Entropy Week: Nancy in Hell # 1!

Nancy in Hell # 1
Image Comics
Script: El Torres
Pencils: Juan Jose Ryp
22 pages for $2.99

I'm closing out entropy week with this little number, and I probably should have lead with it since it's the least depressing of the lot. But still, the despair is in there.

After the plague hit Europe (and other assorted locales) and wiped out about 1/3 of everybody everywhere, art understandably took a turn toward the macabre. It was beautiful, to be sure. But your prevailing subjects were demons, grim reapers, hell, death. Understandable, actually. When a crisis of that magnitude hits, it's difficult to be focused on cotton candy and unicorns.

But what's our excuse? Yeah, we had 9/11, and that's a bitch. The threat of terrorism is a bitch, in some ways worse than the cold war - at least then we could nail down a locale for the bastards who wanted to do us.

Take a look around, though, at the psychological comic book landscape. How bout Final Crisis at DC proper or World's End in the Wildstorm Universe? Warren Ellis pretty much wipes out America in Black Summer, then wipes out London in Freakangels, then wipes out everything in Supergod. In the 1960s, Cesar Romero made The Joker funny. In the 21st Century, that aint just face paint. The Joker is fucked up down to the core, and makes a more compelling case for nihilism than Batman did for hope in Nolan's Dark Knight.

Art mirrors life. And if you look carefully, you can see a thread unravelling the sweater. Or at least, we seem to think the sweater is coming apart. And while Nancy in Hell is more relaxed and more committed to fun than Crossed, there's still something morose about it. The threats in this book are omnipresent, and the prevailing wisdom is that there is no getting out of it.

I guess if you want the crux of the 21st Century lament it is this: "We have bitten off more than we can chew." Obviously there have been problems in the past that scared the shit out of us as a species: predators, natural disasters, inter-tribal conflicts, disease, etc.

I think the difference is that in The Good Olde Days, it felt like the problems, no matter how vicious, seemed temporary and localized, and that there was maybe somebody out there with the goods to fix them. If not God, then Caesar. I don't think we have that any more.

We don't believe that anybody has a handle on the impending oil/energy crisis. Shit, we can't even plug leaks in oil pipes! It takes three months to stop a rig in the Gulf from puking out millions of gallons of oil? REALLY??? I don't think we have faith that anybody has answers for the Climate Crisis, if there is one. Still can't even agree on that. Even if we did, does anybody think that something significant would be done if it prevented BP from making an extra nickel?

Our antibiotics are losing efficacy, the diseases keep getting scarier, and if FEMA couldn't get a trailer to New Orleans for a crisis they KNEW was coming, you can imagine what the response is going to be like if Avian flu ever gets rolling.

So it makes sense that El Torres would set his book in hell and pit Nancy against impossible odds. It just feels right to be fucked in the 21st Century.

As a comic mind you, it's not half bad. I like a variety in my reading diet. There's a place in my heart for books with simple, cheap, dirty hooks. You take a stock blond tough chick, you toss her into the infernal pits with a shotgun and let her go to town.

And if that's what you're looking for, well, you're going to get it. Nancy does a lot of ass kicking, with a chainsaw more often than not. She's kinda cute in a gutter whore sort of way, complete with jean shorts cut into what amounts to a denim thong. And as is his specialty, Juan Jose Ryp depicts the violence in every graphic detail.

Torres at least makes a valid attempt to introduce some fresh elements to the well-trodden ground he's walking on. There are sub-cultures in hell, (and inside the story, most of the characters assume they're in hell, but there's no signs posted or anything) and the castes are largely built upon the strength of your identity. Physicality is built on memory and attitude. So as you remember or believe you are, so you are in that realm.

Everyone it seems ultimately loses a grasp on that identity and degrades into a mindless shambling husk of themselves. In the interim, there are sentient groups that have gathered together to indulge in whatever sick pleasure suits their fancy. So Torres is trying to carve out his own cosmology of the damned, and some of it feels like it could pay off if fleshed out, pardon the pun.

But while there was a legitimate attempt at novelty, much of Nancy in Hell feels painfully familiar. There's nothing to really separate Nancy from say, Cassie Hack, other than the fact that Cassie has more interesting things to say and plays with more depth due to her relationship with Vlad.

How about Nancy's mentor at the bar, Phil? Here's a panel of Phil:

And here's the cover of Antony Johnston and Christopher Mitten's Wasteland # 1:

Separated at birth I guess. Maybe Phil just walked out of the Big Wet into the valley of the damned. I don't know. There's some succubus type demon chicks that are pretty stock, and the Big Bad so far reminds me a lot of that crazy guy who shot lasers out of his eyes at Luke Cage and Iron Fist during PM/IF # 108.

I'm not suggesting that the Nancy in Hell team swiped that guy, since I'm probably the only human left on earth who even remembers that comic. I'm not suggesting they intentionally swiped anything. Look, this is well-travelled ground, and things float around in the culture, and they become what Jung would call Types. There's a lot of them in this comic.

If you find yourself jonesing for the old Chaos material, I think this is an outstanding fix for you. It reminds me a lot of what Brian Pulido was doing with Evil Ernie in terms of tone and such. As a high-action feast for the eyes, I recommend Nancy in Hell heartily. And of all the entropy books this week, Nancy in Hell certainly has the most fun. One gets the feeling that Nancy might even win this fight. Looks like she's going to need Lucifer's help to do it, though. And that's where we're at psychologically in the 21st century. Your best hope looks like The Devil. Fuck, that's depressing!

- Ryan

Entropy Week: Crossed Family Values # 3!

Crossed: Family Values # 3
Avatar Comics
Script: David Lapham
Pencils: Javier Barreno
22 pages for $3.99

This is the worst thing I have ever seen or read in any medium. By worst I don't mean to say that it lacks quality. What I mean is that the things that happen between the covers of Crossed: Family Values # 3 are so deplorable and handled so bluntly that it is difficult to finish the book.

Now that's entertainment!

You feel wrong reading the damn thing, you feel wrong recognizing that yes, this accurately depicts the worst of the human condition, and you feel sort of bad for David Lapham for carrying these things around inside of him. Maybe you fear for his wife and children a little, if he has such things. I'm sure they're fine. But you might wonder any way.

If Wertham had brought Crossed (penned by Ennis or Lapham) to those Senate subcomittee hearings, we wouldn't have ended up with a Comics Code Authority. Everyone in the biz would have been executed. That's how bad (or good?) this comic is.

Because the thing is, as gruesome as the old EC comics were, and by golly they were gruesome, there was always a sense of fun behind them. The stories were bookended with playful ghouls who told really bad jokes and sort of winked at you - they popped the tension balloon a little bit. Reminded you that in the end, it was all a goof, a diversion.

There is no such safety net in Crossed. I take that back. There is a tiny little scene in this issue where one of the Crossed plays with poop. Adorable. Plus, poop is always funny, unless you find it in your pillowcase. Actually, it's still funny then, for everyone except the owner of said pillowcase.

But the rest of it? The horror is dark, it is deep, and it punches your balls into your throat. This is not a good issue to be a fetus, I must say. Not good at all. Not good to be an infant, either, really. If you take the time to scour this splash page carefully, (and why not get your money's worth?) somebody has decided that it wasn't good enough to simply throw this baby out of the window. That's for amateurs. If you want to do it right, you have to light the child on fire first, and chuck it like an IRA member with Molatoddler Cocktail.

Motherhood, childhood, religion, friendship, family, honor, faith, hope....forget about all of that. Well, that's not exactly true. Addy still perseveres, so a speck of hope is still on the table. Every other sacred cow gets savaged by the end of this issue, but frankly doesn't it feel like we deserve it?

I just don't think this could have existed twenty years ago. We thought that Faust was edgy horror. And it kind of is. This book makes Faust look like George Michael during his Wham days. We used to think Motley Crue represented Satan. Bullshit. They represented alcoholism, faux rebellion, and getting laid.

This is horror pure. What does it say about us that we are now finally ready for it? It's scary, you want my opinion.

I suppose a case could be made that I'm indulging in hyperbole. I surely do hope that is the case. I certainly have a history of it. But the fact that Crossed exists, and that it says something that connects should honestly make one's arsehole shrink up a bit. We're in trouble as a species.

If it sounds like I'm condemning the comic, please be advised that you've got me all wrong. There is truth here. Not "the" truth, whatever that is, but a sliver of something that rings correctly about where human beings are at, and what we expect from each other. I'm all for truth, no matter how bitter the taste. If it says something accurately, and I believe that Crossed does, then we bloody well ought to bend an ear, as far as we're able.

Some will say that this is not a message book, just an exercise in shock for the sake of being shocking. I think that's a dangerously infantile simplification. Even if you limited it to shock value though, this is the Rolls Royce of shock books. Respect it for being the best of its kingdom, even if you don't like the real estate, I say.

Crossed is not for everybody, but it is sublime in its depravity. We earned it, we got it. God help us.

- Ryan

Entropy Week: Marvel Universe vs. The Punisher # 1!

Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher # 1
Marvel Comics
Script: Jonathan Maeberry
Pencils: Goran Parlov
23 pages for $3.99

Welcome to entropy week, kids! I sat down and read my comics this week, and I enjoyed most of them to some degree, but couldn't help but notice a sudden desire to drink a tall glass of blowfish toxin and just end the suffering of it all.

Now granted, part of the problem is my personal taste and my personal collecting habits. I'm a card carrying cynic, and I buy comics with a darker tone, and so I chain-read Crossed, Nancy in Hell, and Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher. So part of it is me.

But part of it isn't. I'm not really being controversial here. We're jaded. We don't believe in anything any more, and the racks are choked with our disillusionment. Ever notice that "Brightest Day" is filled with just as many horrible atrocities as "Blackest Night?" If Aquaman summoning uncontrollable zombie sea creatures is bright, there's a problem.

Have you noticed that the "Heroic Age" over at Marvel is nothing more than a banner at the top of the books designed to increase sales, signifying nothing? We wouldn't know what to do with heroism any more. It would come off as lame at best, but really just insincere.

What we understand in the 21st century is cynicism, two-faced political rhetoric, souls as commodities, everything as commodities, and pain. That's what we can buy. And that's what we're sold.

So here we have Marvel Universe Vs. The Punisher, and just to be clear, I enjoyed this book and don't have a problem with it. But it's a downer. A mysterious virus has caused the population to become rabid, violent bastards. You know, just like 28 Days Later, Marvel Zombies, Crossed, and 15 different things you've seen in the past two weeks. The idea is so played at this point that Reed Richards knows that you know all this, and has to describe how this virus is different.

Do you see what I mean, though? There's so much of this trope floating around right now, Marvel is forced to sell you on the concept that their latest concoction is ever so slightly different. The real story here isn't copyright infringement, it's the idea that collectively, as a group, we've decided that the end feels nigh. Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold. And it feels like the shit's coming down, man.

The book itself is passable or better. I've never heard of Jonathan Maeberry before, but he's producing professional grade work. The hook is strong. The world is collapsing, and Frank Castle is trying to pick up the pieces. Again, I don't know if Maeberry is a newbie or not, but the classic rookie mistake is to overwrite - try flashbacks, dip into purple prose to demonstrate chops. Maeberry understands that less is more, particularly with a book like this.

I really appreciated the opening scene with Deadpool, actually. Frank puts a couple of rounds in him, chops him up into pieces and scatters them. It's the 33rd time he's had to kill Deadpool. The first layer of the joke is that it fits with the character, because Wade's regenerative. I think the second layer is a shot at Pool's overexposure. No matter how many times he's beaten into the ground....there he is again! Maybe I'm reading too much into things, but I doubt it. I think Maeberry's got a little subversive streak in him, and I enjoyed it.

This is not particularly deep, nor was it designed to be. The objective appears to be a "tortured soul against the world", and it excels at that. If you liked "Road Warrior" or Marvel Zombies, you're bound to enjoy this. There's no reason in the world why this should cost $3.99 an issue, by the way. Just sayin'.

There's a definite dearth of hope in this comic, which is understandable. It's apocalyptic, for crying out loud. In 2010 we expect our governments or big business to create some crap that will destroy everything. We expect that we've bitten off more than we can chew, and the virus won't be stopped. We expect to lose now.

Is that sad, or is that what we need to make change? It felt sad to me today. It makes me want to read some Straczynski Superman or something. Maybe that guy is on to something....

- Ryan