FPI: Can you pick three comics/webcomics/graphic novels which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

Paul: I think I’d pick: Swamp Thing by Scott Snyder (who’s the new genius writer of comics, with a run on Detective immediately before the New 52 that blew me away).

(cover to DC New 52′s relaunched Swamp Thing #1 by Scott Snyder and Yanick Paquette)

Batgirl by Gail Simone (who’s always worth reading, one of the true greats).

(Batgirl #1 from the DC New 52 relaunch, written by Gail Simone, art by Ardian Syaf, cover by Adam Hughes)

And, okay, I should do a Marvel one, Kieron Gillen’s Uncanny X-Men (that brand feels so invigorated now, and he’s a writer who loves delivering actual endings, always my favourite thing in comics).

(cover to Uncanny X-Men #2 by Kieron Gillen, cover art by Billy Tan and Carlos Pacheco, (c) Marvel)

FPI: Can you pick three books which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

Paul: Reamde by Neal Stephenson (as one blog put it, the great American novel, born out of geek culture while not being SF, showing that geek culture *is* mainstream culture now).

The Islanders by Christopher Priest (it’s the new Priest, so I’m bound to love it, but this one starts the playing with levels of reality on page one).

And Heaven’s Shadow by Michael Cassutt and David S. Goyer (a JK Abrams-style reinvention of the Arthur C. Clarke near future SF novel, pitched to please the mainstream in ‘airport novel’ mode).

FPI: Can you pick three TV shows and/or movies which you especially enjoyed over the last twelve months and tell us why you singled them out?

Paul: Doctor Who is not a show, more a lifestyle choice, so: Fringe (just the most intelligent show on American TV, with multiple layers of reality and an interest in how we react to them, pure SF).

Warehouse 13 – great fun, great plotting, great characters (good, it’s not just me hooked on Warehouse 13 then! – Joe).

Game of Thrones – an epic rebuttal of fantasy cliche, deeply satisfying.

FPI: How did 2011 go for you as a creator? Are you happy with the way you got your work out this year?

Paul: I am!  Two comics in the New 52 from DC that are actually *increasing* in sales, a radio play and lots of short stories.  Very pleasing.

(Paul signing in the Edinburgh Forbidden Planet this autumn, pic from my Flickr)

FPI: What can we look forward to from you in 2012?

Paul: My first urban fantasy novel, Cops and Monsters, out from Tor in October.  It’s my single best work, I think, emotional and action packed, funny and really serious, all in one.  I feel like I’ve finally worked out how to be a novelist.  If you liked my Doctor Who or comics work, I think you might love this.  And Saucer Country, an ongoing comic series from Vertigo about UFO mythology, as a Presidential candidate gets… well, let’s call it ‘abducted by aliens’.  There are grey areas to that, as we’ll see.

(promotional artwork for Paul’s Saucer Country coming from DC’s Vertigo next year, art by Ryan Kelly)

FPI: Anyone you think is a name we should be watching out for next year?

Paul: Lauren Beukes has now conquered the world, so I’ll say Adam Christopher, with his new superhero universe in the novel Empire State (NB due out early January from Angry Robot & next on my tottering must-read pile – Joe).

Gary at Comics Anonymous caught up with that fine chap Paul Cornell when he was signing in our Glasgow store recently and has posted up an interview with him:

“Gary: You’re writing two very different books as part of the new 52. Did you have any difficulty going between a high-tech futuristic superhero world to a land of fantasy swords and sorcery?

Paul Cornell: No, it was actually a refreshing change being able to switch between the 2 and explore the different story-telling styles that the titles demanded.

Gary: Demon Knights has been compared to Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and I found Stormwatch a little bit like Torchwood (in a good way!). Did you have any influences or reference points when writing each of the comics?

Paul Cornell: This is no accident in that Russell T Davies was a huge fan of Stormwatch and that it’s more along the lines that Torchwood is like Stormwatch. Even names like Jack Harkness come from this. I know in conversation we’ve had about comics he’s always mentioned the Wildstorm universe and the Authority and the debt is almost being paid back in kind with the similarity between the two.”

DC Comics,

By Paul Cornell and Diogenes Neves

Right from word go, this comic feels different. It’s without doubt firmly set in the fantasy genre, with the best elements of DC’s darker fantasy, sometimes well known from Vertigo pages, but also drawing on characters that are a key part of the main DC universe. DC has always had a connection to the mythical world of King Arthur and despite my normal wariness of fantasy, I was delighted by this comic.

We start off with the sacking of Camelot, King Arthur being taken to Avalon, and the sword Excalibur being thrown into a lake. There is always something enriching about The Matter of Britain when it is done well, and the portrayal of Merlin as we see him bind Jason to Etrigan the Demon is excellent. We see Xanadu, who in a previous life in the Vertigo-verse was known as Nimue Inwudu, younger sister to Morgaine Le Fay and Vivienne the Lady of the Lake. Whether that back-story holds true here is beyond me, at this stage, but she is a strong character.

Yet this is all just the prologue, and we head forward centuries to find the Horde of the Questing Queen on the move, child soldiers, beasts beyond belief, marching on a small town, where exactly is unclear. Here in this nondescript village, we find our group making acquaintance, in the best and most classical way, in the Victory at Rome tavern, where all adventures begin, and we meet Vandal Savage and Sir Ystin and people from faraway lands, suddenly all converged by fate at this one point, Little Spring.

Xanadu’s portrayal as a companion to Jason Blood is excellent, and I liked the unusual nature of her relationship with the Jason/Etrigan character.

The artwork is terrific. The Brian Blessed-esque character screaming for the innocents to flee at the beginning, to the scenes in the Tavern, all are very clean line work and precise. Anatomy is important here and Diogenes has it spot on. Fantasy action rather than static images is hard to portray well, but the artwork is dynamic, while being really detailed. I have to admit I haven’t been so impressed with a fantasy comic since Bone or Battle Chasers. There is even a map – a small one – but it made me smile as I realised I wished it was much larger.

It’s being brought together very well. I can only assume we will learn more about the various seven characters who will no doubt initially make up the band of warriors. I am excited, as already there is the hint of unusual and a distinct originality that this comic could have failed to grasp, in lesser hands. There are questions unanswered – the archer on the horse, the foreigners, what is the queen questing, where the hell is it set – but as an opener, the potential here is palpable. Cornell has a canvas that is quite vast and yet it feels he has a serious idea of direction and so far it’s the comic that has left me stylishly wanting much more, before the cliffhanger.

Reminder for folks in Glasgow and Edinburgh, the most excellent Paul Cornell, scribe behind numerous SF&F novels, some of the best scripts in the revived Doctor Who and a whole brace of comics (including, now, part of the massive DC 52 relaunch we’ve been covering extensively on the blog), will be in the Glasgow Forbidden Planet on Buchanan Street (by the Underground) tomorrow, Wednesday 21st September from 6 to 8pm, then on Thursday 22nd Paul shifts from west to east coast to visit the Edinburgh FP on South Bridge (a moment’s walk from the Royal Mile) where he will be signing from 5 to 6pm, so please do come along and take advantage of a chance to meet one of the most remarkable writers in the Brit comics scene and get your new DC signed as well!

My turn, as a lapsed superhero fan and convoluted continuity hater, to have a go at the new DC Universe titles…

As I wrote a week back, after my hmmm reaction to Justice League #1, the whole idea of completely reworking the DC Universe, hopefully making it work for new readers and lapsed readers like myself is rather appealing.

But I’m very aware that I’m perhaps not the ideal new reader for DC and will be naturally predisposed to veer to the slightly more unusual titles like Men Of War, OMAC etc than I am the more out and out superhero stuff like Green Arrow, Hawk & Dove, JLI. But I shall try to keep that open mind going throughout. Likewise, I’m not going to go into too much depth, as we’ve a veritable plethora of guest reviewers doing a fine job of covering the titles for us.

In descending order of liking them then……

O.M.A.C. #1

Story and Art by Keith Giffen and Dan DiDio

DC Comics

Well, this is weird. Really weird. But good weird. At least good weird for me. No idea how good weird for DC this will be.

In some ways it’s obvious; Keith Giffen is a brilliant exponent of a very Kirby look, so giving him Jack Kirby’s One Man Army Corp – essentially a cosmic futuristic Captain America – made absolute sense in one way, and of course it looks and feels like a Kirby tribute book. But in many ways it’s a huge surprise – I didn’t expect one of the new DC 52 to look like a modern version of a Kirby cosmic wrestling match.

It was, after seeing some of the previews, one of the comics I was really looking forward to in this first week of DC’s new 52. But I can’t see this going down too well with the fans. Or maybe, just maybe, this is exactly the sort of left-field, let’s try anything and see what works sort of thinking we’re getting from the new DC now? If that’s the case i can only approve, as the 20 pages of O.M.A.C. are pretty much the best cosmic battle scene I’ve seen for a long, long time. It’s the sort of thing Paul Pope does so well, but Giffen is on such great form here channelling Kirby for the modern day..

What happens in the issue? Very little to be honest. O.M.A.C. turns up, controlled, or at least guided by some internal voice, and proceeds to beat seven shades of something out of everything in his way. For some, as yet unknown reason, we’re in the base of The Cadmus Project, with a plethora of Kirby style bad guys in the big guys way. Big fights, weird villains, lots of Kirby style action.

(Fight, fight, fight, fighty, fight. Great stuff from O.M.A.C. by DiDio and Giffen)

And then back to Kevin. Last thing he knew he was in the men’s room. Now he can’t remember what happened and something called Brother Eye is phoning him up telling him he should call his girlfriend as she’ll be worried. The next issue box has the line “things get really weird”. Personally, I can’t wait.

OMAC was ridiculously over the top, absolutely mad, full of one big, beautiful fight scene, answered very few of the questions the events posed, but it was also a great explosion of kinetic Giffen art propelling the story along to God knows where. Part of me thinks this may be brilliant, part of me thinks it’s just too weird to succeed. A big part of me suspects anything I actually enjoy with this new DC 52 is doomed to fail when it comes to the superhero target audience. And there’s a sneaky little voice that questions whether something like this, maybe, just maybe, will find a new audience willing to give it a try?

But whatever happens, whatever the result, I’ll be here for issue 2, just to see what the hell Giffen and DiDio have planned.

Stormwatch #1

By Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda

DC Comics

(See Mark’s review of Stormwatch as well)

Right, here’s the one I was possible most hopeful for, and the most worried for. I loved Warren Ellis’ Stormwatch, and its subsequent shift into The Authority. But before Ellis? No, doesn’t exist for me. After Ellis came Mark Millar’s run. Which started off great, but swiftly went downhill. Blame editorial interference or artists or Millar’s writing recycling itself. And after that – again, those comics after don’t really exist for me. But those few volumes of Ellis written Stormwatch and the first two volumes of The Authority are great superhero books, practically defining the concept of widescreen superheroes – beautifully cinematic, action packed, lots of big, big things and punchy, quipy dialogue. And it’s so, so easy to get wrong.

But Paul Cornell, on the basis of this new issue 1 hasn’t got it wrong. In fact, he might have gotten it a little too right. Because this feels like a good (but not great) issue of The Authority. Exactly like it. It’s Cornell doing widescreen, very much slotting into the mold we expect from Stormwatch, with a big bad somewhere in the moon threatening the Earth. So I’m a touch worried that my enjoyment of it may just be because it feels somewhat like a very good cover version of a favourite song.

Cornell does enough to fill us in on Stormwatch; global protectors, been around a long time, secret, hidden from the emergent superheroes. And introduces us to the cast, giving enough information without overdoing the exposition, and setting things up for the future. It’s a far better and more convincing introduction to the team idea than Johns and Lee managed in Justice League.

(The good and the bad… nice quippy dialogue, good facial expressions in panels 1 & 2, but by panel 4 it’s looking bland and badly drawn and those PS effects – everywhere!)

Artist Sepulveda I’m not really that keen on. It’s okay. Overly flashy, too many of those crash, bang,whallop photoshop effects floating around, when what might have been nice was a little more concentration on the basics they’re doing the best to hide. Not ugly, but not great.

I have no idea how this fits into the new timeline, nor do I particularly care – one of the most interesting things to me is that this new DC can, if it wants (and I rather want it to) play fast and loose with the continuity. So right now I don’t care that Martian Manhunter is in the Justice League and Stormwatch, I don’t care that the footage of Superman is of his Justice League costume, not the jeans and boots of Action Comics. Right now, it’s just about making the story work. And Stormwatch is off to a good start.

Green Arrow #1

By J.T. Krul, Dan Jurgens and George Perez

DC Comics

My ex Nostalgia & Comics buddy Rich Nunn loves Green Arrow. I don’t know much about the character apart from the Neal Adams classic Green Arrow/ Green lantern stories and his appearances in the Morrison written JLA of old. Now Rich and I have vastly different takes on what makes a good comic, but he hated Green Arrow, and I’m with him all the way.

It’s just a pedestrian, by the numbers, superhero comic. Nothing of import happens, nothing makes it stand out as special. Ollie Queen turns up, has a virtual board meeting that’s obviously meant to set up something nasty in Queen Industries’ future and then sets about rounding up a few pretty pathetic second rate Parisian supervillains with the help of his new back up team of techys and weapons designers.

This would be a bad, boring comic anytime, but as the first issue of this new series, the first sighting of Oli Queen in the new DC Universe, it’s awful. A mediocre plot, terrible characterisation, awful villains, and the art is straight out of the 90s and just looks flat, ridiculous and dull. How George Perez had anything to do with this I just cannot see.

I was expecting to hate one of these new DC comics. Green Arrow wasn’t it. Avoid this. If all you want in a comic is a fight scene, go read O.M.A.C. – it’s got better artwork, the extended fight scene has more dynamism than Green Arrow could dream of, and it’s just fun, whereas this is just depressingly bad.

Now our next debutante; Mark Roberts, whose It Came From Dartmoor blog has been essential reading for a long time on all things Marvel UK. Mark was, like so many caught up in the hype of this new DC 52. Which has resulted in his picking up of several of the new number 1s.

Thanks very much to Mark for taking the time to drop these over to us. We hope it’s the beginning of many more posts here at the FPI blog. Now, over to Mark, and his reviews of Stormwatch #1, Action Comics #1 and Justice League International #1

Stormwatch #1

By Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda

Ever since DC announced the closure of the Wildstorm Imprint readers have been wondering when the characters might show up again. It had certainly been hinted that some of them may be showing up in the DC Universe proper at some point, but I think that even the most determined fans had feared that it wouldn’t come down to more than the odd guest appearance at best.

As a long time fan of Wildstorm I too was pleasantly surprised to see that, with the relaunch, DC had gone for far more than that, merging several properties from the former imprint into this new model of a DC Universe. And right at the forefront of those is a relaunch of Stormwatch.

Now I know that there has been some inevitable concern from long time readers over the idea of merging a property like Stormwatch (Or its successor The Authority) with such a distinctive tone (and which had also been quite so central to the former Wildstorm Universe) into DC proper. How would it work? Could it work?

Well having read this opening issue from Paul Cornell and Miguel Sepulveda the answer is that it both can work, and can work pretty well, too.

This new Stormwatch is a mix of some of the best of Stormwatch and The Authority (Apollo, The Midnighter, Jack Hawksmoor, The Engineer and century baby Jenny Quantum), a familiar figure from the Justice League in the form of the Martian Manhunter, and several characters entirely new to this series (Expert swordsman Harry Tanner, media manipulator The Projectionist, and the so far rather enigmatic Adam One). And while some knowledge of previous incarnations of these characters may reward long term readers, new readers really are coming in at the start of this. Heck, two of the most familiar former members haven’t even joined the team yet!

This first issue sets up Stormwatch’s place within the DCU, based out of a Headquarters floating out in Hyperspace and looking out over the World. And rather cleverly there’s not so much a question over how you introduce Stormwatch into the DC Universe, because in this continuity they’ve always been here – with panels showing all sorts of ties you might not expect, from other relaunch titles to a mystery ‘Shadow Cabinet’ going back centuries. They watch over the world, and this new batch of costumed heroes somewhat concerns them.

There’s a lot going on in this issue (With Stormwatch trying to control three separate situations at once) but it occurs in a manner which shows you right from the off just the kind of things which this team deals with, on a daily basis. The artwork fits the tone of the book incredibly well, especially when Sepulveda is drawing the larger, more sci-fi scenes, and Cornell’s pacing is pretty strong throughout. As with any first issue there is a certain amount of exposition to get out, but I found it to be dealt with pretty well.

I think we probably won’t get the true measure of this one until the end of the first arc, but there’s plenty on show here to inspire me to pick up #2. I don’t think that the Wildstorm fans will be too disappointed, either.

Action Comics #1

By Grant Morrison, Rags Morales and Rick Bryant

So this is how it all begins? Again.

This is Grant Morrison and Rags Morales’ reinvention of one of the most iconic comic books of all time.

No pressure, then…

If there is one criticism I’ve heard made of Superman over the years, more than any other, it’s that iconic or not he’s a little bit… dull. So goes the argument: ‘What is interesting about a character who’s virtually indestructible, has no limitations, and always does the right thing, come what may‘? Heck I’ve even felt that way myself. I’ve certainly felt like I wanted to read a good Superman story for a long time, but certain limitations of the character have always been a bit of a turn off. I’d rather read about Lex Luthor… :)

Well, this might just prove to be the book which changes my mind.

Cast aside your preconceptions, because this isn’t the Superman you think you know. This Superman is still very much learning who and what he’s going to be. He’s young, he’s headstrong, and very much a law unto himself. And virtually indestructible or not you have to reckon that’s going to get him in trouble, sooner or later…

This is very much a back to basics approach here. Much like with Justice League #1 I feel certain echoes of what Marvel did when launching their Ultimate Universe here. Really get to the root of the property and retell it in a modern and intelligent manner, making deliberate choices to make the characters easy to connect with from the start. This Superman does have limitations. Oh, he can still leap a building in a single bound. But he can’t yet fly. Maybe hasn’t even thought to try.

As Clark Kent also, he’s instantly more relatable. He’s not a big name reporter, yet. He has a landlady. He lives in a beaten down area of Metropolis, struggling to meet the rent as he tries to forge a career.

And Lois Lane? Well, she knows of him by association. He’s that friend of Jimmy Olsen’s who works for a rival publication. It’s not even clear if they’ve actually met yet. In either of his guises.

All the familiar elements are here, just not in the same arrangement which people might expect. Because people don’t always become a hero overnight. These things take time. It’ll be interesting to see how Superman builds from vigilante to Superhero Icon. Or if indeed he does…

Seriously, if you’ve never felt the any interest in Superman before I’d strongly recommend giving this a go. It’s a really strong and intelligent reinvention, with solid artwork, and a final page that delivers a heck of a thump. Definitely worth a go.

Justice League International #1

By Dan Jurgens, Aaron Lopresti and Matt Ryan

I’ll be honest, I picked this book up purely on a whim. Why? Because I like international heroes. Characters from all over the world, putting aside their differences and working together. It’s why I love those classic Chris Claremont and John Byrne X-Men stories. It’s one of the central things which got me into reading comics. And while Marvel seem to be cutting down rapidly on giving panel time to their International cast of characters, DC seems to be much more interested in expanding it’s international reach.

Reading JLI #1 did actually remind me of reading those old Claremont/Byrne stories. And whilst some might see that as a slight, I absolutely do not mean it to be. It’s a genuine compliment. I mean, aside from Booster Gold, Batman and Guy Gardner I have pretty much no idea who these heroes are. We have representatives from America, Norway, Zambia, Brazil, Russia, China and Britain, complete with all the hokey stereotypical accents and dialects you might expect. There are traditional comic book arguments over who will get to lead. It may not be original, sure. But you know what?

It was a lot of fun to read.

The premise is simple, the United Nations are concerned that while there are heroes out there, fighting the good fight, they are doing so on their own. They’re not beholden to anybody or any organisation. So the decision is made to fund a super team of their own, made up of heroes from around the world, such as China’s August General in Iron, Russia’s Rocket Red, or Britain’s Godiva. With her weirdly prehensile hair…

Yes, it is all a little more light-hearted than some of the books in the relaunch. Yes, the pace of things means that we only get a fairly brief introduction to the cast. And, yes, the dismissal of protesters outside the Hall of Justice as “basement Dwellers who spend all day whining on the ‘net” may not be the the most covertly disguised dig at those people who threatened to boycott a DC Comics reboot. But it is a very promising start.

This book has some strong characters amongst its cast, and the potential for some rotation further on as well. Dan Jurgens gets the exposition out of the way early, and keeps the pace moving very well, while Aaron Lopresti’s art fits the tone, and delivers a heck of a final page image for the cliffhanger.

All in all a very good first issue. Not every comic book has to reinvent the wheel. Reading JLI #1 feels a bit like a reassuring hug from somebody familiar. I liked it a lot, and I’ll certainly be picking up #2.

A reminder for your diaries this month – screenwriter, novelist and comics scribe, the excellent Paul Cornell, will be in our Glasgow store on Buchanan Street on Wednesday 21st of September from 6 to 8pm and in the Edinburgh FPI on Thursday 22nd from 5 to 6pm. Mark it in your diaries now, peeps! Keep up with the latest from your local FPI branch via Facebook.

The excellent Paul Cornell, writer extraordinaire with SF novels, a whole brace of major comics and, of course, some of the best episodes of the new Doctor Who series to his name, is going to be in Scotland next month and oh lucky readers, he will be making appearances in both our Glasgow and our Edinburgh stores. As part of the celebration of the enormous relaunch of DC Comics’ main titles, Paul will be in the Glasgow store on Buchanan Street on Wednesday 21st of September from 6 to 8pm and in the Edinburgh FPI on Thursday 22nd from 5 to 6pm. It’s a great chance to come along and meet on of Blighty’s finest comcis & SF scribes, do come along and take advantage of it! As ever you can keep up with news of events, new releases and offers in your local FPI branch via their Facebook pages.