Three Shadows GN
by Cyril Pedrosa

Three Shadows is one of a recent bumper crop of excellent or semi-excellent books from relatively new publisher First Second. Kind of like a slicker, probably better-funded version of NBM, insofar as they’re publishing a fair amount of European graphic novels, First Second has quickly carved out a niche as a highly respectable publisher with a lot of solid critical success so far, including books by Gipi, the recent Eisner-winning Laika by Nick Abadzis, and numerous books by Joann Sfar and other members of the French collective L’Association.

The loose plot of the book is that a family’s idyllic existence is interrupted by the appearance of the titular three shadows, which pose some sort of unspoken menace to the young son of the family. While I don’t know much about Cyril Pedrosa, I can only assume that he is an animator of some great talent–his art is loose and flowing in the best tradition of European animators. His figures are all imbued with an incredible sense of movement, not only because of how they’re posed within the page, but because of the way they’re drawn: Pedrosa’s line is so fluid that I found myself staring again and again at individual panels. If nothing else, you get a huge sense of organic humanity in the drawings; it’s clear that human hands made this art, chose these lines, posed these figures.

One of the more effective visual tricks of the book is the way that the art seems to blur and simplify itself at moments of stress or danger in the story. In a sequence where the father is trying to escape through the woods with his son, the page reverts to a simple 6-panel grid, with the figures little more than blurry thumbnails. They almost seem to vibrate with danger, especially contrasting against the very calm, beautifully drawn family scenes just pages prior.

All in all, this was a good quick read. However, while I normally prefer comics to be shorter, more condensed, more edited, this is one of the rare books that I wish were longer, more fleshed out. Without ruining the conclusion of the story, about halfway through the book the locale of the story changes pretty suddenly to a ship crossing some sort of inland sea or vast river or something. There’s a mystical climax, and then an even stranger change of scene/characters, almost to an entirely different story. These aren’t necessarily bad things, but they feel so fast, given the theme and subject matter of the book, that it feels more frenzied than the pace of the book calls for.

Maybe this could have been two (or even three?) books? Hard to say–the anticlimax is so lengthy it could almost have been its own book by itself. Still, regardless of these smallish complaints, this book is so beautifully drawn that it could be about a bunch of sentient stuffed animals and it still would have been a very pleasant reading experience. The only other complaint I might make is (as with pretty much all the First Second books, especially the translated ones) is that the computer lettering is super-boring, especially compared with the art. This is offset somewhat by the very attractive book design, including untrimmed page edges that give the book a kind of old-world appeal that’s rare for a comic.

As it is, it’s a slightly flawed book that you will most likely enjoy reading, possibly multiple times over the years. Extra good (or bad) for parents who are constantly worrying about their children and all the many menaces the world has waiting for them.

Every Wednesday we run down the 5 most interesting comics or graphic novels coming out for the week.

5. NYX: NO WAY HOME #1
Written by Marjorie Liu; art by Kalman Andrasofsky
Marvel
$3.99

The original NYX series was an interesting disaster that started life as a Brian Wood project about teenage mutants living in New York City and later became a Joe Quesada written book that featured breakout visuals by then newcomer Josh Middleton. It made a big splash at first but a few issues in things fell apart, issues stopped coming out in a timely fashion and the series was quickly canceled. Now, years later, a new mini-series launches featuring the same lead character, Kiden Nixon, and is once again set in Manhattan but this time set in the current Marvel landscape that only contains less than 200 lonely and paranoid mutants.

The new book is written by New York Times best selling author Marjorie Liu (the Dirk & Steele series) and has some really nice art by Kalman Andrasofsky who’s work can be seen at his blog here.

Preview the first few pages of the book here.

4. FINAL CRISIS #3
Written by Grant Morrison; art by JG Jones
DC Comics
$3.99

DC’s weirdly somber summer event comic continues with it’s third issue. A lot of people were turned off by the quiet start this book had but things are ratcheting up quickly as we build towards the day that Evil wins (whatever that really means). If you’re a Grant Morrison fan you’ll be pleased to know that the writer is building his own subset of continuity within the larger DC Universe framework as this book has more to do with his excellent Seven Soldiers series than with anything else that is really going on in other DC books right now. This issue even boasts an appearance by Frankenstein and the agents of S.H.A.D.E. Oh yeah, and did I mention Barry Allen is coming back from the dead (or the future or something) this issue?

3. CROSSED #0 (of 9)
Written by Garth Ennis; art by Jacen Burrows
Avatar Press
$1.00

Frequent collaborators Garth Ennis and Jacen Burrows introduce their new horror series with a ten page 0 issue (issue #1 comes out in October) this week. The story is about an apocalyptic plague that takes over the world and, rather than turn people into zombies, turns them into…well, into into Garth Ennis characters – violent, immoral, raping and murdering maniacs. The last thing comics needs is another zombie apocalypse so this could be a welcome change.

In the zero issue we’re introduced to a small band of survivors on the run from the transformed, who are recognizable by a bloody cross that appears on their face. Since this is the writer of Preacher and the creative team behind Chronicles of Wormwood – a very weird take on Jesus and Satan – expect some Catholic themes to poke through here. Oh and also expect a lot of disturbing and most likely, offensive, carnage to ensue.

2. SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE SEASON TWO #1
Written by Terry Moore; art by Craig Rousseau
Marvel
$2.99

Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane is a series that the cynical critic in me would think wouldn’t work because of the transparency of Marvel trying to tap into manga’s ever growing teenage girl audience by giving them something teenage girls still don’t really want – superheroes. But a strong creative team can work wonders and that’s why the last run on this title garnered such a avid fan base. Writer Sean McKeever, with artist Takeshi Miyazawa for most of the run, proved to be very adept at delivering an enjoyable teen drama/comedy focused around a teenage version of longtime Marvel character Mary Jane Watson. Now, with a new mini-series, Marvel continues to seem to be doing this right by bringing in Strangers in Paradise creator Terry Moore as the writer. As Mary Jane starts another year at school she has a lot to be angsty about – trouble with
her superhero boyfriend, her ex-boyfriend, her mom and everything else I guess. High school can be rough, you know.

1. ARMY@LOVE: THE ART OF WAR #1 (of 6)
Written by Rick Veitch; art by Gary Erskine
DC Vertigo
$2.99

Rick Veitch’s Army@Love is probably my favorite new Vertigo series but like a lot of books I like it doesn’t sell all that well. I guess that might explain it’s recent move to a seasonal approach of mini-series rather than an ongoing book. Season 2, a 6-issue series, begins this week and it’s a great place to start if you’re curious about the series. Veitch’s Joseph Heller-like satire on the war against terrorism in the Middle East is raunchy, smart and LOL funny. Not to mention it’s probably a lot more spot on than you’d even think. Especially with recent news that NATO was hiring form Coca-Cola marketing people to help improve their image. That’s like something right out of this book.

By the way, the most recent trade paperback collection of this series hit the stands last week so there’s that too.

Hot on the heels of the Trailer that has set the world on fire!!! It’s Hyperbole Man here to announce to you dedicated supporters of all things heroic something REALLY BIG! Presenting A Special WEEKEND HEROES DISCUSSION GROUP spotlighting WATCHMEN by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons!

This book is so big, so vast, so talked about and so darned entertaining, we need to have dinner and drinks to complement the great conversation: unlike other discussion groups including the up-coming ICE HAVEN on August 11th, we’ll meet at Heroes and then step across the street to one of the restaurants over there and have dinner while we talk!

All we ask is that you read (or re-read) the book, come with an open mind and plenty of opinions and if you plan to eat and drink (though you certainly aren’t required to do either) please bring CASH. We will be splitting the bill and it will be a lot easier if everyone has cash!

Topics certainly will include

• How well has WATCHMEN aged? How influential is the book today?
• Has it had a positive or negative impact on super-heroes?
• What is the deal with PIRATES?
• Do the over-riding themes– Art vs. Commerce–dwarf the plot?
• ALSO: A comparison between the FINAL product and the original premise submitted by Alan Moore (If you don’t know it– don’t Google it, come and be surprised.. it will be fun!!)

Will we talk about the movie? You betcha!! Especially regarding the setting. New York is a heckovalot nicer now than it was in the early 80s; and does it have to be Nixon vs. the Commies or could the story work in our post 9/11 world?

If this special outing works well, we will look into expanding the scope of the Discussion groups.
• Are they better with food and drink?
• Should we branch out into movies– comparing comic to film? Who knows?
One thing is for sure– if you haven’t read Watchmen, you are in for a treat!

Remember both Watchmen (Saturday, August 30 at 6pm) and Ice Haven (Monday August 11th at 7pm) are available from Heroes at a special 10% off discount ONLY if you ask for the Heroes Discussion Group discount!

Okay, so you already know that Mark Millar (Wanted, Ultimates) and Tony Harris (Ex Machina, Spider-Man: With Great Power) are going to be signing here on Sunday, August 17, from 2-5, as part of the 7-stop “Tour of Duty” promoting their recent hit War Heroes. That’s plenty exciting enough, BUT we wanted to juice it up just a hair.

To make a stop by the store that day truly impossible to resist, we’re also going to be having a storewide SALE! Oh yes, please! The following are just a few of the items that will be discounted:

ALL NEW COMICS & TP’S: 10% off (15% for qualifying reserve customers)!
MANGA: 10% off!
REGULAR BACK ISSUES: 50% off!
“HOT” BACK ISSUES: 10% off!
VARIANTS: 10-75% off!
ALL TOYS AND ACTION FIGURES: 20% off!
STATUES: 10-75% off!
COLLECTING SUPPLIES: 10% off!

PLUS we’ll have special stocks available of half-off trade paperbacks and mangas, and plenty of other surprises! This will give you something to do before and after you meet Mark and Tony and let them know how awesome they are–or heck, if you prefer, just come for the sale! We’ll see you there!

Every Wednesday I run down the 5 most interesting comics or graphic novels coming out for the week. This week is a bit of an odd one. You’ll see why.

5. BATMAN: GOING SANE
Written by J.M. DeMatteis, Eddie Campell and Daren White; Art by Joe Staton, Bart Sears and Steve Mitchell
DC Comics
$14.99

If you’ve just seen The Dark Knight, then you’re probably going to be one of two minds on the matter of the Joker. Either Heath Ledger’s performance is going to make you hungry for all things Joker or it was the be-all and end-all and he has effectively closed the door on all other iterations of the character, whether in film or comics. Well, if you’re nothing like me than you might be clamoring to read this collection of a Joker story that was originally published in the comic Legends of the Dark Knight a few years ago. After seemingly killing Batman, the Joker has to move on with his life and that means a backward slide into sanity. It’s an interesting concept that builds on the dynamics of that classic antagonistic relationship.

4. ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES VOL 1
By Akira Hiramoto
Del Rey Manga
$19.95

This week’s head-scratcher is a manga about the life of legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson. Except that since virtually nothing is really known about Johnson’s life the story focuses on the idea that he once sold his soul to the Devil and runs wild from there, even having Johnson meet up with gangster Clyde Barrow of Bonnie & Clyde fame. Just the idea of a Japanese writer/artist portraying the life of an African American blues musician in 1920s America would be interesting enough but throw in Satan and some other bizarre elements and things could get really out there.

3. NEVERLAND
By Dave Kiersh
Bodega
$6.00

Dave Kiersh ruminates on life, love and Long Island in this short but densely cartooned 32 pager. Kiersh has an interesting child-like style that works well for a story that jumps into a Peter Pan inspired fantasy sequence but that also tackles both the physical and emotional landscape of living in suburbia: water towers, cicadas, strip malls, listening to bad radio and hooking up in the back of a car.

You can preview the book here at Kiersh’s website.

2. FANTASTIC FOUR: TRUE STORY #1
Written by Paul Cornell; art by Horacio Dominguez
Marvel
$2.99

Okay, maybe this is actually the oddball pick of the week. The Fantastic Four journey into the world of Fiction and meet up with Willie Lumpkin, Dante and the Dashwood sisters from Sense and Sensibility? Huh. It’s a new mini-series written by Paul Cornell, popular British writer of various Dr. Who novels, the recent critically acclaimed Wisdom series for Marvel and the current Captain Britain and MI:13 series. English majors are going to get a kick out of this series especially but, really, who wouldn’t get a kick out of seeing Ben Grimm interact with some Jane Austen characters?

1. POPGUN VOL. 2
By Various
Image Comics
$29.99

Last week was the big week for anthologies but this one probably tops all of those anyway. The second volume of this hip anthology – or “graphic mixtape” as editors Mark Andrew Smith and Joe Keatinge like to call it – features eye-catching work from people like Jim Rugg (again with Afrodisiac which we saw in last week’s Meathaus anthology), James Kochalka, Paul Maybury, Dean Haspiel, Erik Larsen, Ryan Ottley, Joelle Jones and of course this very appealing cover by Paul Pope.

As it says in the title, our New Releases page will be updated sometime tomorrow afternoon. Apparently something glitchy happened at Diamond, so we have not yet received our invoice, and I’m told by our rep that it won’t be until tonight sometime. Just in case you were wondering.

Please join us on Monday, August 11th at 7:00pm as we will spotlight ICE HAVEN— a comic strip novel by Daniel Clowes.

Originally published as a single issue (Eightball #22), this was expanded and reformatted by Clowes into Ice Haven and published by Pantheon Books. It is the story of the town of Ice Haven. There are multiple characters, multiple plot lines and multiple graphic style changes by Clowes.

I don’t want to give away too much of the plot(s) but suffice to say, it is a very dense book presented in a very well paced manner without being overtly challenging–at first glance. You will be entertained and you will want to read it more than once.

— As usual we will focus on the role of the narrator(s)
— We will discuss the use of cartoony art in a realistic story
— The success (or failure) of the author to maintain image, perception and vision throughout the story.
— And lots of other topics.

Please note: Yes, this IS the book that the high school teacher recently gave to one of his under-age students. The incident caused quite a media backlash resulting in the teacher being fired.
So remember two things–this book is designed for adults over the age of 18; and if you think we are going to make it through the night without discussing this incident, you must not have attended our past discussion groups.

Does the story work? Is it the classic that it has been declared over the past few years?
All of your opinions matter, we just want to know WHY you feel the way you do!
(For the Sandman discussion, we had a rather polarized group which made for some lively discussions!)

We hope to see you there to discuss this provocative book. ICE HAVEN is available through Heroes and from today through August 11th, we are offering the book at our special discussion group 10% discount.

This will be the groups first foray outside the super-hero genre…
For those of you who miss our unique take on all things masked and spandexed… watch this spot for an EXCITING announcement concerning a SPECIAL SUPERHERO DISCUSSION GROUP that will be coming up very soon! Here is a hint: Though still timely, the story reeks of Nostalgia…..HA!!!

Luckily for “nights and weekends” workers such as myself, the scut-work of deciding what and how many to order of any title is left in the capable hands of Dustin and Shawn. The minefield that is intuiting the demand for any title is–at best–akin to reading tea leaves; or if you prefer, the innards of your average ungulate.

This was put on dramatic display just yesterday, when, hot on the heels of its cool looking trailer, Heroes sold six copies of the Watchmen trade paperback and two full runs of the series. Now, you might not think of eight as a huge number, but ponder this: We have sold, on average, a copy or two of Watchmen per week for the past several years. In the six years I’ve worked at Heroes, that’s around 70 copies a year, in the neighborhood of 400 since I’ve worked there. On a book that has been continuously available since 1987!

Shawn and I had a brief discussion after seeing The Dark Knight last week that we should beef up our supply of Watchmen and Batman: The Killing Joke, but Sweet Nellie Furtado! Our sales have jumped 300% in one day. One day! We didn’t see a commensurate increase in demand for Sin City, nor The Spirit, nor for 300, nor any of the other (relatively) self-contained works with filmic tie-ins. We saw a considerable bump, mind you, but not a sell-out.

This leads to thoughts about the perils of ordering. Comics that we love, or are original and exciting, or are just plain wonderful, don’t often move off the shelves. In the month and a half since it was released, we’ve sold one or two of the recent Starman Omnibus, one of which I bought (or, at least, I think I paid for). This was a well reviewed comic by respected creators, and whose penciller appeared at HeroesCon. And it hasn’t sold worth a poop. Luckily, I wasn’t in charge of ordering, or we’d be saddled with ten unsold copies of a $50 book. Likewise were the sales on Darwyn Cooke’s DC: The New Frontier. It sold OK, but even with all of us constantly pushing it, we maybe sell one every week. Cable & Deadpool trades sell at a more rapid clip!

In the coming months, we hope to get leaner and meaner with our ordering, cutting the chaff, while still providing the selection that you’ve become accustomed. Give us a hand, as we depend on your expertise, from unknown great creators, to online “chatter”, to trends in manga. Remember. This is your Heroes, too.

I believe Andy is getting ready to post the announcement of our next Heroes Discussion Group, but I thought I’d post the photos from last Monday’s discussion before I forget. I foolishly had my telephone’s camera set to a small file resolution, so they’re blurry little photos, but we had a great time and I wanted to let you know if you missed it.

I would even argue that this was the best Discussion Group, especially because not all of us (especially myself) were particularly big fans of Sandman Volume 4: Season of Mists. Rather than being dull, it actually promoted more discussion of the book, rather than the lovefests we had for Batman Year One and All Star Superman. Andy was on his toes, too, and as usual directed the conversation into a lot of areas we might not have explored otherwise.

PLUS we had our biggest turnout yet, around 12-15 people. Really good time–we expect an even BIGGER turnout for the next installment, which I’ll let good ole Andy talk about. But for now, be sure to check out our Heroes Discussion Group set on our Flickr page for pictures!

I want to thank Dustin and the crew for inviting me to join the Heroes blog. Each Wednesday I’m going to run down the 5 most interesting comics and graphic novels that will be hitting the shop. Please feel free to add a comment and either wholeheartedly agree with me or tell us what you’re excited about picking up this week.

5. UNCANNY X-MEN #500
Written by Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction; art by Greg Land and Terry Dodson
Marvel
$3.99
Fresh off their acclaimed run on Iron Fist, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction take over the flagship X-men title with it’s landmark 500th issue (500? Why does that make me feel old?). Brubaker and Fraction have a lot of plans for the series and will be setting up a lot of future story lines with this issue. The first order of business is getting the team set up in their new hometown of San Francisco. As the writers have described in numerous interviews, San Fran is a logical place for mutants to hang out because it’s a town where anyone can just let their freak flag fly. The fan favorite writing team is also joined by a new art team that consists of a couple of other popular guys in the comics world right now: Greg Land and Terry Dodson. Between the new status quo and the top notch creative team this is probably the most interested I’ve been in checking out an X-men book since Grant Morrison ended his run.

There’s quite a few variant covers for this one including the Alex Ross one shown here. Check them all out plus a preview of the interior art here.

4. WAR HEROES #1 (of 6)
written by Mark Millar; art by Tony Harris
Image Comics
32 pgs | $2.99

Writer Mark Millar takes a break from all the work he’s been doing in the Marvel Universe to get back to doing the type of creator-owned work that he’s had some success with in the past (after the success of this summer’s Wanted, everything this guy does is probably going to get optioned by Hollywood now). Teaming with artist Tony Harris (Ex Machina, Starman) on this new 6 issue mini-series, Millar introduces us to an America that has gone down the tubes after devastating nuclear attacks by Iraqi insurgents. In order to regain the global advantage it has recently lost, the government begins giving superpowers to all of its soldiers.

If you were a fan of Millar’s paramilitary take on The Avengers in The Ultimates then you’re sure to love this and since it’s published by Image, independent of Marvel’s corporate censorship, there’s nothing holding back Millar’s more controversial and R-rated tendencies.

Here’s a preview of the first issue and an interview with Millar himself.

3. APOCALIPSTIX VOL.1
Written by Ray Fawkes; art by Cameron Stewart
Oni Press
144 pgs | $11.95

A book about a girl rock band traveling around a post-apocalyptic landscape being chased by mutants and pirates in between gigs doesn’t really sound like something I’d usually like* but it’s possible I’m just biased on this one since I’m a sucker for Cameron Stewart’s artwork (Seaguy, The Other Side, Catwoman). With his crisp, Bruce Timm influenced style that gives him a knack for drawing really cute girls this is basically a book that just lets him do what he’s good at and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Here’s a preview of all the apocalyptic goodness and check out the new Apocalipstix website here.

*Actually all those things are totally up my alley

2. MEATHAUS SOS
By Various creators
Nerdcore
272 pgs | $30.00

Meathaus is a collective of New York based artists that came out of The School of Visual Arts and, though many have pretty notable careers on their own right now, every once in a while they get together to put out an anthology of really nice looking art comics. This latest volume contains new work from folks like: James Jean (he of the Fables covers); Jim (Street Angel) Rugg introducing his newest character, Afrodisiac; Dash (Bottomless Belly Button) Shaw does the weird The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.; plus Tomer and Asaf Hanuka (of Bi Polar fame), Brandon Graham (of King City fame) and veteran animation legend Ralph Bakshi (of Cool World and Fritz the Cat fame) all lend some work to the book.

Here’s a preview over at the Totally Nerd Core website.

1. AMERICAN FLAGG! Vol. 1
By Howard Chaykin
Image Comics
440 pgs | $49.99

There’s a lot of pricey offerings this week but this one I think is totally worth it. American Flagg! fans have been waiting years for a nice collection of Howard Chaykin’s groundbreaking political sci-fi sex comedy. Featuring recolored artwork, an introduction by author Michael Chabon and a brand new story by Chaykin, this hardcover volume justifies it’s fifty dollar price tag. American Flagg! was a book that was truly ahead of it’s time when it was first published in the mid 1980s. Not only because of Chaykin’s sophisticated artwork and storytelling style but the ideas presented itself seemed to eerily predict our own future: a collapsed Soviet Union, American society revolving around super-malls and basketball, lingerie as outerwear, media saturation, the mainstreaming of pornography and more. The only things we’re still wating on is talking cats and the U.S. government to relocate to Mars.

I’d put this series in my top 5 all time favorite comics so I’m hoping this book will look great and will lead to more collections of the rest of the series.