One of my all-time favorite comics is Grant Morrison’s run on the weird superhero comic Doom Patrol (which has been collected in a series of graphic novels, but they are unfortunately not in the Library’s collection). Morrison really played up the weirdness, throwing in all kinds of surreal and absurd characters and situations, while always keeping the emotions real and centered.

The Umbrella Academy, written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, is clearly influenced by Morrison’s Doom Patrol. It also has a similar feel to Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. Like both of those comics, The Umbrella Academy is full of wild action and even wilder weirdness, but always with a strong center of real emotion. The first volume, Apocalypse Suite, introduces a family of superpowered children, adopted by a famous scientist & philanthropist. After their adopted father’s death, the now adult children are forced to reunite to prevent the end of the world. The family is broken and dysfunctional, and their superpowers are all strange and wonderful. There are tons of deliciously odd little details crammed into the panels, but the story never feels overdone or overwhelming. Although the superpowered family is introduced as children, this isn’t a story for children (it’s quite violent, with a number of adult themes) but for adults who know what it’s like to grow up in a large family yet still feel alone and outcast. Bá’s crisp, kinetic art is perfect for Way’s bizarre characters and setting. Everything comes together nicely in a weird and satisfying soup.

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It’s true to say I’ve been a Superman fan as far back as I can remember, but it’s also true to say I haven’t been a fan. Because there are really many different characters called Superman: the original Golden Age character who didn’t fly and was much less of a Boy Scout than the character later become; the Silver Age goody-goody with the complex mythology and the huge cast of characters; the 1980s reboot; the George Reeves TV version; the Christopher Reeve movie version; the Dean Cain TV version; the Tom Welling TV version; and many more. Superman is a character who has been reinterpreted countless times, some more to my liking than others.

In All-Star Superman, writer Grant Morrison and artist Frank Quitely give what could be considered a basic interpretation of Superman and his friends. Taking the best, most accessible qualities of the characters from the 1940s to the 1980s, then throwing in Morrison’s trademark postmodernist psychedelia and weird science, they create a rollicking, funky, exciting and moving story, high on imagination and deep with emotion. All-Star Superman is divorced from any specific comics continuity, so even casual readers can jump right in, while old-school fans like myself can revel in the nostalgic atmosphere. Morrison keeps the pacing quick, the dialogue snappy, and the mad ideas coming fast and furious, while also focusing on some of the core emotional reasons why Superman is such an endearing, inspiring character. Quitely’s art doesn’t appeal to everyone, but I’ve always loved it, and he’s in top form here.

All-Star Superman, like Alan Moore’s Supreme,  is perfect for former comics fans who haven’t read superhero comics in years, long-time fans who want something fresh, and casual readers who like stories loaded with fun and high-level imagination.

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I knew about the character called the Scarlet Pimpernel–usually referred to as one of the first superheroes–for a long, long time before I finally got around the reading the novel. From the way the character and the story is generally portrayed in pop culture, I was expecting a thrill-a-minute tale full of swashbuckling swordfights. I was completely wrong, but not at all disappointed. In fact, after reading it, The Scarlet Pimpernel immediately became one of my favorite novels. The fact that the character served as an inspiration for Batman and other superheroes also endears it to me.

Set during the bloody French Revolution, the novel tells the story of Marguerite Blakeney, a lovely and spirited former French actress; the English nobleman Sir Percy Blakeney, her foppish and apparently airheaded husband; Chauvelin, the sly, sinister agent of the French Revolution; and the Scarlet Pimpernel, a daring and mysterious master of disguise who rescues French aristocrats from the guillotine.

There are no fight scenes or swordfights in The Scarlet Pimpernel, but the book zips along at a fast pace, and there are plenty of thrilling plot twists and turns. The book is full of so much fun and energy, even the slowest scenes keep you turning the page. If you like a solid adventure romance, I don’t think you can go wrong with The Scarlet Pimpernel.

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The original Star Wars movie (the one where Han shot first) came out when I was 7 years old. It changed my life. I loved the movie like I loved few other things. I had Star Wars posters in my room. I reenacted scenes with my friends at school. I played with Star Wars action figures, renaming the characters and making up my own stories. But oddly, I didn’t buy the Star Wars comics published by Marvel Comics.

Thankfully, Dark Horse Comics has reprinted those original Star Wars comics in bound collections. I just finished reading the first volume of A Long Time Ago…, Doomworld and all in all, I loved it.

Published back in those innocent days before Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father, before Princess Leia was Luke’s sister,  before Jabba the Hutt was a giant slug, before Lando Calrissian, Boba Fett, Yoda and Ewoks, the comic adapts the movie pretty faithfully (although there are still some bits that are later contradicted by the movies that came after), then continue the adventures of the “star warriors” (as they’re referred to in the comic) in stories that take huge liberties with the characters and setting. But the stories have a wonderful enthusiasm to them, with brisk pacing, snappy dialogue and loads of imagination. If you can forget about The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and the three prequels, if you’re not looking for a lot of deep emotion or complex storytelling, it’s easy to enjoy these stories as pure space opera fun.

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After hearing Wil Wheaton mention how much he loved Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley, I decided to check out a comic I probably wouldn’t have given a second look to otherwise. And I’m very glad I did. I blazed through the first four volumes, Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness and Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together, in no time. I couldn’t put them down.

Scott Pilgrim is a 23-year-old slacker living in Toronto. He plays bass guitar in an amateur band, Sex Bob-omb. He’s dating a 17-year-old high school student named Knives Chau. And then he sees the roller-skating delivery girl, Ramona Flowers and falls in love at first sight. The comic, drawn in a style reminiscent of Japanese manga, starts out as a sweet and snarky story of college-age slackers, funny because it’s so realistic and recognizable. And then things suddenly get…strange. Scott discovers that if he wants to date Ramona, he has to defeat her seven evil exes in video game-style martial arts battles, complete with swords and axes, super powers and special moves. There’s also the mysterious black void called”subspace” that Ramona is able to enter at will. But no matter how strange and wacky things get, O’Malley plays it straight (well, mostly straight, with a lot of sarcastic humor), which makes Scott Pilgrim even funnier and loads of fun.

The Library has the fifth volume, Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Scott Pilgrim rules! Or something.

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David Petersen has created a nice piece of work in Mouse Guard. He’s written a solid, straightforward adventure drama and illustrated it with some of the most beautiful comics artwork I’ve ever seen. Mouse Guard is about a quasi-Medieval society of mice who live in mouse-made cities and towns, spread out across “the Territories.” Under threat from bad weather and natural predators, the areas outside the cities and towns are patrolled by the Mouse Guard, cloaked & armed protectors of mousekind. The six chapters of Fall 1152 tell a fast-paced story of four members of the Mouse Guard uncovering conspiracy and rebellion in the Territories.

While the mice are somewhat anthropomorphic–walking upright, using their front paws as hands, building and using tools–they’re never portrayed as overly cute or winsome Disney-esque characters. These are tough, gritty, passionate mice, and the story is full of desperate fights and adult emotions. I can’t wait for the next collection, Winter 1152, which is planned to come out this summer.

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In the mid-1990s, Alan Moore (yes, the guy who wrote Watchmen) took over writing a comic called Supreme and completely reworked it, turning it into something amazing and fun. His Supreme stories have been collected in two volumes, Supreme: The Story of the Year and Supreme: The Return.

Supreme was a ’90s version of Superman, powerful but dark and morally ambiguous. Moore took over writing with issue #41, abandoning almost everything from the past 40 issues in a blatant revision. Moore uses the remaining issues to create an homage to Superman (and to a lesser extent Captain Marvel) comics of the Golden, Silver Age and Bronze Age. And it’s absolutely brilliant. If Watchmen is a deconstruction of traditional superhero comics, Moore’s Supreme is a reconstruction and glorification of the best of superhero comics of the past. At the same time, Moore creates a lot of humor by warmly playing up some of the goofier aspects of older superhero comics (while also making pointed jabs at comics writing and publishing of the 1990s). Moore riffs on the revision of comics characters, the imaginary stories that were popular in the 1960s, goofy origin stories, Superman, Supergirl, Krypto the Superdog, Lana Lang, Lois Lane, kryptonite, Batman and Robin, the Justice League of America, Lex Luthor, Brainiac, the Legion of Super-Heroes and more. And it’s all wrapped up in a complex, intelligent, engaging storyline. If you like old school superhero comics, I definitely recommend Alan Moore’s Supreme.

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The movie Watchmen is out now, and I’m really excited to see it. The comic originally came out as a twelve-issue limited series when I was in high school, and I read every issue many, many times. I even studied it for a class in college. I highly, highly recommend Watchmen.

In some ways, Watchmen is a standard superhero comic, although from a different perspective that ends up deconstructing a lot of superhero clichés. It’s also a pretty straightforward murder mystery. It’s also a good science fiction alternate history tale. All of that together would be great, but then add in an incredibly dense, groundbreaking comic and you’ve got an all-time classic. Watchmen starts with the premise “what if masked vigilantes really started fighting crime in the 1940s?” and then goes from there, to examine a world where police riots force a law to be passed outlawing costumed crimefighters, where Richard Nixon is still President in the 1980s, where one man with superpowers can utterly change the world. Watchmen is thrilling, gritty, dark, disturbing and complex. The words and images play back and forth in a way that comics can but rarely do exploit. From start to finish, it’s an amazingly well-written and illustrated piece of work.

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Scott McCloud, author and illustrator of Understanding Comics, made his name with his comic Zot!, which premiered in 1984. Written, illustrated and owned by McCloud (which was much less common then than it is now), Zot! began as a brightly-colored, quirky and light superhero comic. Zachary T. Paleozogt, also known as Zot, is a teenaged superhero in a parallel dimension where Earth is an Art Deco retrofuturist world with spaceships and flying cars. He accidently pops into our Earth and drags high school student Jenny Weaver and her obnoxious brother, Butch, into his world. Eclipse Comics published ten issues of Zot!, and then McCloud took a hiatus for a year and a half. When Zot! started again, it was in black and white, and McCloud started pushing the stories into new areas, focusing on supporting characters and exploring issues of relationships, heroism, depression and addiction.

The first ten issues are out of print now, but issues 11-36 have been collected in one big book, Zot!: The Complete Black and White Collection. I highly recommend it. Zot! is one of my favorite comics. These stories are fun, exciting, thought-provoking and moving, full of great characters and real emotions. There’s a great complexity to Zot!, but also a wonderful innocence. In addition to all of this great art and storytelling, the collection has “liner notes” from McCloud that give real insight into the creator and his comic.

Zot! is all kinds of wonderful. If you like superheroes, adventure, or real teen drama (not the fake drama of most TV shows), read Zot!. Now.

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I want to start my reviews and recommendations off with what I think is the most important book regarding comics ever published: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud.

Although I remain a huge fan of superhero and adventure comics, I’ll be the first to nod my head and pump my fist when McCloud starts Understanding Comics off by separating content from form. In other words, just like any art form (novels, poetry, film, painting, etc), comics can be about anything and shouldn’t be dismissed just because the most well-known comics so far have been people in goofy costumes beating each other up. McCloud, a comics writer and artist, has produced a book (in comics form) that completely breaks down what comics are and how they work. And if that sounds boring and intellectual, let me tell you, he does it with loads of charm, humor, excitement and wonder. He makes thinking deeply about comics fun and interesting.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. If you love comics, this will deepen your love. If you’re one of those people who has a hard time getting into comics, this will help you understand why you can’t go into comics expecting them to be “illustrated novels.” (You may still not like comics, and that’s fine. I’m not really big on ballet. But at least you’ll understand the medium better.) And if anyone tells you comics are just silly cartoons or are inferior to novels, give them Understanding Comics to read.

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