The Mercury Chronicles #0

The Mercury Chronicles #0, Summer 2005, Speakeasy Comics
writer: Vito Delsante
artists: Mike Lilly & Shawn McGuan
colorist: Ben Hunzeker
letterer & designer: Jeff Powell
editor: Ron Hill

Blogger’s note: Entry for Sunday, April 20, 2008.

In his back page blurb about The Mercury Chronicles, Speakeasy Comics President Adam Fortier describes the Golden Age of comics as “a time when individuals in this fledgling industry were literally creating a medium of entertainment from the ground up and one that had a very uncertain future.” Indeed, considering his comments, and this zero issue’s use of an old time news reel to establish the setting and prominent characters of this series, I’m reminded that our culture’s most influential media are still very new considering the context of human history. Whether or not or believe the world to be 7,000 or 3.6 billion years old, the advent of film is just a small, and conveniently the most current, fraction of that time; further, while the printed page has been around a bit longer, we often forget that the comic book industry was the first to pioneer the press’ two major elements -- words and pictures -- in a combination of sequential storytelling. This was just about hundred years ago. Out of thousands to billions of earth history.

Wow. And sometimes I muse about life before the Internet. You know, that dark era known as the ‘80s . . . when cell phones were the size of your forearm.

The Mercury Chronicles takes place in that tumultuous post-World War II, pre-Civil Rights Movement period in American history, that awkward decade when we the people realized that we needed a war to rise out of our Great Depression and we suppressed the thought with the hope that life was as perfect as one of those new black and white sitcoms on television. Heroes were easy to define -- from fictional characters like Superman and the Lone Ranger to our own military soldiers, heroes were obviously men and women (mostly men) that put everyone else’s lives before their own, readily sacrificing their own liberty for the call of duty so that the rest of us were spared the responsibility. Heck, everyone else still pitched in where they could, though, buying war bonds, recycling paper, and sending care packages overseas. It was the twentieth century’s post-adolescent, responsible thirty-somethings.

(Yes, I’m implying that centuries take twice as long to “age” as the average human being, likening the ‘00s-‘10s to childhood, the ‘20s-‘30s to adolescence, and all the way up to the ‘80s as its proverbial midlife crisis. But that analogy is for another day, and definitely warrants of other centuries, too.)

Enter Commander Champion and Mr. Mercury, the world’s finest heroes of writer Vito Delsante’s interpretation of events. Though both fought bravely during World War II, only Champion survived to tell his tale . . . until 1947, when a mysterious flying saucer crashes in New Mexico, and the military converges to discover the ship’s sole occupant: a travel-weary Mr. Mercury! His three-year absence is a mystery, shrouded in the supernatural context of that strange period of history, and I confess an interest in his story.

When I picked up The Mercury Chronicles #0 earlier this year, I wasn’t sure what the thin 10-page story would offer, other than the stunning art I encountered while initially flipping through its pages. Indeed, this kind of prologue is the perfect way to kick off a series -- a simple enough launching pad that can be summed up in just a few panels’ worth of story in the follow issue #1, yet poignant enough to stand on its own as a teaser for the greater concept to come. Mike Lilly’s sketchbook section is also more comprehensive than I would’ve expected, complete with color studies and insightful notes into the visual development of the series. As I’m sure was intended, this little peek behind the curtain has inspired me to find the whole series to see if it lives up to its pre-development potential.

Fortier concludes his introductory blurb by describing The Mercury Chronicles as “an authentic homage to the era [the ‘30s-‘40s] rather than a haphazard interpretation,” perhaps like the one I rattled off above. From what I’ve read so far, I agree. Since the comics of that era are relatively black and white compared to the mired subplots of today’s graphic fare, Delsante seems determined to use war, the mystery of space, and superheroes in a way to exploit the true vulnerabilities of that otherwise innocent time. In other words, his Mercury Chronicles is checking the barometer of America’s then-developing pop culture. It’s all in the name.

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.