Batman: Year One by Frank Miller

I think I have heard about this comic book/graphic novel ever since I first got into comic books when I was, like , 8. This one, The Killing Joke, and The Dark Knight Returns were huge when I was little and I got around to The Killing Joke and The Dark Knight Returns when I was a kid but I just never got around to Batman: Year One for some reason. I just never found Batman's origin a must read since I had already seen the origin told a number of times already.

So, I finally decided to check it out the other day and, yeup, it was the Batman origin story once again as I had expected. True, it has some excellent writing (mostly told through voice over) and the use of a years calender to tell the story through one year is a pretty cool way to show Batman's first, and very rough, year as the caped crusader.

However, to my surprise what really made this an excellent read wasn't Batman's story at all but instead Lt. (soon to be Commissioner) Gordon's story. Miller decides to not only tell Bruce Wayne's first year as Batman but also Gordon's first year in Gotham City. The narrative is then split between both stories. On one side we get to see Batman training, building his costume, and his first night outs while on the other side we get to see Lt. Gordon begin to slowly clean up the streets of Gotham while getting in trouble for exposing the corrupt cop system that exists. Both stories are good but Lt. Gordon's is excellent in that is gives his character a history that truly enhances the bond that he will develop later on with Batman. The final moments when both stories meet are without a doubt the high points of the entire story.

However, I'm still not a fan of origin stories when I already know the origin. It's my own fault but I just cant seem to get into it so much. The only thing that truly kept me turning the pages in this case was Lt. Gordon's storyline and the eventual meet up between the two. It was also pretty cool seeing Miller throwing Harvey Dent and Catwoman into the mix without ever going "HEY! THIS IS GOING TO BE CATWOMAN!!!"

That is really all I have to say.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World by Bryan Lee O'Malley

I'm actually surprised that Scott Pilgrim has stayed somewhat underground and is still considered a cult favorite. I fully expect that as the film adaptation comes closer that it will slowly emerge into the mainstream where it will then be adopted by the trendy crowd. I can see the shirts now. I also want to buy one of these shirts.

I like to describe Scott Pilgrim as "Video Games + The "indie" Movement + Wes Anderson + Anime" I'm sure I am missing one other word that belongs in that equation but to me all of those things summed up best describe the inspired insanity that is Scott Pilgrim .

Now, for those that don't know Scott Pilgrim and the 4 books that are out right now explore the issues of a socially awkward 23 year old named Scott Pilgrim who upon meeting and falling in love with the new girl in town named Romona flowers finds out that in order to date her he must defeat her 7 evil ex boyfriends in fights that are straight out of Street Fighter 2 . Characters defy gravity during fights, random objects are used as weapons, and when a character is defeated he leaves behind gold coins or an object.

It might sound stupid and it definitely has a whole "wtf" vibe to it all but Bryan Lee O'Malleys makes it work perfectly and creates one of the most entertaining, creative, and often times hilarious things that I have ever read. I hardly ever laugh while reading something and Scott Pilgrim is constantly able to bring out this emotion in me.

Really, just check it out if you can or check it out when its huge in about an year. I just want more people to check it out.

The movie is now my most anticipated thing at the moment. If its even able to capture only half of the greatness of these graphic novels then we are in story for something truly special.

Crecy by Warren Ellis and Raolu Caceres

I am still new to this whole comic book/graphic novel world but the other night while reading about who are supposed to be the best writers in the medium I kept on bumping into the name "Warren Ellis". I recognized the name because years ago when I was last into this world I did read all of Transmetrollitan which blew me away (I hope to reread it one day) so I made a note to look into more of his stuff since I already knew that I liked the guys style of writing.

So, when I read that he wrote a 50 page graphic novel about the battle of Crecy I was interested in checking it out as a quick read. I especially got even more interested when I read a review that described it as "a very violent nc-17 history lesson" I was sold.

Now, I have never even heard anything about the battle of Crecy until I read about what exactly this graphic novel was about. As it turns out the battle of Crecy was when England decided to invade France with an a small, under equipped, but highly trained army that was mostly made up of longsbowmen and crossbowmen as France was threatening their home security.

So, as you can imagine the battle was pretty fucking bloody and epic.

Warren Ellis decides to tell the full story of this battle through the perspective of one vile, vulgar, French hating, and nameless longsbowmen who will be fighting in the battle. About 90 percent of the story is told through this character and his ongoing monologue that breaks the 4th wall. Before you even realize it you know why the fight is happening, who are the political figures, and their war strategies.

My favorite moment comes when this nameless soldier breaks the 4rth wall completely and shows the reader the different ways that they infect their arrows (including dipping it in human shit) in order to do as much damage as possible. It really makes you just go "damn." knowing that that this all actually happened.

So, basically, what Ellis does is give you 35 pages of information until you all caught up with everything and then through Raolu Caceres detailed black and white art lets the battle just unfold in its full violent glory for the remainder of the book. Horses get killed, heads get smashed, and arrows enter bodies from every single angle. When its all over you realize that you just learned a full history lesson on the battle of Crecy and you just think”Hm. That was really cool and fucked up" and I am pretty sure that this was Warren Ellis' goal.

It's a quick, short, fun, vile, violent, and vulgar read. I wish it was a bit longer but part of its charm is its length. It's very impressive that Ellis is able to present such a big part of history in 50 pages while always keeping you entertained. History has neve been so much fun.