Alex Groff
Apr 1, 2004, 09:39 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/demo5.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/demo5t.jpg" align=left alt="INDIE SPOTLIGHT: DEMO #5 REVIEW"></a>Reviewer: Alex groff, al_groff@yahoo.com
Quick Rating: Excellent
Story Title: Girl You Want
You can call it a day, because I can't imagine another monthly comic topping this issue.
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Becky Cloonan
Letters: Ryan Yount
Published by: Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim, AiT/Planet Lar
In a just world, I wouldn't have to write this review. In a just world, I would simply type the words THIS IS THE BEST ISSUE ON THE SHELVES THIS MONTH: BUY IT, in huge print, and that would be the review. (To be fair, I considered trying it, but when your boss looks like Mitch Royce and you're not Spider Jerusalem-- well, let's just say its safer to write out your 500 word review and be done with it.)
To be honest, this is the third draft for a review. Really now, what is there to say about a book that does exactly what it intended to do, and does it almost perfectly? I wrote a draft with a conversation between my boss and I as a gimmick, I wrote a draft that was another Q&A session-- again, as a gimmick, filling space. The truth is, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan do exactly what they set out to do with Demo. I'm going to criticize Becky's inanimate art-- which is becoming a trend-- and I will say that the angle Brian Wood uses isn't the best angle-- but Ezra Pound said it best, "The poem's the thing." In our case, the story's the thing. Take away all the little chinks in the armor, and you still have an excellent story, with the best characterization yet, with the most unexpected twist yet, and with a theme that reaches deep inside of us and says something that no other comic, and perhaps no other new film or book, is saying.
In my mind, Demo is not a story about mutants. It's a story about people. About you. About me. Brian Wood writes characters that are so recognizable, that as we read we start wearing his characters as masks. We become the characters he's writing about. Isn't that was reading is: connecting with one other? Reading about Kate in this issue, I understand her frustration at not being seen for who she is but rather for what other people want her to be. I know what it's like to be judged by an appearance or demeanor-- and yet, do I know her any better because we have that in common? In 26 pages, I've just met Kate, and yet I feel like I truly know her. Does Brian Wood deserve anything less than a standing ovation for that? Just wait-- he takes the story two steps further, and produces a book that has more in common with Kafka's Metamorphosis than Austen's Uncanny X-Men.
The mutations Wood writes about are what allow us to easily relate to the characters. The people we meet are unique enough to be different, but familiar enough to be accessible. Its their situations that we connect with-- and through these often dramatic situations we find something personal. Wood has let me down when he's focused on shock value at the expense of the personal associations, and while I can understand that it's fun and in your face, stories like Demo #5 are examples of how far above that he can go, given the chance.
Ah, the complaints. I'm sorry, but Becky Cloonan has never impressed me when she's not drawing people. Her storm here and her car last issue were overwrought and remind me of German expressionism. (Think of the painting, The Scream, or better yet, Google it if you're curious.) However, Cloonan admits her faults with both the car and the storm-- and in this book, people, not cars or storms, are Demo's driving force. Kate is the driving force of this story. And Cloonan is a master at creating expressive characters. I may not enjoy her style, but I can't question her ability as an artist. Kate carries the story, which means Cloonan did well. As for Brian Wood-- well, he has a tendency to hand you Kate's thoughts via soliloquies and journal entries-- but the stories he tells are not easy to express, and his entries do a better job reflecting Kate's thoughts than most comic thought bubbles. The flaws are footnotes at best: if you're not reviewing a book, you sweep right by them as the story carries you away.
This is my last Demo review. I'm certain someone else will review it. I know that I will continue to buy Demo; I will continue to wait for Brian Wood's next project-- but when a book does exactly what it was created to do, what else can I say about it? Buy this book. Order it, reorder it, find it-- and then keep reading. The story's the thing. If this issue doesn't convince you that Demo isn't a book worth buying and reading and giving to friends, then there isn't a word I can put on paper to convince you otherwise.
The story's the thing. Here it is. Enjoy.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aithalf.jpg
Quick Rating: Excellent
Story Title: Girl You Want
You can call it a day, because I can't imagine another monthly comic topping this issue.
Story: Brian Wood
Art: Becky Cloonan
Letters: Ryan Yount
Published by: Larry Young and Mimi Rosenheim, AiT/Planet Lar
In a just world, I wouldn't have to write this review. In a just world, I would simply type the words THIS IS THE BEST ISSUE ON THE SHELVES THIS MONTH: BUY IT, in huge print, and that would be the review. (To be fair, I considered trying it, but when your boss looks like Mitch Royce and you're not Spider Jerusalem-- well, let's just say its safer to write out your 500 word review and be done with it.)
To be honest, this is the third draft for a review. Really now, what is there to say about a book that does exactly what it intended to do, and does it almost perfectly? I wrote a draft with a conversation between my boss and I as a gimmick, I wrote a draft that was another Q&A session-- again, as a gimmick, filling space. The truth is, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan do exactly what they set out to do with Demo. I'm going to criticize Becky's inanimate art-- which is becoming a trend-- and I will say that the angle Brian Wood uses isn't the best angle-- but Ezra Pound said it best, "The poem's the thing." In our case, the story's the thing. Take away all the little chinks in the armor, and you still have an excellent story, with the best characterization yet, with the most unexpected twist yet, and with a theme that reaches deep inside of us and says something that no other comic, and perhaps no other new film or book, is saying.
In my mind, Demo is not a story about mutants. It's a story about people. About you. About me. Brian Wood writes characters that are so recognizable, that as we read we start wearing his characters as masks. We become the characters he's writing about. Isn't that was reading is: connecting with one other? Reading about Kate in this issue, I understand her frustration at not being seen for who she is but rather for what other people want her to be. I know what it's like to be judged by an appearance or demeanor-- and yet, do I know her any better because we have that in common? In 26 pages, I've just met Kate, and yet I feel like I truly know her. Does Brian Wood deserve anything less than a standing ovation for that? Just wait-- he takes the story two steps further, and produces a book that has more in common with Kafka's Metamorphosis than Austen's Uncanny X-Men.
The mutations Wood writes about are what allow us to easily relate to the characters. The people we meet are unique enough to be different, but familiar enough to be accessible. Its their situations that we connect with-- and through these often dramatic situations we find something personal. Wood has let me down when he's focused on shock value at the expense of the personal associations, and while I can understand that it's fun and in your face, stories like Demo #5 are examples of how far above that he can go, given the chance.
Ah, the complaints. I'm sorry, but Becky Cloonan has never impressed me when she's not drawing people. Her storm here and her car last issue were overwrought and remind me of German expressionism. (Think of the painting, The Scream, or better yet, Google it if you're curious.) However, Cloonan admits her faults with both the car and the storm-- and in this book, people, not cars or storms, are Demo's driving force. Kate is the driving force of this story. And Cloonan is a master at creating expressive characters. I may not enjoy her style, but I can't question her ability as an artist. Kate carries the story, which means Cloonan did well. As for Brian Wood-- well, he has a tendency to hand you Kate's thoughts via soliloquies and journal entries-- but the stories he tells are not easy to express, and his entries do a better job reflecting Kate's thoughts than most comic thought bubbles. The flaws are footnotes at best: if you're not reviewing a book, you sweep right by them as the story carries you away.
This is my last Demo review. I'm certain someone else will review it. I know that I will continue to buy Demo; I will continue to wait for Brian Wood's next project-- but when a book does exactly what it was created to do, what else can I say about it? Buy this book. Order it, reorder it, find it-- and then keep reading. The story's the thing. If this issue doesn't convince you that Demo isn't a book worth buying and reading and giving to friends, then there isn't a word I can put on paper to convince you otherwise.
The story's the thing. Here it is. Enjoy.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aitfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/aithalf.jpg