comic book vertigo

The past month or so has been a comic fan's Xanadu. Sure the academics will call them 'graphic novels' but that nomenclature strikes me as an artifical inflation of 'lowly' status of comic art. After all it wasn't so long ago that the novel itself was the bargain basement in textual consumption. The point is comics don't need the added pat on the back. A good comic is as remarkable as a good novel (or a good film, or painting, etc.). And as I mentioned at the top of the page the past month has seen quite a few major releases by the comic art industry's most talented writers.

Many of these releases are getting deluxe treatment in packaging and design. If the recent popularity of comic art in the Academe has done nothing else it has proven to the industry that people are willing to pay an extra bit of cash for something that is executed well. Comics are no longer just pretty to look at, they are being manufactured to last, in hardcover cloth editions, why the damn things have dust jackets!

The first work I'll mention was written by Brian K Vaughan, most well known for his work on the Marvel Comics' series Runaways and the Vertigo line Y: The Last Man. The title in question is entitled Pride of Baghdad. In the comic biz, when a single issue is released which stands alone and does not pertain to any on-going series it is called a 'one-shot'. Pride is a hardcover deluxe 'one-shot' detailing the travails of a pride of lions which escape from the ruins of the Baghdad Zoo shortly following US bombardment. The story is a mix of Kipling-like fable story structure where the main characters are all animals. Yet the story has much in common with the social satire found in say, Orwell's Animal Farm. It is a bold literary statement upon the on-going war in Iraq--something we could all use a few more doses of.

The second collection I'd like to discuss is an old story rereleased in a super deluxe comic-art-ophile's X-mas present of choice. Absolute Sandman Volume 1 is a tribute to writer Neil Gaiman's groundbreaking work in the early 90s with the titular figure the Sandman. I have quite a bit of personal affection for the series as it single handedly re-launched my interest in comic art, something my girlfriend may hold against Gaiman, but to whom I am Endlessly thankful. Okay so Frank Miller's work on Batman in the late 80's also played a part, but Gaiman proved to me that comics could simultaneously be dark, raw, knowledgable, lyrical, and incredibly well written. "A Game of You" may be my favorite comic story arc ever, and the Sandman's portrayal of Lucifer will be with me always.

Lastly, but not least-ly comes the current king of the comic world, Bill Willingham. Fables has been my favorite on-going series for well over a year to the point where I've done something I never thought I'd do, I've started to collect single issues. I've scrapped together well over half of the 50 plus issues as well as purchased the trade paper collections. Now Vertigo is releasing a 'one-shot' trade paper of original material not found in the single issues which preceed the story he's created. 1001 Nights of Snowfall comes out this week (Mid october if you are reading this somewhat later) and to say I'm eagerly anticpating it would be an understatement.

Now if I could only find a means to pay for all this...