Comics! 07/08/2010

Welcome to another longwinded and rarely read Lesson in Mediocrity!

Budgeting sucks. But I'm getting better as the weeks go. I said "no thank you" to many many enticing books today and I think my mother would proud of how much I DIDN'T spend today.

I picked up a few Number 1's just to see what's to come and figure out if they were books for me. Among them were Shadowland, the much anticipated adjective-less X-Men, as well as Steve Rogers: Super Soldier.

I also picked up Brightest Day 5 (my only DC book today) and the penultimate chapter of X-Men: Second Coming.

"But Tim!" you ask me in my mind, "what book tops your personal list today? That's what I really want to know!"

Okay I'll tell you! (mostly because of your enthusiastic yet terribly specific way of asking)

Top of my pile today was Scarlet #1 with art by Alex Maleev and words by Brian Michael Bendis.

I'm a Bendis nut. If you didn't know that about me then we probably aren't friends and I'm curious why you're reading my blog... you can stay but I'm keeping an eye on you...

Where was I...

ah yes Scarlet.

I had no idea what to expect from this book other than I virtually worship the ground that Bendis walks on and I'm only interested in Maleev's art when he's paired with Bendis. So based on that principle alone I was all over it (I wasn't really into Spider-Woman all that much and I don't really know why... curse you iTunes).

Right off the bat (<--- yeah I said it) the narrative absolutely hooked me. Scarlet broke the fourth wall and welcomed me to her story. Now let's define what breaking the fourth wall entails.

Aaron Haaland co-owner of the esteemed establishment in which I buy my comics http://www.acomicshop.com argued that this is the same technique used in many prose books the world over in terms of narration. I disagree and here's why: in most books (that I've read at any rate) that use first person expository dialogue, the main character is almost keeping a diary or explaining to himself what's happening all the while never actually addressing the reading him/her-self. In my world (the only one that matters thank you) the fourth wall is broken when the character leaves their setting, looks you in the eye, grabs your hand and says "hold on tight we're going on an adventure". Scarlet not only does this, at the end of the issue she alludes that you the reader are integral to her plan.

I buy into this stuff (comics) hardcore. It doesn't matter if I'm reading Batman, Daredevil, Green Lantern, what have you. I buy it hook line and sinker. While I'm reading it, it may as well be true. What Bendis has constructed here is a world that not only looks beautiful thanks to the masterful artwork of Maleev, he plunges you literally INTO the world by saying "you are a part of this, embrace it"

I have, and I plan to stick around for quite a while.

Thanks Bendis!

Lesson over