Nancy Nebula #1

Nancy Nebula is a book about a young woman named Nancy.  She finds herself in dead end job, enduring a rather mundane existence handling customer accounts at Digital Fossils, an android manufacturing corporation.  Like most of us who have been fed up with what seems to pass for life these days (boring jobs, bad relationships, the grind), she goes home every day and dreams of something more.  One night, those dreams come true, and she finds herself working for The Greys, alien beings who seek to breed themselves with humans to save their dying race.

The creation of Kim Scoulios, Nancy Nebula is a great story of desperately wanting something more and of what happens when you actually get it.  Nancy is troubled by the questions that have mystified the human race for millennia: why are we here, what does it mean, the big existential questions that we’ve all pondered at some point in our lives.  And as Nancy’s story progresses, you get the feeling she’s going to find those answers sooner or later, for better or worse.  Nancy makes a great protagonist, guiding the reader through her mundane day to day, her dreams of the stars and of other planes of existence, and finally her experiences with The Greys and their leader, Aza.

Scoulios art is cartoony and delicate, pairs effectively with the story being told, and draws you into Nancy’s world without really trying to.  The lines and shades are very easy on the eyes, the focus of individual panels is never in question, and there’s just enough detail to really flesh out the scenes.  The dreamscapes, the existential atmospheres and landscapes throughout the book are rendered in great detail, beautifully contrasting shades of black and gray and white that you can get lost in studying.  I mean, check out the cover up there and you’ll see what I mean.  The panels tell the story and allow it to flow, so much so that you could follow the narrative without needing to read the words (a defining characteristic of good comic craft).

But you should read the words!  There’s a helluva story being told here, as Nancy goes from essentially working for one corporation that deals in androids to another that deals in humans to be experimented upon (but she likes this job, and if you’re going to work a job, to totally buy in to the corporate line, it helps if you really enjoy it).  The irony is not lost to her, however, and she reconciles here actions by only recruiting humans that she feels deserve to be the subject of alien experiments (starting with her struggling musician ex-boyfriend, who totally deserves to be probed and prodded by alien beings).  But it’s her questions that really keep her in the employee of The Greys, and as she spends more time with Aza, she begins to get hints that those answers exist, and if she sticks around, her questions will be answered.  The promise of knowledge is a powerful motivator, but it can also cause you to miss things, to be blinded to some realities that should be obvious to you, and Nancy comes to this realization at the end of this first issue. She is left to question her trust in her new employers, and to ponder the decision that brought her to that moment.  It’s a great ending for this first issue of Nancy Nebula, leaving you with a few burning questions as every serialized story should.

All in all, Nancy Nebula is highly recommended.  It’s obviously a labor of love from Kim Scoulios, entirely self published in that great artistic tradition.  Check out her other work and learn a bit more about Kim at her website.  There you’ll find her blog, galleries of her work, and make sure you order yourself a copy of Nancy Nebula while you’re there.

Hey guys, Thurm here with some good news!

The whole concept of my comic book reviews in this space will be changing in the coming months.  Instead of reviewing “Big 2″ books (those reviews are a dime a dozen!), I’m gonna focus more on indie books.  This includes things my friends Old Man and Bitter Girl bring me back from cons, indie books that I come across on comixology, and other stuff that I just happen to pick up along the way.  I’d like to try and introduce you to some new stuff, and hopefully you’ll go check some of it out and help support comic artists that are creating their art on their terms.

So, with that being said, check back every so often for some new reviews.  I’m going to try to put myself on somewhat of a regular schedule (I promised OM & BG!), though I’m not sure what that might be yet.  Maybe once a month, maybe twice a week, we’ll see.  I’ll let you know when I know!  I’m also going to include some Q&A with the creators of the books when I can, so that way you can learn a little more about the people that make these works of art and what makes them tick.

But look for the first review of this new era later this week.  I can at least guarantee that much!  I’ve got quite a stack of books to work through as you can see!

Til then!

Hawkeye #1

Now I’ve never been much of a fan of Hawkeye, or Matt Fraction, or David Aja.  But this book made me a fan of all three.  Let me explain. . .

You know Hawkeye as that street level Avenger that is killer with a bow and arrow, and that’s all fine and good.  That’s how I knew him too.  Never a character I was all that interested in or that into.  Just an Avenger running around doing Avenger things.  I didn’t really read West Coast Avengers.

But this first issue of his book is really good shit.  First of all, it’s presented in this great modern style.  You know from the cover that it’s got it’s own thing going on, and the title page (or credits or whatever) kinda drive that home.  This is set up to be a totally different kinda book, at least that’s what you get from the first few pages.

And it is, kinda.  It’s definitely doing it’s own thing.  It kinda reminds me of Bendis’s “Daredevil” run.  It’s a really cool take on a street level hero.  The script by Fraction is just a street level dude trying to take care of the apartment building he calls home, and the art by Aja really reminds me of Maleev, it has that gritty, grimy feel that fits a street level hero like Hawkeye perfectly.  Which isn’t to say its ugly or anything, just that it fits the vibe.  The colors by Matt Hollingsworth only reinforce that feel.  It reminds me of Matt Wagner and “Grendel”, which isn’t a bad thing at all, if you know what I’m talking about.  Lots of panels, 10 and 12 per page, and that means more story and more cool art to look at.

And all in all, it’s a great first issue.  It jumps around here and there, and a second reading might help to better get the gist, but it’s a really good intro to the Clint Barton/Hawkeye character: everyone knows he’s Hawkeye, he really has no super powers, he’s just an awesome marksman, really just a regular guy, and you get some insight into why he’s a good guy, why he does what he does.  Altogether, it makes for a great first issue.  I’ll definitely be checking out issue #2.  A great self-contained intro story.  Well done all around.

This series is billed as being what Hawkeye does when he’s not being an Avenger, and that just sounds cool.  Lots of good story to be told, I’m sure, and I’m looking forward to reading more.  Check it out if you have an extra $3 to spare.