Radioactive Man

Title: Radioactive Man: Radioactive Repository Volume One

Author: Matt Groening

Publisher: Harper Design
Despite being a Simpsons fan I have never really consistently read any of the Bongo comic books.  In the past I had only read the Free Comic Book Day versions and the occasional comics my friends would lend me.  Keep in mind the first time I read it was back in high school in the 90’s and I laughed at my friend for being too old for comics.  Back then I would have laughed at anyone that collected comics, toys, sneakers, and liked to write.  It goes to show you, you never know what you’ll like in the future.  Anyway, over time as I would read the occasional Simpsons comic, the humour would be a hundred times better than in the real show (after the 2005’s).  Yet I still never picked a comic book up to read fully.

So as luck would have it one day I noticed that my library had a copy of Radioactive Man in a hard cover.  This version is perfect for anyone that is first a Radioactive Man fan, would like to know his story, or would like to read a boat load of stories collected in a easy to carry book.  Although the book is rather large, it’s better than having to carry over 30 comics at once, and the paper quality is really high grade.  As for the actual story, I would say I didn’t find it very entertaining.  Some stories were great, but the majority seemed like I was swimming through quicksand with how boring they were.  It felt like the writers were just writing stuff to fill up the pages, while others felt hurried and rushed in order to finish the story.  While the stories weren’t as enjoyable as I hoped they would be, I still recommend this book because it’s still better than the actual current show, lol.

Bongo Comics:

www.bongocomics.com

The Simpsons:

www.thesimpsons.com

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Radioactive-Man-Repository-Volume-One/dp/0062089927/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

Paul Moves Out

Title: Paul Moves Out

Writer: Michel Rabagliati

Artwork: Michel Rabagliati

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

For me there is an allure towards Canadian graphic novels.  There’s something in seeing and reading about content that only growing up in Canada you would know about, that I find alluring.  Seeing Toronto, or Queen Street, or Montreal in a book is so comforting.  I also like seeing brands like Tim Hortons, Molson, or Humpty Dumpty chips.  There’s this sense of sharing a common voice when you read a book that features those things.  So whenever I spot a book in the library that was made in Canada, I pick it up to read.  Paul Moves Out has exactly all the Canadian content that I like in a book.

The book is about a young man named Paul from Montreal who meets a girl named Lucie.  Eventually they develop a relationship and move in together.  That’s basically the story of the book, however it’s the small things that I find appealing in this book.  Not all relationships are as suspenseful as they show in Hollywood movies.  Most of the time, romance is as simple as staying home at night and sharing a wonderful dinner together.  This is what Paul Moves Out is all about, finding romance in the most basic parts of a relationship.  Once you find that special person in your life, the most meaningful parts will be how wonderful it was to have shared those moments together.

Drawn and Quarterly:

http://www.drawnandquarterly.com

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Paul-Moves-Out-Michel-Rabagliati/dp/1896597874/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331656735&sr=8-1

Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights

Title: Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights

Writer: Jonathan Vankin

Artwork: Giuseppe Camuncoli, Seth Fisher and Shawn Martinbrough

Publisher: Vertigo

Tokyo Days, Bangkok Nights features two stories in one graphic novel.  They are both excellent stories, yet are both different in subject matter.  What ties them together is that the main characters are Americans who travel to Asia and get into trouble.  I’ll start with Tokyo Days first.  It’s about a guy named Steve who is obsessed with technology and decides to travel to Japan to buy the coolest gadgets he can find.  Along the way, trouble finds him; gangsters, the police, flamboyant rock star, and a jailbait school girl.  The artwork is very bright and colourful and it makes the story line seem like everything is fun and exciting.  It is a story that is meant to entertain rather then instil a serious message about the world.  Despite all the dangers Steve gets into, it made me want to travel to Tokyo and have the same adventure.

Bangkok Nights does a 180 degree turn on the first story by having a more serious and problematic storyline.  This time the main characters are two Americans (Tuesday and Marz) who travel to Bangkok and they’re the ones who initiate trouble.  Tuesday optimistically believes she can help change a world that is filled with vice and crime.  Unfortunately in the end, she find out that outside of the West, changing the world is greater than what one person is capable of.  The message from this story for me applies to many other places in the world; in order to help change problematic places, more than just rights and values are needed, but a viable alternative to live a decent life must exist first.  Without it, people will do whatever it takes to survive.  I highly recommend reading this graphic novel.

Vertigo:

http://www.vertigocomics.com

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Vertigo-Pop-Tokyo-Bangkok-Nights/dp/1401221890/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_8

Disappearance Diary

Title: Disappearance Diary

Writer: Hideo Azuma

Art Work: Hideo Azuma

Publisher: Ponent Mon

I wasn’t too excited about reading this manga when I first picked it up.  The drawings were very basic, and almost childish.  But then I started reading it and I soon developed a different opinion of the book.  It wasn’t a book for children, but a book about dealing with depression.  As the back cover says’ it is a book that takes a positive outlook on life.  This is why the artist, Hideo Azuma decided to draw in this cartoonish style.  He wanted to tell his story (the years he spent dealing with depression), in a way that wouldn’t scare away potential readers.

I find that when we focus on the bad things in life, we can potentially ruin our future.  Thinking about those bad experiences can prevent us from going out into the world and trying to grow as persons.  For Azuma, Disappearance Diary must have been a liberating experience.  To let go of the past, and also tell it in a way that isn’t as harmful.  Once you are fully entrenched in the book, you will soon love his artwork as well.  It just seems to express his emotions and experiences clearly.  The book is divided into three parts, each representing different years in his life, from living on the streets to being locked up in an alcoholic ward.  My favourite part though, would have to be the first part called ‘walking at night’.  Just based on this first part, I highly recommend this book.

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Disappearance-Diary-Hideo-Azuma/dp/8496427420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331652203&sr=8-1

Portus

Title: Portus

Writer: Jun Abe

Art Work: Jun Abe

Publisher: VIZ Media LLC

Portus is a horror graphic novel that involves a mysterious video game that kills people.  The reason I first picked it up was because of the front cover, it had all the elements of a scary movie with a floating eye, torn paper, and blood.  I was very interested in reading it because I had never read horror manga, and was curious to see how it would be.  I’ll be the first to admit it I love graphic violent scenes that the Japanese love to create.  Another thing I like to do when picking up a manga novel is to look at the back (or in this case the front), and checking to see if the story ends in this book.  Luckily this story did end in this book.

The story revolves around Asami Kawakami (an art student), Keigo Sawa (her teacher), and Mayumi Yamashita (another teacher).  In the beginning Asamai is worried about her friend Chiharu, who’s been ditching school for a few days because she’s been playing a video game called Portus.  Later on, Chiharu commits suicide and Asamai starts to question the motives for her suicide.  She then decides to play the game Portus to see what could have caused her friend’s death.  Along the way Keigo and Mayumi also try to figure out why this game is so deadly.  What they discover is a danger that must be stopped in order to save the life of Asamai.

This graphic novel is rated mature, and is justified in doing so because it contains many violent scenes in it.  The characters are very much a cookie-cutter pattern of what is popular in manga; high school students, and trendy teachers (Keigo smokes in class).  Regardless of this, it’s used because it’s a working formula that can get into a storyline without having to explain each and every character’s individuality.  As for the story, I found it to be exciting at first and then it just moved over to a more horror story that became less realistic for me.  I guess I should have expected this from a horror genre because it asks you to suspend your disbelief, and I suck at that.  Either way anyone that loves horror and especially appreciates it’s unrealistic ideas will like this novel.

Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Portus-Jun-Abe/dp/1421513838/ref=pd_sim_b_20

The Alcoholic

Title: The Alcoholic

Writer: Jonathan Ames

Art Work: Dean Haspiel

Publisher: Vertigo

The Alcoholic is a graphic novel about a man that considers himself an alcoholic.  I picked this book up because I am interested in stories that are mature, sad, melancholy and dark.  I like to read these sorts of books because I find that I can relate to them better than other books.  But what I am looking for the most in these sorts of novels is a solution, a solution on how to escape the dark side and enter the light.  Nobody reads a novel about a person in a dark situation and hopes they never get out of it.  I think we are all optimistic and hoping for a way out.

The story is about Jonathan Ames, a New York City writer and is written in the first person perspective.  It starts off in the year 2001 when Jonathan wakes up in a strange car with a strange old woman that wants to cuddle with him.  Jonathan then starts talking about how he got to that point; beginning since high school.  Overall he deals with the same problems that most teenagers had to deal with, and blames alcohol for most of his problems.  Yet at some point in the story, Jonathan admits that he was never good at drinking and that getting drunk always caused him to vomit.  In fact most of the story is about him dealing with tragedies or self imposed depressions that are common in life, like parents dying, best friends moving away, and girlfriends dumping you.

However all these problems aren’t caused by his drinking, instead he looks to alcohol to escape from these problems, which is common for many alcoholics.  For some reason I just didn’t like this book because it never really showed the dark side of his drinking.  It wasn’t like he lost friendships or went broke because of his drinking.  When I think of how bad addiction to alcohol can be I just picture Nicolas Cage in the movie Leaving Las Vegas, where he loses everything he has in life to alcohol and eventually dies.  Alcoholism in The Alcoholic simply was not a central theme to the novel.  While the artwork is appropriate for the theme of the book, I would have preferred much more dark shades and gritty pictures.  Over all, the book is an amusing story and I wish Jonathan success in life.

Jonathan Ames Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Ames

Amazon:

http://www.amazon.ca/Alcoholic-Jonathan-Ames/dp/1401210562

Spent

Title: Spent

Writer: Joe Matt

Art Work: Joe Matt

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly

The story in Spent is very intimate and personal. I felt a strong connection when I read it because I was going through a loneliness phase in my life. In my opinion loneliness is a symptom of depression and one must lift their own spirits up in order to overcome it. If you don’t change you’re bound to end up like the main character Joe, wasting your years away in melancholy. I’m usually drawn towards books that deal with desolation and misery because I’m always looking for a clear solution out of depression. I guess you can call me an optimist for that because even in the worst situations I believe there’s always a way out.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the happy ending I wanted from Spent. This isn’t to say it was a bad book, rather it’s a book to observe from a distance and hopefully realize that you are the only person who can make yourself happy. It’s as if you’re looking at Joe’s mistakes in life, and telling yourself you’re better than that; and that the bad stuff shouldn’t weigh you down. The main problem with Joe is that he’s always been lonely and believes that his one chance at love has passed him, and as such is destined to a life of solitude with his only companion being VHS porn.

Joe deals with his depression using a technique I describe as quarantine. This is where an individual that is hurt would rather stay in isolation, than face a world that will make them view themselves as losers. While I don’t believe one must live their life according to how the world judges them, I also believe one shouldn’t disregard it and punish themselves into isolation. The point being not to allow one traumatic event in life to cripple ourselves into stagnation. It’s been said numerous times over and over again, life is beautiful and things do change. While it’s not always going to be perfect, it also isn’t always going to be sad, so enjoy life because beauty is what you make it.

Drawn and Quarterly:

http://www.drawnandquarterly.com

Amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Spent-Joe-Matt/dp/1897299117/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1311093541&sr=8-6

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Title: Batman: The Dark Knight Returns

Writer: Frank Miller

Art Work: Frank Miller with Klaus Janson and Lynn Varley

Publisher: DC Comics

The world of Batman for me captures everything I love about fictional novels.  A good novel has to be able to take you away from the real world and transport you to the world of the pages in the novel.  It must be exciting, believable, have continuity, and most of all it must be original for it to capture my attention.  I hate it when I read about characters I can’t relate to, or a story that is predictable and banal.  For me it’s all about respect.  When I decide to choose a novel to read, I am assuming that the writer or artist has put their soul into a piece they want to share with the world.  So I show them respect by becoming a sort of hermit to the outside world, which allows me to focus my full attention into the story they have created.  I usually wear a hat or a hoody because it physically allows me to concentrate on the words with my foveal vision, while ignoring everything else that’s in my peripheral vision such as who’s sitting next to me on the subway.  If it’s a long novel I also like to get a note pad and write down notes as I’m reading in order to understand the story better.  Being this engaged with a novel I can then dissect and consume the story at my own pace since I have never been an academic person.

The beauty of the world of Batman is that its characters have been well established and yet still allow for various types of interpretations from writer to writer.  One man can see Batman as an honest and righteous do-gooder, while another can picture him as a tormented vigilante.  The latter is how Frank Miller decided to interpret his vision of Batman in his epic graphic novel, the Dark Knight Returns.  Written in the mid 80’s when the Cold War was still going on with the threat of nuclear war and the presence of the growing pessimistic media, you can tell Miller was definitely influenced by his time.  For him, the old boy scout super hero was no longer believable because the world had changed.  I like to interpret this as going from good and bad or white and black, to a world that was grey where good and bad were mixed together.  This grey world needed a hero that would scare off the worst villains, who were capable of murder and rape.  This world demanded a giant rambunctious and dangerous Batman that would risk his life in order to defeat his enemies.  This is the hero that Miller unleashed onto Gotham City to fight its new evils.

The first thing I noticed that was unique about this graphic novel was how the art and drawings were presented.  Each panel was narrow and crammed full of writing, while the illustrations were plain and simple.  This was difficult to get used to at first because most graphic novels have so many intricate illustrations that the words barely need to get read to know what is happening.  As I read on though, I found that I started to rely less on the drawings and more on the story that was written, making the narrative much more smooth and rich.  I became really impressed by the flow of continuity that Frank Miller had created.  Another thing I enjoyed about this novel was the multiple stories that were involved from the mutant gang, the Joker, Commissioner Yindel, and even Superman.  What also surprised me about this novel was Bruce Wayne’s age; he’s an old man.  Not that it took away from the story having a much more physically vulnerable Batman, instead I viewed it as Miller trying to demonstrate the heart of Bruce Wayne.  His ‘never give up’ attitude was really inspiring and made me love Batman even more.  By the time I was done reading this graphic novel I came to appreciate what Frank Miller has done for the world of comic book superheroes; allow them to be interpreted in different ways from different people, thus allowing and endless amount of stories to flourish.

Wiki link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Returns

DC Comics:

http://www.dccomics.com/dcu/graphic_novels/?gn=1279