[Comic Execution] 1/10 – ‘MINIMUM WAGE’, ‘THE ILLEGITIMATES’, ‘LETTER 44’

You know, I’m starting to see a bit of a flaw in my plan for COMIC EXECUTION. I knew that, eventually, this day would come. You see, just about every week, I’m buying at least one #1 of a series that, more that likely, I won’t buy beyond issue three. This means I am in possession of a pretty absurd amount of debut issues with nothing to follow them. Initially, I thought for sure this would be a sound investment. Turns out it’s not.

On top of that, I’ve been doing a bit of investigating and I’m noticing that my LCS (local comic shop) is getting comics nearly months after they’ve debuted on digital comics distribution service Comixology. For example, one of my “new” series that I picked up this week, THE ILLEGITIMATES, apparently debuted at Comixology back on December 18th. Does this mean much, given that most people probably aren’t buying their comics at Comixology to begin with? Not really. And I’m certainly not blaming my LCS, either. But it does provide an additional reason to switch from buying my Comic Execution titles at my local comic book shop to getting them online. A third reason is that Image offers their issues for 50 cents cheaper online. And there’s also the advantage of knowing even my readers who don’t have access to an LCS

But I’m also aware that reading comics on a tablet is less than optimal, even with a quality device. That said, going digital will also make getting each issue I need from week to week a bit less risky. BUT! That doesn’t at all mean I’m done buying comics physically. OH NO. That will probably never happen. This just means the comics I buy at my LCS will be the ones I actually want to physically possess. And, in some cases (‘Trillium’, ‘Pretty Deadly’) I’ll still be buying a physical copy as well.

Also, I can’t keep bringing home strange comics I don’t trust. Too often I’m waking up the next morning, groggy and sore, wondering when I took off all my clothes and why I have paper cuts in strange places. But it’s not the paper cuts that hurt the most (and trust me, they hurt A LOT), it’s the barely legible note left behind for me that just says “Sorry babe but I’m not that guy” and then the tears. Tears really sting in paper cuts.

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MINIMUM WAGE #1

Writer: Bob Fingerman
Artist: Bob Fingerman

Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.50

So MINIMUM WAGE has a history. It originally began life back in 2000, as a semi-autobiographical comic book chronicling the ups-and-downs of his romantic life during his early career. It wasn’t particularly groundbreaking stuff but this was the same time that Daniel Clowes’ film “Ghost World” had kicked off a flurry of renewed interest in the “slice of life” genre. While that seems a cynical way of position the events that lead up to this comic, it’s also the facts. Anyway, the original MINIMUM WAGE, after being released by preeminent indie comics publisher Fantagraphics, was decorated multiple times by critics and the industry as a whole, but Fingerman was quick to move on. Now, it seems, after compiling the original series for a new Image-backed trade, he’s found the spark again and we’re back in the world of Rob Hoffman, hard-working cartoonist looking for love.

Rob’s reeling from a recent divorce and his friends have suckered him into joining them at a concert, which both sets the tone of the comic and gives us some much needed insight into where Rob’s head is at. Fingerman immediately establishes that this is a story set in the real world, as his friends are portrayed with as much verve and nuance as they would be for real, which means they also come off as people I’m not sure I’d want to be friends with. This extends to incidental characters, which is actually really refreshing and, fortunately, Bob’s own “mary sue” is just as flawed as those around him. It’s a credit to Fingerman’s writing that I couldn’t honestly tell how much of the beginning was anecdotal rather than crafted as a meaningful narrative.

After the concert, there’s an exploration of Rob’s day to day life, continuing to unfold his predicament and how it’s impacting him. With Rob living at home again as well as maintaining the holding pattern that is his career, Bob deftly invokes current anxieties, despite writing a story set more than a decade ago. I’m especially interested in a bit where someone jokes about Rob drawing gay erotica, which he’s clearly apathetic about, so much so that his current fixation on finding a new partner drives away any serious consideration. If this is, in fact, drawn from life, it’s an interesting insight into Fingerman’s own blind spot, one I wonder if Fingerman himself considered in writing the scene. This, while at the same time using the same scene to explore the nature of evolving mediums and their impact on artists.

But before it gets too heady, Fingerman calms it down and pokes fun at himself with a fourth-wall scraping panel acknowledging the absurdity of semi-autobiographical comics then elaborates on his own emotional vulnerability as Rob bounces from bawdy jokes to melancholy in moments. Which leads him to his online dating adventure, forming the core of this issue’s narrative. This really gives him a chance to open fire on his own neuroses, though that’s contrasted with relating the universal (at least for my generation) distress that comes with having to move back home after life falls apart. Eventually, though, his online dating pursuits pay off and he meets someone promising, except even in the last panel, he’s struggling with his self-sabotaging personality.

Fingerman is one of those rare writers who knows how to be both endearingly honest and more than incidentally insightful. It might be by merit of taking so closely inspiration from real experiences but that’s easier said than done. It takes careful thought to pick apart memories and reconstruct them into meaningful narratives. What’s remarkable is that Fingerman doesn’t just do that, he illustrates the whole affair as well. That said, he’s also a cartoonist. That means the whole thing is drawn in a heavily stylized, exaggerated manner that definitely will alienate those raised on a diet of superhero comics where anatomy and action is king. It doesn’t at all take away from the story so unless you’re a child who can’t exist outside your comfort zone, what’s on display here is dynamic and multifaceted enough to keep the eyes busy on every page. It’s actually surprising what Fingerman can do with four simple panels.

As someone who doesn’t read “indie” comics regularly but has a peripheral interest in them, MINIMUM WAGE seems like the perfect introduction to them, keeping the appeal at a pretty basic level while providing a lot to chew on. It’s also a very generous book, with an uninterrupted 24 pages and a pretty deep editorial page for the appropriate cost of $3.50. But what really excites me about this book is that this is the first time Image has shown an interest in “indie” comics. Now, I’m not putting down Fantagraphics but, like most comic readers, my weekly diet of comics tends to revolve around what I can pick up on Wednesday at my local shop. It’s not their fault that the demand isn’t there to begin with (which would necessitate its availability) and this is a great way for Image to help that demand grow. I am basically asking you to go buy this book, right now. Go do it. Even if you have zero interest in my rigorous explanation of why I should, just consider it your good deed for the week.

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THE ILLEGITIMATES #1

Writer: Taran Killam & Marc Andreyko
Artist: Kevin Sharp & Diana Greenhalgh  
Colors: Peter Pantazis

Publisher: IDW Comics
Price: $4

I really love Daniel Craig’s James Bond. In fact, I’m going to come right out and say that the current generation of James Bond is the best. Don’t jump to conclusions here; my first James Bond movie was ‘Goldeneye’ and I played the HELL out of the video game, as well as seeing ‘The World Is Not Enough’ in theaters, which I think is easily the most underrated Bond movie. That’s got everything to do with Robert Carlyle’s incredible villain plus the comparatively down-to-Earth storyline. I didn’t have a problem with the implausible but amusing “death ray satellite” plot of ‘Goldeneye’ but ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ wasn’t just goofy but lacked the standout performances that made both ‘Goldeneye’ and ‘The World Is Not Enough’ tick. In fact, I think one could argue that ‘The World Is Not Enough’ is actually everything that was great about ‘Goldeneye’ with the silly stuff excised, letting the best parts shine. And don’t even get me started on ‘Die Another Die’ which was actually ‘Goldeneye’ again but even MORE absurd. So when ‘Casino Royale’ hit and it was just as gritty and grim as ‘The World Is Not Enough’, I was thrilled (it didn’t help that it was my first exposure to the perfection that is Mads Mikkelsen). Why didn’t I have any reverence for the campy deliriousness of early James Bond? Because the first Fleming story I read was, in fact, ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, easily Fleming’s most grounded book and that really shaped my idea of how Bond stories should work, an ideal that was nowhere in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ and ‘Die Another Day’.

So naturally, when I see a comic that looks, as THE ILLEGITIMATES does, to be imitating “classic” Bond, I get wary. So just how much reverence does this comic have for the source material? Almost none. The first eight or so pages are a carefully balanced homage and spoof of early Bond films, blatantly referencing ‘Thunderball’ and ‘Dr No’, including all the token one-liners with a wink and nudge. It’s clever for sure but a bit disorienting, as there’s no context for the startlingly abrupt jumps from locale to locale. And then, just when you think you’re going to get a real plot, something abrupt and quite shocking goes down that, frankly, made me do a double take. The story takes a sharp right turn at that point, exploring the hilariously inappropriate ramifications of said event and building up to a surprising reveal that the cover and comic title SHOULD have spoiled but, frankly, I just didn’t imagine they’d GO there. We get a series of pages that detail potential recruits for the spy agency, each one fulfilling certain cliches without being totally offensive. After that summary round-up, the story focuses on the charming bad guy who, frankly, I like more than any of the other characters so far, and probably on purpose, because he appears to be written as a total contrast to the typical Bond villain who abuses his henchmen and generally sucks at his job. Naturally, he’s also scoped out the potential recruits and it’s implied that he’s going to make plans of his own for them.

So yeah, as an introductory issue goes, this is well done. It’s a bit rushed but honestly that’s a welcome change of pace from comics that usually drag out their stories unnecessarily, especially when this one relies so heavily on genre tropes. The dialogue is snappy but there really isn’t enough opportunity to let the humor play out, though there’s definitely the potential. I’m a little concerned with just how narrowly it avoids actually embracing the super spy tropes and here’s hoping future issues continue to subvert expectations cleverly.

The art is just as glibly silly yet borderline awful, with the nearly nonstop barrage of cleavage and bare midriffs reaching annoyingly overdone levels. Fortunately, there’s a lot of manliness on display as well so it’s certainly equal-opportunity fun to be had. There’s also one scene of genuinely icky gore that you should be warned of, if you’re squeamish, as it’s surprisingly detailed, though justifiably so. There’s really nothing specific to complain about, though I’d say that without Diana Greenhalgh’s inks, this would be a way more tedious visual chore to slog through. She manages to infuse Sharpe’s lines with much needed energy. Same goes for Peter Pantazis bombastic and magnificently generous colors And IDW deserves a lot of credit for making this an above-average book; it’s an average of 22 pages but surprisingly, it’s an uninterrupted experience, which goes a long way towards justifying the price tag. I also absolutely LOVE the sharply satirical cover that, at first glance, is just disturbingly weird but, upon a moment of reflection, is actually really brilliant in summing up both the tone of the book.

Assuming the next issues maintains this level of quality, it’s definitely worth picking up for anyone seeking a smartly dumb action comic and especially for fans of ‘Archer’ or Woody Allen’s original ‘Casino Royale’.

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LETTER 44 #3

Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque
Colors: Guy Major

Publisher: Oni Press
Price: $4

So LETTER 44 would appear to be a part of a new renaissance in space-bound science fiction. Obviously, the big name I’ll reference to prove my point is ‘Gravity’ of course but the sleeper hit ‘Europa Report’ is also part of the current of exploration in the genre, as well as the horror-themed ‘Last Days of Mars’ having all been (arguably) kicked off by the (arguably) superior ‘MOON’. Honestly, I don’t actually much care for this particular brand of science fiction. It tends to be either (like ‘Last Days’) a cheap thriller wrapped in a fancy package or (like ‘Gravity’) a punishing drama revolving around the life-threatening environment.

LETTER 44 bypasses that by combining the space drama with political intrigue, though in the last issue, I was getting a bit tired of the incoherent disconnect between the terrestrial plot and the action in space. Does this latest issue help? Well, it certainly builds the intrigue, giving us a more intimate inside look at the new POTUS, who keeps on developing into something more interesting than he started out. I doubt we’d ever see a POTUS whose exercise of choice is boxing so grabbed my attention right away, adding to that his continued struggle to come to terms with what he has inherited from his predecessor. Meanwhile, aboard The Clarke, the drama kicks into high gear as conflict slowly boils beneath the surface. I’m especially interested in what one crew member hints at to another, basically offering him physical gratification in what could be a joke but feels like more than that.

Parallel to the increasingly kinky (and not in a sexual way) goings-on in space, the political machinations below are really starting to take off, with a clear conflict emerging between the new President’s aide and the General responsible for appraising the President’s options. The blissfully unaware President is playing catch with his son while chatting with the director of the FBI about a secret plan of his own and THIS is where things start to get really interesting; he’s suddenly seriously distracted by something going around in his head, resulting in a broken window. Now we KNOW there’s something fishy about this guy but Soule keeps it just ominous enough to entice rather than frustrate. And that’s not all; the astronauts have discovered that an innocuous asteroid isn’t one at all, triggering their first contact with the aliens in a manner that suits the realism on display so far. They decide to visit the asteroid, admittedly unwise but perhaps their only move at this point. There’s one last scene that is probably the crowning moment of the whole issue but I don’t want want to give it away but I will say that I am absolutely riveted at this point. Soule has me, hook line and sinker.

The art is still just as solid as ever, giving Soule’s wonderful story a heft and versatility that belies its somewhat exaggerated style. And when the story does finally get brutal, the even-handed illustrations mutate into a pretty intense and powerful scene of violence. I wasn’t particularly enthralled by AJ Alburquerque’s work when this series kicked off but as it has progressed I’ve become increasingly in awe of his consistency, speed and versatility. It doesn’t hurt that Guy Major’s colors fill in those powerful lines with sharp, detailed and refined colors of every imaginable variety, no matter the situation, and he even manages to gently add a layer of mood to certain scenes.

LETTER 44 is easily on the best “hard” sci-fi comics I’ve ever read and certainly a sight better than the movies I’ve seen so far, with the exception of Kubrick’s masterpiece of course and this issue solidifies it as a title I’ll definitely look forward to with every new issue and if you’re not on board yet, you really on missing out on some the best writing in the comic book business. And now I’m going to have to get the ‘Swamp Thing’ trade because I bet it’s just as awesome.