Comics Unmasked: London Exhibition

On at the British Library in London till 19 Aug 2014.

According to the BL website Comics Unmasked features, “such iconic names as Neil Gaiman (Sandman), Alan Moore (Watchmen, V for Vendetta), Grant Morrison (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Posy Simmonds (Tamara Drewe), this exhibition traces the British comics tradition back through classic 1970s titles including 2000AD, Action and Misty to 19^th-century illustrated reports of Jack the Ripper and even medieval manuscripts.

I love that this exhibition comes with a parental guidance warning 🙂

Hope I’ll be able to get down to London to see this but if you manage to go let me know what the highlights are.

The Wake #7 Review: The Retro-Future Beautifully Realised

We are just a few issues away from the final issue in this run of The Wake.

I say This Run.

Because I hope that Snyder and Murphy are going to continue.

There is just too much still to discover.

I’ve a feeling issue 10 is going to end an an almighty cliff-hanger.

But back to issue seven.

This issue opens with a flashback of Leeward’s childhood.

Reminding us that even the most bad ass characters once wore dolphin socks.

And got scared.

Interestingly, we also get a rather more subtle flashback to Governor Vivienne’s childhood.

Collecting the bodies of dead birds.

Sliding down the enormous piles of their bodies.

Angry at the stupidity of their blind hope that a beacon would save them.

Which makes me think that there might be a real solution to the Mer problem.

But the people in power are concealing it.

After all a terrorised populace are easier to control.

And that’s the great thing about this series so far.

Subtle storytelling.

Coupled with fantastic action.

Sean Murphy’s art is so dynamic, exciting and intriguing.

From the retro-fitted cruise liners to the design of the Arm uniforms.

Every detail is superbly realised.

It is also a great example of retro-future in sci-fi storytelling.

Last night I went to the National Museums of Scotland Museum Lates event.

The theme was retro-future.

Which got me thinking about about this whole concept of the past in the sci-fi genre.

It happens a lot.

We imagine what the future is going to be like we turn to the past for inspiration.

Just a few examples:

Firefly – cowboys in space.

Tron Legacy – the 1980s in the future.

Blade Runner – the 1950s in the future.

The trick is to create a retro-future that still feels original.

That has enough to distinguish it.

In Firefly Joss Wheedon added Mandarin Chinese to the dialogue.

Allowing nerds worldwide to swear with impunity.

“Ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng!”

The Wake stands out from the crowd with the terrifying Mers.

And with some very interesting pirates who we’ll be meeting in issue 8!

 

How Sandman Changed the Face of Comics Publishing

 

I first read Neil Gaiman’s Sandman comic series in 1996.

The year the series finished.

Over the years it has won a whole host of new fans.

Won a ton of awards including 26 Eisners.

But I hadn’t realised just how seminal this series was in terms of it’s impact on the comics industry.

Did you know?

Sandman was the first comic to be published in a collected edition.

Sandman was the first comic to be owned by a writer in the sense that when it ended it wasn’t passed to another writer to pick up the story a la Batman, Spiderman…

Sandman was one of the first comics that really attracted women to the genre en mass.

And how did Neil Gaiman achieve all of this?

By simply not knowing it was impossible to do these things.

Oh, and of course through years of hard work and incredible talent.

You can hear Neil Gaiman talk about all things Sandman related in this video.

It is from the 2013 Edinburgh Book Festival’s Stripped Comics series of events.

I’ll be attending this year so look out for more news and reviews from the event come August.

And just for fun here is one of my favourite pieces of comics memorabilia.

Actually this is my only piece of comics memorabilia.

 

Comic review: Wynter #1-2 by Guy Hasson & Aron Elekes

 

The best sci-fi is a reflection of the world we live in.

Especially if the reflection is unsettling.

Or horrifying.

With Wynter Guy Hasson and Aron Elekes have created a world which mixes overpopulation, teenage angst and an internal Facebook-like A.I. with explosive effects.

Here’s the set up.

Liz Wynter is a disaffected 17 year old.

She wants to feel special, unique, like an individual.

But

Her DNA has been born into millions of people before and after her.

Everything she could think, say or do has been predicted and recorded.

And most annoyingly.

There’s an A.I. in her head also called Liz.

Spewing statistics like

‘I AM SPECIAL’ 200 BIL + HAD SAME THOUGHT IN LAST 30 SECONDS

WOULD YOU LIKE TO KNOW WHO THEY ARE

No wonder she’s ready to commit any petty infraction to feel unique.

But things soon escalate when Liz and her friend Shane get hold of an iSTEAL app.

Swiping apps from passersby they end up with something called ‘Subversive’.

That sparks a thought in Liz’s mind.

Perhaps I could do something unique, life-changing and explosive after all?

The first issue of this digital comic is available from New worlds Comics and issue two will be released on May 06 2014.

Art work you can grab hold of

I love comics that take as much care over the art as the writing.

After all this is a visual medium.

This story is perfectly illustrated by Aron Elekes tactile, lush artwork.

All the way through we get the kind of graphic art you normally only see on the chapter pages in most comics.

It’s realistic without taking away from the dark otherness of a dystopian future world.

Flesh seems real, pain is a visceral expression on characters’ faces.

Deep shadows are full of foreboding.

If you love comics as much for the art as the words you’ll love this.

Another great thing about this comic is that it passes the Bechdel test.

A standard invented for films to see if they have a gender bias.

The test is amazingly simple.

Are there two women who have a conversation together about anything other than a man?

Amazingly high numbers of films, TV Shows and comics fail this test.

I love that Wynter bucks this trend.

And does so in a natural, unforced way.

Although in their Manfesto New Worlds Comics state:

“Women are heroes. In New World Comics, most (not all) of our titles will have women as the protagonists. If you think women can’t be heroes (super- or otherwise), look out the window. Female secondary characters, even in titles that have men as protagonists, will also be real women.”

It is in no way at the expense of good storytelling.

Which after all is what the very best comics are about.