Low Moon (Humor) (Graphic Novel)

By Jason  

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books; 1st edition (June 30, 2009)

Hardcover, 216 pages

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A collection of five short stories, none have printed in any other format. Jason, for those who don’t know, is a French- Norwegian artist known for unemotive, nearly silent, tales of a bizarre and sardonic nature. It is often difficult to form an emotional commentary on Jason’s work as there is often no emotion to derive, every panel exists in an emotional vacuum.  Everything is flat and plainly flopped out for the viewer to decode with their own personal vector and biases.

That is not to say the work is bad. It’s simply to say that the stories can be as complicated or uncomplicated as the person reading them. In a sense, they are an emotional mirror of the reader. Or maybe I’m going way too far here.

The center of the author’s of humor is the use protracted silences—the hilariously uncomfortable flashes when the protagonist are waiting for disaster to strike. A couple of these stories are one-joke twist-ending pieces about the intersection of lust and murder, ala Twilight Zone. But all are interesting to read.

The first story, “Emily Says Hello”, is about a woman who is paying a hit man with varying increasingly intense sexual acts to kill various men, whose pictures she then tapes on her wall. The second, the titular “Low Moon” is a Wild West actioneer (sort of) revolving around chess and nerve. Next is “&” which revolves around two men with different paths in life forced to commit violent acts in order to gain or help the person that they love. The fourth, “Proto Film Noir”, is the strangest and one I can barely describe. Let’s say it’s a caveman film noir with a twist of Groundhog’s Day, and I’m pretty sure the author was just making it up as he went along with an almost nonsensical ending. Last is “You are Here” a space alien hijacks a woman and a man spends his life building a spaceship to track her down and rescue her.

     For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Showcase Presents: The Great Disaster (Superhero) (Science Fiction)

Written and Illustrated by far too many people to list here. 

Publisher: DC Comics (June 24, 2014)

Softcover, 576 pages

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The Great Disaster is an era in DC comics’ lore where in October, 1986 a nuclear war erupts devastating most of the planet. Various reasons are given for this (none of them actual governmental decisions) ranging from a race of mole people setting off WW III in order to conquer the surface, to a nuclear missile being shunted from the future to blow up in Greece in 1986, to the presence of Ares, God of War, coming to the Earth setting off conflict, to maybe it's all a huge computer simulation.

Keep in mind all of the events and issues here are Pre-Crisis D.C. and thus have probably been retconned out of existence, but they are still worth a look. The stories are presented in the chronological order in which they take place in the D.C. universe, rather than from the earliest date they were originally published. Thus there are dramatic shifts in story telling style, pacing, and art from tale to tale.

The Great Disaster also encompassed the stories in OMAC and Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth, but neither of these series are included in this book. Instead we have a short story series called The Day After Doomsday which appeared sporadically in Weird War Tales, a four part short story from the back of Kamandi called Tales of the Great Disaster, a Kirby drawn origin issue of Atlas (which doesn't seem to fit in this collection), The Atomic Knights from Strange Tales (published in 1960 where the beginnings of The Great Disaster was conceived), the complete run of Hercules Unchained where the demigod emerges into a war torn world. Two issues of Superman bookend the series. One explaining that the Great Disaster is part of an alternate universe. The other stating the entire Great Disaster was part of a computer simulation gone wrong.

As this volume takes from all over the spectrum in the silver and bronze age material, the quality of art and writing is a crapshoot. Probably the best stories are the apocalyptic The Day After Doomsday, most of the art is moody and ink heavy adding to the dramatic effect of a nuclear disaster. In addition to that, the latter issues of Hercules Unbound were drawn by a young Walt Simonson, honing his talent and demonstrating his style in ink and prose that would soon be so iconic in Thor. Well worth a look.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Men of Wrath (Crime) (Graphic Novels)

by Jason Aaron (Author), Ron Garney (Artist) 

Publisher: Image Comics (November 27, 2018)

Softcover, 144 pages

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“This may be the darkest meanest thing I’ve ever written. And if you’ve read some of my work on Wolverine or Scalped or Southern Bastards, you know I’m no stranger to things dark and mean. But there’s something personal about all this as well.”

-         Jason Aaron (from the introduction)

And the author does not exaggerate about the nastiness of the content, proving his point by having the main character drowning a baby in the opening scene. There are no redeeming characters here and no happy ending. Kindness is a vice exploited by others and ultimately leads to a violent death for several characters.

This tragic tale revolves around a father, a Southern hitman, who voluntarily takes a job to track down and murder his own son. The son is desperately trying to find money to support his pregnant girlfriend and a seemingly endless series of firefights ensues. Along the way we see the origins of the evil in the Rath family and how it passed down from father to son and onto the current generation.

This is not the greatest graphic novel, but it is far from the worst as well.  A southern gothic tale with no punchline, just a punch in the gut. The action is deftly illustrated and fast paced. Ultra-violent without ultra-gore.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Hell on Earth (Horror) (Graphic Novel)

by Robert Loren Fleming (Adapter), Keith Giffen  (Artist), Robert Bloch (Author)

Publisher: DC Comics Inc. (1985)

Softcover, 48 pages

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"But what about Satan? What about the spell to send him back? Back to where -- to hell? But we could have hell here on Earth!

And why not?

An Earth filled with man-made war and misery. An earth filled with grasping, cheating, lying, stealing, raping, murdering, crazy humans. Filled with pestilence, disease, idiocy. Let the Lord of Evil come into his own!”

This is a graphic novel adaption of the original short story by Robert Bloch, famed author of Psycho. Bloch, as we know, was a contemporary of Lovecraft and part of his writer’s circle. In fact the character of Robert Blake from The Haunter in the Dark is based on Bloch. Hell on Earth was originally published in Weird Tales (where else) back in 1942. DC made a number of these thin volumes of graphic adaptations of old Sci-Fi classics in the 1980s with varying degrees of success.

A horror writer is paid $100,000 to be part of an experiment to determine through scientific principles if magic is real. It is and through misadventure the scientists, his assistant, and the writer accidentally conjure up the living devil whom they trap under a protective glass (similar to Dream in the first issue of Sandman). The next question is, what to do with the creature? One by one, the participants in the experiment succumbs to the Devil’s power.

For those familiar with the story it may seem that 48 pages isn’t enough space for this tale. However the format of this book is larger than usual. Each page has a 16 panel grid, which was necessary to accommodate a faithful adaptation of the story. And they succeeded. Visually this was a stunning work that pumped new life into an old classic that nobody remembers. 

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

The Boys of Sheriff Street (Crime) (Graphic Novel)

by Jerome Charyn  & Jacques de Loustal  

Publisher: Dover Publications (July 20, 2016)

Softcover, 70 pages

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 This book was originally supposed to be a film script, before the writer decided to turn it into a graphic novel. It might have been better had he left it as a script as the published work is lacking in depth, character, and style.

Two twin brothers run a criminal empire in 1930s New York. As they violently expand their empire, the one brother becomes engaged to a gorgeous woman, whose beauty causes a rift between the two. One brother dies and the other moves right in. These battles are told over three episodes. Not much of a story here.

Nor is there any real characterization. All of them feel flat, with nothing to distinguish them. The one brother’s problem with the female is barely explained. One brother has a hunchback and seizures, but it doesn’t really impact the story. All of the dialogue feels awkward and forced.

I honestly expected much more from the author. Every other work of his I’ve read has been fantastic, both in art and writing. This was very tedious and felt as if it was dashed off in half an hour. Usually his writing is elevated by the art, but not in this case. Ashamed I paid money for this book.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Bad Weekend (Crime) (Graphic Novel)

by Ed Brubaker  (Author), Sean Phillips (Artist), Jacob Phillips (Artist)

Publisher: Image Comics (July 16,

 2019)

Hardcover, 72 pages

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 This story was originally published in Issues 2 and 3 of Criminal, but expanded content has been added to this graphic novel (roughly about 12 pages of material) to give a more rounded and fuller image of the characters. As usual, I have to state that Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips story and art perfectly blend together, hand in glove.

For those who are reading a comic, but not into the history of comics (I know I wasn’t until later in life. I just wanted to see the X-Men punch the bad guys, then moralize about the difficulties of being “other”), a lot of the names, references, and attitudes may be lost on you. But still I suggest reading this book anyway, as it is a solid minor crime story with interesting characters and a great twist ending.

In this tale, a former illustrator, now thief, is asked to chaperone his former mentor, a notorious alcoholic and violent curmudgeon, around a comic convention. The mentor is a bitter man, ground down by the compromises and low pay of the profession he loves. Eventually he enlists the protagonist to become involved in a burglary to regain some of his lost artwork which was stolen some time ago.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Kill or Be Killed, Volume 4 (Crime) (Graphic Novels)

by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips (Illustrator) 

Publisher: Image Comics (August 21, 2018)

Softcover, 144 pages

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The final volume in the series collecting issues 15 through 20. I have always been impressed by the collaborations between Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips- Fatale, Criminal, The Fade Out, & Incognito- and I tore this this book as quickly as I did all the others. These two have a style which makes it impossible to just put the book down. See here for volumes one, two, and three.

As we remember from the previous volume a depressed twenty-something who drunkenly attempts suicide by jumping off his apartment building. Miraculously, he survives only to be haunted by a demon that claims the hero owes payment for his life. One person a month must be killed at the main character’s hands or else the protagonist himself will die.

Since the last installment, the protagonist has checked himself into an insane asylum to deal with the possibility that the demon haunting him (and possibly his whole family) was a figment of his imagination. Meanwhile a copycat vigilante is roaming the streets, diverting the attention of the NYPD taskforce looking for the main character, and the Russian mob pops back up again.

The only thing holding the story back is the ending. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either. The deal with the demon is left ambiguous, and might be passed onto the protagonist’s girlfriend- reminding me a little of the Grendel comics by Matt Wagner. It’s a conclusion which isn’t more exciting than the build up to it.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Kill or Be Killed Vol. 3 (Crime) (Graphic Novel)

by Ed Brubaker  (Author), Sean Phillips (Artist)  

Publisher: Image Comics (January 23, 2018) 

Softcover, 120 pages 

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Volume 3 collects issues 11 through 14 of the series and is the penultimate book for Kill or Be Killed. There is a short blurb on the back cover from The Nerdist which simply states, “addictive as hell”. And I have to agree. I devoured this book and moved onto the next one immediately. I almost guarantee you that if you pick up the first volume, the same will happen to you.

As we remember from the previous book, a depressed twenty-something drunkenly attempts suicide by jumping off his apartment building. Miraculously, he survives only to be haunted by a demon that claims the hero owes payment for his life. One person a month must be killed at the main character’s hands or else the protagonist himself will die.

In this volume we see the protagonist’s shift from reluctant killer to full-on vigilante, whacking criminals without remorse. It transpires that one of the people killed was the cousin of the local Russian mob boss, and that the crew would never stop looking for the protagonist. So he makes the decision to go right after their leaders instead.

Along with that we discover that the demon - supposed demon - pushing the main character forward to more deaths may somehow be an inherited family curse, which plagued the protagonist’s father and half-brother, both of whom committed suicide. Still the validity of the beast swings back and forth between dementia and reality. With the ultimate truth yet to be discovered.

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst. 

Kill Or Be Kill Vol. 2 (Crime) (Graphic Novel)

by Ed Brubaker  (Author), Sean Phillips (Artist)  

Publisher: Image Comics (August 15, 2017) 

Softcover, 176 pages 

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Collecting issues 5 through 10 of the limited series. The second volume keeps on at the same pace as the first with an underlying dread that the protagonist is marching slowly towards his own destruction. Once again, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips create a compelling story which is almost impossible to put down. Well, not impossible, but I sure didn’t want to.   

As we remember from the previous volume, a depressed twenty-something drunkenly attempts suicide by jumping off his apartment building. Miraculously, he survives only to be haunted by a demon that claims the hero owes payment for his life. One person a month must be killed at the main character’s hands or else the protagonist himself will die. He resists until the very last day, growing sicker and sicker, until he caves. 

Like Dexter, the killer decides to “do some good” with his affliction and only take out criminals. The action ramps up. Despite his best efforts, a pattern of his kills emerges and an overzealous detective manages to shame the city into creating a task force to track this “masked vigilante” down. On top of this, the Russian mob is looking into the deaths of one of their own and is hot on the main characters trail. Leading to a bloody and tragic conclusion.  

Again, the story plays on the overall ambiguity of the demon. Is it a product of the protagonist’s mental illness or truly a representative of the underworld? This is compounded when the killer discovers some of his father’s old artwork, one’s he did shortly before he too committed suicide (only he succeed, unlike his son). In it he sees representations of the same demon that is afflicting him. Coincidence? Insanity? Or a family curse? I have no idea just yet, but can’t wait to find out.  

Like the first volume, the violence is not inherent on every page. The main character is a reluctant killer, but does not hesitate to defend himself. Thus each of the violent episodes is memorable and sticks out, unlike many other violent comics where there is so much gunfire and death that it all blurs together into one big bloody free-for-all.  

For more readings, try books by Rex Hurst.