C’EST BON ANTHOLOGY 2006 #1
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by C’est Bon Kultur

This beautiful anthology brings together cartoonists from around the world, putting some fascinating experimental works on display, as well as a few very nice sequential stories. As I’m fond of saying, anthologies have a tendency to gravitate towards the mediocre because of the number of people involved, but C’EST BON keeps its average fairly high.

How? The sheer level of talent involved. Artists such as Ho Che Anderson, Loka Kanarp, and Danijel Savovic are working at the top of their game, which elevates the rest of the proceedings and makes it easy to brush aside the misfires (Chiu Kwong Man’s “Noah’s Tale” being the one that springs to mind first). Also, this anthology appeals in another, more unusual way: it’s format. Printed at the size of a standard magazine, instead of a comic, it looks and feels different in the hand as you read it. Plus, it has the heavy, glossy paper of a magazine, too. There’s a real difference to the experience of C’EST BON, and I could almost recommend it to you on that basis alone.

But in the end, the book succeeds purely on the level of quality entertainment it provides, which is high. One other thing to note: many anthologies don’t do as good a job leading you to the works of the creators as you’d like, but this one provides URLs for all of the artists but one. That’s particularly important when you’re bringing together international work; after all, if I don’t know what other material these people have produced, I can’t start looking at buying some imports and getting deeper into their work.

ENDERS

Top Shelf’s first foray into printing a full-color mini-series wraps up with these two issues, and it was a very satisfying read. Venditti’s near-future saw most human beings living their lives through robotic bodies they controlled from home. But when a terrorist began attacking peoples’ “surries”, one cop began to learn how to live as himself again. The question was whether or not he should try and stop the unknown villain… or be happy with his results. As these last two chapters unfold, the mastermind’s plan becomes clear, and suddenly there is much more for our hero to be considering; such as, what would happen if those surries were destroyed in the middle of a police action to save lives. Or how a society would come to grips with itself if forced to own up to its own face. While questions like that could have bogged down the story, it’s a testament to Venditti that he doesn’t forget to get out of the way and let Weldele deliver some outstanding action, too. Wisely, Venditti eschews a bland, happy ending, and delivers one that fits just about perfect. Excellent stuff.

BOMB QUEEN #4
Written and Drawn by Jimmie Robinson
Published by Image Comics

Robinson’s over-the-top spoof of celebrity, politics, sexuality, and the country’s passive willingness to give up freedom for security-in-name-only ends with a large, raised middle finger to each of those concepts and some leftover curiosity on the part of the reader. BOMB QUEEN is the story of a villain who took over her city and began ruling it with an explosive fist, and it turned out that the population was fairly comfortable with it, because at least with a supervillain in charge, they understood the rules of the society and were safe as long as they played along. Some of Robinson’s points through the series were so dead on that they were sobering; others, such as Bomb Queen’s exaggerated sexual nature and outfit, never quite rose above pure exploitation with nothing to say. Still, I commend Robinson for starting with the goal of producing something that would ruffle some feathers and succeeding just about as well as he could have hoped. I loved just about every sick, twisted, insane page of BOMB QUEEN, even when I knew I shouldn’t. T’would seem to define entertainment quite nicely, wouldn’t it?

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2006

Khepri had Rob Osborne (SUNSET CITY, 1000 STEPS TO WORLD DOMINATION, THE INFAMOUS ZANGO) in the store, signing and sketching throughout the day. Rob’s not only a local pro, but he’s an incredibly nice guy as well. He took time to talk to fans young and old, critiqued a youngster who had created his first comic, and generally impressed everyone who crossed his path. As a bonus, Khepri’s selection was outstanding; even when doing just mail order, they’ve always had FCBD books, so Brian had four tables of books on the floor with nothing but giveaways. Plus, he put some of the cheapies from the last couple of years (the HELLBOY and G.I. JOE $.25 books) by the register so that folks who came in could pad their huge piles for just a couple of dollars. It was all done with amazing efficiency and the usual excellent customer service Brian is known for.

I was sent review copies of five or six FCBD books, and I picked up something like twelve or thirteen more, and they were a fairly mixed bag. Only three books really stood out for me, though. The first was OWLY: BREAKIN’ THE ICE, Top Shelf’s effort. They delivered an OWLY tale last year that was awesome, so why change a good thing? Long time readers of this column know that I love the OWLY series more than my weekly margaritas, so it should surprise no one that Andy Runton’s newest story with these characters is a gem. BREAKIN’ is s surprisingly dark little story, as it puts one of the characters in genuine peril for the first time, but it is resolved quite nicely in the end.

The second gem of the day was FREE SCOTT PILGRIM, from Oni Press. The first two SCOTT PILGRIM graphic novels became a sensation, and while we’re waiting (and waiting… and waiting some more) for Bryan Lee O’Malley to deliver book three, he teases us with this short story, which finds the title character trying to buy an energy drink and doing battle with an army of Hilary Duff clones that have escaped a series of movie posters. (Don’t ask me to explain- just track it down and enjoy it.) There’s also a decent back-up feature, FEARLESS GRIGGS, which seems to be part Mike Mignola and part SCURVY DOGS. I could go on and on about how much I’m looking forward to the next full-length installment of SCOTT PILGRIM, but you get the idea.

My final winner in the FCBD derby is also the best book of the bunch: THE PREPOSTEROUS VOYAGES OF IRONHIDE TOM from AdHouse Books. Tom is an odd creature, the offspring of a sailor and a typhoon (you read that right). Left on a sandbar, the funny-looking and indestructible creature grew to be quite the sailor himself, as creator Joel Priddy guides us through Tom’s life and adventures. Veering between ludicrous and insanely hilarious, IRONHIDE TOM is a work of near-genius. Priddy knows exactly how to tickle your funny bone and yet keep you emotionally invested in the strange little being, making every oddball moment of the book work in exactness. Bonus points are granted for making Tom the most creative potty mouth in recent comics history.

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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