Even More Graphic Novel Reviews

WELCOME TO Birch's Bark Part III as we look at some more graphic novels that are out there in your comic shops, book stores and libraries!

Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde
By Mattotti & Kramsky (NBM Comics Lit)

Look for a large hard cover when browsing through your shop for this European reprint. It contains an abstract painted adaptation of the classic Robert Louise Stevenson novel, so don't expect the old films when you pick it up and leaf through its pages. It works. One word to describe it? Creepy!

Total Sell Out
By Brian Michael Bendis (Image)

A great collection of strips from hither and yon by the man who's been responsible for writing an awful lot of Marvel's best selling comics in recent years.

Bendis' mainstream action art never appealed to me before and I'm familiar with his work as early as his Caliber Press days. He seems to know the reason why that may be himself. In one of the written pieces he notes he's a poor inker. It muddied the dramatic intent of the draughtsmanship skills he was still learning back then.

His cartoon work, however, is a most pleasing graphic revelation - it sits there balanced on the page with suitable tones and lighter inking applications. His ear for dialogue is where Bendis wins you over, and there's a really good batting average of successful strips - a lot of them comedy ones, some crime stuff, and the odd slice of life too.

Coming in a standard paperback book size this b/w collection is worth picking up.

Just A Pilgrim: Garden of Eden
By Garth Ennis & Carlos Ezquerra (Black Bull Entertainment/Titan)

Ennis and Ezquerra have brought Clint Eastwood type characters to the printed pages several times before.

This is a post apocalyptic tale of the sort that ran as filler material back in the heyday of 2000AD before veering dangerously close to ripping off aspects of Ezquerra's fellow Spaniard Victor de la Fuente's Haxtur saga. It's professionally done but there's little reason to get excited about it.

Oh, and by the way, in case you think I'm harping on about how wonderful 2000AD used to be, forget it - that comic had countless great moments, but it had many a failing too. When failings can be regurgitated for the modern age and get false praise we've hit a major problem so I'm not giving this any.

Portajohnny
By Johnny Ryan (Fantagraphics)

Subtitled The Best of Angry Youth Comix the Early Years this is wicked toilet humour that I picked up courtesy of the British Library system - Thank you, fellow tax payers! Let's hope the library assistants don't put it down on the lower shelves by mistake though.

We're talking material coming from the same ballpark as early Peter Bagge (who wrote the introduction) and J.D. King. A fast, furious totally dispensable but nonetheless lowbrow funny read!