Startling Stories for All Ages
Having finished the first two pages of Avenge-O The Crimefighting Robot only to find that Supermarket Action! wasn’t happening killed my enthusiasm to finish the rest if it.
A few years later, I contracted San Diego cartoonist Jorge Pacheco to tackle the second part of the story. He did a nice job.
(Click on the first image to view the gallery.)
Story by Bradley James Weber
Art by Jorge Pacheco
(Copyright 2007 Bradley James Weber)
Way back when the Art Sunday gang was the Fine Arts Guild, somebody came up with the idea of doing a group comic. Everybody would get five pages. The title and theme: Supermarket Action! I thought this would be a fine showcase for the crimefighting robot idea that I’d been kicking around for a while.
For one reason or another, Supermarket Action! never got off the ground.
Here are the first two pages of my five. You can read the other three at the “.38 Caliber Discount” post.
(Click the first image to view the gallery)
Originally, “Big Trouble” was posted in five PDFs that needed to downloaded to be read. No longer. Just click on the first image below and flip through the gallery.
Welcome back, everyone! It’s been too long — and I’ve missed you all too much for words.
But enough about me and you. Let’s talk about books.
David Huyck was just one of the creators I got to talk with this summer at the first-ever Chicago Alterative Comics Expo (CAKE). (It doesn’t spell out, I know. Just go with it.) One project he was excited about was his upcoming children’s book, THAT ONE SPOOKY NIGHT. There were no galleys of it available, but he was able to score me an advance copy. NICE!
After I read it, young Kidzilla, (A.K.A., “Grace”) got her eyeprints all over the pages. When she was done, I put her on the record and asked her what she thought:
Brad: You ready? Because I’m really recording now.
Grace: Yeah.
Brad: You want to say anything first?
Grace: No.
Brad: You want to get right into it?
Grace: Yeah.
Brad: OK. We’re talking about THAT ONE SPOOKY NIGHT, a new Halloween book for young readers written by Dan Bar-el and Illustrated by David Huyck. Grace, did you like the book?
Grace: Yeah.
Brad: Did you ‘like’ it, did you ‘like-like’ it, or did you ‘love’ it?
Grace: I ‘like-liked’ it.
Brad: What made it better than just a ‘like’ book?
Grace: How it’s written . . . and the pictures.
Brad: So the story and the art. The first time we were recording this — and that didn’t work — you said that of the three stories, you liked one better than the others and you didn’t like one as much as the rest. Which one didn’t you like?
Grace: The first one.
Brad: The story about the little girl who mixes-up her costume broom with a witch’s real, flying broom. Why didn’t you like it?
Grace: I just didn’t like it.
Brad: Was it not an exciting story?
Grace: Yeah.
Brad: Would you say it was the weakest story of the three?
Grace: Yes.
Brad: Which one did you like the most?
Grace: The last one.
Brad: The one about the four human girls who meet the four vampire girls. Why?
Grace: Because one of the human girls and one of the vampire girls got to be friends. And they didn’t like blood.
Brad: Would you give this book to your friends to read? And why?
Grace: Yes. Because it’s funny and scary at the same time.
Brad: Is there anything you would tell them about it? Anything about the story or the art?
Grace: No. I would let them be surprised.
Brad: What did you think about the art?
Grace: I think it was excellent.
Brad: What about the writing?
Grace: The writing was pretty good.
Brad: So you think the art is really the strong point in this book.
Grace: Yeah. Can we be done now?
Brad: Ah . . . sure.
And there you have it.
Since there were no comments for THAT ONE SPOOKY NIGHT up on Amazon, I was prompted to post my thoughts in my first Amazon review. Short but sweet. Check it out here — then order yourself a copy!
Somewhere between a Universal monster movie and The Merchant of Venice lies Jonathan Case’s debut graphic novel, Dear Creature. Would this rightly be considered a mash-up? There is no such mention in the enclosed marketing materials, so best not beleaguer the book with negative baggage. Especially since it doesn’t deserve it.
Indeed. Dear Creature is a rich romantic comedy –– fast, layered, funny, and tight –– proper adjectives to describe the writing, pacing, panel composition and line work. High praise for someone’s debut solo effort.
Case seems to have pulled from everywhere: some Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, a little Frankenstein, a handful of Romeo and Juliet, bushels of Dave Stevens, a weird slice from the Taming of the Shrew, some Harlequin Romance, even a bit of Calvin and Hobbes. And it works. The familiar hints of this and that neither overwhelm nor diminish Case’s fresh story of two gene–crossed lovers.
The art here is not subsidiary to the text. This is real comics, the Alchemical Blend I keep talking about that is the hallmark of fine sequential art storytelling. It’s doubtful that a collaborating artist or a brush-for-hire could have managed so successful a package. The crisp black and whites beautifully reflect the tale’s two emotional states: morbid despair and incandescent joy, Case’s clean pen tracing between the two, creating the space in which his characters breathe.
Read in a single sitting, Dear Creature had my full buy-in for every page –– except one. When the hero, Grue, escapes the clutches of a giant squid by tickling her, ah . . . “fancy,” shall we call it? . . . I was completely yanked out of the story.
Not that the moment was too broad or even unnecessary. It might have worked if it wasn’t so jarringly out of place. There was no precedent for it. Plenty of slapstick in the panels leading up to it, but no hint of bawdiness. And while I’m all for the bawdy, it shouldn’t come in the middle of a harrowing sequence. That, and the fact that Grue quickly, ah “surfaces,” shall we call it ? . . . leaving the lady squid with her tentacle trapped in the hull of a submarine? Well, that’s just bad form.
What Case comes up with next is anybody’s guess. With any luck, he’ll be able to stick with long-form graphic novels instead of being seduced by the superhero monthlies. They lack soul; Case doesn’t need to lose his to those.
Either way, I’ll be waiting.