First Off

The following are brief descriptions I wrote to accompany the selections on my favorites shelf at work:

If you haven’t tried Girls, it probably isn’t what you expect. It’s an eerie, creative Sci-Fi story with a mean cliffhanger at the end of the first trade. The writing and art are both excellent and there really is a reason the girls are (tastefully) naked.

Help Xoo! Read Seaguy! Like most of Grant Morrison’s work, Seaguy defies simple description. It could be seen as a treatise against Disney that takes place in my own personal psycho-hell, but that doesn’t give enough credit to the billions of subtleties at play.

Here’s what Morrison has to say:

“As the story progressed and took on a life of its own, it soon became clear that it was really about the 'big brothering' of society, omnipresent surveillance and global disinformation. It’s about the dumbing down of culture, the creation of capitalist 'comfort zones' in the midst of social decay, about a world tranquillized and satisfied and quite unaware of the dark glue that holds it all together. …and talking tuna fish.”

Yeah, that’s right, Evil Ernie in Santa Feis one of my favorites and I’m not being ironic. It’s funny, Evil Ernie is actually a pretty sympathetic character (you can’t truly hate someone who was mercilessly abused by his parents as a child and ended up forming a deep psychic connection to Lady Death due to the mistakes of a well-meaning doctor), the art is delightfully gruesome, and really, who doesn’t want to see those Santa Fe schmucks get what’s coming to them?

Here it is. The whole reason I decided to sell comics instead of joining the merchant marine. As you read Transmet (and you will), keep in mind that it was written by an Englishman and began well before September 11, 2001. Also, if you’re not enraptured by the first volume, please give the second one a chance. The first arc is mainly character exposition and I assure you Spider Jerusalem is more than the Hunter S. Thompson caricature some people perceive in the first volume.

Ah, The Invisibles. I won’t lie to you. There’s a good chance you’ll hate this book, or at least that you’ll find it confusing and overwrought. You may have to study it to fully appreciate it. You may also have to approach the story from the point of view of an angry teenager and just go with it. If you’re not afraid to put a little work into your reading enjoyment, though, I promise it’s worth it.

DMZ is like a counterpoint to Ex Machina (see Taj’s shelf). Set in a very near future in which domestic unrest has turned the US into a war zone, it follows an intern photojournalist who crash lands in the Manhattan demilitarized zone on his first mission. He quickly sees a truth that hasn’t been shared with the American people and sets out to tell the story while continuing to live in the DMZ.

Who hasn’t wanted to kill their ugly, creepy children and abusive husband and take on a mission of enlightenment through violence at the prompting of a 50s TV character? Come on, be honest. (this refers to The Milkman Murders)

Do I really have to explain the innate refulgence of anything entitled R. Crumb’s Kafka? This is a Kafka biography peppered with R. Crumb’s illustrations of text from several Kafka stories to help illuminate both Kafka’s writing and life.

Local is a rare book that anyone can jump into at any point. Each story takes place in a different city with (mostly) different characters at a different point in time and is self-contained. The gimmick is that each city is realistically represented in the artwork, but even without that point of interest the stories are unique and the art is engaging.

A Trip to Rundberg is a deliciously depressing tale of zombies chasing rednecks from Austin’s own Nate Southard. The book is treated as an action story rather than a horror story, so the pace is much faster than many zombie books, while still chock full of brain-eating fun.

A man in a suit hands you a gun, a photograph, and 100 untraceable bullets, then invites you to exact revenge on the person who ruined your life at no risk to you. But why? What’s in it for him? Who does he work for? Who does he work against? What do you do? (this refers to 100 Bullets)

I refuse to justify vampire pirates. Just buy the book. (Sea of Red)

Shaolin Cowboy features a silent title character, his acerbically verbose mule, and lots of blood and guts.

I’ll spare you any “a picture is worth a thousand words” wankery. Nat Turner is a virtually text-free Kyle Baker book about… well, Nat Turner. You remember Nat. He led the 1831 Virginia Slave Rebellion. But even if you fell asleep that day in US History the story is clear and compelling.

Banana Sunday is cute. I can’t like cute stuff? It has to be all government conspiracies and death and destruction and social decay? Screw you guys. It’s got cute teenage girls, talking monkeys and apes, and enough mystery and conflict to keep it interesting, while still being enjoyable for all ages.

If you haven’t read V for Vendetta, you need to do so before the movie comes out in March and ruins it. If you have, reread it before the movie comes out in March and ruins it. It’s a classic Alan Moore story of Thatcher’s Britain run amok that will strike a chord with most Americans today.