A call for comics! April’s pick of the month

As some of you have probably guessed, I’m a big reader of books … and that includes comics! The good thing about comics is that not only are they a fantastic medium for prose and visual storytelling combined, but they’re also much easier to get into than you might think. There’s something for all tastes.

While we can’t always read the same books at the same time (read-alongs are a nice idea, but they’re up there with book clubs: not always practical), we can read the same comics on a regular basis. They’re not as much of a time sink. That’s why I wanted to reach out to my fellow lovers of comics and anyone who’s interested in learning more about them with this proposal: What are your favorite series currently on sale? Recommend them to me! And would you like my suggestions? Together we can expand our familiarity with genres and talented writers and artists.

Before you say no, keep in mind that you don’t have to understand decades of a comic’s history to enjoy it—and not every series has years to its name. New books are always coming out, and for the ones that have been on shelves longer, many writers make “cannon” a very accessible, non-scary word. Plus, you can now buy comics digitally as well as in print (if you can find a local comic shop).

I’d even be up for discussion! What do you say?

My first pick is THE LI’L DEPRESSED BOY from publisher Image Comics. “LDB,” as he’s called for short, isn’t so much a boy as he is a young adult who doesn’t fit in. The comic is an accurate depiction of the shyness and self-doubt that accompanies cases of depression. “What,” you say, “like the mental illness?” Yes! Comics deal with real life issues! Awesome, right? Even the fantastical can be grounded in the realistic … not that every comic is unrealistic.

Everything seems to go wrong for LDB when he’s at his lowest, and for anyone who’s ever been down, you know that when one bad thing happens, it seems like your whole world starts to fall apart. Although LDB might not always feel included, he’s surrounded by people who care about him—and a few people who don’t quite understand his needs, like his crush Jazmin, who seemed to reciprocate that affection until she revealed she had a boyfriend.

One of the major recurring themes in LI’L DEPRESSED BOY is music, which can be used to enhance any situation. Sometimes we see LDB listening and then leaving a crowd. Other times music is a source of empowerment and positivity. The language of music is very personal, especially for LDB, and a good many of us are familiar with the contrasting effects music can have on mood.

For me, the most singular aspect about LDB is that he is literally a blank slate—a doll figure without any remarkable features. For a depressed character like LDB, that self-reflective attribute is spot-on. Credit to artist Sina Grace for making it so visually convincing.

What do you think? Have you read LI’L DEPRESSED BOY before? Would you like to? Let me know in the comments whether you’re interested in more of these features and if you’d like to join the conversation. Feel free to hop over to the digital service ComiXology to make a purchase.

LI’L DEPRESSED BOY #10 hit stands yesterday, on Wednesday—new comics day!

Reading the game: who else loves Uncharted?

Recently I finished playing Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (see my review). I adore the series and will be sad to see it go as Naughty Dog continues work on The Last of Us for Sony. At least there’s Golden Abyss for the PlayStation Vita, so whenever I can afford the handheld (money, as they say, does not grow on trees, Sony), I’ll knock that off my list first.

Below are four great books for my fellow Uncharted lovers. Have you read any of these?

Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth by Christopher Golden
Publisher: Del Rey
Paperback: 336 pages
Publication Date: October 4, 2011

After his old archeologist friend is found murdered in Manhattan, Sully convinces Drake to globe-trot from New York to Egypt and Greece in search of three lost labyrinths—and a fourth that promises power and riches, of course.

I looked up Chris Golden, and while he’s not a popular author, his books have solid ratings across the board. All four stars and up on Amazon. The most reviews came from Of Saints and Shadows and the Body of Evidence thriller series (from 1999 and out of print). Video game stories rarely translate well across mediums, so I doubt this is written extraordinarily well, but since Uncharted structures its narratives more like movies … well, who knows. Might be decent.

The Art of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves by Daniel P. Wade
Publisher: Ballistic Publishing
Paperback: 272 pages
Publication Date: July 1, 2010

This one’s self-explanatory: It’s an art book, a complement to the video game Uncharted 2. Inside is concept art for the characters, environments, cinematics, etc. Amazon lists it for a pricey $45. The editor, Daniel P. Wade, has overseen production on other art books, such as The Art of God of War III.

Uncharted by Joshua Williamson (writer) and Sergio Sandoval (artist)
Publisher: DC Comics
Paperback: 144 pages
Publication Date: July 17, 2012

You’ll have to wait awhile for the collected version of the UNCHARTED comic book series from DC Comics. Amazon mistakenly names Tony Harris as the illustrator—he’s only the cover artist. Sergio Sandoval (HUMAN TARGET, DEUS EX) provided the interior artwork for the book, with Joshua Williamson (XENOHOLICS, DEAR DRACULA) writing. Six issues are contained in the trade, and the two reviews I could find (both on IGN) gave the comic moderately high scores.

UNCHARTED: Drake’s Journal – Inside the Making of UNCHARTED 3: DRAKE’S DECEPTION by Nolan North
Publisher: GameSpheres
Paperback: 128 pages
Publication Date: November 1, 2011

Nolan North (aka Nathan Drake) is one of my all-time favorite voice actors, and a lot of other people like him, too. So it was disappointing to learn that his own account on working on the video game series, a book entitled UNCHARTED: Drake’s Journal, is no longer in print.

According to the publisher’s website, only 500 first edition, signed hardback copies of the book were distributed. The only way to get a new copy is to buy the iPhone/iPad app for $4 … but of course, it’s not one of the signed and numbered few. Neither are the ones GameSpheres is selling on Amazon in “new” condition. The cheapest ones (from the exclusive 500 shipment) are available used for $70. Sigh. WANT.

Also, the back cover features joke pull quotes from the game’s cast, and they’re hilarious and true to character:

“This is the best goddamn book out there. I keep mine by the toilet.” – Victor Sullivan

“It’s not a proper book. It’s full of pictures.” – Charlie Cutter

“What’s wrong with pictures? I like pictures.” – Chloe Frazer

“Who the hell is Nolan North?” – Nathan Drake

Double special of Grant Morrison comics: reviews of We3 and Joe the Barbarian

For those of you who like graphic novels, I read two by Grant Morrison recently. My general stance on Grant Morrison? I love and hate the crazy bastard, but he’s one of the most inventive writers in comics now. When he does a comic right, he does it really right.

We3 by Grant Morrison (writer) and Frank Quitely (artist)

We3 is a surprisingly short comic book, but not by accident. I enjoyed the story so much that I tried to imagine ways it could be expanded into an ongoing series, but each scenario my brain cooked up resembled a goofy sitcom. Don’t let that fool you into thinking We3 is a work of humor. It most certainly is a work of anger and activism and love. Morrison takes three lost pets, turns them into man-killing machines, and makes you want to adopt them.

Why? Because their murder sprees are a result of human intervention. Always, always human intervention—in this case the military, funding yet another project to put them ahead in warfare. When the scientist who’s worked most closely with the animals (a dog, a cat, and a rabbit) learns the experiment is not only being shut down, but terminated, she frees the dangerous and capable test subjects and surrenders herself to the consequences. The rest of the book is about seeing who wins: man or man’s Frankenstein creations.

It’s hard to imagine such a violent comic like this one causing the reader to tear up, but I did. In a brief span of pages, you come to love these animals as though they were still helpless pets. They were taught to work together, and in their fealty they remind us of how innocent they are under all that wire and machinery. They’re bred killers, trained to massacre, but they show more compassion than the people trying to restrain them.

Like the pets so many of us have under our care (I have three babies, myself), these animals think of home, friendship, and basic needs such as food. That’s what makes We3 such a shocking and meaningful comic—it teeters on the brink between sweetness and violence but balances both so well.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Joe the Barbarian: Deluxe Edition by Grant Morrison (writer) and Sean Murphy (artist)

Joe the Barbarian crosses children’s playtime with an epic fantasy of adult peril and consequences. When the boy Joe Mansion forgets his daily intake of glucose, his empty house becomes a gateway to a rabbit-hole realm that puts Wonderland to shame. His pet rat fights as a warrior, and each hypoglycemic step he takes in his house converts to miles in the land of Hypogea. As his imagination takes hold, casting him into a kingdom fraught with war and toy armies, one threat remains consistent in either reality: death.

Death himself shakes the foundations of Hearth Castle and the regions beyond, and Joe grows weaker as he stumbles downstairs and into the kitchen—an effort that stretches across the entire book’s length, as every staircase, room, and hallway brings new enemies and challenges. His quest for soda—a necessity that gains comedic effect as the comic goes on—leads him through the bloodied fields and towns of Hypogea, to cliffs on high and sewers down low. Each change in his house reflects back into the otherworld (eg., letting the bathwater run and overflow creates a waterfall in his hallucination), and as a perfect parallel to life, he makes new friends and learns to stand as tall as a giant. Grant Morrison bridges these two worlds with a lot of storytelling depth—each mountain and forest is aptly named, each person and legend translatable to Joe’s home dimension—and Sean Murphy builds it from the bottom up with awe and color and breathless wonder.

In one adventure, Joe must grow up—he’s the Dying Boy, fabled defeater of Death. But to save the kingdom means inching closer to his own mortality. The only thing more beautiful than the intricate, believable story is its ending: Readers watch as Joe matures from page to page, but it’s the last moments of the book that really cement his growth and identity. Joe the Barbarian not only comes full circle in small measurements; it comes full circle in a final, big way—the most important one of all for Joe and his widowed mother.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Comics are books, too—and a quick question

Tony Puryear, a screenwriter in LA who’s written the Arnold Schwarzenegger picture Eraser and adapted the upcoming Fahrenheit 451 movie for Mel Gibson, sent me an email today thanking me for my thoughts on his “Concrete Park” story in DARK HORSE PRESENTS #7, which I reviewed last weekend. Apparently this is Mr. Puryear’s first entry into comics.

A little about “Concrete Park,” in his own words:

“Concrete Park” takes place on a distant desert planet where Earth’s poor youth have been shipped to mine for resources. (Only the prologue, featuring the character ‘Isaac’ takes place on Earth). The main action of the story takes place in “Scare City”, a city of millions on the desert planet. If a ghetto in space makes readers uncomfortable, I guess I’m doing my job as a writer. Some of the characters are “minorities”, but to me, in terms of population, Scare City looks like LA, where I live. “Luca”, the star of the series, is a Pacific Islander. “Isaac” is black. “Lena”, Luca’s lover, is an alien (we have those in LA too).

I entreat you to pick up a copy of the comic if you get a chance. It’s a good one.

While I have you here, I did want to pose a question for the writers out there: How do you find time, between school or work or kids and other responsibilities, to keep to a writing schedule? What is your schedule actually like? An hour or two a night, or several hours a week? I’d like to hear from you in the comments.

A little London Horror and some pro writing tips

I know I made this blog to focus exclusively on books and book writing, but I want to recommend an excellent comic that came to me all the way from UK shores. London Horror Comic (review here) is produced by John Paul-Kamath, who’s not only an indie creator but also a self-publisher. Even in today’s world, when such nontraditional routes are becoming easier and more acceptable to pursue, selling and marketing your own work takes guts.

Having read the horror-comedy anthology series from issue one, I can attest to its ongoing quality (I reviewed it for the Girls Entertainment Network years back.) If you’re interested, the website offers free previews and directions on how to purchase the issues individually or by set (#1-4).

So what about self-publishing: Is it good or bad? Pros and cons accompany both the independent and traditional route of publishing. One writing guide talks at length about the topic: the second edition of The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, which is up for grabs at writersdigest.com along with some other e-books (I’ll get to those eventually, too). I finished it just in time for the new year.

This book is one of the best sources of advice, knowledge, and inspiration an aspiring writer could hope for. Each section starts with encouraging quotes about writing, and most of the chapters (written by accomplished, published writers) contain guidance and insights into writing habits that will comfort novices persistently doubting their potential and abilities. If you can identify with the mindset of any of the featured writers—and the book makes it easy to—you can gain a little confidence and be reassured of the value of your pursuits. Chapter by chapter, and sometimes sentence by sentence, I kept finding myself wanting to return to my manuscript and tackle it with renewed vigor.

That’s possibly the most useful advantage of a book on writing—not to “teach” you how to write, but to allow you to feel comfortable with your own process. The included interviews with writers and essays on constructing effective fiction (from strong narratives and characters to the tenets of editing and revision) are invaluable, too, and readers will find plenty of good tips and information to mine for personal use. The book covers a wide range of topics, but one theme stays consistent: Motivation and hard work is key. The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing provides more than enough of the former, but it’s up to readers to follow through.

The book also discusses publishing and marketing, important lessons for any writer hoping to see his book hit shelves. This portion of the book is smaller, but it’s a perk compared to many writing guides, which don’t even broach the subject. It also covers both self-publishing and traditional publishing, warns readers how not to sell out, and lays down the basics about agents, editors, and contracts.