Ahmad Al-Mahir Online

Managed to go through a few more collections recently and since I haven’t been posting I thought might as well offer up some thoughts:

• “DC: The New Frontier” by Darwyn Cooke. I borrowed the Absolute edition and it is massive! It’s a hardcover, nicely produced and chock full of details. We get an insight into the inspirations and references the author compiled while developing the entire series and homages placed within the pages. Lots of great nuggets of information in there for new readers as well as old timers like me. The story is a chronicle of events throughout DC comics history which ultimately leads to a huge climax and resolution. The series taps on early DC comic characters’ adventures and origins and follows a time-line right up to when the Silver Age Justice League had their first official team mission. It’s a cool reinterpretation of DC comics history, and the care and love the author has for the characters and storyline shine through brilliantly. The art has a retro feel which appeals to this old-fashioned comics fan. A must read!
• “Popgun” Vol. 1. I found this at my school’s library and it’s a decent anthology. A good sized collection but nothing really stood out for me. Or I’ve forgotten, unfortunately. Volume 2 obviously feels more polished by comparison.
• “Elephantmen: Wounded Animals” by Richard Starkings. I’ve read a few good reviews on this title and thought I’d check out what the deal is. I liked how the author mentions the inspirations and references he drew from (scifi adventures, 1970’s shows like “Saphhire and Steel”) in his introduction, and I found myself agreeing with a lot of the stuff he brought up. It gave me much hope. Then, after reading through the collection of issues #1-7, I lost some of that enthusiasm. The issues brought up in those pages felt too familiar (e.g. cloning, racism, hero with a tortured past). The characters weren’t as interesting as I’d hoped, although I did develop a dislike for a few of the characters with a passion (e.g. camelguy) so maybe that’s something. I enjoyed the quotes that preceded each chapter though. And I thought the mini-story “Captain Stoneheart and the Truth Fairy” was very well told, even though (again) it felt like a tale I’ve read before a long while ago in some form or other.
• “Shazam!: The Monster Society of Evil” by Jeff Smith. This is a reinvention of Fawcett Comics’ Captain Marvel’s origin and early adventures by the creator of “Bone” ( I need to borrow that incredibly thick collection and really finish reading that story one fine day). I like the concept of the superhero Captain Marvel; he always comes across as clean-cut and heroic. There’s no ambiguity about his morals or purpose. That’s what I remember of him way back when. Anyways, I didn’t quite appreciate the way the author drew the kids (sometimes they look kinda like adult heads attached to kids’ bodies) and Mr. Mind in this book (looks more like a snake than a worm). I also wondered where those crocodile men came from, but overall the story was decently told and cleanly presented. I especially liked his depictions of the Wizard and Tawny.

On a side note, I’ve been busy with work (as usual) but I’ve been getting some sketches and basic animation exercises done in the midst of it. So that means I shall be posting up some new stuff real soon!

I’ve had the oppotunity to check out a few graphic novels on my now-regular weekly visits to the library with the family. They have a basic collection, with a large chunk made up of thick Essential and Showcase sets by Marvel and DC respectively. I suppose it’s adequate for my needs at the moment. I’ve actually been seeking out books from the smaller publishers though; focusing more on one-shots and anthologies than the regular mainstream titles. I think I’ve officially been cut off from the ‘comics-collecting-collective’. I haven’t checked out a single issue of any series in ages, and I won’t know where to jump back on titles like “JLA”, “Green Lantern”, “Batman”, “Daredevil”, “Thor”, “Avengers” and “X-Men”, regardless of how much I loved reading them as a kid. Even when they published those collected trades of these series which can be considered stand alone story arcs, I always feel like I’m missing chunks of significant backstory. And then what happens after that arc? Too much effort needed to find out probably.

Anyway, here are the books I’ve borrowed:

• “Invincible” Vol. 2. They didn’t have Vol. 1 on the shelf and I’ve always wanted to find out if this title is as good as some people say it is, so I had to check it out. Verdict? It’s got some pretty good characters and the artwork is clean and appealing. I liked the premise and the way the story was heading overall. Not hankering too much to follow up on it though.
• “Inferno“. It reminds me of Vertigo’s “Sandman” series in terms of concept and execution. Not surprisingly the writer went on to work on “Lucifer”, a series spun off from that classic title. A man murdered, awakened in an interestingly conceptualized hell, fights his way to the truth aided by non-ordinary characters. The art is raw, rough, black and white. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
• “Channel Zero”. I like the idea of a young idealist rising up against the system, but the story overall was pretty average. The  graphic design style artwork was serviceable but wasn’t really my cup of tea.
• “Popgun” Vol. 2. This has a nice thick collection of short stories. Stories and artwork are a mix bag. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down the titles I especially enjoyed, but they involved the easter bunny, bigfoot, clockwork people and bounty hunters just to name a few. I do know which one I really did not enjoy in terms of story and art; “Bastard Road”.
• “Hellboy: The Chained Coffin and Others”. Mike Mignola. Love his artwork. Old myths and obscure legends dug up and re-interpreted. Love the concepts. Basically, love this book! I’m so looking forward for more.
• “24Seven”. I’m in the middle of reading this right now but I like the premise so far; robot noir.

Contrary to how it may seem, I haven’t given up completely on Marvel or DC books just yet. I would love to read about Hal Jordan’s return in “Green Lantern”, and the recent “Sinestro Corps War” storyline sounds interesting. The classic tragic tale of the “Squadron Supreme” in complete trade paperback and Walt Simonson’s more mythology-centric collected run of “Thor” are also on my ‘to read’ list. Those Essential and Showcase collections sure appeal to my penchant for nostalgia.

I had a blast at the OIC Portrait Day held at the Red Dot Traffic museum yesterday. It’s a monthly event that lets drawing enthusiasts sit down and draw/paint for about 5 hours. Volunteers sit down for 15 minutes a session and get their portraits done by a group of artists. Each artist pays a small fee (e.g. $5) on the spot to participate and if the person whose portrait you just did likes it he/she can buy it from you for $8. The ‘clients’ are spoiled for choice really if the number of high quality portraits displayed yesterday was anything to go by.

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