GRAPHIC NOVEL and TRADE PAPERBACK (TPB) REVIEWS

Sigil: The Marked Man  2002 (SC TPB) 208 pages

Writers Mark Waid, Barbara Kesel. Pencils by Scot Eaton, Kevin Sharpe, George Perez. Inkers various.
Colours: Wil Quintana, Laura DePuy. Letters: Dave Lanphear, Troy Peteri.

Reprinting: Sigil #8-14, CrossGen Chronicles #4 (with covers)

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Published by CrossGen Comics

Sigil is a science fiction series set amidst a conflict between earth -- and related planets -- and a race of lizards, who not only are attacking humans, but who can literally evolve by eating higher lifeforms (meaning humans). The story concerns Samandahl Rey, a decommissioned earth soldier who finds himself inexplicably imbued with super powers thanks to a sigil branded into his chest, which makes him regarded as a bit of a random element by humans and saurians alike.

This second TPB collection follows on the heels of the first and has Rey and his misfit crew of three (including a hologram/ghost of his dead best friend) arriving on the home planet of the woman Zanniati -- whom they just rescued from her evil husband, the sultan of a neutral world.

CrossGen is a relatively new comics company that has clearly staked out alternative territory to the superhero heavy DC and Marvel. Most of CrossGen's line involves fantasy or SF themes, and it's all attractively produced. A couple of other CrossGen TPBs I've read left me with the feeling that, though I moderately enjoyed them, the plotting seemed a bit thin. And The Marked Man is no exception. I hesitate to describe the plot in a synopsis, because I'm afraid I'd give too much away.

The book opens with a flashback story from CrossGen Chronicles (a comic I'm guessing is used to tell out-of-continuity tales about CrossGen's on going titles). It chronicles an early adventure of Rey and best buddy, Roiya Sintor (before she became a hologram), back when they were still in the army. It's basically aimed at the military SF/"Starship Troopers" crowd, as it covers the usual cliches (opening with a bar fight, then seguing into a tactical mission on the saurian world that turns into a running firefight). Despite my ambivalence toward that genre, it was briskly paced and O.K. (though Sam's personality doesn't gel with his personality in the body of the book).

Despite that beginning, the regular series seems not as much about "grunts- in-space", which should be good...but it's not really swashbuckling adventure either. The first few issues more concern the characters just standing around, chatting. When the action does kick in, it tends more to just be the big fight scenes that are too common these days (though a climactic scene where Sam must rescue a ship from destruction is moderately suspenseful). Yet despite the emphasis on talky bits, the story doesn't quite move up to being the complex saga of machinations and subterfuge it thinks it is. Zannitai has proof that the sultan is planning an alliance with the saurians, proof the sultan will do anything to get back. But, as mentioned earlier, though that's a plot...it's not quite a complex plot.

Much time is taken up with other stuff, such as character scenes, portraying the budding romances between Sam and Zanniati, and between the holographic Roiya and the enigmatic JeMerik Meer. Meer also possesses superpower and clearly knows more about Sam's power than Sam does and has set himself up as a kind of guardian angel. But all the stuff relating to the Sigil is meant to raise more questions than is answered here, as clearly Sam and his crew are caught up in the machinations of higher beings (and the comic, in ways that aren't addressed here, is presumably meant to have some connection to another CrossGen title, Mystic, a fantasy series about a woman with a similar sigil mark).

By focusing on the romantic aspect, one can admire the writers' intentions, attempting to create more than just a hit-'em'-tll-they-drop action saga. But though it's not ineffective, neither is it quite gripping stuff either. The relationships are less developed than they are simply stated. And the characters are, frankly, a little bland and unmemorable.

I also have a minor qualm with Sam's powers -- namely, they seem a touch too much. He's so powerful, there isn't a lot of suspense in the action scenes. And while addressing side points, the lack of ethnic diversity in Sigil seems a bit odd, particularly as sci-fi often promotes itself as racially progressive. It's not that there are no non-white principals -- it's that, other than in the George Perez-drawn issue, there aren't even non-white people in the backgrounds!

The art engenders as much ambivalence as the writing. The flashback story is drawn by veteran George Perez is his meticulous, extremely detailed style and is pretty effective. Although Perez can almost be too detailed, filling his panels with so many lines and objects the key element can be lost in the clutter. The other artists are even more problematic. Both Kevin Sharpe and Scot Eaton are good artists with similar styles (Eaton is slightly more realistic, at least when drawing men's faces, though both tend to draw their women with a slightly gamine/Japanese manga flavour). But like with Perez, their art can be overwhelming with the detail, too the point where the images are just too busy. This is particularly significant in a series where, as noted, time is made for the human interaction of characters just talking. But those scenes seem cluttered, too, losing the intimacy. And everything has the same plasticy sheen: people, backgrounds, ships. And one planet looks much the same as another, one ship the same as another ship. What adds to the problem is the colouring, which can often tend toward shades of single colours for the background -- and darker colours, to boot. Or, conversely, bright colours that can actually be hard on the eyes. It means you have already busy panels, where it's all made even harder to focus on what you're seeing.

I know more and more readers who are starting to complain that when it comes to comic book art and detail...more isn't necessarily always better. There's a feeling that a lot of modern artists are better artists than they are storytellers.

Ultimately, I can't be too hard on Sigil: The Marked Man. Despite my criticisms, it was briskly-paced and there's nothing horribly wrong with it in writing or art. But it never really interested me. As an action-adventure, as a political thriller, or as a character story, it all was a bit bland.

Cover price: $__ CDN./ $19.95 USA.

The Silencers: Black Kiss
see my review here

Silent Leaves: Exception to Life  2008 (SC GN) 160 pages

Story and art and letters by Christopher Shy, with Studio Ronin. .

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Additional notes: intro by novelist Michael Easton (scripter of Soul Stealer)

Suggested for mature readers

Published by DMF Comics

Silent Leaves: Exception to Life is a dreamlike science fiction story. And it's the second volume in a series -- though other than with the use of a sub-title ("Exception to Life"), it doesn't actually indicate that (ie: with a "Book Two" caption or something). Which is kind of important to know, because when you get to the end, it doesn't -- end, that is.

Artist Christopher Shy is probably better known for doing still, stand alone pictures of weird and dreamlike images, but has been branching out into the world of sequential storytelling.

Influenced a bit by "Dune", Silent Leaves is set in a desolate world populated by the remnants of various ancient factions -- including humans, who live in a walled city. But various characters become concerned that an ancient evil, the Prey, is on the verge of returning, threatening humans and others alike despite their mutual antipathy.

There are some potentially interesting ideas here -- unfortunately, in presenting them, Shy has a lot of trouble. Like a lot of would be SF/fantasy writers, Shy seems to have put too much thought into his world building...and too little into his story telling, or his characters. The first part of the book is deliberately meant to be vague and confusing, where you aren't really sure what's going on or why, as characters casually refer to things and beings where we aren't really sure who or what they're talking about. Then, the latter part of the book gives us (some) explanation, making some of the earlier conversations a bit clearer. But the result is a book that seems to consist mainly of a lot of talk and exposition...and not too much story to prop it up. There's a vague, dreaminess to a lot of it, as characters wander about, where the time span between scenes is often vague, or how certain scenes relate to each other is confused.

Not as confused as Shy's collaboration with writer Michael Easton on Soul Stealer, though. In fact what's frustrating about Silent Leaves is that it almost comes within touching distance of working.

In setting up the history, and the machinations, the different factions at odds with each other, there is some decent ideas. But these are simply the building blocks of a story -- it's like looking at the naked steel girders of a building, and the builder declaring it finished and fit for habitation.

The characters (what few characters there are) are vaguely presented, the "reality" of their reality almost non-existent. The story is mainly just set up -- which, when you get to the end of hundred and fifty pages, can feel like a rip off. And, as mentioned, the events can seem a bit disjointed and confused at times -- such as a later scene where the book's nominal heroine, Ian, goes off and has a big fight -- with who, why, or where, I have no idea.

Shy's imagery is part of the problem. On one hand, the painted (or photoshopped) imagery can be strangely hypnotic, surreal, and occasionally quite striking. On the other hand, it is frequently confused, failing to really tell the story through the imagery, with Shy recycling the same images, faces and figures over again, not as if it has some point, but simply because he had no other image to use. Heck -- Ian's hair goes from dark to fair part way through, and I don't know if that was symbolic of something, or just because Shy lost track of what she looked like. Which is easy to do, because another problem with the images is that in their vague, muddiness, it's often a bit hard to recognize characters from scene to scene. Or even with in a scene. And the conversations are often repetative and confusingly presented, where it's a bit hard to tell who's actually saying what.

At the end of the book are various appendixes, with maps, and a glossary of terms. On one hand, it shows what I said: Shy has obviously put thought into his world building. On the other hand, that's kind of what I mean about problems with his ability to convey information in the narrative. You shouldn't really get to the end of a hundred and fifty pages and still need text pages to make sense of what you just read, or where you get details of things that were never even hinted at in the story itself.

The problem with so much of modern storytelling -- from comics, to TV, to books even -- is that everyone wants the series, the franchise, the marketable product (the book even contains an ad selling statues of the heroine!). And the back issue shelves are full of unfinished sagas, left in limbo either because of poor sales forcing cancellation, or because the creators lost interest before completion (perhaps never having had a true vision of the climax to begin with). For all my criticisms, Silent Leaves has just enough interesting aspects that it might've struck me more favourably had it been complete. But what do you say about a work that has some okay ideas, but suffers from confused storytelling and presentation...and fails even to tell a story with an end, simply being one act in a vaguely promised longer work?

If Shy wants to convince readers to buy his later works, he kind of needs to convince us he can deliver with the work that's here.

Cover price: $__ CDN./ $19.99 USA.

Sin City: That Yellow Bastard
see my review here

Sojourn: The Warrior's Tale  2003 (SC TPB) 160 pages

Written by Ron Marz. Pencils by Greg Land, with Araon Lopresti. Inks by Jay Leisten, Roland Paris.
Colours: Justin Ponsor, Caesar Rodriguez, Laura Martin. Letters: Troy Peteri.

Reprinting: Sojourn #13-18

Rating: * * * 1/2  (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Additional notes: sketch gallery/pin-ups

Published by CrossGen Comics

Sojourn is a traditional High Fantasy saga set in a medieval-like world under the sway of an evil wizard, Mordath. The beautiful Arwyn is an archer who seeks to bring down the wizard, not the least because he killed her husband and child. With a fellow archer -- the roguish, free-wheeling Gareth - - and her dog, she seeks to assemble the parts of a mystical arrow that will destroy the wizard -- the parts being secreted in various lands, leading to assorted quests. All of this is, nicely and conveniently, recapped in an opening intro, so that a novice reader (like myself) won't feel left out.

This story arc (the third consecutive TPB collection) has Arwyn and Gareth arriving at Ankhara -- a city of mountain dwelling winged peoplee who have been conquered and occupied by Mordath's troll army. Sneaking into the city, she and Gareth aid rebels in the city in their own quest for a powerful weapon, while also hoping to find a piece of the mystical arrow.

Sojourn: The Warrior's Tale is an enjoyable read, if perhaps a tad breezy.

Not the least of its striking aspects is the beautiful art by Greg Land which is detailed and realistic -- an idealized realism, that is. Looking at Arwyn, there's a nagging sense of familiarity, as if Land modelled her after a super-model, but I can't say who. In fact all the women are stunningly gorgeous, with plenty of bare midriffs (and Arwyn appears in a salacious scene -- albeit, it turns out to be Gareth's dream). In a break from traditional, Tolkien-esque European flavoured fantasy (which this series, one assumes, generally resembles), the cliff dwelling civilization of winged people is modelled after ancient Egypt, including sand stone buildings, hieroglyphs, and mummies. This adds an extra freshness to the familiar milieu, the visuals beautifully realized by Land's art and the warm, sun-drenched hues employed by the colourists. In fact, the colouring is a curiously effective technique, with backgrounds often seeming truly painted with coarsely mixed colours (though the characters are coloured in smooth, comicbook shades). Having flipped through the previous two Sojourn collections, I think Land's style may even have improved (though it was good from the beginning). In fact, the effectiveness of the art, the beauty and atmosphere -- and beauty of Arwyn -- can be a two-edged sword...because when Land is absent for an issue (Aaron Lopresti pinch hits an issue) my interest waned slightly. Lopresti is a perfectly good artist, but it's Land who makes the world breath.

Another break from traditional fantasy stories is that the Ankharans are black...a welcome pluralistic addition to a genre that typically tends to feature only white characters.

The plot itself is enjoyable enough, and moves along reasonably well. But like another fantasy-themed CrossGen TPB I read written by Ron Marz (Mystic: The Demon Queen), it can seem a bit...slight. For something that runs six issues, it's not especially complex in plot or character development. Well, actually, it's more like a five issue story, since the opening chapter is largely self-contained, focusing on the troll captain, Bohr, who has been pursuing our heroes (basically this series' Inspector Javert).

I don't mean that it's boring, or that there seems a lot of padding or extraneous scenes. I just mean that somehow, while still presenting an enjoyable enough romp, Marz manages to take a long time to do very little. Scenes may be a tad longer than they need...but not to the point of tedium. When you reach the end of the adventure, most of the challenges the heroes' faced were overcome fairly easily, and most of the plot twists weren't all that twisty.

An interesting side thought on gender and comic book sexism: here we have a story where the seeming principle character is the heroine -- and though she's certainly beautiful and obviously meant to be eye candy, she is dressed respectably throughout (excepting the dream sequence to which I alluded earlier). So that even though one could argue there is a cheesecake aspect to Arwyn, it's not blatant. However, even though she is presented as the lead...reading the story itself it's not quite as clear. Gareth appears in as many scenes as she, is as likely to come up with the clever plan...and it's Gareth, not Arwyn, who narrates!

This TPB collects a story arc, with Arwyn freeing the Ankharans and winning yet another piece of her mystical arrow by the end, so that it can be read on its own. But there's an aspect that is left kind of dangling -- at least, so one assumes. A supporting character is killed off, which wouldn't seem like a "dangling" plot thread...except I'm guessing the character will return (the death scene seemed so perfunctory, and no body was recovered).

The Warrior's Tale is an enjoyable romp, full of beautiful scenery (and beautiful women), and the archer aspect was a nice touch, putting me in mind of Robin Hood stories (though the fact that Arwyn fires exploding arrows kind of loses the rustic elegance of the weapon!). For fans of High Fantasy, the chance to see such a milieu come to visual life is quite appealing (because it's not common in comics nor in movies, The Lord of the Rings notwithstanding). But though enjoyable, the characterization is slight and the story seems more like an episode of a TV series rather than a 132 page epic adventure.

Cover price: $__ CDN./ $15.95 USA. 

Solar: Alpha and Omega 1994 (SC TPB) 80 pages
a.k.a. Solar #0

Written by Jim Shooter (conceived by Shooter and Bob Layton). Pencils by Barry Windsor-Smith. Inks by Bob Layton.
Colours: Janet Jackson. Letters: Jade Mode.

Reprinting: The back-up story serialized through Solar #1-10

Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 5)

Number of readings: 1

Additional notes: intro by Bob Layton; covers.

Suggested for mature readers

Published by Valiant

I haven't bothered with a cover scan because the cover -- all black with an embossed title and a radiation symbol -- probably wouldn't show up on my scanner.

This collected the Solar, Man of the Atom story that was originally run in short instalments in the back of the regular Solar comic. Solar started out as Doctor Solar in a 1960s Gold Key comic. When Valiant first began, they started out by acquiring the rights to a couple of pre-established properties -- Magnus and Solar -- in order to anchor what would be the Valiant Universe. Solar was actually a re-imagining of the property, rather than a direct sequel (I think this Solar had read the Doctor Solar comics when he was a kid).

Valiant was a company that arose in the 1990s and, for a time, looked as though it was going to be a major player in the biz...but it eventually went off the rails, was bought up and re-started by Acclaim, shut down again, and, today is, I believe, mainly a footnote in comics history. Reading some old Valiant comics and TPBs that I've come upon after the company's demise, I've been generally favourably impressed -- at least, regarding the early days of the company, when ex-Marvel boss, Jim Shooter, was head writer. The strange thing is that, although I haven't exactly loved what I've read, I've generally found them all to be of above average readability.

Which is what makes this book a bit of a disappointment.

Don't get me wrong. There's still an above average readability. The early Valiant comics could have plenty of action, but there was also an emphasis on talky bits and character stuff. Admittedly, there could be a certain cerebralness, where the scenes are brisk, sometimes intelligent and thoughtful, but oddly abstract, or cold -- relating to what I said about liking more than loving the comics . You can find yourself interested more than involved. And all that's here. There's also a decided brevity to the story, as it's being told in, generally, six page chapters. Though that can be its own appeal, keeping things tight and focused (like in Cyclops: Retribution).

The story concerns Phil Selesky, a physicist working on an experimental nuclear power plant who, when the generator goes critical, is bathed in radiation that seems to turn him into an almost God-like being who, as the story progresses, realizes there is very little limitation on his abilities. He is studied by well-meaning colleagues, pursues a romance, and eventually is deemed a threat by shadowy authorities when he starts using his abilities to arbitrarily do things he feels need doing (like shutting down unsafe nuclear reactors all over the world). There is some nicely subtle shadings of character that are quite impressive...like making us aware of Phil's interest in Gayle, not through anything overt, but simply because he notices her. Or the character of Erica Pierce (who would later be crucial to Valiant's cross company Unity epic) whose personal neuroses are more implied than explained.

At the same time, that can relate to my point about an aloofness. Barely do Phil and Gayle go on a date then, next chapter, they're living together. The relationship is progressed intellectually more than emotionally.

Valiant was not an especially artist-driven company, and many of the comics featured competent artists who could tell a tale cleanly and get the job done, but were not necessarily exciting or A-list names. The art here, though, is by fan-favourite Barry Windsor-Smith, who drew other stuff for Valiant, but nothing as sustained as this ten chapter serial. Windsor-Smith is a good artist, although, despite his creativity and talent, he kind of suits the Valiant flavour, in that his detailed art isn't really of an explosive, emotive style. But it's nice stuff, nonetheless.

Still, all this describes something that's still comfortably in that "above average readability" mode I was talking about. So where's the problem?

Well, taken in the context of years later, when Valiant is defunct and Solar has been cancelled, it's basically a prologue more than a stand alone introduction. For an origin story, it ends in such a way that, if you don't know what comes next, you might find yourself going, "Huh?" It's an oddly downbeat, abrupt resolution. Perhaps if you got it along with the other Solar TPB that collected the lead stories from the first four issues, they would work better. But on its own, it was interesting and eminently readable...but leaves you feeling a tad empty.

Although, to be fair, that may just be reading it a certain way. Perhaps a second reading, knowing how it resolves, will leave me with less ambivalence. But, at the moment, I'm posting this review after one reading.

Like a lot of smaller companies, Valiant chose to go it without Comics Code approval, which tended to result in stories that seemed unsure of what they could and couldn't do. In this case, the story is erratically gory and probably warrants a "mature readers" caution. As well, the book is mayhap a tad expensive for what it is, page count wise.

Another curious sidebar (similar to one I mentioned in the X-O: Manowar TPB) is the introduction. One of the founders of Valiant was Jim Shooter, a man whose talent isn't generally doubted, but who accrued his share of detractors, on a personal level, when he was Editor-in-Chief at Marvel. He wrote much of the early Valiant line, but was soon gone from that company too. This TPB collection was released after Shooter was gone, though features stories for which he is credited as the writer and co-creator, along with Bob Layton. Yet in Layton's introduction, nowhere is Shooter even mentioned. In fact, Layton claims almost complete credit for the series, despite only being credited as co-creator and inker. Perhaps Layton did do all the work, and Shooter stole credit. But it does seem a bit odd, when Shooter still has his name prominently on the credits' page, for Layton to not even acknowledge his existence, if only to say, "Shooter stole my by-line". It smacks a little of the old idea of Communist Russia re-writing history texts to eliminate someone's accomplishments if that person fell out of favour with the current administration.

Original cover price: $9.95/$13.45

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