Reviews: Joe the Barbarian #5 & American Vampire #3
Another round of dual reviews to catch up from the craziness of two weeks ago! We've got two relatively indie comics up to bat and I have to say I really enjoyed both of them. Joe the Barbarian made me cry and American Vampire gave me chills.
Read on for more!
Joe the Barbarian #5: For once, the real action is in the real world in this issue. The art remains consistently amazing and with this issue Grant Morrison pulled off a surprising result: the events of the real world seemed not just more pressing, as they always have, but also more terrifying. I refuse to generate spoilers - yes, even though this was sold more than two weeks ago - so suffice to say that the events of the battle in Joe's front hall made me seize up with fear at their start and left me failing to sniffle back a tear by their end. I was not ready for that turn of events - not ready at all - and the visceral writing, particularly of sound effects and cries and of that gut-wrenching phone call from Joe's mother, left me in shambles. I was shaking by the end. Ugh. Incredibly well done, but not what I would call enjoyable. I'm stopping there for fear of saying too much. Feel free to email me at klarion at pinkkryptonite dot net if you want to discuss or just need a shoulder to cry on about what appears to have been a horrible tragedy.
That said, I have always maintained that this is an initiation story - I am more or less ready to let go of my shamanism theory of a few months ago, but not quite - and wow, talk about having to sacrifice.
American Vampire #3: Another really enjoyable issue in what is shaping up to be a serious contender for my favorite book of the year. I have enjoyed this enough that I've consciously avoided finding out whether it's a limited run or an ongoing series because I so want it to be the latter as long as it stays this good. Pearl's story turns away from the by-the-book what-have-I-become of so many vampire stories right from the start; having her shove her roommate out the door with a pile of cash is a nice touch, both in terms of clearing the narrative game board and as a revelation of character.
Having spent my share of time buried in vampire novels (no, not Twilight) I am always fascinated by a discussion of the mechanics of vampirism in a given mythology and so I am digging the way the vampires of this book are so conscious of their condition's weaknesses and so concerned with the presence or absence of weakness in others. All those hours playing in sessions of Vampire: the Masquerade in the '90s cause me to recoil in sick horror when the vampires talk about going out in the sun, putting on a cavalier air and wandering around with skin creams and parasols. The gamer in me keeps thinking, But that's crazy! and I don't think the book is necessarily in disagreement with that sentiment.
I am still preferring the first half of the book to the second but they're both strong. Normally I am no special fan of gore for gore's sake but this is one time when both stories have made use of extremely bloody violence to demonstrate something about its perpetrators and that's always refreshing in its own way. I'm also still highly amused by the idea of King's story being a flashback told by an innocuous-looking guy who kept just happening to ride out when vampires were involved. It's a little Mary Sue but in the most endearing of ways. It reads, for me, as an homage to the reader's fantasy of being involved in the story and I love little touches of meta like that.
Klarion
Posted to Review on 11 June 2010
· Comments (5)
Other stuff like this: American Vampire, Joe the Barbarian
Always on the lookout for good reading material that isn't one of the mainstream DC/Marvel franchises. Will definitely be keeping an eye out for these next time I am in a comic store. Thanks for the suggestion :-)
Note that Joe the Barbarian only has three issues left in its run, so I expect its trade paperback will be out for the holidays.
Hey Klarion - huge thanks to you and Pink Kryptonite again. Love the site and greatly appreciate the support. Happy to send you issues, too, so you don't have to buy! Just email me at ssnyder1835 at yahoo S
@scott: I greatly appreciate the offer but I like the certain honesty I get from paying for it myself. That said, if you're looking for a place to give away a signed copy of an issue or two, I'm sure Rubber Justice and I can come up with a contest of some sort.
Thanks, Klarion... I prefer trades as I only get near a comic shop once a year or so, so regular issue type comics I tend to miss.