I’m going to jump in on this week’s comic post and take over from Marv because I think ‘I have some explainin’ to do.’
I have been really wanting to inject a homage to one of the most famous panels in comic books for a very long time. In fact, I would probably say this is the most swiped, homaged, tributed, panel of all time. And that is of course from Amazing Spider-Man #50, when Peter Parker throws his Spidey-suit in the trashcan and walks away. It’s a beautiful shot from John Romita Sr. and it was an instant classic. I thought it would be a funny moment for Curt to do the same, on the day that he decided that Cosplay was just not for him. Which is mainly his own fault of course.
This one has yet another swipe from one of my favorite movies of all time Shawshank Redemption. It is a shot of freedom, and finally escaping the shackles that were holding you back. And here it is used to show how over-exaggerated our friend Curt is and the importance he places in himself.
In fact, when I was conceptualizing this story-arc and wanted to depict the transformation of Curt, these two images came to mind. I either watch too many movies or read too many comics…or perhaps both. Either way, I look upon it and believe it good.
Coming off last week’s Garth Ennis Judge Dredd recommendation, I thought I would point toward something that is relatively new.
What many non-US audiences probably don’t know about Garth Ennis is probably his love for war comics. Part of what he is doing nowadays after the immense success of Preacher and the Boys is visiting and contributing to that love. He restarted the Battle Pictures Weekly called Battle Action at Rebellion (the same organization currently behind 2000AD) and he also wrote The Lion & The Eagle with AfterShock Comics, beautifully drawn by PJ Holden and magnificently colored Matt Milla.
The Lion & The Eagle might have been lost to the tales of time because it was during the period that AfterShock started going bankrupt. Thus, a lot of news around these four issues would probably have been drowned out by that event. Neverthless, if you didn’t pick it up the first time around I can highly recommend it.
The Lion & The Eagle depicts a group of British soldiers in the Pacific Theater during World War II to retake Burma from the Japanese. It’s very layered and shows how the British Empire was organized and how they used soldiers from their colonies. Plus, Ennis does a great job to make sure he doesn’t romanticize war as this could be tricky with war comics today (especially outside of the United Kingdom) and The Lion & The Eagle definitely stays away from making war black and white. In addition, PJ Holden does an incredible job depicting the violence while making sure it does not go over the top and to the more campy/grindhouse side a la Quentin Tarantino.
And really the star of this, in my opinion, is PJ Holden. Holden is one of my favorite artists working today and he does a lot of incredible work. One of my favorite things he does for 2000AD in Judge Dredd’s world is definitely Noam Chimpsky. Noam Chimpsky is a super smart ape who uses his super-intelligence to try to thwart the overall system of oppression, propped up by the Judges. Chimpsky sees things that no one else can see in the Big Meg and it’s always great when he drops in on the weekly prog.
Even when I do not get him in a particular year, I will also have a PJ Holden dose, every Halloween, because I re-read Soul Plumber from DC Comics. I have the collected version but Holden’s style is very appropriate for the message and style of the book. I absolutely do not want to give anything away about Soul Plumber because it was one of those experiences that I thought I knew what was coming but then I didn’t. And now I can remember that experience every single year.
So there you have it folks. What started out as a Garth Ennis recommendation quickly turned into a PJ Holden tribute and love letter. That’s how these things go. And to put the final touches on my obsession with Holden, I decided to whip up a portrait of him after scanning his Blusky account. Yes it’s that bad. Plus, his account is charming and I can heartily recommend that you follow him. He currently is redefining himself as an actor. Nuff said.
