8/29/14 - Trillium - (DC/Vertigo)

Now son, you've heard me !@#$ing go on about dimensional travel, before, and how much I !@#$ing hate that !@#$? Walking through a big !@#$ space donut, landing !@#$ knows where, and discovering you're on a parallel Earth run by !@#$ing McDonalds, or some such? Having to survive in places where Hitler never lost, Rome never fell, and no one ever !@#$ing invented toilet paper? 

Well, let me tell you, there's one thing I !@#$ing hate more than space donuts, and that's !@#$ing time machines. Time travel makes me want to shoot things in the face, repeatedly. Every !@#$ time I go back I have to have a legion of people watching my every !@#$ move, just to make sure I don't !@#$ something up and create a parallel world of my own. 

And the complications are... well, let's just say there's a reason I get kind of misty when I think about President McKinley. And that's all I'm going to !@#$ing say about that. 

 

See if you can find me in this photo.

But, as with dimensional travel, even if you don't !@#$ing want to do it eve !@#$ing again, it's still fun to read about. And same with time travel, too. There's reasons SPYGOD makes time on Saturday nights to sit down and watch a certain BBC show. And there's reasons I force people to !@#$ing watch it with me at gunpoint. Because it's good for them, and I really !@#$ing care. A lot.

Which brings me to Trillium, the new graphic novel by Jeff Lemire -- a truly weird and mind-blowing dance of time, space, language, identity, and the far-reaching cosmic connections that bind us the !@#$ together.

So it's 3797, and the !@#$ has hit the fan. Humanity has mostly succumbed to a god!@#$ sentient virus called The Caul, and is down to about 4000 people - period. And this !@#$ing plague with a plan is creeping its !@#$ way from system to system, intent on stomping humanity underfoot and wiping us off its !@#$ing shoe.

"Wibbley Wobbly Timey Wimey" my bony !@#$! Get me out of here!

And here's the thing, son -- the only !@#$ing thing standing in its way is a bunch of white flowers, being watched over by a bunch of blue aliens with a !@#$ weird language. And some poor Xeniologist is trying to communicate with them so her people can take them and live, and do this before her superiors decide to go all "manifest destiny" and take them, hurt feelings or broken bodies be !@#$ed.

Thing is, it's also 1921, and a former soldier is trudging through the Amazon with a small expedition, trying to find the big !@#$ lost temple of the Incas. He had a really !@#$ing bad go of it during the Great War, and life in England since just hasn't done a !@#$ thing for him. So here he is, looking for something that may not exist, and then having his !@#$ handed to him by the locals, who aren't !@#$ing happy to have nosy white people walking on their !@#$ lawn.

One big !@#$ weird coincidence later, these two people come face to face in his time. They can't !@#$ing understand each other, and they're both confused as !@#$. But there's one word they both have in common: Trillium.

And that's when things get really !@#$ing weird...

Now, let me tell you something, son: Jeff Lemire is a !@#$ing treasure. Canada should insure his !@#$ hands and his head for a couple million dollars apiece. !@#$ knows, they'll do it for much less worthy individuals, some of who I wish they'd !@#$ing frog-march back across the border in chains and throw to the !@#$ bears. 

"SPYGOD, I'm taking away your gay card..."

 But if you were !@#$ing astounded by his work on Animal Man, and were incredibly grateful that he managed to not only salvage the !@#$-tastic mess they made of the Green Arrow reboot, but also knock it out of the !@#$ing park and all the way to the moon, you haven't seen anything until you see what he does when he writes and illustrates his own work. That's when the chains come off and he goes !@#$ wild. I'm thinking of things like Essex County, The Underwater Welder, and his last major work for Vertigo, the post-apocalyptic epic Sweet Tooth. They're trippy, heartfelt, and never less than outright !@#$ing astounding.

(Yes, son, I used that word twice. I'm !@#$ing allowed)

So why should you get the collected edition of Trillium? Let me break it the !@#$ down for you, SPYGOD style. 

1) The Story

I get really !@#$ing bored when someone wants to tell me a science fiction story, these days. I've been there, seen it, gotten the !@#$ t-shirt, and been orally serviced by some weird thing out behind the toilets while waiting for them to call my number and send me the !@#$ home. 

"I can make a film and make you my star /
You'll be a natural the way you are"

So when I say that this science fiction story is something that takes all the time travel tropes we've had shoved on us by !@#$ movies and lazy !@#$ novels, turns them upside down, and gives us something new and interesting? That's !@#$ing saying something.

This is an epic in every sense of the word. This some fierce !@#$ing imagining. There's one big !@#$ story masquerading as two, and yet the underscore of decency and humanity floats alongside it to bring you back to the !@#$ing ground in spite of the wonder. And that is an achievement.

2) The Art

 Yes, his art looks a little !@#$ing weird at times. He's got some !@#$ good drafting and style techniques, but the people all look like they've come off a big !@#$ bad drunk, and sometimes they all look the same from work to work.

But you know what, son? It !@#$ing works. The downbeat human presentation only serves to aid in his presenting creaky, old spaceships that are the last hope of the human race, or possibly its doom, or ancient temples that could be human and alien at the same time (maybe !@#$ing both), or whatever. His sense of realism underscores the fantastic, and makes it truly stand the !@#$ out.

That'll wake you the !@#$ up in the morning, alright.

3) The Audacity

When SPYGOD went to his friendly local comic shop, and bought the first issue, he was amazed to see that they'd played around with the format. The first part of that first issue was one way, covering one time period, and then met the second part halfway... from the back forward, for the other time period. You had to flip it upside !@#$ing down to read the whole thing, and see how they came together in the middle.

"A cheap gimmick," you say? Well !@#$ you. It works perfectly with the story, itself, and they mirrored that in future issues when they got separated in time (and yet still together, sort of) -- having you read the tops of the pages one way, and then read the bottom half the other. There were upside down panels interspersed with the normal ones. All kinds of visual tricks to disorient you, and yet bring you closer to the feeling you'd get when you have to wrap your !@#$ brain around this kind of !@#$.

Which was, if I'm not !@#$ing mistaken, kind of the idea all along.  And if so, well done.  

SPYGOD'S Verdict: Three thumbs up for a trippy, intricate, and truly weird tale that takes us to the far reaches of time and identity, but never loses its humanity along the way. Lemire's excellent storytelling is top notch, and his already-formidable art and design hits a new benchmark, here.

Trillium - get the trade paperback at your local comic store!

8/15/14 - All New Invaders, Vol. 1 - Gods and Soldiers (Marvel)

One of the weird !@#$ things about having been in costume back in the War, and still !@#$ing being around, is that you never know when some piece of unfinished business from back in those crazy !@#$ days is going to rear the !@#$ up, open its big !@#$ mouth, and try to bite you in the !@#$.

I mean, you know this, right? You've heard me go on about ABWEHR, and all the ridiculous !@#$ they got up to at the end of the War, and then the 50's, the 60's, the 70's... on and on and !@#$ing on until I finally decided to kick their !@#$es one last time, just the other year.

And even then, how do I know something they didn't put into motion decades ago won't explode in my face? How do I know all their doomsday devices are !@#$ing defused? How do I know all the !@#$ we did back then is really over and done with?

How deep do you have to bury the past before it stays !@#$ing buried?

I wish I knew what to tell you, son. What I can tell you, however, is that it is !@#$ing true what they say about old soldiers. We don't die - we just fade away.

But when you fade away, there's always the chance that you might just fade the !@#$ back, someday, and go kick some !@#$.

Which is one of the reasons why I really !@#$ing appreciate the All New Invaders title that Marvel's putting out, as it perfectly captures the weirdness of what happens when crazy !@#$ from six or seven !@#$ing decades ago comes slipping back up to you, while you're just trying to repair cars in Podunk, Nebraska, and kill your !@#$ for god!@#$ Hitler, or someone.

Which is sort of what happens to Jim Hammond, at the start of our story...

Wait. What's that, son? Who's Jim Hammond? 

Well, before I beat you with a sack full of big !@#$ hammers for forgetting, I'd tell you to rewatch Captain America, yet again, and pay special attention to the exhibition they go to, at the start. This time, don't wait for the !@#$ flying car. Look for the man in the tube marked THE SYNTHETIC MAN.

Yes, son. This guy.

That's Jim Hammond -- the god!@#$ original Human Torch. The flaming, flying hero who fought Nazis and assorted scum back in World War II alongside the original Invaders: Captain America, Bucky, Namor, and his equally-fiery sidekick Toro.

Now, thanks to recent events in the Marvel universe, Jim's back in the world, once more, but would rather just find a quiet, folksy town in a small corner of it than suit up again. After everything that happened, he feels like he doesn't have the right to use his powers and call himself a hero -- not until he figures out who and what he is, anyway.

Of course, that's when someone comes along and tries to !@#$ up his !@#$, because that's how life works in four-color world. 

"Stop! Hammer time!" "That's not funny, lady..."

Before Hammond knows it, some giant blue woman with a big !@#$ hammer (and a bigger mouth) is beating him down, and using some weird-!@#$ gun to make him remember something he'd forgotten a long !@#$ time ago. A weird mission with the Invaders that involved only him, Bucky, and Namor, and put them up against Nazis and the Asgardian Goddess of Death, herself. Turns out the goose-stepping set had gotten their hands on something called a God Whisperer, which let them command, you guessed it, Gods.

Of course, they won the fight. They are the Invaders, after all. But they couldn't destroy this super-powerful weapon, and didn't dare hand it over to anyone. So they broke it into three parts, each of them hid a piece, and then they had their memories removed by one of their stranger colleagues. End of story... or so they !@#$ing thought.

But now the Kree know about the God Whisperer, and want it for their own purposes. And by now we know all too well that nothing that comes out of Supremor's big !@#$ green head is good for anyone but the Kree Empire.

And that means that, whether he likes it or not, Jim's going to have to put on his big boy briefs, flame the !@#$ on, and get the band back together again. Only this time, instead of mashing super nazis behind enemy lines, they're going to have to invade a whole !@#$ing Empire...

"Hey, we're totally available if you need help. Call our agent."

Marvel has a lot of really good series going on right now. So when I say that All New Invaders is one of the best ones, and one you should make a monthly pull? That's !@#$ing saying something.

But let me break it down for you:

1) James Robinson

If I had to trust anyone to handle heroes who've been around since the 1940's, James Robinson is that man. His work on DC's The Golden Age, Justice Society of America, and, of !@#$ing course, Starman, proved he's got a handle on the time, the people, and the passions that led them, good or bad.

But better than that? The man knows how to !@#$ing tell an ensemble story. Face time is balanced, people have distinct personalities and goals, and all the characters get their big !@#$ moments to shine in a plot that twists, turns, and folds the !@#$ back on itself to a slam bang, open-ended conclusion.

He also has a genius for bringing in people from out of left field that make sense, and give old-school fans something to cheer about -- especially when we get the feeling we'll be seeing them again, really !@#$ soon...

2) Steve Pugh

I've been following this guy for some time, now. When he was doing gruesome inktastic expressionism on Hellblazer and Animal Man, back in the 90's, his work seemed blocky and overdone, but it suited those books amazingly well. Over time, his work got tighter,and better-defined, but his excellent grotesque sensibilities got even better -- so much so that when he returned to Animal Man, for the reboot, he helped make that title the powerhouse it currently is.

With All New Invaders, he's !@#$ing knocking it out of the !@#$ park. Thanks in part to the excellent color art (hat tip to Guru-efx) his work is supple, full, and well-defined. And when he gets a chance to cut loose and do something squidgy and weird (Like the God Whisperer, itself, or the (CLASSIFIED) Hammond will be fighting early in the next collection), the results are !@#$ing astounding. The Kree have never looked better, Cap looks like a !@#$ing tank on legs, and Namor is... well, Namor is. Let's put it that way. 

"I hafff de powerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!"

3) Jim Hammond

Yes, there I am getting kind of !@#$ing nostalgic, again. But having the original Human Torch back in the Marvel Universe has been a big !@#$ special treat, both for old school folks like myself and for people who are just discovering him as a character. He's our decent, everyman reluctant hero with a lot of !@#$ red to make up for, and the lens we're seeing this murky corner of the world through. He's also a massive self-questioning figure, as he's not certain if he's human, synthetic, or what, which makes for a lot of !@#$ing story and character potential.

SPYGOD's VERDICT: Three Thumbs Up for a well-written, amazingly-drawn series that takes an old team and puts it through some new and exciting adventures. You should make this a monthly pull, son. No arguments.

All New Invaders, Vol. 1: Gods and Soldiers -- get it at your local comic store!

7/31/14 - Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

As those of you !@#$ers who are lucky enough to read my semi-regular dispatches from super-spy country will know, old Uncle SPYGOD's got a more-than-!@#$ing-passing familiarity with space opera bull!@#$. Not only do I have a boyfriend who used to keep the whole !@#$ planet safe from alien invaders, big !@#$ asteroids, and weird outer-space !@#$ that'd come along and try to eat Kuala Lumpur, or something, but when he !@#$ed up and missed something too small for Deep-Ten to see coming, I got to clean up his mess on the ground.

(Made for some really !@#$ interesting pillow talk when we first hooked up, let me tell you.)

So yes, son, I know from crazy outer space !@#$. And so when I say that Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy has turned out to be some grade-A, top prime, Over The !@#$ Top and Through The Woods to Grandmother's Big !@#$ Jacuzzi crazy outer space !@#$, you should just nod, smile, and buy a ticket for everyone you can think of. 

"Ill take two large drinks and a medium popcorn, mother!@#$er."

Why? Well, let's break this !@#$er down for you, here: (Some light spoilers apply)

It's got a guy you can root for, for starters. Peter Quill -- aka Starlord -- is just your average person, provided your average person was !@#$ing kidnapped out of a hospital lawn when he wasn't even old enough to shave, yet, and put to work by a bunch of hardscrabble alien types. All he's got to remind him of Earth (Terra, as they say out in the black) is an Awesome Mix Tape of 70's tunes, and memories of his dying mother.

Of course, this guy grows up wild and a little weird. He also thinks he's a master thief, and he might be right. But when he goes to get some mysterious orb from a dead world on behalf of his kidnappers-turned-friends, and then not only deals with some unexpected resistance, and pulls a double-cross on his partners, well... before you know it, every mother!@#$er who either wants the orb, the bounty on his head, or his !@#$ on a stick decides to chase him to get it -- with interesting results. 

And this, in time, leads to Quill being tossed into the mother of all bas!@#$ space prisons with the adoptive daughter of Thanos, himself (Gamora), a cyborg rodent who looks like a Raccoon (Rocket), a green-skinned brute who really wants vengeance on a certain villain (Drax the Destroyer), and a walking tree who sounds like Vin !@#$ing Diesel (Groot). Together, they commit crimes, or at least try to band together and get their !@#$es out of jail so they can fulfill their individual goals. 

"Now we just need awesome music. How about 'In the Navy'?"

Bad news is, it won't be that !@#$ing simple. For one thing, the Nova Corps is on their !@#$. For another, they'll have to deal with the Collector, himself, who, as we all know by now, is not to be !@#$ing trusted. And for yet another thing, they'll ultimately have to face Ronan the Accuser, a dangerous Kree fanatic who wants the orb for his master, Thanos, but might have a few !@#$ed-up ideas of his own. 

And let's not forget the other adoptive daughter of Thanos, Nebula, who's got enough issues to have subscriptions, and is !@#$ happy to deal with them by bringing the pain to other folks who get in her way. 

The story of how these unlikely heroes become a team and deal with these scum!@#$s is the movie, and there's no way in !@#$ I am giving away any more than I have. But there are a few things I will tell you about why you should see this movie, other than the fact that I'll kick your !@#$ing butts black and blue if you don't.

1) It's fun, fun, fun: This is being billed as a science fiction action comedy, and they didn't just say that because it rolls off the tongue like a vodka-soaked gummi bear. There's a lot of laughs, a lot of good action, explosions, laughs, thrills, excellent effects, laughs, and stirring speeches that find a way to make this more than just a laugh, though it has a lot of big !@#$ laughs. The good guys are loveable rogues who don't always make good choices, but have good banter, and the bad guys are one-dimensional enough to not have to have a hard think about moral ambiguity or any of that !@#$ while enjoying your popcorn.

2) It's Marvel, Though You Don't Need to Know That: If you are a Marvel fan, you will not be disappointed. This movie takes its cues from the current run of Guardians of the Galaxy, but also throws in a lot of other pieces of cosmic Marvel -- both new and old, big and small. It plays right into the backstory of certain, super-powerful objects we've seen in other Marvel movies (Captain America, Avengers, and Thor II), throws in some massively amazing things we've been hoping to see as MCU canon, and develops the presence of Thanos as a big bad to watch out for.

But even if you've never read the comic, and have no idea who the !@#$ any of these people are, your ignorance is not penalized from not getting it. Whatever's essential to the plot is explained, and whatever's just an easter egg or fan service is just that -- however wonderful to see.

"I said a triple carmel macchiato with soy milk, !@#$ it."

3) We're Going to Need the Laugh:  It's true that this movie lacks the emotional depth of other Marvel movies. And that may lead you to realize that your cheering isn't as deep and full as it was for, say, Avengers, Iron Man, or Captain America: the Winter Soldier, and may lead to your leaving the theater feeling as though you aren't as satisfied as you should be. However, as has been remarked elsewhere, this is the light comedy course between two really !@#$ heavy offerings -- Winter Soldier and the upcoming Avengers 2, which is purportedly going to be one !@#$ of a big !@#$ emotional wringer. 

Past that? This movie's a great ensemble piece, which each character meshing fairly well with the others. The CGI on Rocket and Groot is nothing short of !@#$ing amazing, to the point where you can almost believe it's real, and those who listen for a certain Browncoat in an amusing cameo will not be disappointed. 

Plus, Josh Brolin's Thanos shows a lot of promise -- in the short time he's on screen you can actually feel the pure !@#$ing menace radiate over the rest of the film. We'll be seeing more of him, soon. We may not like it, though...

SPYGOD's Verdict: Two and a Half Thumbs Up for an immensely fun movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, even in the face of black villainy and possible Galactic apocalypse. Guardians of the Galaxy delivers on its promise of comedy, action, and science fiction while doing Marvel's cosmic properties proud. Take a friend who's never seen any Marvel movies, and be sure to stay alllll the way through the credits.

7/11/14 - Velvet, Vol. 1 - Before the Living End (Image)

One thing you quickly learn in any spy organization is that you never, ever piss off the !@#$ secretary.

Why? Well, maybe you think the field agents are the !@#$, and maybe they are. Maybe they juggle a nation's security as easily as most frat boys play beer pong. Maybe they overthrow regimes and ferret out counterspies before breakfast.   

Maybe they can !@#$ing kill people from across the room with their !@#$ brains. 

Or the patented Sir Christopher Lee Look Of Death.

But tell me this, son -- who cleans up their reports for the boss? Who keeps track of who's doing what, and where, and the last time they called in? Who calls up at !@#$-all-o'clock to tell Number 14  that Number 13 hasn't checked in,or inform the boss that Number 6 really wants a god!@#$ vacation? 

Who remembers all the small details? Who sees the little inconsistencies? Who notices the long-term patterns? And who makes sure the office runs smooth as silk while you're in the other room, screaming down the horn at some poor !@#$ing schmuck who lost the person he was supposed to be tailing?   

That would be your secretary, son. The person who's paid to be your outboard brain. The most dangerous person in the whole !@#$ office.

And when they go rogue, it's bad !@#$ing news for everyone.

Do NOT read this letter. It will kill you.

(This is why SPYGOD does not have secretaries, son. I have Seconds. They basically run the show for me while I'm off strapping myself to man-missiles, shooting commies, and getting my fine gay !@#$ shot at for America. And they're so !@#$ busy with all that they don't have time to get any funny ideas) 

Which brings us to the case of one Velvet Templeton: personal secretary to the Director of ARC-7 -- an agency other spy organizations think is a big !@#$ myth. Their top agents don't exist, every op is black as night, and they have more cool toys than they know what to do with.   

They've also got a major !@#$ing problem. One of their best agents was just killed in the field, and it looks like a former agent might be responsible. And while that would be very much in fitting with the bleak poetry that defines the spy game, Velvet just doesn't think he's their man. 

Unfortunately, when she goes digging, suspecting a frame-up, she gets put right at the scene of another frame -- her own.

And this is where the !@#$ hits the fan, because as it turns out, Velvet Templeton wasn't always a secretary. She was once a field agent in her own right. And while it's been years since she did anything more dangerous than take the bus to work, there's nothing like having your own Agency trying to !@#$ing kill you to get the old instincts back online.

The right wardrobe helps -- a lot.

Hunted and hounded at almost every step, she takes it on the god!@#$ lam, working to retrace the dead agent's steps. Some time ago, on a long-forgotten operation, there was a day he couldn't quite account for. Someone must know what the !@#$ happened, then, and the answers to why he was killed will hopefully follow.

But with each step she takes to unravel this puzzle, her own !@#$ past begins to unravel as well. What happened to the dead agent may have something to do with one of her own dark secrets, long buried behind the facade of "personal secretary."   

Hopefully she can stay a step ahead of her own !@#$ people long enough to find out what's really going on here. But when you're up against a group like ARC-7, and still shaking off the rust of so many years, such hopes are few and fleeting, indeed. 

What else could I say about Velvet? Plenty more, but that'd ruin a number of genuine pleasures and surprises in what turned out to be a !@#$ good spy tale. And when I'm saying something like that, well, that's saying something, son.   

Put it this way -- when Velvet says that operatives hate to follow the rules, but yet are good at following orders? That's when you know they get it.

But let me break it down a little more for you: 

1) Believable Superspy Story: Believe you me, this is hard to pull off. So many people think it's all about guns, gadgets, disguises, and !@#$ing women with names like "Quim Sundae." And while they are in here (well, not poor Ms. Sundae) the creators understand that the game is more about having contacts, using assets, remembering the little things, and being willing to sacrifice anything and anyone to get the job done.   

2) 1970's Period Piece: While it's not always evident -- and that's probably a good thing -- the fact that this is set back in the 70's makes the tale a little more intriguing to me. No cell phones to steal, no PCs to hack, no internet to get all the answers from. There are no shortcuts, only tradecraft. And that is glorious.   

3) A Great Creative Team: What else could you expect from the creators of Captain America: the Winter Soldier? Brubaker's writing is stellar, here: well-paced and taut, with an excellent understanding of when to tell and when to show. And Epting's art is excellent, able to move from the shadows to the light in all the right spots, and stay well-grounded in a gritty realism that makes the leaps into superspy mode just that much more astounding.

"It's dark, and we're wearing superspy glasses."  "Hit it."

If you loved their run on Captain America, and wanted to see how they handle a full on spy tale that doesn't have powers or costumes? This is your ticket, son. Buy the !@#$ thing and get on board.

SPYGOD'S VERDICT: Two and a half thumbs up for a solid, exciting, period spy tale with top-notch art, excellent pacing, and a main character whose past never fails to surprise. Velvet's one to catch every month, provided you can keep up with her. 

Velvet Vol. 1: Before the Living End -- get it at your local comic store!

7/7/14 - Black Science, Vol. 1: How To Fall Forever (Image)

As I was saying just the other day, son, I !@#$ing hate dimensional travel. 

I mean, it's hard enough dealing with !@#$ in our own world, let alone anyone else's. But when you go leaping from one plane of reality into another, even if you wind up on the same !@#$ing planet you're always running the risk of altered history, social errors that can get your !@#$ killed, or worse, and crazy !@#$ you'd never even think of. Like having my fine, gay !@#$ chased through Ancient Greece by god!@#$ nazi robots riding giant worms.

(And no, son, we are not talking about that. If that was any more classified I'd have to shoot God in the face.)

Plus, there's the god!@#$ landings. It's not always like that one !@#$ movie where Snake Plissken and Ultron are going through the giant Egyptian space donut, and can send a robot ahead to check it the !@#$ out. Nine times out of ten you're just through and gone, on a literal wing and a prayer, with no !@#$ing telemetry at all

So the moment you jump through the portal, and land on the other end? Well, it's like jumping from a !@#$ing moving train, son. Maybe you're lucky and you land in a conveniently located pile of hay, but it's more likely you're going to hit the dirt on top of a big !@#$ pile of rocks.

Then, once you've gotten the !@#$ up, and found out half your !@#$ party's turned into mush or been eaten by mouths in the ground, you look down the tracks and see your train going away.

And then you say "Well !@#$, how the !@#$ are we going to get back, now?"

"Wait, what do you mean we can't !@#$ing call a cab?"

So yes, son. I hate it, hate it, hate it. With the power of a thousand big !@#$ burning suns, and all that !@#$. But maybe that's why I like reading about it, if only because I can !@#$ing enjoy it by remote, and not have to worry about fending off a legion of giant, Athenian inchworms with nothing but a can of Greek fire, two empty pistols, and a god!@#$ rock.

Which brings me to the first volume of what has to be, hands-down, the best !@#$ing dimensional travel story I have read in quite some time: the first volume of Black Science -- How to Fall Forever. It's another excellent science fiction offering from Image comics, which, in case you haven't been !@#$ing paying attention, is getting far, far away from simply being an nest of infighting creators who didn't want to deal with Marvel's bull!@#$, anymore.

What's going on? Well, here's this scientist, and he's managed to do something extremely ill-considered and illegal. He's made dimensional travel actually !@#$ing work, somehow, and is intent on using that knowledge to go exploring, and bring back amazing new things to the world.

"Come on, man. There are starving kids in Africa!"

All well and good, but there's just one problem -- the first trip out wasn't supposed to have this many people on it. Something went really !@#$ing wrong, in the lab, and now there's people stuck on another world that clearly have no business being there. Most notably his !@#$hole boss, as well as his own kids who really shoudn't have come along.

Yet another problem? The controls on their device have been smashed all to !@#$. So not only are they lost, but they have no control over where they are !@#$ing going, and the time they spend on each world is totally random.

But there's an even bigger problem than that. Those controls didn't get !@#$ing smashed by accident. One of the people on this trip is a !@#$ traitor, willing to kill them all to stop this experiment.

And how can you fight for your lives in a strange and hostile alien environment when one of the group is trying to knife the rest you in the back...?

How indeed, sweet William. How indeed.

I'm not !@#$ing saying anything more about the plot, itself, because to do so would ruin a lot of the great surprises and shocks this has in store. It's enough to say that it reminds me of Sliders crossed with the original Lost in Space, with a little bit of early Doctor Who mixed in for good measure. That and a !@#$ton of fighting, heavy language, and a story that's slowly unwound from well-timed flashbacks makes this a well-paced treat.

But I will say why this series really amazed me.

1) Sheer imagination. Being able to go to different !@#$ing dimensions gives a lot of chances to show off your writing and art chops, and Remender, Scalera, and White do not disappoint. There's more ideas in a single world they encounter than there are in most big box-office films, and the artists bring them to life with a great deal of verve.

2) Great Pulp. This is some brilliant, two-fisted stuff, here. It reminds me of 70's-era Heavy Metal magazine, back before it drank a big bottle of SUCK that it still hasn't quite voided from its system. And yet, unlike that magazine's output, which always amazed yet disheartened, this series has hope and humanity in equal measure -- essential ingredients if you want to care about the people, and their fates.

3) Who's dying next. Having read a lot of science fiction, and watched it on the screen, one slowly develops a sense of fatalism about certain kinds of characters. You know who's going to live, who's going to die; who's going to sacrifice themselves bravely, and who's just going to get offed for a shock. I'm happy to report that Black Science bucks this trend with all the force of an iron bull set up to 11. You really do not see most of the important character death coming, and the results are quite spectacular, in terms of what it brings to bear on the plot.

In short, Image Comics has itself another winner, here. If you've been digging Remender's high-WTF work on Uncanny Avengers, and were floored by his Dimension Z saga in Captain America, Black Science will show you what he can do when he doesn't have Marvel telling him to play nice. And if you've liked Scalera's other work, the glory he and Dean White get up to will have you drooling in anticipation for the next issue.

And maybe a few other things, besides...

SPYGOD'S VERDICT: Three thumbs up for a great concept that's amazingly well-executed, and has left me wanting a !@#$ of a lot more. This is one you should make a monthly buy.

Black Science vol 1 - How To Fall Forever - get it at your local comic store!

7/2/14 - Three-Fisted Confession, Statement of Intent, and Invitation to Eat It

I often say confession's good for the soul -- especially when you don't have to stick a big !@#$ gun up someone's nose to get it.

So, in this day and age of this hero's 70th anniversary, and that one's 75th, and so on, I have a confession to make. It's one that you might not be entirely surprised about, given who I am and what I do. But, just in case you're wondering where I stand on so-called comic books?

Well, son, once upon a time, I really did not give two flaming bags of dog!@#$ about comic books of any kind.

I mean, sure, we had them, back when I was a kid. That was back in the 20's and 30's, when some of the original masked men books were hitting the stands, and then thugs and mad scientists. Buck Rogers, The Phantom, Flash Gordon, and Tarzan were in the !@#$ing strips, and you had Batman and Superman in their own books, along with the original Sandman, Blue Beetle, and Human Torch. !@#$, even that Namor douche was around back then, if you can believe that.

 Buck Rogers: Making men feel inadequate since 1929

Yeah, we had all kinds of crazy comic books, but I didn't !@#$ing need them.

See, while other kids were grooving to masked men and dangerous detectives, I was looking through the papers to see what my real life hero, The Owl, was up to over in Chi-Town. And while my brothers were rooting through the trash to find old newspapers and tossed-out books, and being set upon by our neighbors' man-eating doberman, who wasn't happy to have his trash messed with, I was putting clips of The Owl's exploits into a scrapbook, along with my really !@#$ty drawings of him.

And I read them over and over again, like some kids do with comics. Because The Owl was !@#$ing real, and exciting, and seemed a !@#$ of a lot better than those other morons my brothers were !@#$ing gaga over.

So, yes, son, that means I totally !@#$ing missed out on those comics that everyone wishes they had a copy of. The super-rare, uber-valuable ones that could have eventually used to buy a god!@#$ manmade island off the coast of Dubai and populate it with katoeys and cockatoos, and still have some bucks left over for a Fiat.

!@#$ son, I held a copy of the first issue of Action Comics in my !@#$ hands, and tossed it over my shoulder because I thought it was a snore. 

I did kind of get the last laugh, though. When I and my brothers went off to war, my mom threw away my brothers' comic books. But she kept my Owl Journal, because she thought it was !@#$ing cute.

(I gave it to the Owl family as a gift, decades later, as a "thank you." It burned along with the Owls Nest, sadly.)

But that was back before people thought there just might be something to this "comic book" thing, other than turning kids into gay truant scofflaws and undermining their GPA. Back before anyone thought to say that a complete story, or at least a compilation of 4 to 12 issues, might be called a "graphic novel."

And back before people were willing to say that a "graphic novel" might be a perfectly !@#$ing legitimate way to tell a story, using the unique strengths of the medium to do what ordinary prose cannot accomplish.

 "Go ahead. Dis Love and Rockets one more time, you 

snooty traditionalist. I dare you. I double dare you!"

Now, I was once one of those scoffers, son. I had nothing but scorn for those paper things my brothers couldn't !@#$ing afford, but somehow got their hands on, anyway. And every !@#$ time they went trashcan-diving for comic gold, and the doberman pounced from nowhere to bite them on their !@#$es, I laughed like a man possessed.

But one day, I had the opportunity to discover just how !@#$ing important these comic books could be.

You've heard me !@#$ing go on about dimensional travel at some length, I'm sure? Well, don't do it, kids. It's not !@#$ing fun. You wind up on the other end of a really weird!@#$ looking glass, when you're wandering around someone else's Earth, and no one !@#$ing wants you there, anyway.

It's like being a germ in someone's bloodstream, son. The whole !@#$ landscape wants you gone. Everyone acts like they do in that one movie where Howard Hughes is leading Kitty Pride around his mindscape, and all his subconscious people start walking into her.

Imagine every cop thinking you're a criminal, every bully thinking you're a victim, every victim thinking you're a bully, and every 60-year-old grandma with a sixgun in her purse thinking you're looking at her... punk.

 Slowly, Clark began to realize this was not a surprise party.

But you know how this business works, son. Accidents can and do happen. And this one time I got blown over into a world that was a near copy of ours... mostly.

I mean, the Presidents were mostly the same, mostly, except that Jack Kennedy was shot, and that worthless streak of Texas cow!@#$ he had for a Veep was the President for a while. But the countries, the history, the culture, all pretty much bang on.

However, there wasn't a single real strategic talent or super villain to be found anywhere. They weren't real, except for a few morons who wanted to dress up like !@#$ing Batman, and then get busted for public intoxication and trying to off one another for Jesus.

No, son. All the heroes you see every day, here? All the villains and criminals and vigilantes and licensed heroes? They were all in comic books.

And I had my own !@#$ing title, all to myself.

Now, I'm sure you can !@#$ing imagine what was going through my head when I walked into a friendly, local comic book store and saw myself, staring back at me. Not only did that throw me for a !@#$ing loop, but it made me want to read every !@#$ issue they had on hand.

And then it made me want to !@#$ing cry, son. Big !@#$ tears. And shoot up half the !@#$ place, too, though I held off and just did that at the !@#$py hipster bar next door, instead.

(Hipsters seem to be a cosmic constant, like Jim Morrison and Jesus Christ.)

Why, you ask? Because while it was !@#$ing me, and the things it talked about did !@#$ing happen, they got the details wayyyyyy wrong.

  Thankfully, not this !@#$ing wrong. 

Things were just... off, son. Kind of like when your parents are telling a story about something that happened during your childhood, years ago, and they're getting things !@#$ing wrong?

And there you, saying "No, mom. It wasn't Bill from up the block who got caught stealing Joe's sister's underwear off the line. It was Roger from two streets over. And he wasn't my friend, he used to give me wedgies and steal my lunch money. Remember?"

And your mom's just shaking her head, and saying "No, it was Bill. I told you not to play with Bill, and that's why."

And there's no point arguing with mom, now is there? Even when she's wrong, she's right.

Well, I think my mom wrote those issues of SPYGOD: THE DRUNKEN GUNS OF LIBERTY. The details were shaky, the dialogue was !@#$ing shot to Hell.

And then art... oh son, don't even !@#$ing get me started on the art. My !@#$ing cat does better likenesses in his litter pan after a hefty, steaming, vodka-infused !@#$.

I managed to make it out of that crazy, heroless nightmare of a world without Talia Al'Ghul tying me to a !@#$ing train track, and I brought home one of those issues of my comic book. I put it up behind glass, and hung it down the hallway with all the heads. And when visitors to The B.U.I.L.D.I.N.G. came by and asked, I'd just smile and say "!@#$ you, you don't want to know."

Because they really didn't.

But that made me respect the art and craft of the comic book a whole lot more, right there. Just knowing that there was some real art and craft to it. That the choice of a word, or the tilt of a panel, or making sure not to use the person you're currently !@#$ing as your artist (unless they really are that good) can make the difference between some piece of !@#$ and a modern epic.

In that vein, I've decided that, since time is short and money is tight for most of my fans, it might be a nice thing for me to review comics for you. After all, I am uniquely qualified, having been a god!@#$ cartoon character most of my adult life. I've been places that four colors can't take you, done things you won't see in flashbacks panels, and broken down the fourth wall enough times to know that there's even a !@#$ fifth wall, out there.

I've seen it and done it, son. And now I've read it, and want to pass my judgment onto you.

So here we are: you, me, and a whole bunch of comics, graphic novels, maybe even a real book or two. We'll laugh, we'll learn, we'll get drunk and read like mother!@#$ers.

And maybe we'll all be happier in the end, for having brought out the good in the medium, and avoided the bad. Especially when the bad looks like !@#$ing cat !@#$ with guns, an eyepatch, and a smile.

Don't like it? Eat it. But this train's heading out, drunken guns and all.

You're welcome