I Like My Comics Like I Like My Coffee
There's a trend I've begun to notice...
Film was my first love and when I was a young teenager just starting to really get into film, I quickly realized that I loved dark films. Perhaps because throughout my pre-teenager, Christian life, all I had really experienced in film was light, fluffy, happy endings and I was fucking bored of them. Or perhaps because a film like Brazil feels more honest, to me, than Maid in Manhattan (I was grasping for a non-dark film...it was all I could think of..). Whatever the reason, I still love dark films.
So I shouldn't be surprised (and I'm not) when I start reading enough comics to notice - surprise - I have a soft spot for the fucked up stories. I think it took me so long to realize this because up until recently, the darkest comics I stumbled across were occasional Batman arcs, Ennis' Punisher MAX run, and Sandman.
And then within the last month I've read the first two issues of Scarlet, the first three issues of Nemesis, and now I just finished the first issue of Incognito. Three Icon titles. I didn't even know about Icon until I picked up Scarlet issue 1. All three crime-noir titles, and the latter two being crime-noir super-villain comics. And all three beautifully dark and fucked up in their own ways.
At least, an issue into Incognito (published before Scarlet and Nemesis but the last one I'm getting around to reading) things appear to be dark and fucked up. There's rape within the first few pages and rape is pretty high on the fucked up/dark spectrum. Brubaker/Phillips let people know what ride they were getting on very quickly. Yet, by the end of the first issue, I'm not sure where the story is going and that's good. I can't see this character being redeemed/redeemable, but what he's going to do and what, if any, consequences befall him, I am in the dark currently. Which is a nice change of pace when typically fiction has been leaving me in a room with all lights turned on very bright (meaning, there's little mystery when I read or watch something these days).
This is also the first Ed Brubaker penned story I've read and I am enjoying his writing. And as for Sean Phillips art combined with Val Staples colors - in my top ten favourite comic art. It used to be where every comic I came across looked like it had the same art style and it was an art style I was bored of the first time I saw it. Finally, I'm finding lots of artists/colorists with art for me.
Now, I'm going to stop writing this long ass review so I can read more Incognito!
Film was my first love and when I was a young teenager just starting to really get into film, I quickly realized that I loved dark films. Perhaps because throughout my pre-teenager, Christian life, all I had really experienced in film was light, fluffy, happy endings and I was fucking bored of them. Or perhaps because a film like Brazil feels more honest, to me, than Maid in Manhattan (I was grasping for a non-dark film...it was all I could think of..). Whatever the reason, I still love dark films.
So I shouldn't be surprised (and I'm not) when I start reading enough comics to notice - surprise - I have a soft spot for the fucked up stories. I think it took me so long to realize this because up until recently, the darkest comics I stumbled across were occasional Batman arcs, Ennis' Punisher MAX run, and Sandman.
And then within the last month I've read the first two issues of Scarlet, the first three issues of Nemesis, and now I just finished the first issue of Incognito. Three Icon titles. I didn't even know about Icon until I picked up Scarlet issue 1. All three crime-noir titles, and the latter two being crime-noir super-villain comics. And all three beautifully dark and fucked up in their own ways.
At least, an issue into Incognito (published before Scarlet and Nemesis but the last one I'm getting around to reading) things appear to be dark and fucked up. There's rape within the first few pages and rape is pretty high on the fucked up/dark spectrum. Brubaker/Phillips let people know what ride they were getting on very quickly. Yet, by the end of the first issue, I'm not sure where the story is going and that's good. I can't see this character being redeemed/redeemable, but what he's going to do and what, if any, consequences befall him, I am in the dark currently. Which is a nice change of pace when typically fiction has been leaving me in a room with all lights turned on very bright (meaning, there's little mystery when I read or watch something these days).
This is also the first Ed Brubaker penned story I've read and I am enjoying his writing. And as for Sean Phillips art combined with Val Staples colors - in my top ten favourite comic art. It used to be where every comic I came across looked like it had the same art style and it was an art style I was bored of the first time I saw it. Finally, I'm finding lots of artists/colorists with art for me.
Now, I'm going to stop writing this long ass review so I can read more Incognito!
