Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for Under a Dollar

Two of my previous articles, Ten Great Graphic Novels Being Sold on Amazon for a Penny & its sister article were somewhat popular, so I looked to write a third entry, but I found that there are many great graphic novels that, while costing more than a penny, were easily affordable and should be considered must reads for a comics fan (in my ever so humble opinion). And so for those of you with slightly deeper pockets, I present to you, 10 great graphic novels being sold on Amazon for under a dollar.

The Milkman Murders  By Joe Casey & Steve Parkhouse. In a reverse perfect Donna Reed existence, a housewife who is trying to keep her extremely dysfunctional family happy is raped by a wandering lunatic driving an old fashioned milk truck. Parkhouse's art blends with the script brilliantly. The perceived grime and filth is everywhere. Each character is foully drawn that you can smell the grime and BO wafting off of them.

Uther The Half Dead King   By Bo Hampton & Dan Abnett. This is the story of King Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, a brutal military leader whose character is often used as a foil of Arthurs own golden age. The story deftly mixes Arthurian legends with English history. He is presented as a man shaped by his times. He had the ability to survive the times, but not to tame them, and that ultimately cost him his life.

Silk Tapestry and Other Chinese Folk Tales: Songs of Our Ancestors Volume 2 

By Patrick Atangan. Three beautifully illustrated short stories from Chinese mythology. In The Silk Tapestry, an old woman's last hope to live well is in the completion of a magical tapestry, which opens to paradise. In Sausage-Boy and his Magic Brush, a boy's magical paintings that come to life attracts a greedy woman. In The Creation Myth of Pan Gu a lonely spirit sculpts the Earth from a cosmic egg in hopes it brings him some company.

Age of Bronze- A Thousand Ships  By Eric Shanower. This is part one of the Trojan war, specifically all of the events that lead up to the launching of the 1,000 ships after Helen of Troy. As you can see from the bibliography, the author put an intense amount of research into creating the right look and facial constructions for the time period. All mythical elements have been removed from the tale, except as being told as stories within stories themselves, and a logical reasoning has been applied to the mythic tale.

Aetheric Mechanics By Warren Ellis & Chris Deier. A short but filling work. Ellis follows the trend of mixing up various 19^th Century genres and characters together to create a wide world, but this one has an interesting twist and an ending that makes this story great. Highly recommended.  

AKA Goldfish  By Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis’s breakout comic. The story of a wronged grifter coming back to town to take revenge on all those who had wronged him, plus one other reason. The story is fast paced and compelling, deftly mixing humor and tragedy into a brutal crime noir tale.

The Birthday Riots By Nabiel Kanan. The story of a once progressive middle aged man who now has been worn down and corrupted by the realities of life. He is an advisor to a man running for mayor and tells him not to focus on the needs of lower class, as it will not get him as many votes- an exact opposite of who he used to be. This is a low key tragic tale of man stumbling through the wreckage of his now tattered morals and caught up in an actual riot, a partial result of his own actions.  

London's Dark  By James Robinson & Paul Johnson. An interesting tale set in London during the blitz. A man is murdered during an air raid and, after his body is found, the police naturally assume he was a victim of the Germans. Later on his mother goes to a psychic to contact her dead son, only to have him tell her that he was murdered. Things get out of control from there. The art is stark and realistic, perfectly capturing a sense of grime and grittiness of the time.

Silent Invasion: Secret Affairs & Red Shadows  By Michael Cherkas & Larry Hancock. The Silent Invasion is one of those rare books that was truly ahead of its time. Coming out in 1986, it was a black-and-white comic, well before black and white comics were fashionable. It dealt with a secret government conspiracy, involving aliens, well before the X-Files popularized the idea. The Silent Invasion was a victim of its own originality, and never got the recognition that it deserved. It is a paranoid cold war thriller that revolves around reporter Matt Sinkage who after having an encounter with aliens, cannot convince others of their existence. This collects them first two, of four, volumes.



         Hope you’ve found something of interest here. And as always you can check out my What I’ve Been Reading Page for any more suggestions. Enjoy and Caveat Emptor!


For more weirdness try Across the Wounded Galaxy by Rex Hurst

You Don't Need to Wash the Whole Film Grey to be "Grim and Gritty"

 

Is there something there? I can't tell.

With the coming of Batman Vs. Superman I feel the need to address something that has been bothering me for some time. That is the use of “color code” for a film genre, or to be more precise the use of digital color correction to wash an entire film a specific tint. You may have noticed: Horror films are blue; Sci-fi is green; Films in the desert are yellow; And if it is supposed to be an apocalyptic film it will be grey. 

      The first to use this all the way through was O Brother Where Art Thou, who washed the film to give it that old time sepia color. Which was nice and different then. It worked for the style of film, but now the trend has got out of hand.

      The film which bothered me the most in its use of the color code was Man of Steel. The grey wash was so thorough that it nearly blotted out every other color and, even though there was a lot of action, the use of grey made everything very dull to watch. I saw it in Imax and 3-D and still I was so bored that I fell asleep. Later on, as I analyzed why I was so bored, the one thing that I hit on more than anything else was the color scheme. As much as this might make me sound like an idiot, the use of bright colors or a contrasting scheme helps to capture the viewer’s eye and hold their interest. When everything is monotone and gloomy, then a person’s attention lapses. If we look at babies, they are naturally attracted to bright shiny objects and colors. And we never really lose that interest, even as adults, we’ve just learned not to shove everything in our mouths.

       Man of Steel came out a while ago, but what really prompted me to write on this topic was a conversation I had with a drone not too long ago (How come so many of my blogs are spurred on this way?). And by drone, I mean some who laps up everything that is tossed at him and regurgitates it back without thought. It was as if I was speaking to a larynx rather than a brain. But I didn’t realize this when I first spoke to him, otherwise I wouldn’t have wasted my time.

       During our conversation it came out that he was a fan of Man of Steel. I described my problems with it and he shook his head. He stated that the film was supposed to be “grim and gritty” and that the color had to match. That everything being grey was necessary to set the tone of the film.

       “Otherwise people might not realize.” He added.

        The conversation soon became pointless and I gave up.  I will get into the whether the character of Superman needs to be “grim and gritty” on a future blog, but the idea that the entire film has to be a dull color to set the tone is ridiculous.

       To prove my point. I will contrast various scenes from that wonderful classic A Clockwork Orange against Man of Steel. No one in their right minds will ever say that the subject matter of A Clockwork Orange is anything but grim and gritty. It is a savage tale told with an unblinking eye, but damn is it colorful.



If your haven't read it.
It's real horrorshow.

Lets start with a scene of characters sitting down:

No wonder this planet committed suicide. It is the most depressing place in the Universe.

There is black here, but it is offset by many other colors and draws your eye in.

       Jungian psychologists have studied the effects of colors on people. They discovered that grey tends to make one feel of: dampness, depression, lack of confidence, lack of energy. Not a great mood for an action movie.
       How about another example? Here we have characters who are verbally opposing the scene's protagonist. Which has more energy?  

 I'm about to go into hibernation.

The color primarily used here is white. Even the graffiti on the wall is white.

Which stands out? Which is more vivid?

Now let’s take a look at the protagonists.

Superman

Alex Delarge

     Note that the Clockwork Orange is awash in brightness and light, and yet still is able to denote a sinister tone. That’s because before digital color correcting they used a device called acting to set the mood.

     But this is all people sitting around. Let’s look at some action! 

Flying around in dark clothes against a dark background.

Granted the giant penis helps to grab your attention as much as anything else.

     Had enough? Let’s just try one final image. This is reaction shot of the protagonist in peril. Which grabs your interest more?

Man of Steel...

or A Clockwork Orange?

      Unfortunately it does not seem like overuse of digital color correction is going away anytime soon. Like the shaky cam technique, a lot of film directors and producers seem convinced that it adds to a film’s quality- or at least is what people want.

       Why? Because at the end of the day a lot of people are going to want to see Batman and Superman fight, no matter what the film looks like.

 For more fun try books by Rex Hurst

Why No Love for Predator 2? It’s the Better Film!

 

The Predator franchise is perhaps the best known and warmly embraced series about interstellar aliens on safari. It is so successful that the original meaning of the word predator now comes second in many people’s minds, after the image of the alien hunter.

I was sitting around with some friends recently- throwing back a few beers, smoking a few cigars, and urinating in a few alleys- when the conversation eventually wandered onto the topic of films. And as usual a hubbub of whiny complaints emerged about the number of sequels being vomited up by the Hollywood machine.

I don’t care. Apparently someone’s watching these films if they keep making them. The demand must be there. It’s not something that I’m demanding, but I am apparently in the minority- nothing new there. But that isn’t good enough for my friend Mitchel. He is one of those guys who constantly complains about The Walking Dead but never misses an episode, like he’s going out of his way to antagonize himself.

“They can do sequels, but why are they all so bad?”

“Perhaps because so many people- like you- watch them no matter what they’re like.”

“I don’t pay to see them.” He retorts.

Which gives him even less reason to complain.

I attempted to divert the conversation away from “those guys in Hollywood who should make good film and not bad ones” by stating that sometimes the sequels are better than the original, which starts us off listing a few. We go through the standard list- The Godfather Part II, Aliens, Evil Dead II, The Road Warrior, The Good The Bad and The Ugly- at which point I offer up Predator 2.

Never get tired of this!

The table goes dead, like I had just slapped a nun. Everyone there disagrees with me- violently so. The opposition is so fierce that I start to think we are talking about two different movies. But no, they knew exactly which film it was. The evening ended with a lot of back and forth, all of us being impolitely asked to leave, and me loudly wishing that all of their families would die of AIDS.

         So, unable to convince the others, for this entry I will present my reasons for why Predator 2 is the better film. And God help you if you disagree!

 

             1. It Has Better Actors and Acting:

           Not to disparage Ah-nold or his thespian skills, but everyone must admit staring in Predator wasn’t exactly a breakthrough performance. “You are one ugly motherfucker.” Not best catch phrase. We have all heard him grunt through similar roles in a dozen movies. His characters in Raw Deal, Commando, End of Days, Collateral Damage, and Predator might’ve easily been the same character.

       And it holds true for the rest of the original Predator cast as well. While we all enjoy the irony factor of having two future US governors in the film, Jessie “I’m a Sexual Tyrannosaurus” Ventura is no actor of merit. Carl Weathers was serviceable. He said his lines in a coherent manner, lost his arm, and died. He’s really just there to be sliced up. For a serious role with Weathers, I’ll watch him in Rocky. For comedy, I’ll watch him get a stew going on. And while Bill Duke has the dead eyed sociopath character down and knows how to stab a scorpion, his role is not explosive. Plus the rest of the cast- the Indian, the Hispanic Chick and the Skinny White Guy who tells sexual jokes too childish for a 4th grader. No one was bad, they were just okay. The real standout was the alien’s makeup and it did not disappoint.

Plus it touted Morton Downey Jr. RIP

      On to Predator 2 and we have Danny Glover- always good as the everyman cop doing his best against the odds roles. Bill Paxton doing his smarmiest best as the wanna-be hot dog cop. “Blah blah blah is my specialty.” Ruben Blades and Maria Conchita Alonso as a pair of detective, not exactly your muscle bound types. Plus to top it off a pre-motorcycle accident Gary Busey, before his brains were scrambled. All together there is a lot more personality in the cast of Predator 2 and it shows.

2. It Has a Better Plot

Granted Predator 2 builds on Predator, but there is still much more swirling around in this cyberpunk future. It had gang wars, Hispanic drug cartels, Voodoo rituals, mysterious government agencies, and a city on the edge where everyone runs around packed- leading to my favorite scene of vigilantes on the subway, a fun parody of Bernard Goetz.

Predator 1 didn't have enough
old ladies with brooms!

Predator after the 40 minute mark slows down a lot. You know everyone except for Arnold and the chick will die and you’re just sitting around waiting to see what the alien looks like. After Carl Weather bites it, you might as well fast forward to the end. Predator 2 doesn’t slow down. It is paced perfectly to keep your interest, with little comedic flares along the way.

3. It Has a Much Better Resolution:

The end of Predator 2 gives us every understanding we have of Predator culture, as opposed to Predator where the creature commits suicide, trying to take everyone with him. Not exactly the spirit of an honorable hunter species we associate with them. It’s from Predator 2 where we get the true sense of them.



Some damn good comics!

The last three minutes of Predator 2 has been expanded on and influenced every other further media development of the franchise (though ‘m still waiting for a video game where you play the Predator in a free roam city, sort of like Grand Theft Auto). Plus the on special shot- added as a joke- gave us a series of great graphic novels and 2 bad movies.

Stay tuned for my next blog where I will explain why Fletch Lives is better than Fletch.

What? You don’t agree?

 

When Will Eisner Accidently Insulted Me

            This incident happened at a minor independent comics convention up in Toronto. My pal Don, who owned a comics store, drove a bunch of us over the border to Canada. Don, who had comic iconography tattooed up and down both arms some of it leaking onto his chest, was a fanatic on the subject. He was rabid about getting signatures and original art.

            Myself, I enjoyed the art and the stories and that’s all. I could never get into collecting autographs of writers or pencilers. It's foolish to pay an extra ten (or more!) dollars for a few more words.  Additionally the difference between a first and second printing can alter the price of a book, in the eyes of “real collectors”, by ten to twenty dolars. In most cases the first and second printings have the same story and art. So what makes one more valuable than the other? Human stupidity, that’s what. And I learned long ago that if a comic is labeled a  “collector’s item”, then it’s a guarantee that in a year it won't be worth a dime. Once the publishers slap that label on the front cover, a frothing horde of fan boys run about bagging-and-boarding the comic and squirreling it away in a basement for all time.

            To listen to these collectors talk, you’d think they were investing in the stock market. “This’ll be worth like…a lot of money someday.” Unfortunately no one’s buying for top dollar. Think, all you collectors, have you ever heard of anyone out there actually cashing in on their stash?  No. On the rare occasion when it does happen, it’s their family who does it, after the person’s dead.

            My favorite part of a convention has always been the independent dealers. Little guys who’ve published their own work as a labor of love and are just trying to make a buck or two. They might not be the greatest written or drawn books in the world, but they have heart. I almost always find something worthwhile, which I might not otherwise ever see again.

            What had attracted Don to the event was the appearance of Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, (a big deal), and Dave Sims, creator of Cerebus (a lesser deal). I could’ve cared less. I wanted the product, not the creator, so I paid little attention to what was happening outside of my narrow view of the independants.

            I was looking through some Korean drawn comics, when Don came running up to me.

            “I need your help with something, dude.”

            “What is it?”

            Apparently there was a sign up in front of Eisner’s empty table stating that he would only sign three items per person. It was a smart move or else people would be backing up U-hauls of stuff for him to scribble on- Don being one of them. He had arraigned (for a fee I assume) to bring some stuff up to the convention for several of his customers. Now he wanted me to stand in line to get it signed.

            “Nah, I don’t want to.”

            “Oh come on man.”

            “I hate that stuff.”

            “Hey fuck you dude! I drove you up here!”

           How could I argue with that?

            So into line I went. He gave me  two slim books and a hardcover collection of The Spirit Sunday comics from the 1940’s volume 19, published by Dark Horse, costing about $50. Way overpriced for my limited income. I was third in line, but Eisner was late coming out and I could feel valuable minutes of scrounging slipping away. Don was a few feet behind me, in the other line, nudging with this toe a box of phone books for Dave Sims to scribble on. He caught my gaze and gave me two enthusiastic thumbs up. The cheeriness was not infectious.

            Eventually Eisner emerged from behind a curtain and sat down. He was an old Jewish man, neatly dressed. After I saw him, I must admit, my enthusiasm increased. How could it not? Here was a living legend before me, a man who had helped to pioneer the entire industry. Hell the highest award in comics is named after him. What was he like? An angel or a monster? I just hoped he wasn’t a prick. If he was, I would never be able to enjoy his work again.

            I stepped up to the old man, who grinned benevolent at me and reached for the books.

            “What’s your name?”

            “Rex.”

            “Okay.”

            And he wrote To Rex, thanks for the support, Will Eisner, in the first book. This apparently is a big no-no in collector’s circles. Apart from the fact that the people who owned the books probably weren’t named Rex, having someone else’s name in the inscription, rather than the naked autograph, lowered the value of the books.  It was now worth only a little more, rather than kinda more, of the standard resale value. Don bitched at me about this later, but what was I supposed to do? Tell Eisner not to personalize it because that would screw up my plans to make quick buck off of him later?What’s your name? Ebay!

             Then he reached Volume 19 of the collected Spirit and his eyebrows raised in interest. He picked up the hardback and examined it carefully.

            “I haven’t seen one of these yet,” He looked at me and winked, “I bet you’ve got them all don’t you.”

            “Absolutely.” I lied.  

            He looked at the price. “Fifty dollars? You know when they were putting these together and they told me how much they were charging, I couldn’t believe it. I said to them, ‘What kind of idiot would pay that much for this?’”

            Then he stopped and looked a little sheepish, remembering that I had just claimed to own all of them, which if I had would’ve totaled close to $1000. I reflected that if I had actually bought this stuff I would probably be pretty insulted right then. Should I fake outrage? No, it was just one of those things. It really was a pleasure to meet him. It was an even greater pleasure to see that he wasn't a complete egotisitcal prick, like several other of my writing "heroes" had turned out to be.
              I shook his hand and left.