Well, well, well. The latest comic books I’ve read … Angloid by Alex Graham. It’s $12. I really think you should go buy it. I read this one on a lazy Saturday, and it just reminded me that there are so many talented artists out there, and while I risk sounding corny, it feels good to step outside the norm and spend time with their work. Alex Graham, if you think about it, had to take a lot of steps and live a lot of life for this book to come together and make its way to little ol’ me, and here we are. Reading Angloid, I appreciated the presentation of the main character, someone who is characterized by their poor choices and actions, but who isn’t made out to be a monster. If anything, they’re very familiar, and for that, this story fits within a genre focused on slacker creative types getting fucked up and coming of age. Not a knock at it, at all. I love that type of thing. And for starters, Alex Graham shows a more unique approach to this story with interludes that feature tales of alien ghosts who watch over humanity, rooting for our success. Our guardian angels, they look on as we flounder. Angloid blends slice-of-life with a sense of cosmic place. … Keeping Two by Jordan Crane offers a relationship story fixated on loss, built by someone that applies the merits of the medium they work in. With differently formatted comic book panels, Jordan Crane shows various points of time and possible futures simultaneously, sequencing different events right up against each other. You experience the story more so as to how someone would perceive it in their mind, directly, as they went about their day and daydreamed, every so often hit with a memory. Time being far from linear. Keeping Two’s two-tone color aesthetic and Crane’s drawings keep the story energetic and approachable, though. The subject matter and the themes at play are heavy, but the comic book doesn’t suffer a loss of personality or softness or bounce. The drawings show exaggerated features, a whimsical sense of physics, and a distinctive, minimal use of lines that give the book its vibe. If anything, the final points the story pulls together can feel a bit cliche in their universal nature, but it doesn’t seem to make them any less true. And beyond that, it feels like Jordan Crane’s storytelling choices really enable the reader to take another look. … Old Dog #1-6 by Declan Shalvey hasn’t left me with much to say, but it’s not bad. I’ll check out the next arc when it’s released. This is a spy thriller about an old man agent and his younger daughter agent. They don’t get a long but they must team up to uncover secrets and kill bad people. It’s whatever as a premise, but I like that Declan Shalvey writes, draws, and colors this, it’s his book, exclusively, which isn’t very common for more mainstream comics. The quality of his drawings aren’t, either. The fights scenes are well articulated, and I really like his square-jawline artwork. He’s also not afraid to break a page down into a maximum amount of panels, which can really help with controlling pace and focusing the reader’s attention. Or he can use a splash page for good effect, to really make a moment. Declan Shalvey uses more creative page layouts and cuts between scenes to give a familiar genre story some heightened style. The colors are crisp and consistent throughout, too, but they offer a few bright hues that really catch the eye and give this comic a visual edge. Which is really the only reason to check it out. Anyway …
alec reads comics 