PAST LIES
Written by Christina Weir and Nunzio Defilippis and drawn by Christopher Mitten
Published by Oni Press

Young private eye Amy Devlin is offered the strangest case of her young career: twenty-six years ago, an eccentric billionaire named Trevor Schalk was murdered; now, a young actor named Timothy Gilbraight is having nightmares and memories not his own, and according to his hypnotherapist, he’s reliving a past life… as Schalk. Granted a bizarre form of immortality (maybe), Schalk/Gilbraight wants his murder solved.

PAST LIES is a zippy and energetic mystery, offering up a lively assortment of suspects, secrets, and terrible truths. The reader is able to easily empathize with Amy, as she’s skeptical about the whole idea of immortality through hypnotherapy, and for good reason. There are people with plenty to gain whether Schalk truly lives on through Timothy or not. Leaving the question wide open for the majority of the book enhances the mystery greatly, and I was impressed with the patience of Weir and Defilippis in getting to their destination. The pace here works, and is one of the most effective aspects to the graphic novel.

Mitten’s art isn’t spectacular, but for a plot-heavy book, it does precisely what is needed: stay out of the way. When presenting a mystery, the last thing you want an artist to do is start showing off and obscuring the path the story is trying to take. Mysteries have to unfold in a certain fashion in order to play fair with the reader; otherwise, the reader feels ripped off. PAST LIES gives you your money’s worth.

SIBAM?

From page one of PAST LIES, it feels very much like you’re reading a screenplay brought to the page. Moody, atmospheric, and character-heavy, this isn’t even an expensive film to make. The last film to tackle this sort of subject was DEAD AGAIN, and that came out fifteen years ago. PAST LIES, with strong casting (say, Evangeline Lilly as Amy) could engage audiences and make a pretty good chunk of change. I’d be surprised if this isn’t snapped up sometime soon.

ELSEWHERE…

With these two issues, the second MIDDLEMAN series officially passes its predecessor in terms of both laughs and story quality. When last we left Wendy and the Middleman, their martial arts sensei had been kidnapped by a ruthless gang of Mexican wrestlers who blamed him for the death of one of their colleagues. That left our heroic duo in dire straits for two reasons; not only was the sensei gone, but his clan will take out their displeasure about his disappearance on Wendy and Middleman if they don’t rescue him soon. This leads to one ludicrous scene after another, yet Grillo-Marxauch manages to add some real pathos to the story by involving innocents and giving emotional heft to the tale. By grounding the absurd sense of reality that permeates the book, it never leaves the reader feeling like there’s nothing at stake. Some might quibble with the book and its mostly light tone, but to my eyes, a new issue of MIDDLEMAN is always cause for a smile.

PUT THE BOOK BACK ON THE SHELF
Written and Drawn by Various
Published by Image Comics

Anthologies are always a tough call. The quality of the material can vary wildly, and you generally just have to hope that, when you lay down your filthy yanqui dollar, you get more good or great material than crap. And that’s not even considering the ambition of the project.

PUT THE BOOK BACK is about as ambitious an anthology as I’ve seen lately. Scottish pop band Belle and Sebastian has long been the darling of the indy music fan, and now a number of alt-cartoonists have taken the band’s songs and created short stories inspired by them. Some of the pieces are very literal; some are wildly interpretive. But the question is, can the book be read and enjoyed by someone who knows fuck-all about Belle and Sebastian? The answer: yes. Because I wouldn’t know a Belle and Sebastian song if it bit me in the ass and called me “daddy.” The contents of the book are the usual mixed bag, but there is some real standout stuff here, especially Rick Remender and John Heebink’s “Nice day For A Sulk” and Jamie Roch and Marc Ellerby’s “Marx And Engels.” Image has come a long way as a publisher of non-traditional anthologies. I’ll be curious what comes next.

MANGA CORNER

If you had asked me before I read these, what was my least favorite manga, there’d have been no hesitation in me answering “GENSHIKEN.” But after these two volumes, my opinion has shifted. What was once a book that felt like a piling-on against comics fans and nerd culture has become a much calmer examination of those characters. These volumes see the Genshiken club pull together and produce their own comicbook to sell at a comic-con. Toning down some of the louder and dumber aspects of the previous books, we finally get to see the kids as “normal”; they live, they love, and they’re torn by doubt and confusion, just like everyone else. The earlier stories were content to give the reader ciphers, but GENSHIKEN has at last created people. More of that, please.

TSUBASA VOL.8-9
Written and Drawn by Clamp
Adapted by William Flanagan
Published by Del Rey

I’ve always been completely onboard with TSUBASA’s premise: a group of adventurers are traveling through time and space in search of the memories of a princess. Those memories have been turned into magical feathers, creating menaces that the group must defeat along the way to restoring the princess to normal. The magical feather thing is a bit much, but the rest of it grabs me. The problem, though, is that the concept is limited without adjusting the adventures; there has to be an end in sight or it just gets repetitive. Unfortunately, as these two volumes roll around, it’s now getting repetitive. This time, the travelers get split crossing into their latest destination and wind up fighting each other (sort of). Except it feels like the same fight over and over and over. In fact, there hasn’t been a feather gained in over a full volume at this point. TSUBASA can be a good read, but right now, it’s dead in its tracks.

GURU GURU PON-CHAN VOL.3-4
Written and Drawn by Satomi Ikezawa
Adapted by Doug Varenas
Published by Del Rey

GURU GURU, which follows the adventures of Ponta, a dog who becomes human because she’s in love with a human boy, has always been a mixed bag. The premise is, well, kinda icky. Mirai, the boy, is even kinda skeeved out by the fact that his girlfriend is (literally) a dog, but he stays with her, bringing the issue of bestiality into play every time he touches her. These volumes actually get a little smarter in dealing with that question; Mirai’s ex-girlfriend comes back into the picture, and Ponta begins to rightly question whether or not she will ever be an acceptable human. Volume four takes a deliciously dark turn that would have made a satisfying end to the series, but to my chagrin, the series will be continuing on. Satomi is trying very, very hard to make this story work, but I just don’t see how it could ever happen.

NODAME CANTABILE VOL.4-5
Written and Drawn by Tomoko Ninomiya
Adapted by David and Eriko Walsh
Published by Del Rey

This delightful series, which follows the trials and tribulations of Nodame and her fellow orchestra students, has become Del Rey’s best book. Along with the title character, the book is full of interesting and compelling characters, including Nodame’s unrequited crush, the genius Chiaki; Nodame’s best friend, Mine; and world famous conductor (and complete lech) Milch Holstein. Any of these characters has enough intrigue and depth to support a story of their own, but when combined together, they create a rich tapestry. Nodame herself can be a tricky character; her devotion to Chiaki, who treats her like shit, is troubling. But when removed from Chiaki, she gains strength and grows. At the end of volume five, Nodame has a moment wherein we finally grasp who she is and where she’s going with her life and talent, and it’s powerful. Ninomiya-san allows her actions and her gifts to fully explode on the page, creating something wondrous. Do yourself a favor and check it out.

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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