I, Vampire #1 – Review

by Joshua Hale Fialkov (writer), Andrea Sorrentino (art), Marcelo Maidlo (colors), and Pat Brosseau (letters)

The Review: Every once in a while, you read a comic that just has that indefinable, special “something” where everything just clicks.  This is one of those books and despite being semi-retired from WCBR, I had to come back for it.

With Catwoman, Red Hood, and Voodoo all coming out over the last two weeks, a lot has been made about the sex and violence that’s present in the DCnU.  For many, things like Starfire’s sex drive, Catwoman’s various states of undress, and Voodoo’s stripping constitute “mature content.”  I, Vampire is a book that makes such a definition of “mature content” appear laughable.  This, my friends, is quite possibly the most “mature” of the DC new 52.  There’s off-screen sex, there’s dead bodies galore, there’s violence, and there’s blood.

But unlike those other DC titles I mentioned, not a bit of this content is sensationalist or exploitative.  None of it is done purely for its own sake.  This is “mature content” that lives up to its name, where the violence is meaningful and emotionally laden and hence, all the more horrifying and affecting for it (there are a couple panels, a vampire attack in a subway station, that will surely haunt any reader).  The sexual tension between main characters Andrew and Marie is sincere, gripping, a relationship that is completely character driven.

There’s a strong argument to be made that Mary may be the sexiest female of the new 52.  She manages this without ever contorting her body into strange poses or showing off her lingerie.  Rather, it’s all in her words.  Mary’s dialogue is absolutely riveting.  Her sexuality is palpable, one psychological weapon in a mental toolbox for a character that is brilliant, sadistic, sociopathic, and utterly manipulative.  Fialkov has managed to fashion a character that leaps off the page.  Moreover, he’s made Mary into a character that is at once attractive and repulsive.  It’s clear that she’s evil and twisted as hell, and yet there’s no denying her charisma.  In fact, she’s such a seductive character that she seduces the reader almost as much as she does Andrew.  Her words, her playing on Andrew’s guilt and their shared history, her sadistic and sickening playfulness, all lead to an absolutely fascinating foil for Andrew.

Detective Comics #1

Written and Drawn by Tony S. Daniel, Inked by Ryan Winn, Colored by Tomeu Morey

The Story: The Joker’s murders are even more gruesome than usual, and as usual, Batman has had enough and goes to deal with the laughing menace.

The Good: This is a good start for a new era of Batman. The Batman vs. Joker back and forth over the last…well, since superhero comics existed, has always lent to some of the most insane stories ever told, and if a writer is smart, they can do things with this classic set-up that is really shocking or surprising. Think back to The Killing Joke–the most shocking thing in that story wasn’t Barbara Gordon’s paralysis or the BDSM torture Joker put Gordon through, it was the laugh Batman gave at the end that said “yeah, Bats is just as crazy as Joker.” But writing the Joker must be one of the most thrilling jobs in the business. At least, that’s the feeling when you read Daniel’s issue. He’s writing the Joker, and he is in for the ride just as much as the audience is. He writes both Joker and Batman very well, and I’m intrigued to see what he has planned for them.

But what’s more–much more–impressive than his writing is his art. There are not many people who can write well and draw well, but Daniel is one of them. This book looks amazing, and the characters all look natural to who they are.  No overly beefed-out Batman, no gangly Joker. This Joker looks like he could take on Batman with just enough muscle to give him that lean look he always had, but not the anorexic freak we’ve sometimes seen before. And there are nods to inspirations of the Joker to. In fact, not only is the Joker wearing a similar outfit to the character in the silent film The Man Who Laughs, but one of the panels is a recreation of a famous still from the movie. But beyond Daniel’s pencils, it’s also in the inks and colors too. Ryan Winn and Tomeu Morey bring life and vibrancy to Daniel’s pencils in a way that’s perfect for Gotham and the world of Batman. The pallet is still darker, but the contrasts are sharper. It’s great for a Joker story, where the line between good and evil is clear. Joker is evil (on the other side, I like my Two-Face stories with more hazy and ill-defined colors and inks). On the artwork alone, this is a title worth picking up,

Run the Comics World (Girls)

I’ve been keeping track of Comic-Con news all weekend, especially on the DC side of things, to get a better gauge of what we can expect to see from them in September.  During one of their panels, a female fan cosplaying as Batgirl spoke to Jim Lee about gender diversity, complaining that women weren’t getting centrally featured on any of the covers to the Justice League titles.  The exchange got quite scintillating, apparently, ending when Lee asked if the women have to be dead-center on the cover or if off-center is okay.  Over on Comics Alliance, a comment from Angelica Brenner on the matter remarked that Lee’s joke “kinda sours the whole ‘promise of diversity’ deal.”

I am by no means the voicebox of Jim Lee (although that sounds like an ideal job for me), but I don’t think the joke was motivated by chauvinism, nor does it indicate a flippant attitude towards diversity, or women in particular.  I think he was simply poking fun at the issue, which was not only incorrect (Ryan Sook’s cover to Justice League Dark #1 features not one, but three women prominently on the center of the cover), but rather superficial as well.

With team books, the cover’s central figure usually features the team leader or the most recognizable (read: marketable) characters, especially for a debut issue.  Superhero team leaders are usually men because men compose most of the team, and that’s because most superheroes are male.  So yes, it’s true a lot of women aren’t featured centrally on these covers, but by the same token, neither are a lot of men.

So the most important question to ask is: why aren’t there more female heroes?  To offer a theory, let me tell you a bit about myself.  I’m a writer who takes stabs at fiction now and then (none published yet, probably for good reason).  In almost all my stories, my protagonist and a lot of the principal cast are male.  I’m a guy; I’m much more familiar with how guys think or act; I hang out with a lot of guys; so I have more ideas for guy characters.  Considering the very vast majority of comic book writers are dudes, it stands to reason the number of male characters is exponentially larger than that of women.

How We Can Stop Worrying and Learn to Love the DCU’s Reboots

By now, the tidal wave of news about DC’s “historic renumbering of all superhero titles” will have already washed over the internet, leaving outcry and confusion in its wake.  Understandable… DC fans will once again have to wonder whether their favorite characters will be left in one piece and what importance, if any, past stories and continuity will have on the brave new world to come.

I won’t get into the thick of this speculation.  First of all, because such thinking is pointless; the decision has been made and no amount of overthinking will change it.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, I believe that continuity in comics, especially where mainstream comics are concerned, is a non-issue.

The comics universe is malleable, a creation of many writers and artists across generations.  Ultimately, this universe and its characters serve as vehicles for telling stories.  Sometimes a story can draw inspiration from continuity to build itself (Grant Morrison and Geoff Johns have proven experts at this); other times a story is best served by paying as little attention to continuity as possible, or even ignoring it altogether (Frank Miller and Alan Grant produced some of DC’s best works this way).  The important thing is tell the best stories possible, and continuity isn’t really a prerequisite for that.

We don’t know if the DCU of the coming fall will be a major departure from what we’re now familiar with, or if the changes will be at most superficial.  Each of DC’s reboots represented a reaction to the times.  Crisis on Infinite Earths produced a DCU that could be a better reflection of the real world and more sympathetic to its maturing audience.  As that audience grew older, Infinite Crisis and subsequent stories revised the DCU in an exercise of nostalgia: classic incarnations of characters returned, and titles got back their original brands and numberings; the multiple universes were resurrected.