100 bullets, 100 issues of greatness

How do I do describe Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's 100 Bullets to you ?

Hands down the best fucking non superhero books I've read to date. A product of DC comics's adult imprint Vertigo Comics. This book is for adults only and with good reason. Blood, Violence, Sex combine to make a hard boiled crime noir masterpiece. The plot starts like this : A mysterious old man visits people and hands them a brief case and an opportunity. Inside the brief case is redemption in the form of a gun and 100 untraceable bullets : Carte Blanche. Along side the gun and bullets are documents containing information about a person who as wronged you or ruined your life in the past or present. So do you accept the offer and take your revenge without any trouble from the cops? or do you decline ? Brian Azzarello is simply a genius and the plot doesn't stop there and as the series plays out the bigger picture of huge world controlling illuminati and their protectors are in the midst of war leaded by the mysterious man in the brief case.

100 bullets spans 100 issues and is in 12 collected graphic novels (13 and final to come in June).

100 Bullets epitomes the main messages of Saving Comics! This is comic is not for children and is not a superhero comic by any means, these "heroes" wear suits to work and to kill. The Characters of 100 bullets are dark, evil, greedy and stone cold killers.

This can by no means be missed.

Who Watches the Watchmen...or is reading it for that matter.

If you haven't heard of the Watchmen by now you live under a rock. The Watchmen is labelled by many as the "greatest graphic novel ever" and has now recently been transformed into a major motion picture. Originally written by the seemingly crazy but brilliant Alan Moore (V for Vendetta, From Hell, and Swamp Thing) the Watchmen was released in the 1986 to 1987 and was drawn by Dave Gibbons. 

I remember about 3 years ago when I was just getting into comics again after a hiatus when I had progressed out of my childhood and thought comics were a childish passtime. By this time I had already read The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller and his rendition of Batman: Year One and was ready to expand my horizons even further beyond the typical superhero story and thats when the Watchmen was recommended to me by the owner of my local comic book store. But importantly he told me to read it more once. I remember getting the Watchmen for Christmas and reading it over the span of my christmas break from school but only the one time. My mind was so blown, I didn't even know what happened. The Watchmen is a complex and tightly interwoven masterpiece, that reading it only once would be a crime and I guess that makes me guilty. Almost anyone I've talked to says to re-read the Watchmen over and over and each time you unlock something different more hidden locked away in the narrative.

In the nutshell, the Watchmen brought humanity to comic book characters. Alan Moore gave his characters real problems, paranoia, impotency and obvious mental issues. Alan Moore showed comics can support just more then the average good vs. evil fight or superhero in tights and make intriguing stories about moral issues and characters who could be dealing with Freudian concepts of repression and psychoanalysis.

My only problem with the Watchmen now is that it seems alittle dated. This is the comic that unlocked the darkness and moral issues in comic book characters which has now been used and abused for close to 30 years in comics and TV. But I hope this doesn't stop you from taking up this adventure, it deserves to be read and is not your typical superhero book. The Watchmen is a comic to challenge your mind and perception of  the superhero genre and comics alike. Try not to let those shallow pop culture versions of superhero movies and cartoons hold you back.

Look out for V for Vendetta and From Hell reviews sometime soon as well as the Batman books mentioned. We're gonna keep trying to plug non superhero books so don't worry but there's just so many classics that transformed the genre which should not be missed.

Chris Stewart

Batman The Killing Joke: A Review

Let me start of by saying this comic is badass. But first, a bit of history. Picture yourself in the 1980’s. Comics such as Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Batman: Year One are selling more than ever before. You purchase one of these comics and you are immediately convinced that the genre is going through a reenergizing phase.

Characters were wilder, artistic direction was much more dedicated, and storylines were getting more complex. Then came Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. These two creative geniuses decided to work hand in hand, or writing and drawing if you will, and create the masterpiece that is now called Batman: The Killing Joke. I know what you are going to say: “But it’s still Batman, isn’t it all the same anyway?” The answer is simple, NO.

The Killing Joke was crafted at such a high level of artistic technique and rhetorical linguistics, that it deserved a category in itself. As you read through the comic, you will be astonished to find how easily and slyly Moore and Bolland create flashbacks. I don’t know if it’s just me, but I think flashbacks in comics are damn hard to do.

You, as a writer, have to think on how to effectively wrap up the whole story so that the flashback does not detriment or give away essential information. As an artist, you must figure out how to distinguish the flashback moments from the moments in the present. Tim Sale, fellow artist and co-worker, explained that “the biggest and most [thing] are the flashback sequences. Bolland washes out all the color in each one, but chooses to spotlight an object in each”.

Moore and Bolland worked creatively and thus, released a timeless classic. To this day, more than 20 years after it’s first public debut, it is still one of the most popular comics on the market. The reason why this comic is considered one of the cornerstones of modern comics is because of the talent, fanaticism, care, and expressiveness both Moore and Bolland portrayed in their work.

The work is never bland, never boring. It brings chills to your spine examining the Joker’s face.
All the detail, all the madness behind those eyes.
You can feel it, trust me.
Read it and feel it for yourself.

Blankets: A Review

I must admit, I was one of those skeptical people. I saw comics as a medium by which artist could only express the typical good guy bad guy plot. And don’t get me wrong, some are extremely creative and original. But, being the seeker of romance, I wanted a comic that told a love story. Maybe not a love story, but something more in the lines of a novel.

It was then that I came face to face with what I was yearning to find: a graphic novel. Now, a graphic novel is not short and does not have multiple issues and volumes like a comic series does. However, it has a nuance of the rhetoric usually found in text-based novels. My favourite to this day is Blankets by Craig Thompson.

Blankets is a memoir that takes the reader through the wonderment and hardships of first-love stories. It reminds you of what falling in love feels like, and I believe that is the key to its success. It brings forth all these emotions that you might or might not have experienced yet. Through the use of motifs and symbolisms such as snow, quilts, and of course blankets, Thompson gives the reader a physical taste of what it feels like to be in his shoes. As you read the graphic novel and immerse yourself in the beautifully drawn graphics, you can actually feel yourself get cold, or be safe in the warmth of a blanket.

The reason why this graphic novel is of importance to the advancement of comics and graphic novels as a whole is that Blankets was able to translate feelings and thoughts of poetry into a few words and a very detailed image. This transition of linguistics into the pictorial realm is most notable in the work of Thompson.

Now that summer is approaching, check the book out.
We all love a bit of romance and mushy feelings every now and then.

If We Can Do It, So Can You.

As a viewer of this blog, we invite you to create your own comic. We have already posted Scott McCloud's comic on how to create a webcomic so what are you waiting for!?

As a part of a project, Chris and I decided to create a comic that allows you to choose the path the hero was going to take. This comic breaks the boundaries of the 4th wall, and invites you to participate in the story.

Have a look at it, we named it Escaping Attrition

As our world becomes more technological, we must keep in mind that in the future comics will be enjoyed on the computer. Escaping Attrition is our first attempt as artists to display our work and shared theories to the public.

Enjoy.

If You Want to Buy a Book

KRAZY!: The Delirious World of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art

by Bruce Greenville

This is a great book on the importance of comics and graphic art in pop culture. More and more frequently nowadays, we are faced with pictorial images instead of text. We must learn how to decode them in order to grasp the contextual meaning of the sign.

This book, as silly as it is, successfully explains on a light note the uniqueness of the forms of comics in pop art while considering the ways they interconnect.

According to Barnes and Noble,

The energy and intensity of the images leap off every page, and the full experience of the exhibit itself comes alive in behind-the-scenes commentary by the contributors. KRAZY! is a dizzying introduction to the art forms that will dominate the new century.

Check it out!

I Know It's Lots of Reading, but...

You have to check this out.

When flipping through comics, don't you ever wonder about the semiotic relationship the words

BANG! ZOOM! ZIP! CRASH! CLICK!

have on the real world. It is distinctively not a sound, but we make it a sound. Pretty interesting, huh? We have to be aware of what the sign means, and how it reacts in the real world for us to be able to recreate it in our own minds within the context of the comic.

Read Cohn's Eye Semiosis essay, it perfectly answers the question you probably have right now, it is a sound or not?