Blue Estate #12 – Quick Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Peter Nguyen (art), Kalvachev (art direction, colors, cover)

The Story: The first story arc of Blue Estate comes to an end: who will die and who makes it out alive?

Review: Boy, did I screw this up in my “Top Picks” of the week column.  Because Blue Estate had been away for awhile, I just mentally assumed that we were kicking off “Season 2” when in actuality we were ending the first story.

Blue Estate #10 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox, Dave Johnson, Peter Nguyen & Kieran (art) and Kalvachev (art director)

The Story: It’s hard to describe in a single sentence – it’s weird things happening to a bunch of gangsters.

A Few Things:

1.  Art direction is amazing. – Blue Estate breaks the “rules.”  Usually when you see SIX artists credited for a comic, it means the art will be a hot mess.  Why?  With the typical comic, six artists means that Big Name Artist didn’t make his deadlines and the editor brought in a bunch of scrub artists to ship the comic on time.  That is NOT what happens with Blue Estate.  It’s almost like series creator Kalvachev knew it would be hard to get an A-list artist to commit to doing a monthly, creator-owned comic book…. but he figured he could always get several A-listers to draw 2-3 pages a month.  Thus, every month Blue Estate features this eclectic cast of artists, just kinda jamming on a comic.  The effect is great.  It’s almost like an anthology comic (in a way).  I just love the rotating cast of artists because it gives us a chance to see someone like Dave Johnson doing interior pages.  When was the last time Johnson did interior pages?

What keeps it from being a disjointed mess is that Kalvachev (a) surely runs a pretty tight ship from a project management standpoint and (b) knits everything together with the coloring.

2. Story winds around in a fun way. – The story is simply fun.  The essence of the story is: dumb gangsters trying to kill or screw-over each other.  But all the characters are a little too dumb to execute their plans, so they keep ending up in ridiculous situations.  For example, in this issue one character needs to sell a house ASAP to make money (to pay off some gangsters).  The good news is that he has a cash buyer.  The bad news is that he’s been put in charge of also transporting another gangster’s race horse to the race track.  If he doesn’t come up with the money, he’s dead.  If the horse doesn’t get to the track….he’s dead.  So, he goes to get the money and recruits a couple of dreadlocked stoners he meets to drive the horse to the track for him in their VW minibus where they proceed to get the horse STONED.  Surely, next issue he’ll have to explain why the horse was stoned.  What’s wonderful is seeing how many different plot threads are spinning at once.  It’s like watching a guy juggle 10 balls and just when you think it can’t possibly get crazier, he adds a couple more balls to the mix.  It’s insane, but in a good way.

Blue Estate #8 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Nathan Fox, Toby Cypress, Andrew Robinson & Peter Nguyen (art), Kalvachev (cover, colors, design & art coordination)

The Story: Now that Bruce Maddox is dead, the surviving Russian and Italian mafia members are scrambling to connect the pieces.

Five Things: 

1. Art is great. – I’m pretty picky about the art in my comics and I usually hate anything with multiple artists.  BUT, in this case we have FIVE artists on the issue and I’m loving it!  Why does this work when recent cluttered issues like Incredible Hulk #2 and Uncanny X-Men #2 stunk?  Well, for one thing, Viktor Kalvachev has assembled some heavy hitters to work on his comic.  Nathan Fox and Toby Cypress are serious, no-joke talents.  But, what makes it work so nicely is how Kalvachev knits it all together.  He’s clearly gotten a few pages from each artist, but then he colors them in such a way that the book has a very consistent look.  Now, it IS true that some of the characters don’t look exactly the same from page to page.  But, (a) this is a comic that’ll appeal to the art snobs of the world and it’s kinda fun to try to pick out who drew what and (b) someone (Kalvachev, I assume) has made sure that characters have distinct physical features regardless of who draws them.  The end result is a great looking comic, especially those Nathan Fox pages (??) with the police secretary that reminded me of Paul Pope.

2. This is one of the better debut series of 2011. – It’s time for Best of 2011 lists.  And you’re going to see a LOT of “Best new series” lists populated by comics that have released 2-3 issues.  I think that’s bullshit.  Blue Estate is delivering the goods.  Cranking out 8 consecutive “B” or better issues is a MUCH higher accomplishment than giving us 3 “B+/A-“.  It’s a great series: fun, snappy, crime-themed, fun characters, sexy, great art, comes out on time, etc.

3. Fun and entertaining story.  – The story is fun and bouncy.  Never holding still and never retreading old ground.  But, what makes it special for me is how all the characters are caricatures of their “type”.  The bumbling private eye is extra dumpy and goofy.  The Russian thugs all wear track suits.  Lots of big hair.  The Hispanic secretary at the police station who flirts with the lead detective is extra buxom.  And the funniest is the Russian mafia leader.  He’s got a cowboy fetish, so he’s shown watching TV in bed with his mistress he’s wearing a cowboy hat, boots with spurs, while she’s got on a Native American headdress.  But that’s not all, the bed is wagon-themed with big wagon wheels on it and there are gun belts on the floor and suction cup arrows stuck to the walls.  Lots of comics will show a guy with a fetish, but they’d stop at putting him in a cowboy hat– very few will put in the extra bit of creative effort that Blue Estate shows.  It demonstrates that the creators are having a blast and that enthusiasm is contagious to the reader.

Blue Estate #4 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script) & Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Paul Maybury (art)

The Story: Russian gangsters, B-list movie stars and double crosses….

What’s Good: Part of what makes Blue Estate fun is that it has such a different air about it than your typical crime story.  Usually when you say the words “Russian gangster” you think you’re going to get something very gritty (like the movie Eastern Promises or the OGN Luna Park).  But Blue Estate is fun and hip.  There is a particularly graphic scene in this issue where a guy gets ground into dog food (literally) and even though it is gross, you never look away.  You’re more inspired to laugh, “Oh!  Ha ha!  He got ground up into dog food!  Look!  There’s even a little doggie drawn on the side of the can!  Ha ha!”

We need more fresh concepts in comics, and while comics like Criminal are certainly enjoyable as hell…it’s nice to be able to laugh when reading a crime story too and Blue Estate is providing that.

The art is incredibly important to Blue Estate because the art is really selling the light-hearted and hip air about the story.  Going back to the Criminal comparison, you could probably give this script to Sean Phillips and actually get an issue of Criminal with all the noir and grit that Criminal promises.  So, it is a real artistic achievement that this issue and series have the fun, bouncy air that they do.  All of the characters are drawn in a slightly cartoony style that allows the artist to over-emphasize things to better sell a scene.  It is also really impressive how well integrated the multiple artists are.  With the exception of the final two pages, it is really hard to tell which parts Toby Cypress did and which parts were drawn by Nathan Fox.

Blue Estate #3 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Robert Valley (art)

The Story: As the mob and detective thriller unfolds, a couple of college jocks get pulled into a situation that’s a little too large for them.

What’s Good: Creator-owned comics are always at a bit of a disadvantage to Big 2 superhero comics in a way that I rarely hear anyone talk about: It’s pretty easy to forget what is going on with the story.  You’re never that lost in a Wolverine comic (has claws, stabs people) or Batman comic (stalks the night, keeps young boys around), but with a brand new creator-owned comic, when you lose the tread you don’t have much to prop you back up.  And when you are lost, one of two things happens: You will toss the book down in disgust OR you will be entertained anyway and inspired to go back and re-read the last couple issues.

I very much had the latter experience with Blue Estate #3.  In the opening scene when these two college football players are about to get worked over by some mob guys, I honestly couldn’t remember what was going on.  BUT…the story telling (both script and art) was strong enough that you cold tell all you needed to know about the characters: college football players who think they’re tough but are suddenly in WAY over their head, mob boss is nutso and kinda bumbling, henchmen think their boss is kinda a buffoon, but will do what he says.  Later on there is a second scene where again you again have this effect with a senior cop (hardboiled, smokes, exudes confidence) and his son (fat, bumbling, embarrassment to his dad).

And that is what makes this a good comic.  It is overcoming some deficits (that I’ll talk about below) with very strong storytelling.  Some of it is the scripting, but a lot of credit needs to go to the gaggle of artists who work on this title.  These are all strong artists in their own right, but usually when you see four artists in the credits it equals “Hot Mess”.  What makes this work is that even though you can tell which artists work on which pages, the overall look and feel of the comic is remarkably consistent.  The whole thing is really strong and stylish and makes you want more.  And, by choosing to work in a more cartoony style, they are able to pull off this storytelling.  This comic would not work nearly as well with an Alex Ross style because you could not communicate the needed personality attributes.

Blue Estate #1 – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev & Kosta Yanev (story), Andrew Osborne (script), Kalvachev, Toby Cypress, Nathan Fox & Robert Valley (art), Kalvachev (colors, direction & design) & Philo Northrup (contributing editor)

The Story: Detective noir with a few clever twists to keep it fresh.

What’s Good: If you like the noirish detective genre you’re going to like this just fine.  And, if you like detective stories with a few novel, slightly campy twists, your’re going to like this more.  And if you like clever, stylish art you’ll probably like this a lot.

The story has all the things that you need for a good detective/crime story.  There is a sexy redhead who may or may not be the victim, there’s a private detective and there’s an organized crime angle.  What makes it fresh are the interesting little twists that are tossed in, such as a motion picture star who seems a LOT like Stephen Seagal who, after becoming washed up as a film star, ends up being an enforcer for the Russian mob (not to mention some very odd and unclear shower action between the film star & another mob enforcer).  And, the detective isn’t cool or hard-boiled. He’s basically Jonah Hill: fat, bumbling and questionable in competence.  This first issue is all set up, but the creative team as some neat elements to work with as the issue wraps up and you are definitely left wanting to know more.

Pherone (Hardcover) – Review

By: Viktor Kalvachev (design, art & colors), Patrick Baggatta, Jim Sink & Kalvachev (writers) & Philo Northrup (producer)

The Story: An amnesiac seductress/hit-woman learns the truth about her past.

What’s Good: This is one of those properties where outstanding artistic design makes it work.  And, it is also evidence that many artistic tools can work when they are used by a skillful artist who applies a sense of style to their work.

The overall look and style of the book is B&W with splashes of color here and there.  Sometimes the only thing colored in a panel may be a woman’s red lips and the lipstick mark she has left on the wine glass, in other panels, the entire panel may be hit with a smear of yellow to accentuate a mood that Kalvachev wants to convey.  The point is that it is very effective use of color because he is using color to emphasize and to direct your eyes to the things he wants you to look at in a panel.  I wish more sequential art was colored in this fashion because it shows infinite more care and sensibility than merely painting a woman’s dress orange in every panel and then rendering the hell out of that orange dress to approximate body contours.   That is boring…. this kind of coloring is stunning and eye-grabbing.

In terms of the art style itself, I’m pretty sure that Kalvachev is using a decent amount of reference material because everything in his panels looks so real.  “Photo reference” gets a bad name because people think it implies “tracing”, but it can also simply be used to make sure that the stuff in your comic looks real.  And that realism is important when you’re telling a story like Pherone that is supposedly set in a modern reality.  It helps us sink into the story when the cars, guns, animals and people all look real.  I think with realism, you need to be all-the-way-in if you’re going to try it and Kalvachev excels at that with this work.

DMZ Volume 4: Friendly Fire (TPB) – Review

By Brian Wood (writer), Riccardo Burchielli, Nathan Fox, Viktor Kalvachev, Kristian Donaldson (art), Jeremy Cox (colors)

To sum things up, Friendly Fire is Brian Wood’s version of Rashomon. We have a horrific event taking place where hundreds of silent protestors in the DMZ are killed in a bloody massacre by US forces. And while it’s hard to tell who instigated the hostilities, there’s no way to deny the loss of life. It’s a PR nightmare for the United States, who intends to hold a tribunal against the soldiers caught in this mess. Because of his experience within the DMZ, Matty is tapped to investigate and report his own separate findings.

Most of this book follows Matty as he interviews a handful of soldiers, survivors, and even top brass regarding the events of the now infamous “Day 204”. With so many contradictory reports, it’s hard for him to draw his own conclusions. Eventually, he realizes that there’s no real winner to this outcome. The people within the DMZ want their own version of justice. If the soldiers involved are put to death, does it really quench the thirst for justice? Will it really change the outcome?

The questions (and answers) posed by Brian Wood are ones to be pondered. Reflecting many current events happening in the middle east, it’s hard not to distinguish the parallels this story draws. As much as I hate using the “social commentary” term, that’s exactly what this book is about, and it does it so well. The scary thing is, if continued down our current economic path, it’s very easy to see this country falling into the same trappings of the country portrayed in this book. Do yourself a favor and pick this trade up. It’s not the best DMZ story, but it’s one of the most profound. (Grade: A-)

– J. Montes