It's been a while since I've updated my blog with a review or, well, anything really. More will be incoming, along with a more fixed schedule. Until then here's one of my random doodlings that came to mind when I was trying NOT to get completely wasted at the day-job's christmas party.
Just remember, getting completely wasted and punching the boss is something that should always happen to someone else!
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Released: 13th November 2013
“Sexy female clowns are mistaken for contract killers and abandon their shabby traveling circus for a world of violence and cruelty—with clown makeup.”
Sometimes the publisher’s description is the best place to start and in this case they’ve done a pretty decent job of summing up Victor Gischler’s Clown Fatale; a grindhouse movie-style comic that wears its influences proudly. This issue starts with a group of sexy clowns…
OK I don’t know WHY they’re clowns. They could have been strippers, though I guess that would have been a little too on the (red honking) nose. I guess given the genre they have to have some sort of hook and this probably seemed as good an excuse as any to have them unhappy and undressed. As long as you can keep Stephen King's Pennywise out of your mind, you'll be fine.
This issue starts with a group of sexy clowns not having a particularly good day working in the circus. There’s a little exposition in the form of narrative introductions to the main characters but for the most part this story starts off in high gear and doesn’t really let up; the entire first issue is designed to set them up as assassins and very little more. Fortunately the writing is enjoyable to read and any bad dialogue feels like an added touch of Exploitation movie authenticity rather than a lack of quality. This faithful adherence to genre tropes extends to the characters too as there doesn’t seem to be a single likeable person in this world. It’s something that’s par for the course for the style they’re going for but it says something when the main characters are so immoral that their first target has to attempt rape before the book can justify killing him. It does make me wonder how things will play out in future issues.
The artwork, like the writing, matches the tone they’re going for perfectly. It’s not as clean or finished as some of the larger titles but it’s not supposed to be. Each of the main characters seems to be designed to tick off some fetish or other and I’m sure anyone reading it will find they have a favourite in the group. No I’m not telling you who mine is. There’s also a fair bit of nudity here and if it feels gratuitous then, frankly, it’s supposed to. Maybe that’s where the beauty of the clown theme can be found; clowns are funny or scary but they should never be scary, and in putting them in stripper outfits (or less) it’s the reader’s own comfort that’s being exploited?
If there's a take-home sentiment of this review, then it's this; Clown Fatale is a perfect example of what it sets out to be, it just never attempts to be anything more.
And I’m alright with that. Clown Fatal is a fun read that delivers on every promise and I'm sure Quentin Tarantino is already bidding on the movie rights. In his honour I give this four naked Uma Therman's feet out of five.
Published by: IDW
Released: October 16th 2013
Why do Klingons go from smooth foreheads to bumpy foreheads? Why did Han Solo use the parsec as a unit of time? Why didn't the eagles simply fly the ring to Mount Doom?
Why does the Into Darkness Khan look nothing Ricardo Montalban?
Being a genre fan can be hard sometimes. Creators are only human, after all, and sometimes inconsistencies and mistakes can be introduced which simply don't have a logical explanation.. Occasionally the answers are provided through official canonical explanations such as the genetically engineered Klingons in season four of Enterprise, more frequently the fans take it upon themselves to create their own solutions through fan fiction and forum discussions (tv.tropes has a wonderful page dedicated to just this). And then there are the times where answers are offered through officially licensed but not-entirely cannon spinoffs. Star Trek: Khan falls into the latter category. Although it doesn't seem like this to begin with. To begin with, we have a legal trial.
“My name is Khan and I reject the authority of this court.”
Interesting opening, it's just a shame that in the next couple of panels the federation's top lawyer defers to Captain Kirk for the opening argument. And what does he do? He basically uses the opportunity to say ask why Khan doesn't look like an older gentleman with skin like rich Corinthian leather.
Khan answers and we quickly realise that the legal trial is a poorly implemented setup for a flashback to the 1970s and a young Noonian Singh.
The rest of the issue takes place in flashbacks and something tells me that the rest of the series will likely follow the same pattern of court trial introduction to justify licensing the actors' likenesses before jumping back into Khan's backstory. The problem with using Khan himself is the narrator is that he starts off from a perspective that he couldn't have been present for. That's not the only continuity flaw either since the entire concept of eugenics seems to get dismissed on page in favour of genetic manipulation. Given that this takes place before the time travel that caused Abram's Star Trek universe to break off from the older timelines it's an odd choice to change such a fundamental part of established history. Since this is part of a miniseries it's hard to say now whether this is going to be part of a larger storyline but I'd be disappointed if it was allowed to slip without further mention.
The writing is a mixed bag; before the flashbacks begin it feels forced and improbable with the characters feeling like they're just shoehorned into a situation to service a plot device. Once we make the jump, however, things improve greatly. Things move along quickly and while every single plot point is telegraphed pages ahead it is interesting enough to want to see how the rest of the tale unfolds.
The art throughout is generally good but it just feels rushed. For the most part there are no backgrounds behind characters making everything feel flat, and there are never fewer than five panels on a page which not only makes the pacing seem hurried, but doesn't allow the artist any opportunity to wow the reader with a dramatic moment.
So it's not perfect and it falls prey to many of the problems that face licensed comics... but it's not bad either. Sure the setup is preposterous but if you can overlook that then you can start on an interesting journey that will hopefully give a little more depth to the Abram-verse interpretation of an iconic villain. Of course, if we could overlook things like that we wouldn't need to have continuity-wank in the first place. Three warp core breaches which may be retconned to four if they can fix the apparent plot holes.
