Caper #1

October 27, 2003

Quick Rating: Average
Title: Market Street Part One

Two young Jewish brothers at the turn of the century make a name for themselves in the mob.

Writer: Judd Winick
Art: Farel Dalrymple
Colors: Guy Major
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Bob Schreck
Cover Art: Farel Dalrymple
Publisher: DC Comics

Can somebody, anybody explain to me why this isn’t a Vertigo title? Books like Empire and Fallen Angel, I can almost understand why they keep them under the DC Bullet, but with this book, I don’t comprehend it. We’ve got all the good hallmarks of a “mature readers” comic – sex, violence, language – but we’re not in the pioneer “mature readers” imprint. It makes no sense to me.

Winick tells a good, if not totally original, crime drama. Izzy and Jacob Weiss enter the world of organized crime when they balance the scales for their father’s death in a shockingly cold fashion. All grown up, they get mixed up in a conflict with the potential to explode into a mob war.

Winick delves into something I’ve never really seen get attention in crime dramas before – a Jewish mafia. It isn’t something that necessarily springs to mind in a genre usually dominated by Italian stereotypes, and it gives this title its most interesting twist.

Dalrymple is a new name to me, but I rather like his dark, rough style in this book. It fits the story well, although his portrayal of the Weiss boys can’t help but bring to mind images of the Blues Brothers.

It’s nice to see Winick branching out into this very atypical story for him. I suspect we’ll have to wait for the end of this 12-issue miniseries to determine how successful an experiment this is for him.

Rating: 5/10

Serenity: Those Left Behind Graphic Novel

April 24, 2006

Writers: Joss Whedon & Brett Matthews
Art: Will Conrad
Cover: Adam Hughes
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

I would call myself a card-carrying Browncoat, but we Browncoats don’t need no cards. Too much of a hassle for life on the rim. But card or no, from the moment I borrowed the Firefly DVD from my buddy Chase, I fell utterly in love with Joss Whedon’s hard-livin’, high-flying outer space western. I devoured the DVD, I was there opening night for the big-screen continuation, Serenity, and of course, I had to get the bridge between the two: Dark Horse Comics’ miniseries Serenity: Those Left Behind.

With a story by Whedon and a script by Brett Matthews, this comic is a nice treat for fans of the series, but admittedly, will not fly very far with non-Browncoats. While the Serenity film was structured in such a way as to allow the new viewer to join in the ‘verse without too much confusion, Firefly is very much a prerequisite for Those Left Behind. The story picks up shortly after the final episode of the series – Inara has made the decision to leave the ship but has yet to announce it to the crew, Book’s discomfort with Mal’s methods is growing and Jayne… well, Jayne is still Jayne. The story is a mishmash of elements from the show, including a failed heist, a new job from Badger and the coming together of three villains from the series.

When viewed in the context of the TV show and film, the comic almost feels like an afterthought. There were a few loose ends not addressed in the movie, as well as a few major status quo changes that Whedon and Matthews chose to clarify. The comic answers at least one of the big question from the show and uses that answer to dovetail directly into the film (simultaneously explaining the villain of the film and the absence of the villains from the TV show).

Matthews gives us a strong script, capturing quite well the unique rhythm, dialect and even pacing of the show. While many TV shows and movies don’t translate well to the comic book page, it’s not surprising that Whedon’s creation makes the jump very smoothly. This is a rare show almost tailor-made to become a comic book.

The artwork by Will Conrad is passable, but suffers from the same problem as a great many film-to-comic adaptation: namely that the artist works so hard trying to replicate the features of the actors the artwork as a whole suffers. Those interpretations that don’t work look even worse compared to those that do, and on the whole the designs are overly-detailed and don’t quite blend with the comic book world. Comic artists need to learn from animators who do shows based on live-action properties. Rather than going for a photorealistic version of the characters, it’s better to come up with designs that suggest the actors, but still fit in the artist’s own style.

In the end, this graphic novel is really a love letter to the fans, something to ease the transition from Firefly to Serenity. It’s worth the read for any Browncoat, but for the basic comic book fan, I couldn’t recommend it if they weren’t familiar with the TV show.

Rating: 7/10