In this issue!

Proof by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo (Image Comics);
The Secret History of the Authority: Jack Hawksmoor by Michael Costa and Fiona Staples (DC Comics – Wildstorm);
Vulcan & Vishnu by Leland Purvis (Act-I-Vate );
Panoramaby Michel Fiffe (Act-I-Vate);
Wondermark by David Malki !;
The New Adventures of Queen Victoria by Pab Sungenis;
Family Man by Dylan Meconis;
History Comics by Kate Beaton.

Proof by Alex Grecian and Riley Rossmo; Image Comics
[Website] [First issue free @ Newsarama]

Like the X-Files, when the X-Files was a really good show, but with… I don’t know if “less secrecy” is a good way of putting it; the secrets are out there, people run into them, we are told of their details in clever ‘Cryptoid’ boxes, there’s a Bigfoot on the investigating team, we know that in the world of Proof the monsters and the myths are unambiguously there — yet the thrill and the mystery are not in the slightest bit diminished for this. Proof blends the genres of horror, crime, and action without a glitch, underlining them with dry humour that arises naturally from the series’ supernatural setup, and most importantly each character feels vital and rounded, no matter the amount of their screen time. Best new thing among standardly published comics, if you ask me.

The Secret History of the Authority: Jack Hawksmoor by Michael Costa and Fiona Staples; DC Comics (Wildstorm)
[Website] [Artist's website]

Fresh art! Smooth writing! Clever and thoughtful use of an Authority character! I’m running out of my daily quota of exclamation marks here but really, this deserves each one. I got into superhero comics timidly and tentatively – still learning, folks – and it was precisely The Authority series that friends lured me by. A superhero, or rather superhuman team made of a few jaded pros and a few delighted newcomers to the world-saving career aboard a gigantic spaceship orbiting our world, everything augmented and even more real as far as the genre goes; the Authority did not only battle exotic threats, but also got into conflicts with corrupt governments, eventually deciding to have a go at running the United States.
Following that particular fiasco the team has been written more or less steadily, but with notable fluctuations in quality in both the writing and the art. Thankfully, this new series takes the team’s most interesting character (an ‘urban empath’ who communicates with, and commands cities as entities in their own right) and if the first issue is to be trusted, does not falter in either of its segments. I cannot wait to read the rest.

Vulcan & Vishnu by Leland Purvis; Act-I-Vate
[Website] [LiveJournal]

Best of un-standardly published/distributed comics that I am aware of. Actually I’m very tempted to say that this is among the finest comics I’ve ever read from any era or milieu, because it not only satisfies with the strength of its characters and the exquisite art, but also invents, invents, and invents. There are no words, for one – none that we can read, anyway; all the communication is conveyed through gestures, facial expressions (which is where the artist’s skill really makes or breaks the gamble; be assured that Purvis wins) and pictograms. The way the comic is broken up into indivdual frames enhances its ‘technical’, diagrammatic feel, which becomes the story’s narrative tool. The world of V&V is at the same time familiar and new, making it easy to identify with its two protagonists. Ace in every way.

Panorama by Michel Fiffe; Act-I-Vate
[Website] [LiveJournal]

Strange, but in a really good way. I think “psychological horror” is a good way of describing it, and the way it draws you in echoes the mode of its protagonists’ physical transformation throughout the story. The art is a perfect example of consistency in deformation – its treatment of space (and time, to a degree) has its own logic, but logic it is. No detail is without purpose, and the often experimental use of black and white fields contributes to the storytelling. I often find myself having to revisit earlier pages but this is not because I find it difficult to progress otherwise; it is because I want to test my predictions, see if I interpreted what I’d taken for clues accurately, marvel at the cleverness of the structure and its execution — in short, to delight in Fiffe’s craft. I think I could reread this countless times and keep finding something new.

Wondermark by David Malki !
[Website] [LiveJournal]

Postmodern soul that I am, I am absolutely won over by this marriage of 19th century printmaking and thoroughly modern sentiment and vocabulary. At once surreal and deeply familiar, this is just bursting with gems. Go and dig!

The New Adventures of Queen Victoria by Pab Sungenis
[Website] [LiveJournal]

This series of curious adventures of Victoria’s court and extended family, transcending the limits of time or reality and featuring the likes of Queen Elisabeth I or the Virgin Mary among its supporting cast, reminded me of J. Millar Watt’s Pop series in its impeccable sense of timing. This is the essence of comedy, and TNAOQV employs it in a wide manner, from slapstick to the surreal. The unamused majesty is often seen dealing with contemporary issues, making the comic closer to Doonesbury than for example Wondermark, as one would guess from the clipart approach. Come for the jokes, stay for the characters. A fantastic tribute to history in all its peculiarities.

Family Man by Dylan Meconis
[Website] [LiveJournal]

I’m in love with the artwork which is just the right blend of well-researched attention to detail, and liberal stylisation. I’m not entirely certain what to make of the plot: the prologue (and the ghost of Meconis’ previous wonder, Bite Me) made me expect a story with supernatural elements but so far – just over a hundred pages in – it’s been an academic period drama. Before you think that this is a complaint allow me to assure you that it’s exactly the opposite: my inner geek cannot get enough of this. I could read history comics until my head fell off, especially from the periods or cultures I’m not overly familiar with; nothing like education to make me happy, especially if it comes from art like this. I just wish I knew if the story will carry on with its theme of academic intrigue, or if more sinister turns lie ahead. But hey, either is up my alley.

History Comics by Kate Beaton
[Website] [LiveJournal]

The art is masterful in its simplicity and fairly rigorous format. Now I just said that I love learning from comics, but Beaton’s vignettes are more for those readers who are already familiar with the events or personnages in question and can delight in the way she compresses them to cynical essence with hilarious results. The humour does not rest in content alone; the characters’ expressions and a breathless, punctuation-free delivery reminiscent of “lolspeak” make the comics appeal to a wide readership, and I hope they find it. These should be promoted all over the place.