Postcards from the Ledge (No. 9)

By Robert Murray

Welcome to February, everyone! For the shortest month of the year (though we do get an extra day in ‘08), February has a lot to offer. It’s Black History Month. Pitchers & catchers report in 10 days (Go Nats & Os!). This Tuesday is Fat Tuesday (PARTY!). Oh, and don’t forget (grrr!) Valentine’s Day. If you’re like me and have a significant other, then you know what a complete pain in the ass Valentine’s Day can be. The oppression of the greeting card/floral conglomerate has to stop now! Who’s with me? Don’t worry: if you’re a guy, your girlfriends or wives are probably not reading this column right now, so you can speak up. Down with the... Oh, hi honey! Oh, just chattin’ with the guys, you know... Anyway, we’ll talk more about this later. This week in the Spotlight, we’ll take a look at the month that was and look ahead to the wonderful month of February, which is full of goodies for all of you mature readers out there. So, without further ado from me, let’s get to January’s best. We’ll talk about that, um, other thing later, okay?

Here are the highlights from January:

Y: The Last Man #60: I laughed, I cried, I pondered, I Ran (obscure last issue reference), I jogged... after reading this issue. The big news this month was the amount of attention Brian K Vaughan’s last issue of Y: The Last Man received from the mainstream media. Seriously, it almost received as much buzz as Captain America #34! The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, New York Magazine, and many other major media outlets ran articles featuring the Vertigo series’ final bow, and I have to say... it’s about damn time! Y was one of the greatest comic books of the last twenty years, and it deserves to be read in wider circles than the normal comic reading public. Fortunately for us social rejects who have followed the series, the last issue turned out to be everything we had hoped for. Vaughan, Guerra, Marzan, and Company ended Yorick’s run with the kind of class and character-driven power that has come to typify this series throughout its run. This title deserved to go out on top, and I’m glad that the creators were able to end things on their own terms. Okay, Brian and Pia, when is your next Vertigo project coming out? C’mon, don’t make me beg!

Testament #22: Another last issue? Dammit! Another one of my favorite titles coming to end? Double dammit! Unfortunately, Testament didn’t end with the same kind of grace and fanfare that Y did, but it did properly end the “Exodus arc” without severely rushing matters. Being a dabbler in Bible scholarship, I found the immense command Douglas Rushkoff possessed of the base material to be mind-blowing. He is a writer who deserves more attention, attention he really didn’t see at the helm of this series. Hey, when you have a series that is chock full of very adult situations (Liam Sharp’s Dinah is oh so oo la la!) and an overall theme of Bible stories coming full circle in a futuristic society, you’re probably going to alienate a lot of readers. Plus, there were readers who were willing to accept the premise, but weren’t too keen on Rushkoff’s supposedly high-and-mighty theological musings, which acted to alienate more than welcome. Can’t say you’re going to fill too many conference halls with that kind of resume! All I can say is that I’m glad Rushkoff gave it a go, whether the market was there or not. Maybe he could pull a Boys and produce more Testament issues with a smaller publisher. Sorry, Vertigo!

100 Bullets #87: The bullets are back in the gun! Translation: I enjoyed the last issue of 100 Bullets, which is one title with which I have always had a love/hate relationship. Brian Azzarello is so cryptic sometimes that I have to throw the issue I’m reading across the room just so I can get some frustration out before I pick it up again. However, Issue #87 was a solid tale called “The Blister,” the best 22 pager this series has had in many months (and not nearly as throw-worthy!). The issue concerns Mr. Slaughter, a retired “problem solver” who the Trust hires to take out someone close to Graves with extreme prejudice. Azzarello and Eduardo Risso examine the two sides of Mr. Slaughter, showing the complexities of a man who has made killing his business for a very long time. From peas to pistols, this is the kind of character that will have me interested in the coming issues. Continuing the theme of the month, 100 Bullets will be ending its highly acclaimed run later this year, and I would love for the old magic that typified the first 58 issues of the series to return in the end.

Other highlights include:

Nutcrackers and silent openings & closings in Scalped #13.

Sex, blood, and heads on pikes in Northlanders #2. Oh, did I mention Sven breaking a chick’s nose with a shield?

Adam touches his mom’s bare boobs in American Virgin #22. Not as dirty as it sounds...

Melted butts, reconstructed penises, and the catchiest song in Afbaghistan in Army @ Love #11. Seems like I’m mentioning a lot of private parts, doesn’t it?

Now, here’s what’s coming up in February:

Incognegro: Mat Johnson’s Incognegro is a graphic mystery regarding bigotry and race relations in the early 20th century, and it should be on every Vertigo fan’s must-buy list. Not only is this a great read for Black History month, but this comic looks like the kind of fine artistic vision that has come to typify Vertigo original graphic novels. I am basically unfamiliar with Johnson and Warren Pleece, but the concept (a light-skinned black reporter passing for white in the pre-Civil Rights South) and the artwork I have already seen (and showed you back in December) have me very excited about this work. Plus, as I said before, both creators are Hellblazer vets, so I see a good read in our future. Incognegro comes out this week. Break open the piggy bank!

Fables #69 & 70 Two issues this month? Sweet! Yeah, Vertigo, you made me look bad last month by putting Issue #69 on the January schedule, then moving it to February. But, if you can have two issues in a short month, you’ll make me and the hordes of other Fables fans out there very happy. As I wrote last month, issue #69's conclusion to “The Good Prince” arc should include some shocks and surprises, as well as the future fate of Haven. Judging from the hints Vertigo is throwing out there, Haven will still be a factor in the future of Fables society, but will it still hold the same mystique and power with Flycatcher seemingly out of the picture? Oh, and there’s a guest artist in issue #70: Niko Henrichon from Pride of Bagdad, featuring a story down on the Farm. He seems to like drawing animals...

Un-Men #7: The second arc of the series, “Children of Paradox, begins here, and I can’t be more excited. The preview I read for issue #7 features the return of Agent Kilcrop to Aberrance (duh!), a grotesque illness (duh again!), and “a seductive sexpot with a sickening secret.” Now we’re talking! This series is fun in so many ways, not the least of which are the quick and witty one-liners that pop up throughout each issue. Dr. Cranius has the best one-liners (Ze show must go on!), but each character has his or her moments. Keep your eyes on this column in the coming weeks for more on this strange phenomenon. Postcards from the Ledge: the custodian of all things insignificant in the Vertigo Universe!

Also of note:

You made me into a liar again, Vertigo! American Virgin ends this month with issue #23.

Army @ Love ends its first season and goes on hiatus. Does this have something to do with the writers’ strike?

Morrison deals with some mommy issues in Vinyl Underground #5. Where’s his banky?

And, I’m out! Thanks again for reading “Postcards,” your number one source for Vertigo information on the web. Am I allowed to say that? Now’s the time for some editorial interference! Well, if the editors didn’t censor that last statement, how do YOU think I’m doing? Give me a shout at rmurray@comicsbulletin.com. Next week, we’ll talk Army @ Love with Rick Veitch, so don’t miss out.

Thanks for reading!