THE FUTURIST
Written and Directed by Brad Winderbaum
Produced by Dave O’Brien
Executive Produced by Scott Kramer
The Futurist

Charles Guthrie (KIRK WARD) is about to make history: he’s been chosen to be the first man to travel through time. It’s only a short jump of four years, but science will be revolutionized forever. However, that jump forward takes him to the scene of the worst possible thing he could see: the unmasking and death of the world’s only “superhero”, The Futurist, on live television. Upon his return, he shuts himself away, leading to a desperate search by Anna (MADELINE SCOULAR), the woman he loves. Can she help a man who now only wishes to die find a reason to live? Is fate truly immutable?

There’s a very clever conceit at the heart of THE FUTURIST, namely the creation of a paradox in Charlie’s life that will guide his life. It makes for an interesting guidepost for the story and further tales that might explore his life, but it also sets up some difficulty with the ability to grow the character. If The Futurist will definitely live until that day four years ahead, then the creative team will have to double their efforts with the supporting cast and the perils they face. Of course, by forcing The Futurist to live through the deaths of those he loves, that will certainly add an even more tragic element to his story.

The short film itself is executed with some obvious love for the superhero genre, and like the work of many film students today, it shows some real talent and sophistication despite its lack of budget. The acting is a bit uneven; Ward has some difficulty finding the right tone to play Charlie with at times, but he elevates himself as best he can when working opposite Scoular, who’s excellent. The only truly fatal flaw in the cast is Michael Rivkin, who plays the host of the show on which The Futurist is murdered; he channels Jon Lovitz to a point where I began to wonder if Winderbaum shouldn’t have just offered the great comedian the job and let him do it himself.

I don’t know that you could get more than a couple of years worth of issues out of a FUTURIST comic before you wore out the readership with what would seem to be an inevitable ending, but there’s definitely room to play here. And the film itself squeezes a lot of fun into its sixteen minutes of running time. So good luck, gentlemen… and see you in the funny books.

JUST FOR SHITS AND GIGGLES

GIANT MONSTER #2
Written by Steve Niles and Drawn by Nat Jones
Published by Boom Studios

When I reviewed issue one of this book, I made no secret of my love of the kaiju eigu genre, and how my feelings pretty much negated any ability I might have to be impartial in my ability to review the book. Well, with issue two, I can assure you that my impartiality only fails me further.

Now that astronaut Don Maggert has been turned into a giant fungus monster who’s stomping cities and eating the populace, humankind would seem to be doomed. But wait! A quick trip to Area 51 finds a Nazi scientist who has been hunkered away for decades tinkering around on new inventions, and he just happens to have a giant Nazi robot that the government can send off to battle the giant monster.

You heard me: there’s a giant Nazi fucking robot sitting around in Area 51 that they send off to battle the monster! Yes, GIANT MONSTER did just become the coolest comic since sliced bread, thanks for asking. And if the giant Nazi robot should have world conquering ambitions of its own? So much the better, right?

The only thing that sucks about this book is that it had to end. I want more GIANT MONSTER, and I want it yesterday.

CRÈME DE LA CRÈME A/K/A WHAT TO BUY YOUR LOVED ONES FOR THE HOLIDAYS

SPIRAL BOUND
Written and Drawn by Aaron Renier
Published by Top Shelf

This book is almost unfair. Debut graphic novels aren’t supposed to be this warm, heartfelt, and perfectly executed. Artists are supposed to struggle a bit more before finding themselves and putting out work this good. But as with last year’s OWLY, Top Shelf has found another amazing gem with Renier’s work.

SPIRAL BOUND is a story set in a small community of animals where there’s more than a bit of pain and paranoia to go around, because it’s believed that the local river is home to a monster that eats people who stray too close. But a young crusading rabbit, on her first job as a reporter for the local (and literal) underground newspaper, is determined to find out the truth. Along the way, a number of other characters, including a shy, lovelorn elephant, an overprotective single father, the local art teacher (a bowl-bound whale), and others find themselves intertwined in the big mystery of what lurks beneath the water.

The book design actually does make it look like it was drawn and printed from a classic spiral-bound notebook like the ones we used to take to class in high school. But in the end, all you’ll really notice are the great characters, amazing art, and happy feeling you get when you finish the book. It’s also perfect for readers of all ages. You’ll see it back here in this column before the end of the year when I put together my top ten list, I’d think.

TRICKED
Written and Drawn by Alex Robinson
Published by Top Shelf

BOX OFFICE POISON genius Robinson finally returns with a new long-form work, and even though it lacks a bit of the substance BOP developed over the years, it’s still an outstanding effort that leaves you craving more of many of these characters.

TRICKED follows a number of different characters, from a washed-out rock star who meets the possible love of his life while visiting his manager, to a man who works as a counterfeiter of signatures on sports memorabilia. In-between, we follow the lives of others, including a young girl who goes on the road to meet the father she long thought was dead, and a man de-compensating from his psych meds who begins to lose it and will intrude on everyone else’s lives in a huge way. There’s a huge scope here, and Robinson works hard to balance everyone in equal amounts.

The book clocks in a 350 pages, and oddly enough, my one serious criticism is that it felt kind of short to me. In balancing all the storylines and finding “screen time” for everybody’s plotlines, it felt at times like he omitted scenes I would have liked to see play out on the page, rather than expositioned away. The ambition here is incredible; TRICKED emphasizes the “novel” aspect of “graphic novel” in a way few books ever do, and I wanted more of it. Robinson is so talented, so good at what he does, that he could have put another hundred pages in here, and the book would have carried along the reader without complaint. This is a good book to hand over to non-comics readers if you want to show them exactly what the medium is really all about in 2005.

BLACK HOLE
Written and Drawn by Charles Burns
Published by Pantheon
Originally published by Fantagraphics

BLACK HOLE is one of the more interesting reading experiences I’ve had with comics this year. Issue twelve of the original series came out early this year, and having not read any of the previous eleven, Fantagraphics publicity stud Eric Reynolds sent me the previous eleven so I could get a picture of the whole tale. Now, those twelve issues came out over the span of a decade; so I decided to try and mirror the reading experience by spreading out reading the book over time, figuring it would give me a more accurate picture of how the book held up. And honestly, while I recognized the incredible craft and storytelling abilities of Burns, it was unsatisfying and unsettling to tackle the work in that manner. I wasn’t sold on it.

But with the release of the collection by Pantheon, I have gone back to the book again, and reading it as a collection, my opinion shifted considerably. Taking the book in one sitting, it reads as a riveting metaphor for the dangers, both psychological and physical, of teenage angst and sexuality. The story is really not even metaphorical; there’s a horrible STD blazing its way through Seattle, and it leave the kids affected with bizarre deformities and mutations. Eventually, the community shuns them so much that they wind up moving out into the woods and living a life of separation. The parallels to the reactions suffered by early AIDS sufferers are extraordinary and accurate.

For the most part, we follow two afflicted kids: Keith, who voluntarily winds up with the disease, choosing to follow his sexual needs, and Chris, a girl who makes the mistake of not listening to the boy she wants and winds up infected through her own negligence. Interestingly, Burns sets up Keith’s burgeoning feelings for Chris, but he avoids the standard cliché of making them the “two kids on the run.” Instead, each follows their own path to changing, growing, and dealing with their affliction, and Burns never cops out and delivers an easy answer to the disease or their futures.

There’s only one misstep, and that’s a subplot about a series of murders plaguing the sick kids. It never really fleshes itself out well, and winds up going nowhere. But past that, BLACK HOLE is a stunning achievement, whether you read the original twelve issues in succession or pick up this outstanding collection. Like TRICKED, it focuses heavily on the “novel” part of “graphic novel” and will appeal to any discerning, mature fiction reader with intelligent tastes.

ACME NOVELTY LIBRARY: ANNUAL REPORT TO SHAREHOLDERS…
Written and Drawn by Chris Ware
Published by Pantheon
Originally published by Fantagraphics

This gorgeous, over-sized hardcover edition of Ware’s masterwork brings together a number of the remaining strips and gags that have appeared in the Fantagraphics series over the past decade. Lushly printed, with vibrant color and paper stock, this is a treasure trove of material that can take the discerning reader weeks to get through.

Ware’s work, whether it’s a series of large panels or a crush of small, highly detailed panels, tends to focus on themes of isolation, loneliness, or feelings of worthlessness when faced with the rest of society. Somewhat befitting perhaps, as reading a book is the most isolated form of entertainment, but surprising perhaps the new reader’s eye.

There’s so much color and vibrancy to the vision delivered by Ware that you are drawn to the page expecting to have your sense of wonder engaged. However, Ware goes against your expectations, engaging your mind, and your sense of nagging self-doubt. The characters he focuses on in his strips are so sad, that it’s almost inevitable that you begin a sort of self-examination along the way as you read.

ACME has won so many awards over the years that I suspect Ware has lost count, and the material contained within these pages is surely a testament to why. If you’re shopping for someone you’d like to find something challenging for, you won’t go wrong in picking up this excellent collection.

See you in seven.

Review materials may be sent to: Marc Mason, P.O. Box 26732, Tempe, AZ 85285. You can also find me at Happy Nonsense and The Comics Waiting Room

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