May 26, 2003
Uzumaki (Viz Comics.
2002. $9.95. Written and drawn by Junji Ito)
Leave it to the Japanese to come up with a comic that’s just
plain creepy. Uzumaki tells the sordid tale of the small town of
Kurozu-cho, a simple little city that holds a dark secret. It all begins
when Kirie, a dashingly cute school girl, notices a strange spiral in
the clouds. Upon closer examination, it becomes apparent that the clouds
are formed by the smoke bellowing up from cremated corpses.
Not long after, strange occurrences begin to pop up all over town. Each
chapter tells the story of yet another citizen overcome by the spiral
epidemic, sent into madness and physical deformities. All are painstakingly
witnessed by Kirie, whose long hair inadvertently gets her involved in
the spiral craze before the series is completed.
This isn’t a shockingly jarring horror comic; it’s just disturbing
and off-kilter. The spiral theme takes on stranger and stranger aspects,
including a boy transforming into a snail (complete with spiralized shell)
and the truly grotesque ‘Mosquitoes.’ The latter concentrates
on pregnant teenage vampires, and the lengths they’re willing to
succumb to for their next fix. The truly bizarre takes the forefront,
which unfortunately sacrifices other (more important) elements, such as
plot. The plot seems to consist of “Check out this variation on a
spiral-horror theme,” so taken in large chunks it may be a little
hard to digest. As casual reading, however, it’s enticing and original,
with some of the best Manga art to come around in quite some time.
30 Days of Night (Idea and Design Works. 2003. $17.99. Writer: Steve
Niles. Artist: Ben Templesmith)
There’s been a resurgence in ‘classic’ horror themes
in the comics industry as of late. The highest profile of these has been
this slim volume, which became the dark horse success story of the past
year. This graphic novel tells the tale of a small city that is besieged
by an army of the undead. The kicker is the ‘small city’ Barrow,
a town on the outskirts of northern Alaska that experiences a month of
complete darkness every calendar year. In other words: the perfect place
for an extended family of vampires to take up residence.
This quickly develops into the “Humans hiding in the basement while
the undead scour the landscape” motif. Writer Steve Niles has an
obvious affinity for this genre, and does a nice job of capturing the
feel onto the comic page. A good script is meaningless without an artist
powerful enough to capture it, and luckily artist Ben Templesmith has
more than his share of creepiness to go around. The problem is they don’t
really move beyond ground that has been traveled 30 times before, and
as such there isn’t much originality invested. Templesmith’s
art is moody and dark, but has a hard time trying to decide whether to
come off as realistic or expressionist. A quick, decent read, but nothing
to write home about.
Stray Bullets #31 (El Capitan, 2003, $3.50, Writer and Artist: David
Lapham)
Jersey boy David Lapham has done it again. For the past six years,
he’s been crafting one of the greatest crime comics in the history
of the genre. For the past twenty issues, he’s chronicled the doomed
exploits of Virginia Applejack. A young girl torn from her suburban 1980s
Baltimore upbringing and thrown into a violent world of drugs, murder,
child abduction and molestation, Virginia quickly forgets all about her
rural upbringing. That all comes crashing down this issue, as she’s
finally reunited with her family, but things have changed for the worse.
Her father’s now dead of cancer, and the estranged relationship with
mom hasn’t gotten any better.
Lapham brings into play elements and characters that haven’t been
seen since the first handful of issues. Now streetwise and tough as nails,
Ginny has a tough time readjusting to the public school she left behind.
Lapham’s strict black and white artwork perfectly complements his
writing, which presents a world that’s anything but black and white.
The Johnny Craig influence is apparent, with slick, thick lines filled
in with copious amounts of dark, dark black. This is a thinking man’s
crime comic, as huge blanks are left between issues to be filled in by
the astute and attentive reader. Your three bucks could be spent on far,
far lesser products.
Mister Gum (AAA Pop/Oni Press. 2003. Writer: Mike Allred. Artist: Mike
Allred and Jeff Bone)
It’s no industry secret that Mike Allred’s a closet Beatnik,
but even that knowledge won’t prepare you for all the hepness found
within this comic. Mr. Gum is part Plastic Man, part Brad Pitt, and all
Maynard G. Krebbs. He’s recently become the latest member of the
Atomics to break out into his own one-shot, one that hasn’t stretched
the credibility of AAA Pop in the least.
The pacing is furious and erratic, emulating the pliability of Mr. Gum
himself. One minute he’s enjoying dinner out with a beautiful companion,
the next he’s brainwashed and ruining his father’s corporation.
Keeping with this fast paced approach, the captions are left to a minimum.
It may sound clichéd, but this is a rollercoaster of a comic. The
highs aren’t dizzying, and the lows don’t drop in your stomach,
but the “ups-n-downs” are quick and plentiful. Allred’s
artwork is as consistent as ever, and Bone’s contribution adds a
slicker, more stylized feel (if that’s possible). In fact, this comic
is more reminiscent of an old Warner Brothers cartoon than an actual comic.
The retro art reinforces this feeling, leading you to believe this is
a reprint from a bygone age.
Vintage cartoons may be fun, but today’s audiences demand a little
more depth. Taken as a Sunday afternoon read this is fun stuff, but don’t
look for any real meaning. The limitations of an elastic Beatnik superhero
are evident at times.
Please send review copies to:
Scott Semet
185 Asbury Road
Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
