A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Zombie Tales 2061

Title: Zombie Tales 2061
Issue: #1
Release: July 2009
Writer: Kim Krizan
Artist: Jon Reed
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via comicsplus

Well, of course Z was going to mean zombies!   ZT 2061 takes the idea a bit past the point of apocalypse.  The zombies have established a society in which humans exist only for food and amusement.  Some have even developed sympathy for the subjugated species.  A plan is hatched by an underground human rebellion to rid the planet of zombies forever - with a clever twist at the end.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

So ends my A-Z challenge for 2013.  My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Yummy Fur

Title: Yummy Fur
Issue: #27
Release: January 1992
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown
Store: Drawn and Quarterly (Montreal)

Image via Comic Vine

Issues #26-30 of Yummy Fur were eventually collected in graphic novel form under the title I Never Liked You. The story is autobiographical, chronicling Brown's teenage experiences in suburban Montreal.  There's nothing particularly scandalous here as his parents were quite strict, forbidding him ever to swear - even away from the house (thus the story's original F-bomb title).  There is a bit of nudity so the book does fall short of child friendly.

Starting with what is essentially the second chapter of the story, I missed out on some of the details regarding individual characters.  Gordon is his brother but they play with three other kids - Connie, Carrie and Grant - who are...neighbors?  I'll need to go back to the beginning to clear all of this up.  There is clearly a mutual love interest between Chester and Carrie but one wonders how far his shyness will allow that to develop.

So, that's four Chester Brown titles for me so far.  He's batting .500, 2 for 4, with me.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: X-O Manowar

Title: X-O Manowar
Issue: #1
Release: May 2012
Writer: Robert Venditti
Artist: Cary Nord
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Fancore Pirate Radio

X-O Manowar is set in 402 A.D., the story following the Visigoths in their struggles against the Roman Empire.  The inside cover offers loads of historical and demographic data regarding the two cultures at the time.  I'm a total sucker for that sort of thing.  As such, I had high hopes for this one.

But wait, that guy on the cover doesn't look much like a Visigoth warrior, does he?  Several times over the course of A-Z, I have complained about the fusion trend in the current comics industry.  In short, I want to be allowed to live in such a realm as 5th century Europe without getting pulled back to the usual comic book terra firma.  In this case, the Visigoths are under alien invasion - and I don't mean the Romans.  So, X-O Manowar had me at the beginning, but it lost me by the end.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: The Waking

Title: The Waking
Issue: #1
Release: February 2010
Writer: Raven Gregory
Artist: Vic Drujinio
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via ComicImpact

If it's not vampires these days, it's zombies.  The Waking is published by Zenescope, a company which seems to specialize in what my new friend Tony Lamplume describes as cheesecakey comics.  Issue #1 actually doesn't include much in the way of zombies but sets up the back story for the apocalypse to come.  Four police detectives investigate two separate murders.  The issue's final panel suggests that the real trouble is only just beginning.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

Liebster II: New and Improved

Suze has graciously presented me with the Liebster Award.  While I have received this one before, I am not too proud to accept it a second time.  I know better than to hope for a Meryl Streep-esque triple triumph.

The award has evolved since the last time it came around, including a snazzy, updated graphic: 

There's a lot more involved in accepting and passing on the award now, too.  I am now charged to supply 11 fun facts about myself, answer the 11 questions Suze posed, award it to 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions. They in turn can, if they wish, follow the same steps to keep the award going. Check out her link so you can get to know her a little better, too.  Here we go...

Eleven facts:

1. The first piece of music I ever conducted was the first movement of Rachmaninoff's All-Night Vigil, also known as Vespers.  I brought my hand down and people sang - one of the truly magical moments of my life.

2. I was only in one play in high school.  I played Marcellus in The Music Man.

3. I love maps.  I've been fascinated by them since I was about six years old, when National Geographic's Our World book came in the mail.

4. I had both a Best Man and a Maid of Honor at my wedding.  Sadly, I haven't seen either of them in at least seven years.

5. I believe Cat Stevens is the world's most under-appreciated songwriter.

6. I'm afraid of heights.

7. I've lived in Vermont for almost eleven years and yet I've never been downhill skiing. I have no intention to try it anytime soon, either. (see #6)

8. I recently turned 40.

9. I celebrated the big 4-0 with a healthy dose of regression.  I got a LEGO set from my mother-in-law and bought myself my very first Transformer figure.

10. I believe smoking is a vile and disgusting habit.  However, I love the smell (and taste) of clove cigarettes.  I haven't had one in years and that's just fine.  Be smart, don't start, kids!

11. I love Quebecois folk music.


Suze's eleven questions:

1. Why do you blog?
What started as a way to chronicle my various hobbies has become a hobby in itself.  I can write about whatever I like and publish with a click of the mouse.  Networking with interesting people helps to fuel the creative fire.

2. What is your goal for the next six months?
I've become far more involved with the drama department at my school over the past two years and I'd like to learn more about the sound and light boards.  I've enlisted my teaching partner to teach me about both over the summer.

3. The next year?
To become a better poker player.

4. The next five years?
To learn French.  This is really a ten-year goal but it's not the sort of thing one can leave to the last minute.

5. If you could have any meal for dinner tonight, anywhere in the world, what would you have?
There's a bar in Yokohama where my friends and I would gather when we were all young, carefree English teachers in Japan (1996-98).  I would invite them all for one more raucous evening to celebrate the glorious time we shared.  I love my high school and college friends well enough but it's the Japan gang I miss most of all.  Food?  Yeah, I suppose we should order some food, too.

6. Who are your influences?
Twain, Salinger, Steinbeck, Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, Starr, Palestrina, Henson, Douglas Adams and, especially recently, Shakespeare

7. Have you ever had a recurring (sleeping) dream? If so, care to share it?
I've written about this before but a lot of my anxiety dreams since Japan have involved trains - missing trains, missing stops, trying to figure out train maps, etc.

8. Without looking it up, do you know what your birth stone and zodiac sign are?
Yes - diamond and Aries.

9. What was the first name of the first person you kissed/who kissed you?
Do Truth or Dare games count?  If so, Cicely.

10. What is your favorite pizza topping?
Bacon

11. Most interesting teacher you ever had?
My Russian history teacher in high school.  He didn't like me much because I'd flaked in his Russian language class.  But to watch him in the history class was to see a true master at work.


It is my great honor to present the Liebster Award to:

1. MOCK!
2. Tony Laplume
3. Trisha F
4. Shawn Yankey
5. Michael Offutt
6. Nan
7. C.M. Brown
8. Bethie
9. millvallison
10. Matthew MacNish
11. Mark K


My eleven questions to pass on:

1. If you could live one year of your life again, which would you choose and why?

2. If you could be good or better at one thing without putting in the time and work, what would it be?

3. You've been invited to join a bowling league and you may choose any five people to be on your team.  There's just one catch: you can only pick fictional characters.  Whom would you choose?

4. How do you really feel about pears?

5. How do you feel about the metric system?

6. The Doctor knocks on your door.  He'll take you to visit any place on Earth at any point in history (he always seems to make the choices with interstellar travel).  Where and when do you choose?

7. If you could learn any new language, which would you choose?

8. You have one personal quality which eventually annoys everyone in your life including, on occasion, yourself.  What is it and do you feel it's within your power to change it?

9. If you knew when you were younger what you'd be doing with your life now, how might you have planned things differently?  Do you think your life would truly be better overall if you had?

10. If all went south and you had to turn to a life of crime (assuming you haven't already), what line of dirty work would you choose?

11. How do you get your geek on?

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Vampire Huntress

Title: Vampire Huntress: The Hidden Darkness
Issue: #1
Release: August 2010
Writers: L.A. Banks and Jess Ruffner
Artist: Brett Booth
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Girls Gone Geek

If it's not zombies these days, it's vampires.  The Vampire Huntress Legend Series is a twelve-book novel series written by Banks, who passed away from adrenal cancer in 2011 at age 51.  The comic book series is intended to pick up where the novels left off.  Damali Richards, the title character, must help her followers piece life back together after the Armageddon battle which concluded the last novel.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Underwater

Title: Underwater
Issue: #2
Release: December 1994
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown
Store: Drawn and Quarterly (Montreal)

Image via Atomic Books

The idea for this book is clever.  The story is told from the perspective of two baby twin girls.  The language they hear from their parents is, for the most part, gibberish.  Occasionally, though, recognizable English words creep in to reflect their increasing comprehension. 

Particularly for a story of young life, the atmosphere is quite dark.  Brown's minimalist style and dark backgrounds provide a different world from the idealized view we usually see of parenting and childhood.  Of course, this is not a book for children.  While the joys of parenthood are numerous, those of us who have been through the wars know that there can be long stretches of loneliness, tedium and frustration.  Rarely do stories portray the very real struggles to communicate with a non-verbal entity.

In the end, one book is enough for me.  Apparently, other readers felt the same way.  Brown abandoned the project unfinished after the eleventh issue in 1997.

Image via The Adventures of Mr. Phil

Flip the book over and a second story is offered from the back cover, upside-down: a comic interpretation of the Book of Matthew, verses 12:46-13:58.  A biblical scholar, I am not.  Also, I generally prefer to avoid religious and political topics on my blog but this is too fascinating an idea to ignore.  From an artistic perspective, there's not much here to either inspire or offend.  The material is presented without embellishment.  With the comic's discontinuation, so ended the adaptation of Matthew.  Issue #11 carried the gospel through 20:29.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Secret History of the Foot Clan
Issue: #1
Release: December 2012
Writers: Mateus Santolouco & Erik Burnham
Artist: Mateus Santolouco
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Flickering Myth

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are well-entrenched in pop culture at this point.  Mainstream popularity was first attained with a television cartoon in the late '80s but I would imagine few of that show's devotees knew the characters originated in an indy comic book.  I remember a junior high friend of mine completely absorbed in one of the comics over lunch, unperturbed by his snickering pals at the table.  Little did any of us know how big they were about to become!

The Turtles, I must confess, never held much interest for me personally.  I wasn't into comics at that age and the TV show came out when I was 14 - a bit older than the target demographic.  This issue was my first time delving into the comics myself.

Much of the story for this issue takes place in feudal Japan.  When the story reverts to modern day, the Turtles and their teen-speak seem misplaced. I would have been happier if the tale had remind there without the Turtles involvement at all - another instance of the annoying fusion tendency I've found to be prevalent in the current comics industry. 

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Sof' Boy

Title: Sof' Boy and Friends
Issue: #3
Release: May 2004
Writer and Artist: Archer Prewitt
Store: Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via Amazon

Sof' Boy is a doughy, happy-go-lucky, Shmoo-esque character who wanders his neighborhood making friends and happening upon adventures.  In this issue, Sof' Boy and his cat friend Herbie find a bag of money.  Generous soul that he is, Sof' Boy spreads the wealth, handing thick stacks of bills to people who appear in need.  Of course, not everyone is as generous as he is and all soon goes awry.

Prewitt is also a professional musician, proficient on multiple instruments.  While not working on solo projects, he plays with the band Sea and Cake.  Previously, he was a founding member of the band The Coctails.  The Sea and Cake song "Weekend":



My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Ragemoor

Title: Ragemoor
Issue: #1
Release: March 2012
Writer: Jan Strnad
Artist: Richard Corben
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Amazon

The premise for Ragemoor is wonderful: a living castle which builds new rooms within its walls and devours unsuspecting guest.  The real star here is Corben, an accomplished illustrator who built his reputation with Heavy Metal magazine.  His best-known work, however, is the album cover for Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell:

Image via Wikipedia

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Queen Sonja

Title: Queen Sonja
Issue: #2
Release: November 2009
Writer: Joshua Ortega
Artist: Mel Rubi
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via The Nemedian Chronicles

Queen Sonja showcases Red Sonja, another member of the Conan universe.  The character is loosely based on Red Sonya of Rogatino in Robert E. Howard's short story "The Shadow of the Vulture," first published in 1934.  The character made her comic book debut in 1973, Conan the Barbarian #23.  She has become a prototype for the muscle-bound, scantily-clad fantasy heroine.  Comic Buyers Guide named her the sexiest woman in comics.  The publisher has rated this series T+ - for older teens.

If you like Red Sonja, you should go visit my new friend Timothy Brannan at Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Pathfinder

Title: Pathfinder
Issue: #1
Release: August 2012
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Andrew Huerta
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Newsarama.com

For me, Pathfinder provides a strong nostalgic tug.  Based on a roleplaying game of the same name, the story has all the trappings of Dungeons & Dragons games of my youth: a medieval setting, characters of varying, quantifiable skills and characteristics, fighting, magic, adventure, gruesome creatures, etc. This series definitely sparks my curiosity, though I must admit that I feel more inspired to seek out D&D comics.  The publisher has given Pathfinder a T+ rating - for older teens.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Orchid

Title: Orchid
Issue: #6
Release: April 2012
Writer: Tom Morello
Artist: Scott Hepburn
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Archonia.com
 
Orchid is set in a dystopian future. The title character is a teen prostitute determined to break out of the role society has set for her to build a better life.  #6 begins in a gladiator pit but evolves into an escape narrative - always a compelling choice to my mind.  Blood and violence make this story best suited for teens and up, I'd say.

Tom Morello is more famous as a musician than as a comic book writer.  He is lead guitarist for Rage Against the Machine when they're all playing together and busy with other projects when they're not.  For each issue of Orchid, Morello has composed original music.  A password is included to download the music from his website.  I love this idea!  The music for #6 is awesome, too.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Next Men

Title: John Byrne's Next Men
Issue: #1 (#31)
Release: December 2010
Writer and Artist: John Byrne
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via The Daily P.O.P.

I was first introduced to John Byrne's work with his series Cold War, an espionage adventure tale. I only made it through two issues of that story.  This one seems a lot more promising to me.  This issue is a continuation of Byrne's series of the same name from the early '90s.  The relaunch explains the double-numbering.  It's the 31st issue overall but just the first of the new era.

The story is, I have to admit, very confusing.  Since I never read the originals, I can already see that I've got some catching up to do.  Often, such a situation might turn me off but there's that certain something here that makes me want to learn more. Reading up a bit on the history, the Next Men are, predictably, a bit of a spoof on the X-Men but with a far more interesting back story.  The first issue of the relaunch begins with a direct play on the X-Men idea but then heads in other directions.  By the end of the issue, the characters are still very confused as to what's happening to them and I'm quite curious myself.  I'm going back to the beginning for this one.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Monster Party

Title: Monster Party
Issue: one-shot
Release: 2011
Writer and Artist: Chris Eliopoulos
Store: Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via Atomic Books

Monster Party is built upon a very simple premise.  A boy named Oscar, nagged to do chores by his mother, discovers a gang of mischievous monsters living in the basement.   Oscar is both delighted and horrified, as most eight-year-oldish kids would be.  Naturally, the monsters get him into heaps of trouble as they roam the house.  The story is cute, the potty humor hovering around the Nickelodeon prepubescent level.

Eliopoulos has mostly earned his keep in the industry as a letterer but also has a few critical successes as writer/artist to his name.  He claims the comic strips Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes as his two main creative influences - definitely a man of my generation.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Louis Riel

Title: Louis Riel
Issue: #4
Release: May 2000
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown
Store: Drawn and Quarterly (Montreal)

Image via Comic Collector Connect

This was the second Chester Brown title I read for my scavenger hunt.  While I was quite disgusted by Ed the Happy Clown, Louis Riel piqued my more positive interest from the first page.   Louis Riel was a rebellious figure in Manitoba in the 19th century.  I knew nothing about him before picking up this book and I will not pretend to know much about Canadian frontier history in general.  However, I have long been drawn to stories of native resistance to oppressive governments so I immediately felt that I should learn more about this man.

Somehow, Brown's minimalist style brings levity to an otherwise serious subject.  Months can pass between panels.  Faces offer little expression.  Dialogue is very dry.  And yet, I am ever eager to see what comes next.

I had fun comparing Brown's renderings to photographs of the historic figures.

Louis Riel:

Photo via Wikipedia

Image via Akimbo

There's something rather Yellow Submarine-ish about that latter image, too.

John A. MacDonald:

Photo via Wikipedia

Image via maybe edmonton

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: King Conan

Title: King Conan
Issue: #2
Release: February 2012
Writer: Timothy Truman
Artist: Tomas Giorello
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Comic Book DB
 
I am completely new to the Conan universe.  I never even saw the old Arnold Schwarzenegger films.  The character has been around for quite a long time, first introduced in 1932 by Robert E. Howard in the pulp fiction magazine Weird Tales.  Conan comics were first published in 1970 by Marvel.  The license is now owned by Dark Horse.

This issue is entitled "A Gathering of Vultures," part 2 of 4 in The Phoenix on the Sword.  "The Phoenix on the Sword" was one of the original stories written by Howard back in '32. 

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: JinnRise

Title: JinnRise
Issue: #1
Release: January 2013
Writer: Sohaib Awan
Artists: Tony Vassallo
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Major Spoilers

Fusion is the name of the game in comics these days.  A story about an exchange student in Marakesh isn't interesting enough on its own?  An alien invasion would certainly spice things up.  I don't know, it still needs something more...  Of course, a genie!

I find the fusion tendency tedious, though not because other story genres aren't worth exploring.  Quite the opposite, to my mind.  The problem is that rather than allowing the narrative to live in an usual environment (for comics, anyway) such as ancient Rome, feudal Japan, the French Revolution or whatever, the author seemingly can't resist dragging us back to the more comfortable sci-fi/horror turf which pervades the industry.  Fair warning: this won't be my last time complaining about this!

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here. 

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: I Feel Sick

Title: I Feel Sick
Issue: #1
Release: November 2011
Writer: Jhonen Vasquez
Artists: Rosearik Rikki Simons and Jhonen Vasquez
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Comic Vine

Okay, I'll admit upfront that this comic's pretty gross at times.  Also, the language is definitely PG-13.  And yet...

The undead, namely zombies and vampires, are a very big theme in pop culture these days, especially in comics.  I Feel Sick simultaneously embraces and pokes merciless fun at that fad.  Devi is an artist working in, you guessed it, the comic book industry.  She has weird friends and disastrous dates.  She struggles with the same creative blocks we all do.  The narrative is dark but definitely funny.

Any interest in joining a bloggers' book club?  Please visit my link here.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here. 

A Bloggers' Book Club

My dear blogger friends, I invite you to join me for a bloggers' book club.  My idea is a bit different from the standard offline affair.  Rather than everyone reading the same book, I will host a monthly blog hop for which all participants will post about the best (or, as is likely in my own case, only) book they've read over the past month.  In this way, everyone gets to read the books they like and also regularly exchange thoughts with other enthusiastic readers.

I propose the last Friday of each month as blog hop/meeting day, beginning in May. For this first month, I'd like to keep things simple - any book is fine.  Perhaps it need never be more complicated than that, but I am open to suggestions for future months: common themes, common questions to answer, etc.

If you'd like to add an extra twist to this venture, you might give my 12 Books in 12 Months challenge a try in conjunction.  The basic idea is explained here.  The books I read for my own challenge are listed here.

First "meeting" shall be Friday, May 31st.  If you're interested, please add your link to the list below.  I hope you will join me!

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Hack/Slash

Title: Hack/Slash: Me Without You
Issue: one-shot
Release: January 2011
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Daniel Leister
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Comic MegaStore

There is, as the title suggests, a bit of violence in this one.  However, not as much as you might expect.  Okay, the first page has a picture of a thoroughly mutilated man but it gets better from there.  

Hack/Slash has been ongoing since 2004.  Me Without You provides a bit of an origin story for Vlad, a hulking, disfigured loner who finds himself playing the role of protector for Mari, a beautiful young woman.  Mari is pursued by a mysterious woman in a white jacket.  All of the characters are interconnected in ways neither Vlad nor Mari completely understand.  I don't have much interest in pursuing this story further but it's better than I expected it to be.  Not for kids, obviously!

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here. 

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Guerillas

Title: Guerillas
Issue: #1
Release: August 2008
Writer and Artist: Brahm Revel
Store: 1000000 Comics (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via Newsarama

My generation was raised on Vietnam War stories, especially in the cinema: Platoon, Apocalypse Now, Good Morning, Vietnam and Born on the Fourth of July are just a few of the high-profile films which left an indelible imprint on our collective consciousness.  As such, there initially doesn't appear to be much new on offer in Guerillas.  All of the usual motifs are here: soldiers far too young on the march through rice paddies, surrounded by palm trees, never really sure who the enemy is or when they will strike, treatment of anyone Vietnamese as far less than human, etc.

And yet, there is something strikingly personal about this particular story.  We are introduced to the protagonist, John Francis Clayton, as a complete person.  In just a few pages, we see all of his misgivings about his new surroundings and also quite a lot of the background that brought him to this point. The action is certainly compelling enough to drive the story forward.  Then, on the issue's last page, the author completely drops the ball...

***SPOILER ALERT***

Chimpanzees!  First Clayton's unit is completely wiped out (except for himself) by a Viet Cong ambush.  Then the VC are similarly decimated by what turns out to be a troop of chimpanzees in full military garb.  It's bad enough that chimps are African, not Asian but after what had been surprisingly elegant storytelling, you give us chimp soldiers?  You've gotta be kidding!!!

***END OF SPOILER***

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here. 

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Fathom

Title: Fathom: Kiani
Issue: Volume 2, Issue #0
Release: April 2012
Writer: Vince Hernandez
Artist: Oliver Nome
Store: Earth Prime Comics (Burlington, Vermont)

Image via Comic Vine
 
Fathom is an underwater story created by Michael Turner in 1998 involving a race of aquatic humanoids called the Blue.  Kiani is a spinoff series, following the adventures of the beautiful but volatile title character.  If there's one thing the comic book medium does well, it's world building. The beautiful artwork in this book helps tremendously in drawing the reader in and sparking curiosity to explore beyond this particular story.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here. 

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Ed the Happy Clown

Title: Ed the Happy Clown
Issue: #2
Release: May 2005
Writer and Artist: Chester Brown
Store: Drawn and Quarterly (Montreal)

Image via Drawn and Quarterly

Okay, so this one's pretty gross.  I mean bodily-function-obsessed 15-year-old boy gross.  There were frames I just didn't want to look at, story elements I just didn't want to follow.  This book was my introduction to Chester Brown, a fairly big name in the industry.  As I write this, I have three more Chester Brown books on a stack next to me and I'm not entirely sure I want to read them.  My spoiler's not even for the faint of heart.  You've been warned. 

Turn back!

***SPOILER ALERT***

(Though really, if you still want to read the book after the sell I just gave it, I'm not sure my opinions will be worth much to you.)

I will admit upfront that I am quite squeamish about the fluids - especially blood, though that is not one of the substances featured prominently in this book.  A medical profession could never have been a realistic career path for me.  A severed hand figures prominently in the plot but that's not even my issue.  The book begins with "The Man Who Couldn't Stop."  I'll just let you wonder what it was he couldn't stop doing but it's potty humor taken to a revolting extreme.  That's definitely not what I need from a comic book experience.

***END OF SPOILER***

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.  

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Dirty Plotte

Title: Dirty Plotte
Issue: #2
Release: March 1991
Writer and Artist: Julie Doucet
Store: Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via Comic Book Resources

Dirty Plotte is for mature readers only: a journey through the author's own anxious adventures, both real and imagined.   Topics range from menstruation to breast cancer to cannibalism - and that's the lighter fare.  While not exactly my taste, the series met with great critical success, nominated for a Harvey Award for best new series.  Doucet did win the Harvey for best new talent.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

Today, a bonus offering, also beginning with D:

Double Barrel #9 by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon

Image via Twitter

Double Barrel is a web-only comic.  I went to college with the Cannons (not actually related to each other) and while that makes me admittedly biased, I would not steer you wrong, fellow travelers.  This is good stuff!  Each issue is a bargain, too: $1.99 for the new issue, $0.99 for the past ones.  You should all go check it out.  And start from issue #1.  I got my copy at ComiXology but you should be able to find it wherever e-books or e-comics are sold.

Each issue contains chapters from two serialized stories: Zander's Heck and Kevin's Crater XV. Loads of extras are included each month as well: shorter comics and, my favorite, the How to: section in which the artists share insights into their chosen medium.  There's even a whole new story - part 1 of 4 - introduced in this month's issue: The Clandestinauts by Tim Sievert.

Yup, all that for $1.99.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Complex

Title: Complex
Issue: #1
Release: March 2011
Writer and Artist: Chris Kuzma
Store: Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via MAGIC PONY

Complex is a dystopian narrative set 1,000 years in the future.  Terry, a deeply frustrated office drone, seeks release in the local pleasure palace.  Unable to afford the admission price, he is set on a decidedly not-for-children Wizard of Oz-type quest for the Alchemist.  The artwork is not exactly pretty but it's certainly interesting - like Jim Woodring on a very bad trip.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here. 

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Big Questions

Title: Big Questions
Issue: #3
Release: Spring 2000
Writer and Artist: Anders Nilsen
Store: Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via Amazon

Big Questions is a comic about animals who talk and people who don't.  The story follows a group of songbirds in their daily adventures and philosophical conversations.  The human characters are a woman and her son? grandson?  The artwork is minimalist, yet engaging.

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.  Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

A Comic Book Scavenger Hunt, A-Z: Atlas

Title: Atlas
Issue: #1
Release: 2001
Writer and Artist: Dylan Horrocks
Store: Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal, Quebec)

Image via I have good books

My scavenger hunt was pretty straight-forward: find single-issue comic books off the rack with titles starting from A-Z.

Atlas was a great find and the perfect way to kick off the challenge.  Dylan Horrocks, a New Zealand comics artist, is his own main character as he searches for information on Emil Kopen, a legendary comics artist from Cornucopia (artist and country are both fictional as far as I can tell).  This issue also includes "There Are No Words in My Mouth," a powerful, to-the-point story about a Jewish woman during the Holocaust, using only images and empty word bubbles.  Cartoonist James Kochalka, a Vermonter, also contributed a story: "Letter to Hicksville: 'Schoolbus.'"

Go check out the rest of the participants in this year's A-Z challenge.  The official site is here.

As today is A Day, it's also a fine time to honor Arlee Bird, the mastermind behind the A-Z Challenge.  Be sure to visit him at Tossing It Out today to thank him.

At least two of my real world friends are taking on the challenge this year.  Go check them out:

Mock is blogging about movies at What's up, MOCK?
Mrs. Mock has cooked up a storm and is posting the results, recipes included at Exclamation Point (!)

My Wife is not doing A-Z this year but she is launching a new project of her own: a reading of Dickens's The Pickwick Papers.  Follow her progress at Wikes! Hikes on the Long Trail.