Alex Groff
Apr 18, 2004, 08:29 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0304/It'sABirdCVR.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/dc/0304/It'sABirdCVRt.jpg" align=left alt="It's A Bird... HC preview"></a>Reviewer: Alex groff, al_groff@yahoo.com
Quick Rating: Excellent
Format: 123 page OGN
A book worthy of standing next to Morrison/McKean's Arkham Asylum and Gaiman/McKean's Mr. Punch.
Writer: Steven T. Seagle
Artist: Teddy Kristiansen
Letterer: Todd Klein
Logo Design: Pete Friedrich
Editor: Karen Berger
Assistant Editor: Pornsak Pichetshote
Art Director: Amie Brockway-Metcalf
Publisher: Paul Levitz
Grant Morrison made me do it.
While I knew I was going to buy this book, I wasn't certain I was going to like it. As a general rule, I distrust Steven Seagle's work as much as I trust Vertigo's graphic novel tastes. Teddy Kristiansen's art is hit or miss, and twenty-five dollars is a lot of money on a book, even a hardback. The premise caught my interest and the cover art assured me that Kristiansen was doing top notch work-- but what about Seagle? Seagle's work, whether he's working well-known properties like Uncanny X-Men or more relaxed Vertigo titles like House of Secrets, his work always struck me as abrasive and stand-offish. Meaning no one any offense, Superman is the one character who needs to be humanized, not made more aloof. In the end, it came down to the cover quote from Grant Morrison, who I tend to trust.
So thank you, Grant.
While there are a number of excellent small press publishers, the one thing that Vertigo has consistently excelled at is producing comics that are literature. I'm sorry, you can collect the Authority, give it an introduction, and wrap it in a hardback cover, and as Ellis himself admitted, it's still about grown men in pervert suits beating on each other. I'm 100% in favour of trade paperbacks, but there are only a few books that deserve the fanfare and elaborate treatment that so many graphic novels get. You can call me an elitist if you want, but I want books that do something fresh and new. I want books that redefine comics by creating something so rare and unique that others can't help but watch and learn from. It's a Bird... is one of those books. Seagle and Kristiansen have created a masterpiece that has nothing-- and everything-- to do with Superman.
To be fair, there is a long literary tradition that Seagle and Kristiansen follow in It's a Bird..., but its not one we see in comics. You see, It's a Bird... is about Seagle's relationship with Superman. Our author is the main character, and he's assigned to write Superman-- a character that carries bad memories-- at the same time that his father disappears. These two events lead Seagle to look at his youth and his family as he tries to deal with those memories, and a disease carried in his family. As you can tell, its a dense story. Like a novel, this could take you days to read-- because its a story that you want to stop and think about. Its a personal story, and its goal is to show us what it means to be a writer, what it means to be a flawed person trying to make a perfect hero interesting. In other words, the story is trying to show us what it means to be human: to have ideals, and fail them. To have life let us down. To not want to get back up again.
Through this story, we follow Seagle's life through rough waters. His father has disappeared. The Superman gig has him reliving moments of his childhood that everyone in his family is trying to avoid. Because of these problems, and his inability to talk about them, Seagle's also having a rocky period with his live-in girlfriend, Lisa. And mixed in with all of these problems are the Superman stories-- little 1-4 page vignettes where Seagle is trying to write, to understand, Superman. There's a lot going on, and the underlying question seems to be: if we can't make sense of our own lives, how can we relate to a character with no flaws, no problems? These plots tie up a bit too quickly for my tastes, but throughout the book these plots fill out Seagle's life, and create a story that feels like real life. It is a dense story-- as dense as Gaiman and McKean's Mr. Punch, as dense as Morrison and McKean's Arkham Asylum-- but it is equally personal, equally engaging.
As for the art: Teddy Kristiansen holds up his end of the bargain. Kristiansen's work seems like a mix of Jean Dubuffet and by Herge, but there are no good comparisons. It's A Bird... makes me think of how Dave McKean's Cages would have looked painted. It is straightforward, almost to the point of simplicity-- but the more you look at his work, the more details you notice. To support the multilayered story, Kristiansen draws each layer of the story in a different style. Seagle's life is different than his youth, and each mini-Superman story is different than the rest. At times his art wanders a bit too far into the art brut style, but the overall feel of his work carries the story surprisingly well.
This is not a book for everyone. You won't find out which superhero is stronger; you won't see Superman fly in and save the day for Seagle. You won't even see Superman, except as sketches in Seagle's notebooks. This is a human story, about how we deal with the problems in our lives. Its about the fantasies we create to escape everyday life, and the way everyday life brings us back again. Grant Morrison calls it "spellbinding and timely," and as usual he's right on the mark. This is a book that's rare to the point of obsolescence in comics, and it shouldn't be. We need more human stories. We need more comics that look at life, and don't offer the easy answers. At a time when innovative books are being canceled and outdated 'properties' revamped, we need to be reminded of what comics can offer, as a medium, above and beyond our expectations. This book shows us how to soar.
ART:
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt="">
STORY:
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vhalf.jpg" border="0" alt="">
OVERALL:
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt="">
Buy this graphic novel online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=10483)
Quick Rating: Excellent
Format: 123 page OGN
A book worthy of standing next to Morrison/McKean's Arkham Asylum and Gaiman/McKean's Mr. Punch.
Writer: Steven T. Seagle
Artist: Teddy Kristiansen
Letterer: Todd Klein
Logo Design: Pete Friedrich
Editor: Karen Berger
Assistant Editor: Pornsak Pichetshote
Art Director: Amie Brockway-Metcalf
Publisher: Paul Levitz
Grant Morrison made me do it.
While I knew I was going to buy this book, I wasn't certain I was going to like it. As a general rule, I distrust Steven Seagle's work as much as I trust Vertigo's graphic novel tastes. Teddy Kristiansen's art is hit or miss, and twenty-five dollars is a lot of money on a book, even a hardback. The premise caught my interest and the cover art assured me that Kristiansen was doing top notch work-- but what about Seagle? Seagle's work, whether he's working well-known properties like Uncanny X-Men or more relaxed Vertigo titles like House of Secrets, his work always struck me as abrasive and stand-offish. Meaning no one any offense, Superman is the one character who needs to be humanized, not made more aloof. In the end, it came down to the cover quote from Grant Morrison, who I tend to trust.
So thank you, Grant.
While there are a number of excellent small press publishers, the one thing that Vertigo has consistently excelled at is producing comics that are literature. I'm sorry, you can collect the Authority, give it an introduction, and wrap it in a hardback cover, and as Ellis himself admitted, it's still about grown men in pervert suits beating on each other. I'm 100% in favour of trade paperbacks, but there are only a few books that deserve the fanfare and elaborate treatment that so many graphic novels get. You can call me an elitist if you want, but I want books that do something fresh and new. I want books that redefine comics by creating something so rare and unique that others can't help but watch and learn from. It's a Bird... is one of those books. Seagle and Kristiansen have created a masterpiece that has nothing-- and everything-- to do with Superman.
To be fair, there is a long literary tradition that Seagle and Kristiansen follow in It's a Bird..., but its not one we see in comics. You see, It's a Bird... is about Seagle's relationship with Superman. Our author is the main character, and he's assigned to write Superman-- a character that carries bad memories-- at the same time that his father disappears. These two events lead Seagle to look at his youth and his family as he tries to deal with those memories, and a disease carried in his family. As you can tell, its a dense story. Like a novel, this could take you days to read-- because its a story that you want to stop and think about. Its a personal story, and its goal is to show us what it means to be a writer, what it means to be a flawed person trying to make a perfect hero interesting. In other words, the story is trying to show us what it means to be human: to have ideals, and fail them. To have life let us down. To not want to get back up again.
Through this story, we follow Seagle's life through rough waters. His father has disappeared. The Superman gig has him reliving moments of his childhood that everyone in his family is trying to avoid. Because of these problems, and his inability to talk about them, Seagle's also having a rocky period with his live-in girlfriend, Lisa. And mixed in with all of these problems are the Superman stories-- little 1-4 page vignettes where Seagle is trying to write, to understand, Superman. There's a lot going on, and the underlying question seems to be: if we can't make sense of our own lives, how can we relate to a character with no flaws, no problems? These plots tie up a bit too quickly for my tastes, but throughout the book these plots fill out Seagle's life, and create a story that feels like real life. It is a dense story-- as dense as Gaiman and McKean's Mr. Punch, as dense as Morrison and McKean's Arkham Asylum-- but it is equally personal, equally engaging.
As for the art: Teddy Kristiansen holds up his end of the bargain. Kristiansen's work seems like a mix of Jean Dubuffet and by Herge, but there are no good comparisons. It's A Bird... makes me think of how Dave McKean's Cages would have looked painted. It is straightforward, almost to the point of simplicity-- but the more you look at his work, the more details you notice. To support the multilayered story, Kristiansen draws each layer of the story in a different style. Seagle's life is different than his youth, and each mini-Superman story is different than the rest. At times his art wanders a bit too far into the art brut style, but the overall feel of his work carries the story surprisingly well.
This is not a book for everyone. You won't find out which superhero is stronger; you won't see Superman fly in and save the day for Seagle. You won't even see Superman, except as sketches in Seagle's notebooks. This is a human story, about how we deal with the problems in our lives. Its about the fantasies we create to escape everyday life, and the way everyday life brings us back again. Grant Morrison calls it "spellbinding and timely," and as usual he's right on the mark. This is a book that's rare to the point of obsolescence in comics, and it shouldn't be. We need more human stories. We need more comics that look at life, and don't offer the easy answers. At a time when innovative books are being canceled and outdated 'properties' revamped, we need to be reminded of what comics can offer, as a medium, above and beyond our expectations. This book shows us how to soar.
ART:
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt="">
STORY:
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vhalf.jpg" border="0" alt="">
OVERALL:
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt=""> <img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/vfull.jpg" border="0" alt="">
Buy this graphic novel online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=10483)