Thursday, April 11, 2013

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.

14 comments:

  1. Woohoo for comics!
    We have been warned - complain away!
    Dani @ Entertaining Interests
    #warriorminion

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomorrow's K entry will start us off on a stronger run.

      Delete
  2. I agree with the tediousness of fusion. I can't seem to get lost in a story that has too many gratuitous or misplaced arcs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly! I think that's especially true in a short form medium such as this.

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. Thank you, Mary! And thank you for visiting my blog. Happy J Day!

      Delete
  4. I both like and don't like that cover.
    I didn't realize the fusion thing had made it into comics. I'm certainly tired of hearing about it with foods, and I haven't even tried any!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually had a difficult time finding a decent image for the cover. This one's too dark but it's still better than others I found.

      The mainstream American comics industry is in great need of increased variety, in my opinion. Superheroes are great for brand marketing but they still target only a very narrow audience. Comics in Japan and France have much broader appeal because any subject or genre is fair game. On the one hand, fusion feels like the industry heading in the right direction. On the other, it's not going far enough for my tastes.

      Delete
  5. Normally I like busy. This one doesn't sound appealing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It might be worth a try. Not to my taste but if you like busy, you might not be bothered by the same things I was.

      Delete
  6. I think a comic book scavenger hunt 30 years ago would have been fun

    Happy A to Z

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I suppose it could still be done, in a sense - a search for comics at least 30 years old. It would be a lot more work, though, and surely more expensive, too.

      Delete
  7. Genies AND aliens? Kind of sounds like Fairly Oddparents or something. :-) Just leave out the aliens, and it sounds pretty intriguing.

    Then there's that cover that screams "Nineties" to me again. (That whole heavily-inked musculature thing...)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It does have a bit of a Fairly Oddparents feel to it - good call!

      Delete