October Highlights and Army@Love Preview
By Martijn Form
Hi Vertigolovers,
A new month is underway, and I got you some great preview art for Army@Love: The Art of War #4. But before we check out some of those Rick Veitch pages, I would like to start this column with some of last month's Vertigo highlights.
I'm not a big fan of making favorite top ten lists. I don't know why exactly. I will leave it to my therapist to figure that out, but if I did such a list for the month of October, both Air #3 and The Unknown Soldier #1 would be in the top slots.
For his re-incarnation of The Unknown Soldier writer Joshua Dysart researched a war in Africa that wasn't reported on in all the newspapers or given 24/7 coverage on CNN. Leave it to Dysart to teach all of us a thing or two about this horrific piece of history. This human disaster. This slaughter on a massive scale.
Joshua Dysart provided me with some sweet exclusive "making of" material from Unknown Soldier #1. They are Dysart's script for pages 13 and 14, along with Alberto Ponticelli's wonderful art and Oscar Celestini's magnificent coloring of the same pages. I suggest you start with the script and work your way down the page. I, for one, found it intriguing to see how these pages come to life.
Layouts for pages 13 and 14
Pencils for Pages 13 and 14
Inks for Pages 13 and 14
Colors for Pages 13 and 14
So that's how great magicians do their tricks. Wonderful, don't you think? Thank you, Joshua Dysart for letting me show this great material. If anyone wants to see more behind the curtain stuff, just go to Unknown Soldier Comic.
Air #3 is a wonderfully strange comic. It's partly realistic, but it also features a country that doesn't exist anymore that lies somewhere between India and Pakistan, and I do believe in Blythe's imagination. The new love of her life, Zyan, is just an enigma. A mystery. An innuendo. Is he a good guy or a wolf in sheep's clothing? Writer G. Willow Wilson has created some intriguing characters for this book. Still I haven't quite grasped the metaphor of the snake with wings. It could well be an Iaculus, which is a mythological creature, a snake that could fly.
Or…
It could have something to do with Caduceus, the wand of Hermes. That symbol also has a snake—well, two actually--with wings. It is most commonly known as the symbol for medicine, but it's also carried by the Greek god Hermes, the messenger of the gods, guide of the dead and protector of merchants, gamblers, liars and thieves. You can tell me what that means. Ha Ha! I would really love to know!
Talking about ancient history, have all of you picked up Brian Wood's depiction of the age of Vikings: Northlanders Vol. 1: Sven The Returned?
If you haven't, you are missing out on a great book here! The trade collects eight issues for the price of $9.99. Yes that's right; that makes it $1.25 per comic. Cutting down costs during these financially difficult times doesn't mean having to cut down on Vertigo comics, dear readers! Wood's writing and Davide Gianfelice's art slowly take you in a masterful strangulation. It shivers up your spine and messes with your day to day status quo, sucking you down into a bleak history lesson that is wonderfully told. I wish Hollywood would come up something this good!
And just when you thought you've removed yourself from the harsh world of chopped off heads, there is Northlanders #11, which begins a new story arc. And what a start it is! In my humble opinion Brian Wood is one of the best writers of human interaction and bringing it to the comic page. Issue #11's story about a warrior father and his daughter is warm but full of drama. It's sentimental, yet in a literary way not in a candy pink horrible way. Wood couldn't write that candy pink crap even if a gun (or more fitting, a rusty sword) was held to his head. Bravo, Mr. Wood! A standing ovation is in order here, ladies and gentlemen.
After this prolonged applause, all by myself, I'm going to sit down again for a moment of silence. I dropped a Vertigo comic this week. I hear you all asking, "Dear God, you did what?" Yes, I'm sorry but I dropped Greatest Hits from my pull list. This mini-series just isn't working for me. I reviewed the first issue and only could give it 2.5 bullets. My review of issue two #2 wouldn't have been any better, although in his review my dear CB colleague Troy Stith gave issue #2 5 bullets. So let me know what you think of this series? Should I pick it up again?
Let's end this October retrospect on a lighter, more positive note with Madame Xanadu #5.
Yes, light weight would be an accurate description for the issue, and maybe all issues of the series thus far. I can't quite grasp where writer Matt Wagner is heading with this story. For me the Madame Xanadu character should be more focused on occult activities and mystic phenomena, and not so much on teenage emotional conflicts. The love angle with the mysterious stranger is a bit on the sweet side for me, and her jumping through time doesn't create memorable characters, even though they are based on real historic figures.
As promised, here are some preview pages from Army@Love: The Art of War #4, and I have to say they look quite nice. Rick Veitch is a great artist, and I loved his OGN Can't Get No which he created for Vertigo a couple of years back.
Also coming out from Vertigo in November:
The Absolute Sandman Vol. 4 (November 5)
The Exterminators Vol. 5: Bug Brothers Forever (November 12)
Un-Men Vol. 2: Children of Paradox (November 5)
Three really great trades, don't you think? Well, Absolute Sandman isn't a trade; it's a coffee table book. I have hyped The Exterminators in almost every column, so take my word for it for once: this is a great volume to pick up. Un-Men is maybe one of Vertigo's most underrated series in years, besides American Virgin.
If you are a Fables fan (and who isn't?), November will be a good month with these titles:
Fables #78 (November 12)
Fables Vol. 11: War and Pieces (November 19)
Fables: Covers by James Jean (November 12)
But for me the most important November Vertigo release will be The Sandman: The Dream Hunters #1 (of 4) which will be in comic stores this week. I can't wait to get my hands on this one.
Well, that's it for another week in the universe called Vertigo. I will be back next week with more mayhem, magic, gore, horror, filth and entertainment.
Keep it cool, keep it Vertigo!
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