Embracing Your Vices: The Night Club #3

Thursday night's Vice Presidential debates launched a very viable weekend's worth of news, including a visit from Republican candidate Sarah Palin to Southern California and another round of parody from SNL and Tina Fey, whose career could only benefit from a McCain/Palin victory, considering her spot-on impression of the Alaskan governor and the entertainment media's well-impeded bitterness toward all things conservative. Seriously, what happens to SNL and The Daily Show if Obama wins? Not that Republicans don't frequently provide critics plenty of comedic fodder, but without strong leading men like Bush or Cheney, only the feigned conservatism of The Colbert Show profits from a Democratic victory. Sure, Obama's campaign is change we can believe in, but it's hardly anything worth laughing at.



So, considering these tumultuous political times, I thumbed through the unread, leftover issues from the now defunct A Comic A Day: Year Two, which quaintly fill a small comic book box on the side of my bed, and I found The Night Club #3, the cover of which reflects many bipartisan fears of our country's immediate future. Yes, that's the devil at the Presidential pulpit. Whether the devil was raised in Hawaii or Alaska is entirely up to you, though that both of the pseudo-celebrities of this election were raised in the two states not connected to the nation's mainland is suspect no matter what side of the fence you straddle . . .

I pulled The Night Club #3 from a twenty-five cent back issue bin several months ago and hoped to read it for Election Day, so the relaunch of A Comic A Day possessed me (Get it?) to dust it off on Friday, and while its plot wasn't as engaging or substantial as I'd hoped, it does reflect a few trends common in politically-minded comics: (1.) The Conspiracy Theory, and (2.) The Righteous Rebels. In this case, "righteous" is the appropriate term, as Reverend Walter Bishop and his "rag-tag misfits" combat the devil, dubbed Screwbarb, and his plot to hasten Armageddon apparently through American politics. At the end of this issue, the President is horrifically assassinated (okay, if you must know, a demon flies through his chest -- so much for the good ol' days of grassy knolls), and the Vice President, deep in Screwbarb's pocket, assumes office. You betcha.

Now, to quite a few folks' chagrin, religion and politics really are eternal bedfellows, whether or not the Constitution has ever clearly distinguished church from state; further, I liken religion and politics to the proverbial Siamese twins of human philosophy, with two heads and respective thought processes designed to deal with mankind's inherent need for law and order differently. Hyperbole aside, though, I hope the two are never so intertwined that the devil, if he exists, infiltrates the White House and instigates the apocalypse through gay rights legislation, or something. I don't remember reading about that in the book of Revelation. In fact, depending on one's interpretation of John's apocalyptic allegory, the United States is scarcely mentioned at all, so our persistent belief that we've birthed the Anti-Christ or will play Ground Zero to the end of the world is arguably the most nationalistic trite ever. "A shining city on a hill?" Perhaps . . . but overlooking the lake of fire? Not likely.

What's the point of all this? The Night Club asks us to look at the big picture. The grand scheme of this election season has been episodic at best, packaging the most critical events into makeshift installments not unlike seasons of one's favorite television show. This Vice Presidential chapter might not seem as important come Tuesday's Presidential debate (round two), but The Night Club #3 reminds us that we're just a flying demon away from 1963 all over again. Of course, the night between Election Day and its results will seem like the longest summer between a series' season finale and fall premiere, the anticipation will be that great, but in the meantime citizens' selection processes shouldn't be so compartmentalized. If it were a TV series, I'd encourage everyone to have a Presidential election marathon the night before voting day, to remind themselves of their chosen candidates' record before becoming leader of the free world was on their to-do list, to experience the twists and turns in their characters' development toward becoming the protagonists we see them as now. Then, remember that this story is very real.

Hopefully the part where the devil takes the podium stays the stuff of fiction.

The Night Club #3 was published in April, 2006, by Image Comics, and was written by Mike Baron, illustrated by Robbi Rodriguez, colored by Russ Lowery, lettered by Marshall Dillion, and edited by Marshall Dillion and Chris Crank.

Salem: Queen of Thorns #0

Salem: Queen of Thorns #0, January 2008, Boom! Studios
writers: Chris Morgan & Kevin Walsh
artist: Wilfredo Torres
colorist: Andrew Dalhouse
letterer: Marshall Dillon
editor: Mark Waid

Every Wednesday, A Comic A Day boldly diverts from the printed page to read and review a different webcomic, examining at least its first, previous, and current installments. If you have a webcomic you'd like A Comic A Day to review, please e-mail me with a link to and a synopsis of your work. Put "Review my webcomic!" in the subject line so I don't mistake your request for spam . . . unless your comic is really called "You've Just Won a Playstation -- Click Here to Find Out How," in which case, tell me more!

I’m cheating this week. Thanks to my review of 2 Guns #1, marketing director Chip Mosher has added me to Boom! Studios’ press release e-mail list, which recently included an advance copy of Salem: Queen of Thorns #1. Salem may not be a webcomic, but reading the issue as a PDF file provided an interesting insight into the potential of the medium’s future. Further, though this issue has since been released, when I received it, it was available exclusively on-line via e-mail for promotional purposes, a characteristic definitive to webcomics. So, in this case, I’m embracing the back door.

Our country’s history is unquestionably tainted by a multitude of civil, political, and religious discords. Few of these calamities manage to boast all three claims as much as the infamous Salem Witch Trials. I am by no means an expert on the subject; in fact, my knowledge of the subject is limited to an obligatory read of The Crucible in high school and a few supplement civics lessons. Still, considering the amount of skepticism a possible Texas UFO sighting elicits from America nowadays, the imagination runs wild with the thought that the fear of witchcraft so gripped a town that they began systematic executions of women with just the slightest penchant for frog’s leg soup. Indeed, our post Industrial Age skepticism deems that era of history as fantastic as those supernatural accusations, chalking up that brief era of madness to spiritual paranoia.

But what if the Salem Witch Trials, albeit false, were simply mankind’s hasty reactions to the machinations of real magic brewing at the time? Enter Salem: Queen of Thorns #0.

In this introductory issue, the darkly garbed Hooke, appropriately wielding a sickle and various other magical tools in his portable arsenal, prowls the Salem forests to both save innocent women from execution and uncover and defeat that real magic lurking behind the scenes. Deacon Wood, gripped by conviction, also attempts to shed spread some righteousness by confronting his superiors, whose investments in both the trials and Hooke’s involvement is obviously more personal than professional. When Hooke, Wood, and a rescued prostitute flee to the forest, they tussle with a few demonic arachnid crossbreeds before encountering the Queen of Thorns, a large, snarling tree that knows Hooke by name. If this is how #0 ends, I can only imagine how the first issue begins.

Salem: Queen of Thorns has the potential to become The Crucible for a new generation, teaching readers about the bitter reality of those dark days while still infusing history with an entertaining sense of supernatural adventure. Our hero Hooke is dressed like a moody Victorian bounty hunter, but his quick tongue is as sharp as his sickle, combating the theocratic hierarchy of his era with wit and bitterness. Handing mild-mannered Wood a pistol for protection, he counters the deacon’s whimpering with the smirk-worthy retort, “Just point it at the bad things and pull the trigger.” I hope Deacon comes of age in future issues, though, as his closeness to the church’s inner circle could prove our heroes a strategic advantage. Hooke might be slinging guns, but the issue of witch hunting surely isn’t just a physical one.

Fortunately, artist Wilfredo Torres seems capable of the dual task. His depictions of the supernatural don’t clash with the colonial backdrop of Salem, and in fact the Queen of Thorns and her demonic minions actually enhance the natural environment. The more text-intensive moments were well blocked, graced with a cinematic quality that paces dialogue, mood, and tension perfectly. In fact, Torres’ pencils and inks may actually be more crisp than material like this really needs; in other words, a little leniency with his rigid ink lines might have layered the tale with a sense of atmospheric spookiness. Nevertheless, his formulaic structure enhances the seriousness of the piece, and even if Salem doesn’t go the way of The Crucible, both script and illustration combine to create all the drama you need.

I may have received this issue via e-mail, but I think I’ll make the tangible purchase, too. If I’m going to buy the rest of the series, I might as well have a hardcopy of how it all began. Salem #0 exposes us to the harsh reality of embracing our humble beginnings, anyway. Those poor, hanging women may not have been witches, but their ghosts will haunt us for a long time to come.

Spellgame #1

Spellgame #1, September 2005, Speakeasy Comics
writer: Dan Mishkin
artist: Ramon Perez
letterer: Marshall Dillon
editor: Chris Stone
cover artist: Darwyn Cooke

Everybody remembers their first time. No, I'm not talking about "becoming a man," though that may play some part in it -- I'm talking about one's first trip to Las Vegas. Whether you're vacationing for business or unadulterated pleasure, Las Vegas is truly an adult Disneyland that inspires a completely different but equally compelling part of one's imagination. I first visited "the strip" with my old friends Nathan and Nick, and one night, while we were waiting for the bus to take us from one end to the other, two pretty girls pulled up and asked if we wanted a ride. Thinking we'd hit the proverbial jackpot, we joined them for drinks and, in our naivete, didn't realize until at least an hour into our conversation that drinks weren't all they wanted us to pay for. We learned that lesson the hilarious way; what happens in Vegas usually puts you in way over your head.

John Dodge knows what I mean. In Spellgame #1, Dodge, a Vegas con man, discovers his strange connection to a coming age of magic when the cards he deals come to life! Writer Dan Mishkin takes the audience on a virtual rollercoaster ride of underground gambling and underworld mysticism, introducing his Dodge and his sidekick Harry via a typical pick-a-card con, then suddenly throwing magic in the mix when the Jack of spades leaps from the deck, dons a suit, and takes some ladies to town. The fantastic scene is well executed by artist Ramon Perez, but when Dodge's victim realizes he's been had, the strange occurrence is seemingly dismissed as Dodge and Harry run from the cops. Later, Dodge chases a goblin through traffic and some goth punks capture and inexplicably attack him, until John commandeers their magic to fight back. Again, Perez does a very admirable job of blending this seemingly seamless blend of fantasy and reality, but Mishkin avoids addressing its weight with significant dialogue, other than Dodge's obligatory skepticism even in the face of the obviously supernatural. Still, the premise is promising, if only to explore that dark magic that must hold a city like Las Vegas together.

I'd be remiss not to mention Darwyn Cooke's fantastic cover, which actually sparked my interested in Spellgame a few years ago when I saw it as an ad in Chuck Satterlee and Norm Breyfogle's Of Bitter Souls. Interestingly, Of Bitter Souls also addressed the supernatural context of a prominent American tourist attraction, New Orleans, and perhaps this context inspired such a direction for Spellgame. Unfortunately, despite the involvement of Cooke, Breyfogle, and other top notch talent, Speakeasy Comics closed its doors in 2006; I wonder if the company would have achieved more success if its titles concocted this kind of thematic continuity, much in the same way as Dark Horse has cornered the goth spook market (i.e. Hellboy, The Goon, and its recent hit The Umbrella Academy).

Either way, like any trip to Vegas, a winning streak just can't last forever. If this first issue inspired me to follow up on anything, its finding more work by Ramon Perez. (A quick Google search uncovered his Calavera Studios site, which reminded me that I have seen his work in Butternut Squash #1. Thought it looked familiar . . .) See, Spellgame #1 proves it, that rolling the dice and taking a chance on a title based on its ad can be a good gamble.