MARKLEY’S FEVERED BRAIN: world view

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Wayne Markley

by Wayne Markley

As of late I have been reading a great deal of graphic novels from around the world, in addition to the method as well many regular books I read. The collections have been both all new stories as well as collections of previously published stories. The three I am going to discuss today are three of the ones I have enjoyed the most. Well, to be honest, if I did not enjoy them I likely would not mention them as I try as well as keep this blog positive. The very first book is a standalone graphic album from France, just recently released in English as well as it was great, as well as unlike anything you will ever discover in American comics. The second is by a pair of creators I likewise greatly enjoy as well as it is far different from their other work or the very first album I am going to discuss. The third is a collection of stories from the old (1960/1970s) Warren magazine Vampirella, as well as while an American source material, the artists are all Spanish.

Stay

The very first book I am going to talk about is called stay as well as it is written by Lewis Trondheim as well as beautifully drawn by Hubert Chevillard. This is an English translation of a French graphic book from Lion create as well as is a full color hardcover. This book is almost perfect. It is a standalone story with characters that you slowly get to understand as well as care for. By the time you get to the end you truly want to understand more about them. It has all the appeal as well as beauty of a little independent film. I have never checked out an American independent comic or graphic book that comes close to this tale, with perhaps only like as well as Rockets at times coming closest to the emotional effect this book has. The story includes a young couple who are on vacation at the beach. Fabienne as well as Roland have been looking ahead to this for a long time as well as a Roland has whatever organized out as well as pre-paid for. unfortunately (spoiler warning, even though this occurs in the very first three pages), Roland is accidently decapitated by a piece of metal caught in a gust of wind. From there the story tells Fabienne’s tale as she continues on Roland’s organized holiday without him. at times Fabienne comes across as a chilly as well as heartless, however by the end I do not believe so. She does all of the activities they had organized as well as satisfies some fascinating people along the way, who you land up doubting their motivations, however by the last page you are left longing for more. There are no cars and truck crashes, no fights, barely any type of words, yet this is a beautifully crafted tale that I would have expected to checked out in a Jeffery Archer story. Hubert Chevillard’s art is amazing. It appears like it is drawn in colored pencil or pastels. It is soft as well as warm as well as while be no means realistic looking, it is almost cartoony, as well as it works completely for this story. While the premise of this story is extremely sad, the story itself is not. While there is not a traditional “happy ending,” it does have a satisfying final thought that I admit I did not expect however fits the story perfectly. Lewis Trondheim is in my viewpoint one of the most underrated writers in comic, at least in America. He has written a couple of my other preferred graphic novels, including Mickey’s Craziest Adventures (A Mickey mouse story), as well as the Infinity 8 series of graphic novels. I believe a few of his earliest work to be reprinted in America was his Dungeon series which he drew in a extremely cartoony style (but he did not compose them) as well as people (me) took that as being what he does, however his composing is just incredible as well as to me, he has ended up being one of my preferred authors. stay may be the very best French book I have checked out since March of the Crabs, which still rates among my favorites.

Atar Gull

Next we have a book from Titan books imprint Statix called Atar Gull. It is written by Fabien Nury as well as drawn by Bruno. These are the exact same two creators behind the Tyler cross series, likewise from Titan, both of which I greatly enjoyed. While at very first glimpse this book appears like the Tyler cross books, it is in truth extremely different. While the cross books are basically difficult boiled criminal offense stories, this is a tale of like as well as revenge. It is damaged up into two parts, the very first part tells the story of Atar Gull, a large slave who is bough in Africa as well as sent off to be offered in Jamaica with a hundred of his fellow tribesmen. This very first chapter explains the whole slave trade in the 1800s as well as the motivations of the people included as well as what hell the slaves went through. It is in no method preachy aswell as it barely takes a mean or against slavery, however simply sets out why it occurred as well as exactly how they were treated as well as shipped across the sea. The second half of the story takes location at the plantation where Atar Gull is offered as well as where his life goes from there. The story covers all of Atar’s life into old age. The second half of the story is very, extremely dark (even compared to the slavery half) as well as not anything is as it seems in the very first half. relatively early on in the second half you see where Atar is going, however the end is a genuine surprise. I truly liked this book, even though it is rather dark in locations as well as the subject matter is disturbing. Bruno’s art is extremely unique as well as I would not have believed would have helped this type of story, however the more I checked out the more I was drawn into Atar’s struggles as well as the art seemed completely fit to the story. perhaps not a book for everybody, as well as definitely not for kids as there is nudity as well as extreme violence, it is a extremely powerful story about one of humanity’s many low points.

The finest of Pantha: The Warren Years

Finally we have a book from Dynamite that came out a few years back called the very best of Pantha: The Warren Years. This is an large hardcover collection of the solo Pantha stories from the pages of Vampirella when Warren still published it. First, my primary complaint: While this book collects the Pantha stories, it skips the Pantha/Vampirella crossover stories which had a huge effect on the direction of the character. reading this book it feels like there are three different Pathra’s as well as the stories take sharp turns in both direction as well as style. most of these major turns take location since of events in the Panthra/Vampi stories that are footnoted however not reprinted here. It is likewise relatively obvious that with each new writer they go in a extremely different directions, commonly dropping the whole supporting cast. When the strip starts out, written by Steve Skeates as well as beautifully drawn by Auraleon, it is a story of a young lady who works as a stripper to pay the expenses while trying to make it in new York. She finds she turns into a panther at night or when threatened. These are filthy as well as grimy stories such as you would see in a grindhouse movie. These are stories that caught my interest as a youngster in the pages of Vampirella. Plus, Auraleon’s black as well as white art was a joy to behold. Skeates was replaced with expense DuBay who started to flesh out the character as well as the stories ended up being far less metropolitan as well as more almost science fiction with her origin being set in ancient Egypt. He likewise connected her more into the Vampirella mythos. The artists tended to vary a bit right here however did include contributions from Jeff Jones as well as Jose Gonzalez. The third arc was written by rich Margopoulos as well as drawn by Jose Ortiz. Here, to me, the stories autumn apart. now Pathra has the Vampirlla supporting cast with her, as well as she is living with Adam Van Helsing, as well as the stories are as far from the very first arc as you can get as there are zombies as well as mad scientists. While this was my least preferred of the three books I have written about here, over the 200 pages collected in this volume there is sufficient for me to suggest it. I especially enjoyed the very first third of the book, as well as I suspect if they had included the crossover stories, the shift in tone as well as direction of the stories would not have seen so stark. Still it reminded of my of my youth as well as that is not a poor thing. For mature visitors because of nudity.

That wraps it up for this time. right here are three extremely different stories from extremely different sources as well as countries, ranging from amazing to good, as well as all worth reading, or at least inspecting out. Am I the only one to have checked out this books? have you? What did you think? I would like to hear from you as well as I can be reached at MFBWAY@AOL.COM or on Facebook at Wayne Markley. all of the thoughts as well as words written right here are mine as well as do not show the opinions of Westfield Comics or their employees. As always…

Thank you.