Comics review
Feb 2024
I’ve recently gotten back into reading weekly comics again. It’s funny, I was so comics crazy as a kid that it’s wild to me that I dropped off so hard for so long. For a stretch of time through high school and beyond, every Wednesday was spent driving around the neighborhood with friends, hitting every comic store in town to pick up new books.
My temporary departure from the world of reading comics stemmed from a feeling that the stories being told no longer resonated with me. As my tastes evolved, I found myself drifting away from the medium. I eventually found my way back, and thanks to the wonderful subscription service at Atomic Empire, I began to rekindle my love for reading monthly comics once more, so I reckoned I’d share.
Here are a few of the comics that captivate me. They are rich in detail, meticulously crafted, or simply brimming with an infectious passion.
The Sickness
Set in Minnesota in 1945 and Colorado in 1955. The Sickness is a mysterious volume chronicling what seems to be a disease of perception as it spreads through a small town in 1945 and resurfaces a decade later in 1955. The narrative dances between 1945, where it focuses on Danny, a young loner dealing with possible infection, and Dr. Brooks, in 1955, who becomes deeply invested in understanding this mysterious ailment as it starts to resurface.
The comic builds tension wonderfully; carefully crafted conversations and narrative segments are often punctuated by disturbing visuals. The graphic illustrations, skillfully rendered, bring a raw and immersive quality to the story. With its gritty textures, the artwork adds an unsettling depth to the narrative.
The Sickness’s rich, character-driven plot makes it a standout example of the kind of storytelling I appreciate in comics. Its eerie imagery and intricate storytelling blend to create an experience that resonates long after the final page.
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Wonder Woman
This is maybe a surprising entry in the kind of comic I’m looking to read these days. Wonder Woman. Apparently, this series connects to a larger story happening in DC Comics as a whole, but I don’t read the other DC books. The dominant story-line in Wonder Woman has the United States turning against Princess Diana and her Amazonian countrywoman.
The art is fantastic, the colors are bold and clean and the story is just the right amount of challenging.
There are many big fight scenes with Wonder Woman, which is fun, but ultimately unfulfilling. The real draw for me is the frame story. The narrator of these issues is the secret King of America, wielder of the black Lasso of Lies, and he’s telling the reader the tale of how Diana defeated him.
It’s a dense, soundly episodic narrative that can sometimes get confusing with how the frame story interacts with the main narrative – but it’s one of those tricks that shines in comics. The trick is all about providing the reader information from one character's point of view as we watch another character move through the story - and how the two aspects of storytelling feed off the other.
There are some big themes in Wonder Woman about the type of people who tend to be in charge and about trusting authority. All that works for me.
To neg this beautiful giant a bit, Diana often comes across more as a force of nature than the story’s main character. In fact, she might be the weakest story link in the chain. While I’d consider both the art and writing very good, it feels like both King and Sampere are having trouble capturing what they want out of this Wonder Woman. Or maybe that’s the point. She’s a monolith. Untouchable.
Regardless, the book is fun, lovely to read and there’s a lot of mystery to uncover, so I’m hooked for now.
Coda (2023)
One of the comics I’m eventually planning to release here is an adventure fantasy comic, so I’d been looking to read more fantasy comics. Thus, I discovered Coda.
Until I was researching the creators for this brief review, I didn’t even know there was a volume one of this series. This reminded me of an interesting thing about monthly comics and what I learned about myself through reading them — I’ve been reading these things forever, and often, a single issue is just the tiniest link in a chain that sometimes spans decades of story. As a comics reader, you’re very rarely starting a story at the beginning, and as a result, I’ve gotten very good at understanding a story through context. It's a testament to the storytelling prowess of great monthly comic creators that a reader can jump in at any point and still derive a rich experience regardless of whether they continue reading or not.
Despite missing the initial setup of Coda Vol 1., I didn't feel lost. The narrative is well crafted; the world and its characters are immediately engaging and accessible. What continually impresses me about Coda is its depth of heart. The comic delves into the motivations and beliefs that drive people, making for a narrative that's as thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
The artwork in Coda is another standout element. It's dynamic and unrestrained and adds a vital layer of visual intrigue—a vivid representation of the story's spirit. Coda is a great example of how comics can be wild, expansive, intricate, and intimate simultaneously.
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Here’s a peek at some art for A Story We Tell Ourselves by Anna Wiescyzck.
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