Born to a destitute existence,
J.Hues quickly rose to the prominent level of uncomfortably poor. His real name
is shrouded in secrecy but if you ask him he might tell you it's Jason Hughes
(Dammit!).
Nothing much happened until he
graduated from college with a completely useless degree in English, and then...
nothing much continued to happen. Subsequently, J.Hues found himself working
at a toy store. Later, through some strange accident he fell sideways into the
IT field and has been trapped there ever since.
To keep his sanity, he writes:
novels, poems, comics, grocery lists, checks (too many checks), fake doctor's
notes... Maybe someday he'll get paid for all this.
A genius in his own mind, J.Hues
uses various grammatical no-nos to mask his complete and total inability to
craft a single genuine or unique idea. He's never happy unless he is blathering
on with his own obnoxious opinions and ideas. Wait, are you still reading this?
Read the damn column already!
“Why is it that when a homeless person tells you he’s starving and asks you for some change and you offer to buy him a sandwich, or give him your lunch or any other food you may have on you they get all pissed off? They’re not being disingenuous are they?” --me
PRE-MATCH HYPE
I like Jimmy Palmiotti. He seems like a nice guy. He loved my review of Superboy #100 and we’ve been fast friends ever since, except for that one time with the restraining order when he found me outside his place skulking around his pool. I’ve also been following his latest series from WildStorm, 21 Down and The Resistance. Both are co-written by Justin Gray, whom I don’t have the fortune of knowing personally (but hey! I won’t hold that against him, as I’m sure he’s a nice guy and also has a nice pool).
I’ve learned that sometimes it’s a good idea early in a series’ run to go back and reread the first four or five issues in one sitting. It tends to bring everything together more clearly than reading them over a several month span interspersed with mounds of other comics and whatever else life throws your way. Then you have a clearer understanding of the characters, their motivations, the plotlines and you can move forward more confidently into future issues. It never fails to improve my opinion of a series that I am already liking. And so I did that with The Resistance. The following are my thoughts from this little experiment. What you are about to witness is literary genius!
With the amount of work that I do and the sheer number of comics that I read on a regular basis, it is actually quite rare that I can sit down with consecutive issues of any series and read it in this manner. Furthermore, I do not generally buy the trade collections, instead reading and purchasing the single installments. Nevertheless, I always find it a rare treat when I get the opportunity to sample a run of a single title in one sitting. In preparing for this piece, I dug into the catacombs of my collection and retrieved The Resistance #1-4.
Now, as some of you may recall, SBC’s own Brandon Thomas and I did a thorough breakdown and analysis of the first issue of this series when it premiered and while we were generally optimistic about it, we had some criticism about overt sexuality and overuse of language. I can say that, as expected, this series reads much better in ‘chunks’ rather than in the monthly magazine format. The ‘zines are cheaper, but this series is a testament to the fundamental changes in storytelling in this modern era, a change that is not ideally suited for the ‘zine format, and more tailored and suited for the hopeful and eventual collections. What I’m getting as is that while it reads nicely enough in monthly installments, it coalesces into something nearing brilliance when compiled and read as a complete work.
The Resistance is a story of a dystopic future. The main definition of this dystopia seems to stem around controlled population, though there are other more horrific facets revealed and likely more to come. ‘The Resistance’ is a band of underground Freedom Fighters led by a very charismatic young man, code-named Surge. He is ably supported by FTP, Version Mary and Tommy (as well as other mercenaries, however thus far we are treated mainly to these four). The perspective is that of Brian Sturm (codenamed, now, Brainstorm). He is an unauthorized birth (classified ‘Strayz’) and had been in hiding with his grandfather, until his grandfather’s heart attack prompted him to seek medical help at a nearby hospital. This very, very bad idea led to his grandfather’s ‘capture’ and Brian’s involvement with The Resistance.
The cast is rounded out with Joe, a member of the GCC (Global Control Commission), his driven attorney wife and his headstrong partner. This storyline has been running largely parallel to the main story, and I won’t go into the details of the relations between these three individuals because these are some of the most disturbing and surprising aspects of the series, and I look forward to it’s inevitable collision with the main plotlines, which begins to happen as issue four wraps. Add to this the slowly unfolding mystery of how this future world works and peeks into the governing forces and we have a fully realized world that is getting richer and more fleshed out by the issue.
The writers have really outdone themselves here, creating something so unique and unexpected for the WildStorm line that it almost deserves some sort of trade dress distinction, in case casual shoppers are going to assume it’s a part of the quagmire that is WS continuity. Palmiotti is a seasoned comics professional, though newer to the arena of scripting, while Justin Gray is a complete newcomer to the field. And yet, though Palmiotti has shown some grit as a writer on such projects as Beautiful Killer, this project has to stand as some of the strongest work of his career and one of a pair of projects that are quickly adding Gray’s name to an A-List of writers with true imagination. The wordiness of the first issue has really been toned down as the writers are getting more and more comfortable with the language. And while it still doesn’t read one hundred percent true as conversation, there is still some excessive speechifying, it is improving in leaps and bounds. Perhaps the writers just felt the need to lay down all that text as foundation for their world and story and now that they’re actually telling the story it isn’t as necessary. Whatever the reason it makes for a smoother and more enjoyable read.
Of course, one of the greatest strengths of any comic book has to be the artistic team. Juan Santacruz on pencils and Francis Portela on inks (not to mention the rich color palette of Paul Mounts) have given birth to the tapestry of this world. From double-page spreads of the garish cityscape; rife with nightclubs, strip joints and neon; to the haunting images of a more familiar world just beneath the ocean depths, Santacruz has established a very real foundation on which these characters can develop. He uses a style of art that is more fluid, rejecting the cross-hatching technique of the past decade for a more internationally influenced ‘less is more’ approach. His line work is softer, more rounded and conveys a real confidence in his strokes. The result is a cast of characters that is instantly recognizable and uniquely distinct from one another. Surge is one of the most visually interesting characters I’ve ever layed eyes upon, and all of this without an obnoxious or flashy costume. Just facial features and expression.
While we all laud the facial expressions of Preacher/The Punisher artist Steve Dillon, one thing Santacruz has on him is visual diversity. Let’s face it, everyone that Dillon draws looks very similar. Santacruz has managed cultural diversity through design, and his strengths in this area help to capture the ragtag nature of this group of people that in other circumstances (I.E. our world) would have no real reason for hanging out together.
The last thing I want to comment on, because it is the strongest aspect of the new series and I want to leave you with that, is the design of the covers. Too few companies and creative teams pay attention to the look of their books. Thus, most comics are designed one like the other and there is nothing of them that leaps from the racks and demands to be noticed. The fragmented cover layout, each with a variety of images of the characters and their world sprinkled liberally with the title logo throughout the page creates a unique collage of imagery. The title logo is not 1/3 the size of the page. It is simple and unobtrusive, and yet through it’s repetition in and around the images it is just as noticed as it needs to be.
The images themselves, are each in a different artistic style, from simple line work, to black-and-white charcoal imagery to photomosaic to fully-painted. Either Santacruz is an artistic genius or there is a team of artists that collaborate to achieve this affect, but whatever the madness behind it, the result is a visually stunning piece that captures each individual issue, creating a distinct feeling of controlled chaos (a feeling that the plotline conveys as well). After the first issue, the fragmentation increased, with random little blocks breaking up or distorting the imagery. In fact, the decision to fragment the normally static block around the WildStorm logo and even behind the UPC Code have completed the package. Now, every aspect of the cover has been incorporated into the design scheme.
Noticed how I went on a bit about the covers? This is because more often than not this is the ONLY thing a casual fan will see of a book as they scan the racks at the comics shop. If the cover can convey something that captures their imagination for a fraction of a moment, you just might get them to pick it up and take a closer look. From there, the artist on the interiors has to maintain that attraction to create a buyer and ultimately the whole package must inspire a reader. But it all begins with a cover, and The Resistance has created one of the most visually arresting and distinctive cover designs on the racks, sure to stand out from its peers. Kudos, in fact, to WildStorm for their cover designs on books like this one, Wildcats Version 3.0, Automatic Kafka and even Palmiotti/Gray’s other project 21 Down. All of these books have actually put effort into the design of their covers and the work has paid off.
The bottom line is that The Resistance is shaping up to possibly be one of the most fully conceived sci-fi worlds ever created, and if the creators get the chance to finish this project, at their own discretion, then it has the chance to stand among the giants of graphic literature. Science fiction is a rarity in comics. A story that is concocted with a beginning, a middle and an end is no rarity anymore, but for that story to actually be allowed enough issues to tell the story at the intended pace of the authors is rare indeed. Too often compelling stories like this are cut short by lack of reader interest or publisher support and the creators either have too cobble together a half-assed attempt at a resolution, or in more cases than not just leave things hanging. I hope that WildStorm and DC give this book a chance to find an audience, and my suggestion for doing so would be to put out trade collections as soon as there are enough issues to warrant them. This is a graphic novel being serialized for our pleasure. And just like the classics that saw serialization in magazines and newspapers in centuries gone by only to be later collected as the great novels we study, so should the serialized graphic novels of our day be compiled into those permanent collections. Besides, this one just reads better that way.
ROUND 1
TSUNAMI! You know, when a tsunami hits it tends to destroy everything in it’s path before petering out and becoming nothing itself. Take out the ‘destroy everything in it’s path’ bit and I think you have a feel for how this line will do in the Direct Market. Now, given that it’s Marvel it is likely to get a little more attention from the fans but has anybody noticed that all of the new publishing lines from Image, CGE and WildStorm have been selling horribly. For some reason, retailers are not interested in ordering anything new. This is a fear mentality that has cropped up since the ‘bust’ of the nineties.
In the nineties ANYTHING new was ordered in large quantities. Today, anything new is conservatively UNDER-ordered, for fear of getting stuck with large quantities of books like they did with early Image/Valiant stuff. The problem is that it means there is virtually no chance for any new book to make it in this market. If it’s not an established character or manages to garner mainstream attention then it gets very flat orders. Thus most fans don’t know it’s out there and thus it has little chance of gaining a larger audience. Only if it again garners mainstream attention AFTER it’s launch (think 30 Days of Night) will retailers come back and say… “Oh, maybe I should’ve ordered more than one copy of that.”
Now I’m not in a ‘large market’ by any means, but St. Louis is a pretty good sized market with a pretty good-sized comics community. And yet, for the most part NONE of the local stores support new releases. When Image announced all their new projects, the local stores ordered maybe one or two copies (“I just figured nobody would be interested”). WHAT?? You figured nobody would be interested. What ever happened to “It looked interesting so I thought I’d give it a try and see what my customers thought.” There is no optimism, when it comes to ordering, from retailers anymore. They don’t BELIEVE IN any titles anymore unless they are proven sellers. Now, if a new titles starts to garner success at the few mega-stores that still take chances then the regular retailers will start to order it. Because it’s proven it can sell.
Basically a comic has to prove it can sell before most retailers will give it a chance to sell. And positive reviews and buzz mean nothing. Eye of the Storm is critically lauded, but since issue one of these series the orders have kept every title out of the ‘Top 100.’ Same for the new Image books, the entire CGE line (virtually), etc. Hell, the new CSI comic, published by those 30 Days folks and based on the #1 show in the land with millions and million of viewers couldn’t even crack the ‘Top 100.’
Do retailers even look at Previews anymore? Or do they just order the same number of the next issue of all the books they currently order which they’ve been ordering since the nineties. And if it’s canceled then they stop ordering it and if it relaunches then they order the same number again and if it’s brand new well better to be safe than sorry so they either don’t order it at all or they order very very very conservatively.
Businesses that are scared to try and take risks do not grow and in many cases barely survive, if they do at all. Welcome to the comics industry. Peopled by businesses that are running in ‘deer in headlinghts’ mode. I don’t know what it will take to kick these people into gear, but I can bet you that orders for most of these NEW Tsunami properties will be on par with Eden’s Trail and Marvel’s other wholly original properties. IE, out of the ‘Top 100.’ Only Namor, The Human Torch and Venom have any chance and that’s because they’re familiar. But even then, the retailers are probably already assuming this line like 99% of the lines before it will fail. And because of that assumption… it will… and they did.
ROUND 2
The Harvey Awards Committee announced that they would be canceling the gala where the awards were to be honored due to the last minute withdrawal from the event by keynote speaker Neil Gaiman. And I was really looking forward to him pissing on a stack of Spawn comics.
ROUND 3
Rob G, famed and internationally renowned comics artist—oh wait, he’s an American artist so make that near poverty has to have a day job struggling just to survive comics artist—was burned completely out of his home, losing everything in the process. Okay not everything, he did have the clothes on his back. And if he listened to his mother he was wearing a clean pair of underwear, so at least there’s that. Now a cold-hearted bastard would say, well what the hell does that mean for the next issue of Teenagers From Mars, an excellent book that is finally gaining some buzz (IE some retailers will finally start ordering it). Well, at this point, who the hell knows but the more important thing is what the hell is Rob going to do? Damn I used hell a lot there.
If he lived anywhere near here I’d let him stay in my basement, but I’m sure he’s already found arrangements. Newsarama broke this story and immediately set up a PayPal Account for the comics community to donate to help Rob rebuild his life. It’s hard to imagine how hard this is for Rob. He might have even lost that autographed copy of my first column (I remember he was all sweating and nervous when we met in San Diego last year, he was so excited to meet me—good kid). Of course, since he probably keeps that in his wallet so it will be near him at all times I’m sure it’s safe. Which is good, because it’s $30.00 for an autograph dude, and I don’t care how you lost it!
Donations are being accepted by the writer of TFM, Rick Spears at his home address:
Rick Spears 609 President St. #2 Brooklyn, NY 11215
Newsarama also took the liberty to set up a PayPal account for the beleagured artist so that he can afford to get another autographed copy of my very first column. You can find their original story along with the PayPal link here. While you’re there go ahead and scroll through the responses. It would appear that a certain Dave G (father of Rob G) has found the post and replied. Nothing groundbreaking just a nice little response to comics generosity.
What I want to know is the lineage of G as a last name. Is it straight up Harlem? Philly? East Coast? West Coast? And I wonder if they’re related to Warren?
ROUND 4
Where’s my Transformers: Profiles! That cry from all six of the people who odered it has been heard by DreamWave. However, they think it kind of sucks that only six people ordered the collection (solicited as a four-volume 96 page series at $12.95 a pop) considering how many people order the TF books themselves. So they canceled it. No biggie.
But then they did something even cooler. They rethought the strategy (something I wish Marvel would do for their Marvel Encyclopedias) and now it’s going to be an eight volume 64-page series for $5.25 a piece. Let’s do the math. That’s almost ten dollars cheaper… and 128 MORE pages. Damn, I love this new math! They even renamed it Transformers: More Than Meets The Eye in honor of all the ‘More For Less’ goodness.
So we get to save money and we get more Transformers informational goodness. Of course, the real reason to do this is so that Marvel and DC will get off their collective asses and give the fans what they want. A Who’s Who Encyclopedia for both universes in a reasonably-priced format. The fancy-schmancy hardcovers can come later.
If we can get one for G.I. Joe and Transformers and even a half-assed pinup book with SOME information for Thundercats then surely we can get one for the DCU and Marvel. The Secret Files & Origins are nifty and all but we want a hardcore, no expenses spared (but plenty saved so keep the cover price down), comprehensive breakdown of every nobody who ever had screentime on one panel of the crappiest issue of Superman: The Man of Steel! It could be a 750-issue limited series.
ROUND 5
Legendary artist Joe Kubert is returning to the genre that made him famous, uniting with hot writer Brian Azzarello on a classic war character. Sgt. Rock: Between Hell and a Hard Place is a 128 page hardback coming out from DC’s Vertigo imprint. And in keeping with recent tradition involving classic artists on classic character revivals, it will be revealed that Sgt. Rock was a ‘rock’ in all the right places and you’ll learn that it was called Easy Company because everyone in it… was. Gives new meaning to Between Hell and a Hard Place don’t it?
K.O.
disclaimer: the opinions expressed in this column don’t necessarily represent those expressed by any sane and rational adult; they barely represent the views of the author and they barely resemble coherency as it is; nevertheless this column is chock full of satire and parody (as protected by laws protecting such things) and as such don’t sue me. look at it this way, this is all for fun, don’t believe a word of it (even if it is true), don’t take it too seriously, and if you do take it, take it all with a grain of salt—better yet have the truck back up to your house.
