WILL EISNER’S JOHN LAW
Written and Drawn by Will Eisner and Gary Chaloner
Published by IDW

Eisner created JOHN LAW in the late-'40s as he made plans to expand his publishing “empire” beyond THE SPIRIT with some new comics and strips. A classic hard-boiled detective, his adventures never actually made it to the printed page, and the artwork was redrawn by Will to become Spirit tales. John Law lay unused until 1983, when a restoration attempt of the three completed stories from the '40s were printed (badly) by Eclipse. But now those three stories are finally in print, along with three fresh, new tales of the character by Gary Chaloner.

Chaloner’s work does a nice job of balancing an homage to Eisner’s artistic style and intent with a bit of modern technique and flavor, particularly in the excellent “Law, Luck, and A Dead-eyed Mystic.” Mixing noir with supernatural thriller, this longer tale would seem to demonstrate the direction that Chaloner intends to take the character if these volumes continue. Special notice also to the fact that one of his tales, “The Opal Skull,” was originally created as a Spirit story, but re-formatted in the same manner the original LAW stories were by Eisner!

That said, the real treat here is seeing the terrific presentation of the original tales by the master. IDW’s usual excellent production values give the art the clarity and vibrancy that it likely hasn’t seen since Eisner drew it fifty years ago. And looking at the pages, much like looking at SPIRIT pages, you can see just how much of what Eisner did was cribbed by the artists who followed in his footsteps. It’s just pretty to look at and learn from. And if you don’t pick up this volume for any other reason, that’s still a damned good one. Grade: A

SIBAM?

There’s never been a true and faithful adaptation of an Eisner property, and to be real honest about it, it’d likely be difficult. If the adaptation of THE SHADOW hadn’t been bungled so badly, we might have seen THE SPIRIT or JOHN LAW on screen by now, but the odds are slim.

However… seeing the success of AMERICAN SPLENDOR, I can imagine no more fitting tribute to the man than seeing a biographical film made out of Eisner’s life. It would follow not only his comics exploits, but his business acumen and his contribution of comics that taught soldiers how to use their equipment; it could also cover his life through having an award named after him and becoming such an icon in popular culture. “THE SPIRIT OF WILL EISNER”… I’d be there on opening day. Scout’s honor.

STREET ANGEL #3-4
Written and Drawn by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca
Published by Slave Labor

After naming this one of my ten “essential” books of 2004, I had the good fortune to read these and see that Rugg and Maruca were in no hurry to jump off that list in 2005. STREET ANGEL is one of the most innovative and entertaining books on the market; it follows the adventures of homeless skateboarding warrior Jesse Sanchez, which alone should tell you this is something unique. In issue three, she winds up stuck in a supernatural battle that actually involves Christ and a demon, and while it’s amusing, it lacks some of the more satirical edge of the first two issues. At first I was a bit thrown by that, but by the time I read the book again, I understood exactly what the guys were trying to do; nothing could be worse for this book than to become predictable or rehash the same stuff every month. It reads as a delicious attempt at throwing the reader off their scent, and it works brilliantly.

Issue four continues in the same vein- rather than setting up a city-threatening danger for Street Angel to face, we simply follow her through a day of being a homeless teenager, and it isn’t pretty. Finding a place to squat, seeking out a dumpster with fresh enough food to survive, trying to save some face and not to let a schoolmate see her in the dumpster scavenging… this is a grim existence that takes a bit of the funny edge off the earlier stories. It’s fascinating to see Rugg and Maruca pull back and let you reexamine the series like this. These guys are just damned good. Grade: A

DEAD @ 17: REVOLUTION #1-2
Written and Drawn by Josh Howard
Published by Viper Comics

This is the beginning of volume three of the DEAD saga, and Howard continues to build the series into something bigger and better as he did in volume two.

REVOLUTION is tracking two plots; in the main plot, Howard is advancing Nara’s quest to understand her role as a warrior raised from the dead to fight the demon Bolabogg. Meeting another faction of the grander battle, she’s offered a point of view that a United States senator just might be hosting the demon and moving him towards a seat of great power. And on the secondary track, we keep up with her best friend Hazy and her ex-boyfriend Elijah, who are now hooked up and in deep, deep trouble… because Hazy has taken a pregnancy test and it came up positive.

Wisely, what Howard is reminding the reader is that the world is in danger (and even ends) almost every day, whether it’s from the actions of a demon or from irresponsible love. The book is colored a bit darker than normal this time around, which can be a bit distracting, but beyond that, I’m entertained and ready to see where it goes next. Grade: B+

REMAINS
Written by Steve Niles and Drawn by Kieron Dwyer
Published by IDW

Sometimes all you ask for out of a graphic novel is a solid B-movie entertainment. And that’s a perfect description of REMAINS.

REMAINS is the story of a man and woman who, through blind luck, survive an accident that turns most of the world into zombies. That leaves them stuck, barricaded in the Las Vegas casino where they worked. Too bad they hate each other and the zombies seem to be getting smarter, faster… and more organized.

The plot is a higher-end homage to NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, of course, and the script is lean and tight. But what makes REMAINS sing is the outstanding artwork of Kieron Dwyer. I’m a longtime admirer of his stuff, and I firmly believe that this is the type of project where he truly excels. If you ask Dwyer to draw guys in capes, he does fine work, but give him real people in edgy situations, and you get gold. And that’s an important caveat- his people look like real people, regular folks put on the page. Throw in an ending worthy of George Romero, and you have a solid hit. I liked REMAINS much more than I expected to. Grade: B (of course!)

ASTRONAUTS OF THE FUTURE
Written by Lewis Trondheim and Drawn by Manu Larcenet
Published by NBM

I could rave about this book all day. Seriously.

If there’s such a thing as the perfect children’s graphic novel, ASTRONAUTS fills that bill. This is the story of two genius children named Martina and Gil. Martina has looked at her world and decided that everyone else besides her must be a robot; Gil has done the same and decided that everyone else is not robots- they’re obviously aliens. Finding they at least share some common ground, they decided to team up to try and prove that they’re each right and the other is wrong, but what they’re really going to discover is as rollickingly funny as anything you’re going to find on the bookshelves this year, because maybe, just maybe, they might be on to something.

Trondheim is one of the great living masters of the graphic medium, though here we only get to sample his imagination and dialogue, as art chores are handled by the outstanding newcomer Larcenet. Everything about this book screams quality; it looks great, it reads great, and even the colors knock your socks off. Do what I did: read this book for yourself and enjoy it immensely. Then share it with a kid. And if you can share it with a kid who’s never shown interest in comics before, so much the better. Because that kid will put this one down, hooked completely. Grade: A

I’ll be back in seven days with some nifty new stuff.

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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