that you can also read it together with your children. 

Fatale (Image)

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artists: Sean Phillips

There has been a bit of an internet buzz about some mainstream comics since DC launched their New 52 last year, stealing some of Marvel's thunder, for which they only have the rather insipid and frat boy Avengers vs X-Men as an answer (and we're talking comics here, not films so the Avengers movie doesn't count in this context). However not everything notable about the DC relaunch has been for the better. There have been some well executed comics, particularly Action Comics, Animal Man and All Star Western, but there has also been a good deal of concern about sexist attitudes coming through in their depiction of certain female characters. Let us not forget that they have also let Rob Liefeld write one of the regular series who, although he may be a nice enough person who can deliver flashy, if poorly executed artwork, has never learned even the rudiments of how to write, and possibly never thought that it is a skill that you have to learn.

Ironically amongst all this, the comic that has been arguably the runaway success story is from the company Liefeld help set up in direct competition with Marvel and DC. Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips seem to have been on a determined mission to show the world that literate, articulate crime stories the equal of books by Hammett, Chandler, Ellroy and Rankin, can be told within the comics medium. In Fatale they have added Lovecraftian horror to these stories to great effect.

When it comes to detective fiction, comics have one great advantage over both films and novels in that it is easy to refer back to earlier parts of the text to understand something brought to light later on, or to clarify something a character said, or to understand some subtle relationship one character may have to another. This means that ultimately, in the hands of skilled creators, these comic stories can be denser and more complex than anything delivered in other media. Four chapters into the story of Fatale and the creators have constructed just that, a piece that takes full advantage of the comics medium, which rewards reading together with the other issues close to hand.

From interviews with Brubaker we know that the story will eventually return to closer to present day, but at the moment it is depicting events from the 1950s, classic noir territory. Corrupt cops, morally dubious protagonists and the titular femme fatale are all present, but this is far from noir by numbers as Brubaker and Phillips weave genuine horror into the proceedings. So well grounded is the reader in the grim world we know from detective fiction that the horrific elements, when they do rear their heads, are much more shocking as we are suddenly reminded that this is a horror comic. There are plenty of developments to keep our interest piqued as the lengths men will go to for Josephine, the fatale of the title, are revealed, and there are hints that it never ends well for any of them, echoed at the end by something uttered to our main lead for this section, the journalist Hank Raines whose life has fallen to pieces since meeting her. In addition we also get more insight to the corrupt cop, Walt Booker, which lends a degree of sympathy to him. That's the thing with this book, the human characters seem neither good nor evil but human, with all the contradictions of character that entails.

This is a wonderful book, and Sean Phillips art just oozes atmosphere. Alan Moore once said in an interview about V For Vendetta that it wasn't "Alan Moore's V For Vendetta" but his and artist David Lloyd's, as the book was very much a collaboration. That is very much the case here, and one cannot imagine Fatale being the comic it is without one or the other of the creators. They work together so well that it has the feel of a comic made by one writer/artist, with writing and art merging so well that it is futile to try to separate the two. As with their comic Criminal, there are articles included in the individual issues which will not be collected in the trade paperbacks, as a reward to readers for supporting the series, and these make these comics well worth buying in the floppy format. Where else would you find informative and interesting articles on the inspirations for Chandler's Phillip Marlowe, Edgar Allen Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. The only real problem is Ed Brubaker recommends so many good books, you may well fill your reading list from now until Christmas.

The Secret Service (Marvel Icon)

Writer: Mark Millar
Artist: Dave Gibbons
Co-Plotter: Matthew Vaughn
Colourist: Angus McKie
Editor: Nicole Boose
I have mixed reactions when I hear that a book has been written by Mark Millar. Sometimes he puts out stuff that has this reader purring with delight. Work such as Saviour (the little I saw of it), The Ultimates, The Authority easily falls into this category. At other times he seems to court controvery for its own sake, with little beneath the surface, such as Kick-Ass and his 2000AD strips. However the one defining thing is that he knows how to construct a story so even when delivering shallow, meaningless drivel it is at least well written and makes sense to the reader, so when I heard that he and Dave Gibbons would be working on a book together, it seemed well worth checking out. There was one final concern which regarded the inclusion of Matthew Vaughn and its seeming parallel development as a film property and comic, the fear being that the comic would be neutered by the need to only inlude scenes that would make a good film.

It would seem that any fears were unfounded as this is a wonderful comic that confounds expectations. We have all the hallmarks of a James Bond film, the big, exciting introductory scene, suave and sophisticated agent, Jack, dining with his boss on wine and fish in the Westminster. Each of these is wittily undercut by the inclusion of a twist. The first scene is a daring rescue of Mark Hamill which doesn't quite go as expected, and the dinner with the agent is interrupted by a text from Jack's sister telling him his nephew is in trouble with the law again, as it turns out our sophisicated agent is from a rather less sophisticated background, less James Bond and more Jeremy Kyle. This is all good stuff, but it is in the depiction Jack's sister and her family that Mark Millar really shows his chops. Rather than stereotypical and slightly condescending, this is a lot more realistic. Certainly it is exagerated, but the actions, the language, the atmosphere are all spot on.

As you would expect from such an established and talented pro, Dave Gibbons turns in some wonderful art that does its job so perfectly you barely notice it as he manages to drag you into this world without once pulling you out of it due to clumsy panel transitions, strange page design, or wierd looking bodies that don't fit together like any real world human being. Expressions too are perfectly rendered so we always have a good idea about what the different characters ma be thinking and feeling.

This is an excellent book, and when the end came I found myself wishing the next issue was already available, and you can't ask for much more than that.