Comrades, Machine Guns, Memory Loss and Weed
Occasionally I review comics and I haven't done so in a while. There are a couple new ones that come from the Wildstone Signature Series, which is a subdivision of DC comics, and one from Image.
If you are reading this after the first couple of issues are out most good comic stores should still stock the back issues of these.
Desolation Jones
Desolation Jones is written by my favorite comic writer Warren Ellis. It is the story of a former British Intelligence agent who is the only person to survive a series of unknown tests from the government. This is a limited series of six issues.
We know a couple of things about Agent Jones:
- "He can hold back the dreams with pills . The visions, he can't do anything about."
- "You don't win fights by being a strong man or a clever boxer. You win fights by being more prepared to permanently fuck up the other guy."
- He is in search of Adolf Hitler's stolen home made porn.
- He smokes a lot of pot.
the Winter Men
The Russian mafia, police and military leaders are all made of of the same group, former intelligence members. Everyone has a past, none of it is clean and none of it really matters.
Kris Kalenov is a war hero (Chehnya maybe?) but these days military guys work for whoever will pay them and that usually means the mafia. Kalanov is tracking down a mafia group that may be invading the territory of another group's organ transplant ring.
I'm not sure where The Winter Men is going but so far it is nasty, ugly and all the things it should be. This will be a series of 8 comics.
Fell
Fell is a new comic that is also by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. It is a beautiful concept that follows through completely.
The idea is that it is cheap, $1.99 per issue. It tells a complete story in each issue that really doesn't need the other issues to be enjoyed. It is well written and well illustrated.
The first is is out and it lands on each mark. The story is about the best detective who works in the worst town. The town is so bad that it would be on the wrong side of the tracks from anything.
I don't know if this will be short lived or not but enjoy it while you can. I really can't see how anyone is making a profit off of this and after all, the comic business is just that, a business.
A Bar of Soap in a Sock
Yeah I watch a lot of TV. The bittorrent thing has ruined my life. Every god-damn show is available and how do you not watch shows that get good reviews.
But even a well reviewed shows can look like a stinker, and this year it was Prison Break (Mondays on Fox). It is about a well educated brother who gets himself put into prison in order to break out his brother who he believes has been wrongfully accused of murder. I read the reviews and said no way.
But then I found that Peter Stormare was in the show. Peter, as you might remember from Fargo, is the quiet Eastern European kidnapper/cop killer who runs Steve Buscemi through the wood chipper. You know, the big fella.
So as you can probably guess there is way more to the show and I am now an addict. This week was episode 4 and it has plot twists in much the same way as "24" except the show is a more traditional violent drama.
Little Antony
Describe him anyway you like, but Antony is on fire. I never expected to see him in a feature in the NY Times Sunday Magazine, but like his trans gender bending heroes before him, Devine, Klaus Nomi and Boy George, he has the potential of reaching middle-America and influencing the ever so impressionable youth and leave their parents screaming for a simpler more safe times of their childhood.
Antony, of Antony and the Johnsons have been on my playlist since I first heard his cover of "Mysteries of Love" from Blue Velvet. They have 2 LPs and 2 EPs.
antonyandthejohnsons.com
Antony and the Johnsons will be in Minneapolis on October 06, playing at the Woman's Club Theatre.
My New Drugs
I have changed meds for the 5th time this year (See June 18th for reason). The new stuff is making for some vivid dreams.
Last night my Grandma (Ann Ryan) was at my parents house and all of my Mom's brothers and sisters were gathered. Grandma kept smiling and telling us how good we all looked. She said she gave up ice-cream after she died and that helped her lose 25 pounds. My uncle Tom was walking around without a shirt and he had really curly hair on his back. My Mom had a beehive like she did in 72'.
The night before that I dreamed that I headed north to find my friend Joe McTighe. I haven't seen Joe in many years. I found him on the Red Lake Indian Reservation where he was working as a councilor. Joe's hair was really curly and he had a moustache (Joe has very straight hair in real life and I couldn't imagine him with facial hair). When we went back to the cabin that Joe was living in, he showed me that he liked to put on high heeled shows and stomp around on the linoleum floor leaving pock marks everywhere. The floors of the whole house were completely wrecked.
Joe, if you read this send me an email.