Today’s gift giving suggestions cater to the fans of comic book art.  The following art books would be a welcome addition to many collectors libraries.

1.) The Art of Brian Bolland

Fans of Mr. Bolland are treated to an incredibly in depth career retrospective. This weighty, decades spanning volume is loaded with informative essays and gorgeous fantasy and superhero art brought to life by one of Britain’s top illustrators.

2.) The Art of P. Craig Russell

P. Craig Russell’s illustrations have a very unique, dreamlike quality to them. Fans will enjoy pouring over Russell’s lush, intricately detailed illustrations in a nice, large format. Readers are treated to samples of artwork from such varied sources as sketchbook pages, album covers/compact disc inserts and independent published work.

3.) Telling Stories: The Comic Art of Frank Frazetta

Not quite an art book, but worthy of mentioning among them. Legions of fans and artistic-followers will tell you Fritz was THE TRUTH! There truly was nothing this man could not do when it came to illustration. This handsome, slip cased volume contains a wide sampling of work realized during the lone decade he spent drafting comics. Anyone who possesses the gift of sight will delight in being gifted such a wonderful book!

4.) Centifolia – Sketchbook Illustrations of Stuart Immonen

When is an art book not an art book? When its a published sketchbook! Stuart gives fans an intimate look at one of the most important pieces of artistic exercise equipment – the sketchbook. Remarkably, he only recently began keeping one of his own. This compact volume is a neat way to see what a mainstream superhero illustrator works on for fun.

5.) The Art of Hellboy – Mike Mignola

How can so much black ink on a page look so incredibly interesting and so full of depth? It’s not always what is seen that is so scary but what is sensed. Mignola is a master creature creator with a delightfully twisted sense of humor. Its not an easy task to repulse and entrance a viewer within the same image. See how he does it on every page of this nice, over sized volume.

Happy Holidays, everyone!  In today’s installment of our ‘Holiday Gift Suggestions’ I’ll go over a few of the Indie and Genre books that would make great gifts for any discerning comic fan.

1) Xenozoic Complete Collection TP

How can I talk about great genre books this year and not mention this book?  Xenozoic collects Mark Schultz‘s classic Xenozoic Tales, complete with cadillacs, dinosaurs, guns, adventuring men, and beautiful women.  This is a perfect gift for the action-loving comic reader, and more than deserves a place in anyone’s comic library.

2) What It Is

While this isn’t a new publication, it’s worth reminding people about this holiday season.  With this book, writer/illustrator Lynda Barry created what could rightly be called the best comic-themed text book to be published since Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics.  This book isn’t quite a ‘how to’ book, but goes into the process of how one discovers and refines their artistic tendencies over time.  Plus, there are thought-provoking exercises that aren’t unlike the Artist’s Way books.  Beyond What It Is, if you know someone who already read and enjoyed that, don’t forget that Barry’s most recent book Picture This is also available at Heroes.

3) Acme Novelty Library vol. 20 HC

Chris Ware is the ultimate comic book formalist/historian who manages to continually push his own creative limits with each new volume of Acme.  Volume 20 is Ware at his most cinematic as each page of the book represents a single year in the life of the formerly secondary character Jordan Lint.  You want to see an artist at the top of his game continue to push his own artistic boundaries?  Turn to Acme Novelty Library to see how that’s done on a consistently entertaining basis.

4)  James Sturm’s America: Gods, Gold, and Golems HC

Here’s another older collection that bears another mention. James Sturm is a much respected comic creator and educator, and this handsome hardcover collects three of his most appreciated works.  Though the book maintains an earnest historical tone, it’s very much a series of three entertaining pieces that should appeal to fans of the American past.

5) Parker: the Outfit

There are a plethora of reasons why Darwyn Cooke regularly finds his works in almost everyone’s ‘best of the year’ lists. This second book in a series of Richard Stark’s Parker adaptations finds Cooke continuing to draw upon his animation background to great effect, while doing an even better job of boiling down noir to its most basic and essential elements.

6) Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth

Ever wonder why comics don’t include more elements of math and philosophy?  Okay, even if you’ve never wondered that, this book will at least give you evidence that such an undertaking can be worthwhile. European creators Apostolos Doxiadis and Christos Papadimitriou do a superb job of telling the story of philosopher Bertrand Russell and his perilous search for the absolute truth found in math and philosophy.  Though that might initially seem like a heady topic for a comic book to tackle, the creators make it as fun as it is educating.  If you like comics that make you think, look no further than this great sleeper book.

Christmas is right around the corner and the time for buying gifts is running out. If you still have some comic fans on your list I have a top five list of books for the young and young-at-heart.

1) Thor The Mighty Avenger

I love this book! It is beyond wonderful. Roger Langridge’s storytelling combined with Chris Samnee’s art makes for a perfect superhero book. Every page is filled with love and joy. You can definitely tell that Langridge and Samnee love what they do. Thor The Mighty Avenger is an out of continuity book so you don’t have to worry about knowing characters’ histories. There is an over arching story but, for the most part, each issue is a stand alone and easily enjoyed on its own merits. The first trade paperback just came out and it contains the first four issues. It is currently up to issue #7 and unfortunately it is being canceled at issue #8 but at least that means it will be easily possible to collect the entire series of this wonderful comic!

2) The Little Prince

Joann Sfar recently adapted Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s beloved children’s classic and it is fantastic. I love the way Sfar interpreted the story. It is a beautifully packaged hardcover book and at $20 it is worth every penny. It would make a perfect gift for an older child or an adult who remembers reading the story when they were younger. Along these same lines, Jim McCann and Janet Lee‘s Return of the Dapper Men is a fantastic book. Everything about it is wonderful. It is a modern take on the fairy tale genre. The art is beautiful and that story is thought-provoking. Again this could easily appeal to a child or an adult.

3) Tiny Titans

Tiny Titans makes my heart smile. It is geared towards younger kids but anyone can enjoy this comic. It is full of activities and it is also full of DC related jokes. Art Baltazar and Franco do an amazing job on each issue. Each issue is adorably humorous. Most recently they did a Tiny Titans/Little Archie crossover book. Aw Yeah Titans! I would love to wake up Christmas morning and find a few issues tucked into my stocking or a few trades wrapped up under my Christmas tree. If you are looking for other kids superhero books Chris Giarrusso‘s G-Man is an excellent book too. Or if you are looking for a cute and adorable Marvel comic, his Mini Marvels are both cute and adorable.

4) The Muppet Show Comic Book

I am sure you have heard me wax poetic about the Muppet Show Comic Book before but that is because they are that good. I particularly love the Roger Langridge issues but all of them are fun to read. My favorite storylines are Meet The Muppets, On The Road and Treasure of Peg Leg Wilson. The comic book is magically able to capture the feel of the show. It truly is like watching an episode of the show. Kids can giggle at the sight gags and adults can enjoy the word play. It is the perfect gift for any comic book fan or any Muppet fan!

Boom! Studios (who publish the Muppet Show Comic Book) have a wonderful kids’ line. They genuinely put out high-quality books that kids and adults can enjoy. There have recently been a number of titles that have really stood out to me. Cars The Adventures of Tow Mater was an excellent book that was goofy and fun and yet well-written. Tow Mater is my guilty pleasure. I really do adore that tow truck. Also, Darkwing Duck is amazing. It completely captures what was awesome about the cartoon and puts it on the page. The same can be said of Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers even though only one issue is out so far. With the release of Toy Story 3, the Toy Story comic would be a perfect companion gift. I really enjoyed The Mysterious Stranger and The Return of Buzz Lightyear. The current issues (Tales From the Toy Chest) have been great too though.

5) Secret Science Alliance

This is the perfect gift for that precocious child on your list. The book is about three kids who happen to all be secret scientists. They discover that a villain plans to rob a local museum so they attempt to stop him using their brains and their inventions. Secret Science Alliance is a really smart book that any kid interested in science would enjoy.  It might even get them interested in inventing. It will also appeal to Indie comics fans as it is written and drawn by Eleanor Davis and inked by Drew Weing. Davis is well known for her mini comics including The Beast Mother and Bugbear. Weing’s recent book Set to Sea was reviewed on this very site!

This issue debuts the new creative team of Scott Snyder (American Vampire), Jock (The Losers) and Francesco Francavilla (the upcoming Black Panther: The Man Without Fear) on the Commissioner Gordon back-up.   I’ve personally been anticipating this book very much since the announcement of this line-up.  Their first issue delivered in full on that anticipation.

Snyder is most effective in his characterization.  The two key scenes of this book are two different conversations with Commissioner Gordon; one between Gordon and Dick Grayson, the other between Gordon and Grayson as Batman.  They have two completely different tonalities.  In the first Gordon is the dominant player; he’s respectful of Grayson as a former Police Officer but also exercises a dry backhanded attitude because he was also the punk who used to date his daughter.  That Grayson takes these slight barbs in cool stride is a nice touch.  The second conversation with Batman has them on equal footing.  It also works in contrast with the established relationship between Bruce Wayne’s Batman.

“I suppose I’m not used to it yet”

“Used to what?”

“To you still being there when I look up.”

The only complaint I would have is that the mystery didn’t really grab me.  It was fine but I have less interest in the next plot development than I do the next dialogue exchange.  Also I think the opener would’ve been more effective without the narrative caption monologue.  It doesn’t quite sync up properly with the imagery to create an effective metaphor.  Again, the character work and sharp dialogue more than make up for these faults.

So too does Jock’s artwork.  Moody, minimalist and jagged, it reminds me of early Sean Phillips and Ashley Wood, as well as latter Moon Knight/early New Mutants-era Bill Sienkiewicz.  David Baron uses a simple palette and gradients only slightly.  It doesn’t overpower the work but, in fact, completes it.

The Commissioner Gordon back-up is superb as well.  It contextualizes an element of the main story in a clever way.  What astounded me was how it used a piece of Gordon’s history.  I won’t spoil it but, how did nobody think of this before?  Francavilla is in the contemporary school of artists like Chris Samnee and Gabriel Hardman, a sort of neo-classical school of art.  You can tell he likes his Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, and Alex Toth.  Francavilla also did his own coloring for this.  It falls in line with the coloring in the lead but with less gloss.  Kind of reminded me of the coloring in Criminal, which is a high compliment.  The only complaint here is that there is a sequence that flashes between the present and a memory but I missed it in the first read because the color cues weren’t distinct enough.  A minor quibble however.

Atmospheric and intelligent, an excellent start for this title’s new direction.

American Vampire – After Stephen King vamoosed with issue five, Scott Snyder had to prove that he could carry the book he created on his own and two issues later he has more than done so.  The current arc is a beat police story, back dropped in the decivilized world of depression-era Vegas, and slowly seeps in the mythology built by the last story.  Rafael Albuquerque’s rocks sketchy and stylized big time.  American Vampire is utterly unique and succeeding in its ambitions.  The hardcover for the first storyline is out and #6 and #7 are on shelves now.

B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: New World – The difference between a slight comic and an economical comic is spelled B-P-R-D.  On average, an issue of B.P.R.D. takes less than 10 minutes to read.  There is so much story and character and fantastic action packed into that sub-ten minute period that the feeling of being ripped off never enters the mind.  Guy Davis squiggles sublimely.  He tricks one into believing that drawing comics is easy because of the deceptive simplicity of his line work.  But, replicating his staging, his panel to panel flow, the subtlety of his character acting, and the purity of his monster design, it’s impossible.  There is only one Guy Davis.

Hell on Earth is the new operating subtitle for B.P.R.D. from this point interim.  It’s exactly what it sounds like.  The netherworld of weirdie Lovecraftian  mega monsters is seeping into this one creating mass destruction and a pervasive apocalyptic dread that charges the backdrop for the book.  New World (the subtitle for the subtitle) maps this landscape slowly and broadly.  The main story of New World is really a small one: Abe Sapien goes searching for an old teammate, finds him, and then the two of them go to find another monster.  Issue #3 the two of them fight a big black scary thing, for lack of a better description, with a pick-up truck full of weapons and that just rocks.  B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth: New World is three issues in and a great entry point for the series.

Justice League Generation Lost – This book has a tried-and-true storytelling engine: falsely accused fugitive (fugitives, plural, in this case) tries to capture the real culprit.  Every issue this group of mixed up heroes, mostly from the old Justice League International title, try to capture criminal Maxwell Lord but he always manages to get away to continue planning his evil plans.  The team has no one to turn to but each other and the scope of Lord’s plans keeps getting bigger and more labyrinthine.  Which brings up the question: HOW are they gonna stop Lord and clear their names? If you find yourself asking that, that means the story has got its hooks in you.  Generation Lost is 13 issues in, come over and scoop up a chunk, get caught up.

Thor (Main Ongoing) – Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry hit the book two issues ago (#615, #616) and are going for GRAND scale.  Scale not only in wideness of scope, and it is a wiiiiide scope, but scale in a musical sense; a series of highs and lows.  There is a musical score to this comic, you can hear intense drums when the World-Eaters descend into Alfheim, a violin playing a sad single note as pensive Thor reflects on his dead Loki, and then flourishes to life, with a choir I’d say, as Volstagg and his scientist friend drive through the ruins of Asgard.  It is a bit slow, but very ambitious.

Ever since I first read Sandman TP vol 1 Preludes and Nocturnes I was hooked. Some years later I still consider myself a huge fan and have been slowly amassing a substantial Sandman collection. I have all the trades, all the Absolutes (including Absolute Death) and now I am going back and picking up the single issues along with tie-ins. So naturally when I found out that Death would be in Action Comics #894 I knew I had to have it.

Death is one of my favorite of the Endless from Sandman. For those of you not familiar, the Endless are the siblings of Dream (the main character of Sandman): Death, Destruction, Desire, Delirium (formerly Delight), Destiny and Despair. Each is a physical embodiment of the idea its name represents. Death literally is death. As a character, Death is the perfect antithesis of your expectations. She is certainly no Grim Reaper. She is a cheery, cute goth chick who you want to usher you to the other side. A lot of people relate to her because she feels so approachable and empathetic. She is a complex and lovely character.

Before we delve deeper into the review I would like to warn readers of the possibilities of spoilers. If you have read the issue or don’t mind spoilers please read away; otherwise, read ahead at your own risk.

I was really pleased with the way this issue turned out. Paul Cornell and Pete Woods did an excellent job writing and illustrating this issue. I felt that Death was used thoughtfully and meaningfully. Her appearance did not feel like a gimmick or a publicity stunt. She felt very much “in character” and like the Death from Sandman. She provided an interesting juxtaposition to Lex Luthor and helped to reveal Luthor’s thoughts on life, death and God. The interactions between them were brilliant, especially the “nose touch scene” that was in the back of many of DC books for the week of October 27. Most of the issue was a philosophical conversation between Death and Luthor. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking conversation about Luthor’s drives and motivations. It shed new light onto Luthor for me.

It would have been easy for the dialogue to feel very forced given the situation they were in, yet Cornell made it feel natural. Cornell is able to believably put Luthor into a rare state of vulnerability. All the while Death is joking and being playful trying to calm Luthor and make him more comfortable. According to Bleeding Cool, Cornell has credited much of Death’s dialogue to Sandman writer Neil Gaiman. Gaiman is not given writing credits in this issue, though he is given a special thanks. So, some of the success of this issue needs to be given to Gaiman though most goes to Cornell’s writing and Woods’s illustrating.

Woods was able to keep the story visually engaging despite the lack of action. Death’s depiction was spot on. She is tender and sweet as she takes Luthor on a existential journey. Most of the story depends on facial expressions and Luthor’s are great. You can see that he is going through the five stages of grief. You can see the denial, anger and bargaining. It can even be argued that he reached the final stage of acceptance.

As expected this issue isn’t about what you think it is about. The twist ending definitely left me wanting more and asking myself lots of questions. What does this mean for Luthor and for the rest of the DCU? Will Death make more appearances? Are other Vertigo characters going to begin crossing into the mainstream DCU? With the Vertigo imprint changing and some of the characters moving to the DC banner one can only wonder if this is a sign of things to come. Given the success of this issue, I hope that this isn’t the last time we see Death in the DC Universe. I also hope that this means we will see more from other Vertigo characters in mainstream DC comics.

The Jimmy Olsen second feature is a nice compliment to the main Lex Luthor story in Action Comics. This is part two of Jimmy Olsen’s big week which sees the introduction of Chloe Sullivan into main DC continuity. You may know Chloe from the television show Smallville. Here she is Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend. Nick Spenser and RB Silva are excellent at telling a huge story very concisely. A lot of things happen in only eight pages. Plus, I dig the way the story is a throw-back to the more fantastical Superman stories from the Silver Age. I look forward to the continued adventures of Jimmy Olsen as he deals with a possibly alien invasion.

Whether you read comics for escapism or simply for entertainment, at their most fundamental level this medium is about transporting a reader away from one place and to another.  Sometimes this happens through a deep and complicated book like David Mazzucchelli‘s wonderfully dense epic Asterios Polyp and other times it can be as simple as reading a Superman comic for the sheer gravity of nostalgia.  With the magnitude of new material to sift through each week, it can be difficult at times to find a book that genuinely takes you by surprise.   On such rare occasions you find yourself enjoying a book you had little faith in at first glance.  Case in point with the six issue limited series Astonishing Spider-man and Wolverine.

Upon hearing about this title my first thought was, “Why do we need yet another book featuring these two characters?”  Between their own titles, guest appearances, and being card-carrying members of two Avengers teams they probably show up at least two or three times a week in new comics.  I thought Marvel might be over-inundating a market already drenched in these characters.  However, upon realizing the book was created  by writer Jason Aaron and Adam Kubert, I figured it might hold more promise than I initially thought.  So I read the first issue, and lo and behold I found myself in one of those rare occasions of being pleasantly surprised by a book and enjoying it more than I thought I would.  How exactly did this happen?

The success of this book probably owes some debt to the fact that it exists under Marvel‘s Astonishing line.  This particular Astonishing book is perhaps the best example of how this line works to great (and entertaining) effect.  Free from the confines of continuity, Aaron and Kubert throw the characters into a world without heroes, recognizable supporting casts, or anything they’re used to dealing with day to day.  In the first three issues alone we see a bearded Spider-Man cataloging human-sized insectoids, a robot Devil Dinosaur, a Phoenix Gun, and (most entertaining) Doom the Living Planet.  The result is unadorned, direct comics fun.

Under the Astonishing umbrella Jason Aaron is really able to play to his strengths.  As with his work on Scalped or Ghost Rider, here Aaron is unafraid of writing big action scenes, but does so while still managing to adhere to what makes the characters unique.  Many writers have approached Spidey and Wolvie from the standpoint that they must get along with each others since they’re both heroes.  This approach ignores the fact that they’re very different types of characters with very different motives.  Aaron takes the perspective that even if they’re the last two heroes on Earth they still wouldn’t get along.  Alone in a dangerous world, not only does the duo not work together, they completely avoid each other.  We’ve seen Aaron’s understanding of Wolverine with his work on Wolverine: Weapon X, but we’ve not yet seen him really interpret Spider-Man.  I was pleasantly surprised to see how he walked the spider line between Spidey’s wiseacre tendencies and scientific genius.  One of Aaron’s great strengths as a comics writer thus far has been his ability to take characters both overused and underused and put his own logical stamp on their identities.  I’ve never been a big fan of Ghost Rider or Wolverine but I love the way Jason Aaron writes them.  His characters walk and talk like you’d imagine they would (or should) in a comic book.  That’s about as high a compliment as I can pay a writer. Also, if you are a fan of Jason Aaron you should give his column for Comic Book Resources a read. He gives really good insight into his work and into the industry in general.

Artistically, Adam Kubert was a wise choice to bring this book to life.  This guy’s proven himself capable of handling some of Marvel and DC‘s A-list characters, including a memorable run on Wolverine in the ’90’s.  What I appreciate most about Kubert’s work in this series though is the scope in which he illustrates this story.  There is a foreboding sense of danger we feel when viewing the heroes in a savage wilderness.  Aaron’s writing alone might not conjure the severity of the predicament facing the heroes as they jump from troubled place to more troubled place.

It is Kubert’s art that brings us directly into the cross-hairs.  With expansive background detail which only adds to the awareness of the story’s impending dread, Kubert is able to take one of Aaron’s most adventurous scripts to date and match it’s energy and joy for comics.   While some of you might have thought Kubert’s already done the work of his career, this series reminds us that he’s still a viable artist who continues to turn out intelligent and visually impressive work.  Like his legendary father Joe, Adam’s an artist who will still be creating fun comics for decades to come.

We live in a time where comics are in abundance.  As a result, it’s not difficult for readers or retailers to get jaded about the state of the industry.  After all, I freely admit to being skeptical when I saw this book solicited in previews.  Why must Spider-Man, Wolverine, and other characters (ahem, Deadpool) appear in so many books week after week?  Ultimately the answer is that people continue to buy these titles.  So if you’re among those who are frustrated by a marketplace seemingly flooded with books featuring some of these characters, you owe it to yourself to find the best on which to spend your money.  This is one of those books.  I doubt you’ll find a better comic featuring these characters that is so unbound to continuity ties, and where a grand storyline doesn’t mean that the characters are poorly written and illustrated.  We’re only three issues into this surprising joyride of a miniseries, so pick them up if you want to read fun comics again.

Superheroes are the backbone of the comic book industry.  Sure, in the last few decades, comics have progressed by leaps and bounds, encompassing an impressive variety of genres, even portending to literary status in some instances.  The ambitions of comic book artists grow loftier and grander, and that’s constructive.  But regardless of taste or intention, it’s impossible to deny that the capes and tights sustain our beloved medium.

I have a love/hate relationship with superhero comics.  They’ve changed radically from what I grew up with.  The structure of the writing – which tends to favor sweeping, epic arcs that comprise multiple series – and the predominant art direction – hyper realistic with heavy color rendering – are a far cry from the comics I was raised on.  I might love Spider-Man as a character, but I don’t care to read many of the new comics that feature him.

That’s where Savage Dragon comes in.  Savage Dragon is not only the one superhero book I ardently purchase and read, it’s also the longest running book I’ve kept up with.  I’ve bought every issue since its debut, and I am still as enthusiastic about it as I ever was.  There have been dips in that enthusiasm, I’ll admit, but even when it’s seemed time to throw in the towel, a few issues later, series perpetrator Erik Larsen throws out something that makes me realize what a fool notion that had been.

The current arc running in Savage Dragon is Emperor Dragon, and it’s a compelling take on the “good guy gone bad” plot device.  Mark Waid’s running this riff over in Irredeemable, also, but in Savage Dragon, it’s a bit more effective.  We’ve got 150+ issues of the title character being a hero and winning the day.  We’ve got his mysterious origin coming back around to play a crucial part in the proceedings.  Waid trades on tropes and conventions in Irredeemable; with Emperor Dragon, Larsen subverts them.

Larsen himself has said of Savage Dragon on the FAQ page of savagedragon.com, “It’s the missing link between Marvel and Vertigo. More mature than Marvel–less pretentious than Vertigo. The kind of comics I want to read. This book is REALLY self-indulgent.”  I couldn’t say it any better myself.  While it carries a whiff of nostalgia that would appeal to any comic fan, it is also decidedly modern, utilizing “real time” – whereby events are contemporary with the times, and characters age as you and I.  Characters die and are rarely resurrected.  Pregnancies are often the most dramatic revelations in the book.  When something major happens, it has real, lasting impact.  It’s not going to be retconned, or revealed as a dream, or any other such Big Two ballyhoo.

And that’s the biggest perk of reading Savage Dragon, the security.  There’s no worry about a new hotshot writer taking over and wrecking things.  There’s no chance of an artist not befitting of the material putting pencil to page.  Larsen is in for the long haul, so provided you enjoy his style, his kinetic take on the Kirby tradition, then you can rest assured you’re going to get your fix, issue in and issue out.

I understand it can be intimidating to pick up a book with such a high issue number, but we all started somewhere, right?  It’s not like every X-fan started with X-Men #1, is it?  And in this day and age of bargain back issues and reprints, it’s not so hard to catch up.  Matter of fact, as of December, the bulk of the series will be available in three black and white volumes ala Marvel’s Essentials and DC’s Showcase: Savage Dragon Archives (volumes one and two are available NOW, three ships in December).  And I’ll admit a tinge of jealousy for those of you who can start reading now with Emperor Dragon, and subsequently go back to fill in the blanks for yourself.  When it comes to comic books, that’s something of a Holy Grail.  And you get to do it with my favorite superhero book.  Lucky dogs!

Last night as I sat down to read Drew Weing’s first graphic novel, Set to Sea, I didn’t realize what an impression it would leave on me. It is so much more than a hauntingly inspiring story about a poet who ends up on a sea vessel. It is so much more than page after page of highly-detailed illustrations. It feels like a small precious art book full of engravings or paintings on each page or an old illustrated maritime novel. Weing has even said that he wanted the book to be reminiscent of old gilded novels from the romantic period and that really comes across, especially with the faux-gilt lettering and embellishments on the cover and the title page.

The story reveals itself with one panel per page and with the sparse use of words, I flew through the book. I regret reading it at such a quick pace and I intend to go back and re-read it (multiple times) to more thoroughly absorb and appreciate the detailed illustrations. Weing’s art is mesmerizing. You could stare at one page for hours. Each page is carefully planned and crafted to maximize its storytelling ability and it is easy to see the love and effort that went into each line and crosshatch.

It would be easy to compare this to Sammy Harkham’s Poor Sailor or Chris Schweizer’s Crogan’s Vengeance. These books are loosely tied together with similar themes and artistic choice but Poor Sailor and Crogan’s Vengeance feel modern in their interpretation of the past. The tone and aesthetic of Set to Sea hearken back to a time long ago. It is as if we have discovered a long-lost relic. Furthermore, Set to Sea is a little more life-affirming than Poor Sailor. Poor Sailor is a heartbreakingly sad story that leaves you feeling morose. Although they both have circular stories that end where they begin you feel like the poet in Set to Sea has lived a happy and fulfilled life. Also, Set to Sea isn’t a kid-friendly boy adventure like Crogan’s Vengeance. There is action and adventure but it is a more character-driven story than an action-driven story. That is a long way of saying, if you enjoyed those two books then I feel certain that you will enjoy Set to Sea. It will have familiar elements but it won’t be the same read.

I don’t want to write a long and exhaustive review of this book to somehow convince you to purchase it. I just want you to pick it up and look at it. Once you do, the art will do the rest.

I should start out by saying that I’ve wanted to write a review of Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon‘s Daytripper series from the first day it saw print.  Over the past few years I’ve appreciated the twins’ work on books like Casanova, Umbrella Academy, and B.P.R.D.: 1947 and was curious to see how they might follow their success on those titles.  What seemed most intriguing about Daytripper from early buzz was the concept and how it seemed to veer away from much of their previous fare.  Daytripper is a challenging, complex series that engages readers in a endless strand of reflections and possibilities.  Those avenues of interpretation only increase with each new issue.

In preparing to write my review there was a point where I  considered drawing parallels between this comic and works from literature like Edgar Lee Master’s Spoon River Anthology, where readers learn about a town’s residents via the epitaphs on their tombstones.  Thoughts then turned back to superheroes and the possibility that Ba and Moon might be using a non-costumed common reality to comment on the cyclical nature of death among comic book heroes and villains.  It soon dawned on me that this review is not being written for one of my old college English courses.  With the final issue (#10) set to be released this Thursday (September 9) we’ll see the close of one of the year’s most thought-provoking series.  Ultimately, the only issue facing us as comic readers (and me as a reviewer) is to ascertain whether or not a book does the job it has set out to complete; or, “Does it work?”  As with many things opinion-related this is entirely subjective.  My goal here is not to try to convince you that “Daytripper is better than [insert book of your choice here]”, but to let you know why some of you may enjoy reading it if you haven’t already.

Fans of the duo’s work on books like Umbrella Academy and Casanova can appreciate how their energetic art styles are appropriate for those genres.  What is most telling to me is that they are able to translate that energy over to a book like Daytripper. Ba and Moon consistently build momentum and drama with their characterizations and landscapes, and manage to do so exceptionally well in a book where there are no costumes or rayguns in sight.  Without the bombast of some of their previous work, Ba and Moon rely on their skills as storytellers to bring this very human world to life.  If you are a longtime super hero fan and are curious about getting into the ‘genre’ and ‘literature’ sections of our store, I think you might benefit from reading this book.

Reading like a set of vignettes on a common theme, Daytripper resembles independent films like Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes, where viewers learn about characters through their brief encounters at a coffee shop.  In Daytripper Ba and Moon aim to explore the main character Bras’ life by using each issue to focus on a different potential day of his death.  Ten issues, ten days, ten different deaths.  This isn’t executed in a morbid way but one that attempts to bring to life the entirety of carpe diem by reminding us that each day is indeed a rare gift in and of itself.  While the comic itself isn’t darkly fixed on death, I must say that the subject matter is a bit heavy at times.  However, I don’t necessarily see that as a negative.  In a small way, Daytripper is reminiscent of one of my favorite comics, Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan, where in spite of the difficult subject matter it’s nearly impossible not to be blown away by the beauty of the craftsmanship and the ambition of the book.

Ambition is one thing unto itself but is it possible that Ba and Moon were over-ambitious with Daytripper?  I’ve heard a few readers ask why the twins made the series ten issues in length.  Couldn’t they have picked the 4 – 6 most poignant issues to focus on and then get back to their higher profile mainstream work?  Indeed they probably could have done that and still had a successful series, but the numerologists among you might suggest that the significance of the number ‘ten’ among numerous cultures and faiths.  In most cases this number represents the completion of a cycle, so one might infer from that common thread that the final issue of this title will wrap the whole story up in a nice bow.    Who knows, maybe we’ll see the series end like the ’80’s drama St. Elsewhere, with Bras’ son shaking a snow globe of a Rio sunset (a gift from Bras’ old friend Jorge), as Bras smiles in observation.  Or maybe the final issue will act as a bookend to issue one with Bras coming out of his writing room, greeting his dog Dante (symbolically named for the hellish poet) and deciding to spend a quiet birthday evening at home rather than be present for his father’s award presentation.

At the end of the day it seems likely to me that the series will end as quietly as much of it has proceeded.  I wouldn’t necessarily refer to this book as subtle since it has essentially done exactly what it said it would do.  It is probably a bit more accurate to call Daytripper ‘restrained.’  I doubt that anyone expected Ba and Moon to capitalize on their recent success with a book like Daytripper.  It’s possible that they could have gone further into the superhero realm and created a bright, flashy world full of action and archetypes.  The fact that the duo instead chose to create a book like Daytripper speaks volumes to me.  Relying more on soft watercolors and pastels (from the palette of genius colorist Dave Stewart), it falls upon Ba and Moon’s skills as storytellers to convey very simple, human truths through characters with whom we can relate and empathize.  The fact that Daytripper has been so highly regarded among critics, creators and customers is a clear indication that they are highly skilled artists who have a long history of comics work ahead of them.

Regardless, each issue of Daytripper has been up to this point about finality in one form or another.  Yet while each issue is essentially an exponent in the series necessarily rigid formula, the real complexity of the series lies in how Ba and Moon slowly elaborate on Bras as a character and how they wring empathy from us as readers.  We relate to Bras because we too have walked the precarious path dividing our need for self-provision and self-expression.  We, like Bras, have sabotaged relationships that we knew we should have fought to keep.  We have devalued the momentum of maturity and lost sight of the fragility of innocence.  Daytripper won’t change the world; it might not even change someone’s mind about the vast potential that still exists in comics.  But if you’re open to it, Daytripper might just make you appreciate truly good comics and see that they, like life itself, are something to be valued as a gift.