MONDOmagazine

Miles’ Book of the Month

Air: Letters from Lost Countries (volume one)
Written by G. Willow Wilson
Art by M.K. Parker
Colours by Chris Chuckry
Vertigo, 2009

My real Book of the Month is Neil Gaiman’s Sandman collection Brief Lives, but since that came out in 1993, it doesn’t come close to qualifying. I’ve been chronologically working my way through Sandman, and so far this has been the best of a fantastic series. I’m quite taken with it.

Which is why, when I saw a recommendation from Neil Gaiman on the cover of this book, I bought it.

It’s an odd hybrid of a fairy tale and I see why Gaiman puts his stamp of approval on it.

The pacing of the story is a little manic. Things happen fast and change a lot in this five-issue collection. What starts in conventional airports ends up in magical nations that time forgot and floating cities over the Atlantic ocean. And that’s where the book starts to work its magic. Once, as the reader, you understand what kind of a tale this is, everything falls into place. So, if you pick up this book and don’t love it immediately, don’t worry, I didn’t either.

Air is aboout Blythe, an airline hostess with a fear of heights. Unaware of her larger destiny, Blythe is dragged into a war between oil companies and airlines over Aztec technology. Which, when you say it like that, sounds pretty ridiculous, but it works.

The art is kind of a mixed bag. Parker is a good artist, but he inks his work like he doesn’t have a colourist. He adds extra shading lines where he really doesn’t need to, making his characters look lumpy. With the deletion of a few lines, this would all be fixed. Either that, or Chuckry needs to approach his colouring in a different way. But, that said, the reason I can focus on this is because everything else looks really good.

But, hey, don’t trust me. Trust Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Brian Azzarello, Gail Simone, and Jason Aaron: they all like Air, and so should you.

Isaac’s Book of the Month

Nova #23
Written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning
Art by Andrea Divito
Marvel Comics, 2009

As much as I had been in love with Nova in the past, this last story arc had gotten on my bad side. It was a story where Nova was suspicious of Worldmind, the sentient supercomputer who’d been sharing space in Nova’s head until just recently, for remaking a galactic corps of Nova-style good guys. Nova (aka Richard Rider) had no evidence or even a motive for thinking ill of this action, so he was either selfish about being the only Nova left rocketing around, or he had gone nuts. Neither option sounds great to me.

It turned out that Nova was right to be wary of this (naturally), because Worldmind was using a kind of “free will suppressant” on his new agents, so they wouldn’t grow up to be as much trouble as Richard Rider. Rider is now left bereft of his Nova powers and is going to die in two days without them. That’s just recap.

So the first page of the comic is Rider holding up his own action figure and saying, “the likeness sucks, but would you check out the points of articulation?” That’s an amazing opening for a comic: it gives us a moment of realism that we can really appreciate that is far less awkward than the usual Marvel trope of inserting their creative team into the Marvel Universe, like when John Byrne was present for “The Trial of Reed Richards.” Yes, I know DC does it too, and if you want me to go on forever on how DC does it differently and better, just ask me. I dare you.

The personal touches at the beginning are great. When Rider finally realizes how much his brother wanted to live the life of a super hero and emulate Nova, I don’t think Rider had ever really seen that before, which makes that an epiphany over thirty years in the making! (Nova having been created in 1976.)

While it’s incredibly clear how much these two brothers love each other, there’s an unspoken jealousy between the two that creates a secondary narrative in this comic about how these brothers relate to each other now, and how it is a natural culmination of their history together. Richard Rider had the powers of Nova, and Robert Rider was a super-genius. Robert could build a functioning robot, but Richard was flying around saving the day. Then again, as Richard saw it, he basically lucked into those powers, and Robert’s brain was something truly impressive.

Now that Robert has been given those Nova powers, and Richard is without, we see what really defines these two. Robert is ready to disregard his mind in favour of a frontline post for the upcoming Shi’ar /Kree war, still trying to be a copy of his brother.

Richard Rider, on the other hand, is coping with the prospect of his death with dignity and courage, and when one avenue of succour is presented to him, Rider rejects it because it would compromise his values. That’s integrity, that is.

The fact that Quasar leaps in at the end with his quantum bands to save Richard Rider’s life is just icing on the cake, because then we, you know, get an issue #24.

Owen’s Book of the Month

Ghost Rider #33
Written by Jason Aaron
Art by Tony Moore
Marvel Comics, 2009

The world will be coming to an end soon. That’s the only explanation I can think of. Black is white, up is down, cats and dogs are living together. Otherwise I can’t imagine why Ghost Rider would be my pick for Book of the Month. I’ve never liked Ghost Rider (the character) or Ghost Rider (the comic). In fact, the last time I picked it up, it did not go well at all (I hated it). Lately, though, I’ve been hearing good things from many reliable sources, and this Jason Aaron guy does write one of my favourite books coming out*, so I thought I should give it a shot. I bought his first four issues. All I can say is wow.

This is good stuff. Really, really good stuff. Since this review is meant to be about the most recent issue, though, I’ll skip over how amazingly bloody fantastic all the issues of Aaron’s run are (issues #20-33 are out, go and buy them right now, I trekked all over my city to find all of them, and it was totally worth it), and just talk about issue #33, the one from March.

Issue #33 is sort of a catch-your-breath issue after everything went crazy in the last few. The focus is put on Sara, a nunchuk-toting nun turned Ghost Rider-watcher figure. She’s dealing with the events of the previous issue and helping poor inexperienced Ghost Rider newbies like me understand the mythos of the comic a little better. It may sound a little boring, but when it means Aboriginal Ghost Riders, cowboy Ghost Riders, and Terminator-esque Ghost Riders, it definitely isn’t.

It’s also hard to be boring when you’re looking at Tony Moore’s art. Between The Exterminators, The Walking Dead and now this, Moore is quickly becoming one of my favourite artists. There is a sense of fun to his style that doesn’t come at the expense of good character work.

If you’re one of those people who, like me, has always avoided Ghost Rider comics, now’s the time to put aside your non-flaming-skull-comic-reading ways and check out this amazing comic. It’s one of the best comics Marvel is putting out right now. Take it from me — I don’t even like the character.

*Scalped, in case you were wondering.

Sandra’s Book of the Month

Daredevil: Lady Bullseye TPB
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Lark & Stefano Gaudiano
Marvel Comics, 2009

I’m in love with a comic-book character, and it’s okay. Why? We’re talking about Matt Murdock, Daredevil — one of the few men in tights that has become worthy of my undying, sometimes obsessive, devotion.  I’m going to make him my boyfriend. Seriously, I will. I’ll take the whole package, baggage and all. I’ll welcome his cheating ways, his tortured soul, and especially that red outfit with open arms. All you want to do is tell Matt that it’s all going to be alright, while cradling him in your arms. If someone sees him, give him my number. Please.

Stalker tendencies aside, having only just stepped into the Daredevil realm, I’ve come to see and understand and even appreciate all his flaws. Saying that his life is complicated would be a huge understatement. Matt Murdock is tortured, conflicted, and wrought with guilt. Every woman who’s ever had the misfortune of loving him either ended up dead or crazy. You’d think that with such a track record, he’d stay away from the fairer sex, but that would make life too easy. Instead, he finds consolation within the arms of the beautiful, model-turned-P.I., Dakota North. Did I mention he was married? The wife’s on a vacation, though, at the asylum, courtesy of Matt. Oh Matt, you’re such a devil.

To make matters worse, a new lady is in town, and she’s set her aim on Daredevil. Hired by the Hand and following Lord Hirochi’s orders, Lady Bullseye has been given the task of targeting several skilled fighters of New York like Iron Fist and the Black Tarantula. Ordered to keep Daredevil as far away from the proceedings as possible, she frames him for the killing of two street thugs. She assures Hiroshi that her intentions are merely to ensure that Daredevil is prepared for the gift the Hand wishes to impart upon him. Their first encounter is set under the pouring clouds of a typical dark New York night. Lady Bullseye practically dances circles around Daredevil and leaves him with a cryptic message, “No one you care about will be untouched.” Cue the ominous music, please. Generally, their encounters are brief. Besides, I’m sure they still have lots of time to become well-acquainted with one another in later issues.

Although Lady Bullseye’s origins are generally unknown, it is revealed that she was once one of many teenage sex slaves working for the Yakuza. One night, while in her cage, she witnesses Bullseye at work as he infiltrates and systematically kills the many soldiers within the compound. The vivid violence and death of her capturers bestowed upon her a joy that awakened something dark inside of her. She manages to escape her cell while slicing a guard’s neck with the keys, and, while walking away, vows to never allow a man to touch her without her permission. Bad ass.

I must say that the Lady Bullseye versus Daredevil superhero story, although the main theme, was almost boring. Although their encounters did set in motion some very interesting events, I was more intrigued by the never-ending war within Matt’s conscience. Beneath the fights, the Hand, and everything else going on in Daredevil’s life, there is a much dirtier and messier story lying within the life of Matt Murdock. If loving him means I’ll end up dead or insane, I’ll take my chances. Call me a fool, but I just can’t help but sympathize with Daredevil.

Nicola Cavendish as Shirley Valentine. Photo by Yanick Macdonald

Shirley Valentine
By Willy Russell
Directed by Roy Surette
Featuring Nicola Cavendish
Presented by The Canadian Stage Company (a co-production with Centaur Theatre Company, Montreal)
Runs until April 18 @ Bluma Appel Theatre

By Matt McGeachy

An ultimately uplifting story of the triumph of living life to its fullest potential, The Canadian Stage Company’s Shirley Valentine is without a doubt the best show of the Toronto season.  A one-woman show featuring the inimitable Nicola Cavendish as Shirley Bradshaw (nee Valentine), it is the tale of one lonely woman’s journey to self-fulfillment and a call to arms to each of us to live life to its fullest potential.

The show opens in set designer Anne-Seguin Poirier’s beautifully designed Liverpool kitchen as Shirley is cooking supper for her husband, Joe.  As she fries the potatoes and eggs, puts the tea on the kettle, and downs the better part of a bottle of Riesling, we learn that Shirley’s life as a happy homemaker is far from happy, and even farther from the life she dreamed for herself as a young woman.  Shirley talks to the wall in her kitchen about her unhappy marriage (“Marriage is a lot like the Middle East: there is no solution!”), her ungrateful children, and the opportunity that her feminist friend Jane has offered her: a two-week holiday in Greece.  Shirley, of course, believes that she must decline the offer, which sets up the primary conflict of the play, a conflict between the comfort of unhappiness and routine and the risk of doing what she has always wanted to do and living the life she has wanted to live.

Shirley’s life has never been particularly easy.  She was bullied at school by the headmistress and became a rebel, full of envy for her schoolmate Marjory Major.  She always wanted to travel as a younger person, but now, at age 46, she’s afraid to leave.  Ultimately, she decides to go to Greece after an altercation with Joe over the quality of supper, a chance meeting with Marjory Major — she is now a high-class prostitute — and an encounter with her nosy neighbour, who envies her courage, and gives her a real silk robe to take with her.  We begin to see the transformation of timid, lonely Shirley Bradshaw back into the woman she wants to be-Shirley Valentine.

Once in Greece, Shirley Valentine is in full bloom.  She enjoys the sun, the sea, the people; yes, she takes a lover, which may provide some satisfaction to us given the jerk husband she left behind, but that’s really beside the point.  What we see is the courageous Shirley finally reaching her potential, finally living how she wants to live.  Freed of the burdens back home, Shirley evolves into the kind of person each of us strives to be; she becomes herself.

Nicola Cavendish’s beautiful, nuanced performance is utterly captivating.  Her masterful timing hits every note of Russell’s script with grace.  As Shirley Bradshaw, Cavendish punctuates the sadness with laughter, giving us fleeting glimpses into depression and then pulling us out with a quick joke or anecdote.  When talking to the wall-the audience-it feels like Cavendish is directly addressing every single person in the room, one-to-one at the kitchen table with a bottle of wine to share.  As she blooms into old Shirley Valentine, Cavendish powerfully embraces the character’s newfound confidence.  The lyricism of the entire show is breathtaking.

Director Roy Surette and Nicola Cavendish have created a remarkable and compelling show that reminds each of us of the power of happiness and the joy of taking the risk of living the life you want to lead.  As Shirley so poignantly reminds us, “Most of us die long before we’re dead.”  After this show, each of us has the courage to live.

It just screams out, "tame!"

The Haunting in Connecticut
Directed by Peter Cornwell
Lionsgate, 2009

By Sean Kelly

I have to confess I’ve always been intrigued by stories of ghosts and hauntings.  It’s fascinating that there are things in this world that science cannot explain.  Whether you’re a believer or not, you’ll agree that Hollywood frequently exploits these stories in film, often for no other reason than to include the “Based on a True Story” label on posters.

Probably the most notable example would be The Amityville Horror.  While it’s one of the most famous of the true ghost stories, it is also widely considered the least likely to be true.  A few years ago, we also saw the release of An American Haunting, which dealt with the “Bell Witch,” one of the oldest and most famous of American ghost stories.

Now we have The Haunting in Connecticut.  The story is based on the case of the Snedeker family, previously documented in the book A Dark Place and on the Discovery Channel haunted house series A Haunting.  At the very least, the film has a reasonable claim to the “Based on a True Story” label, as opposed to, say, last year’s The Strangers, which was an original story based quite loosely on the Manson killings.

So, how did this film affect me?  True story or not, I was sitting quite passively for two thirds of this “horror” film.  That said, the haunted house subgenre of horror films is probably the most difficult to pull off.  You have to find a way to portray hauntings on film that is genuinely scary and doesn’t come off as cheesy.

For the most part, ghosts are portrayed in this film as shadowy figures in the background.  While the musical cues suggested that I should be scared at these shots, I ended up just shrugging them off.  There was only one single jump-scare in the film that got me, and that involved a moderately scarier ghost than what had been shown during the previous hour.

Another thing I wasn’t too crazy about was how one of characters kept having these quickly-cut flashback visions.  While they do become clearer as the film goes on and eventually provide an explanation to the hauntings, they came off as clumsy — stylization for its own sake.

The film did pick up a bit for me during the third act when the hauntings got more intense.  It still wasn’t perfect, but I can say that it was for those twenty or so minutes alone that I left the theatre with the feeling that at least the film wasn’t a total waste of money.

As for the performances, Virginia Madsen is the only main character in the film who would be instantly recognizable.  I really enjoyed Elias Koteas (one of my favourite character actors), who plays the obligatory religious figure trying to exorcise the house.  His character gives a unique explanation as to why some people can see ghosts and others can’t.

In the end, while I considered the film to be fair, there are definitely better haunted house movies out there.  Maybe this will cause studios to consider that not every true ghost story will necessarily translate well on to film.  Sometimes you have to play with the facts — just ask The Amityville Horror.

Now all you’ll have to feel bad about is the job itself!

By Emma Cunningham

I don’t have any clients who work an office job who don’t complain of lower back pain, stiffness in the neck and shoulders, and inflexible hamstrings. In fact, I don’t think I even know another instructor who has a client with a desk job who doesn’t show these symptoms.

We’re all familiar with it. We spend hours sitting in a chair we don’t exactly fit in, typing at a desk in a cramped position where our hands are higher than our elbows, using fingers to click a mouse that leaves our hand semi-permanently curled into a ball. Rounded shoulders start to develop from leaning forward to read everything from our computer monitors to memos from the boss.

There is a solution, though. Pilates. Everyone knows that exercise keeps your blood flowing, brain working, and body functioning. Pilates is especially good because its whole purpose is to realign the body for optimal working condition. Don’t have the money for a private instructor? Take a group class. The results come slower, but they still come. Don’t have time to get to a class? Shame on you, but here are a few exercises you can do at your desk in 5 – 10 minutes. Read the rest of this entry »

Dedicated to the Revolutions
Produced by Small Wooden Shoe
Created by Frank Cox-O’Connell, Chad Dembski, Ame Henderson, Erika Hennebury, Gillian Lewis, Aimée Dawn Robinson, Trevor Schwellnus, Erin Shields, Evan Webber and Jacob Zimmer
Runs March 31 – April 12, 2009@ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre

By Daina Valiulis

As the audience enters the theatre, the performers are mingling, casually playing a game of Jenga on a table in the centre of the stage. A troupe member sits by the entrance, competing against a printer in a speed-writing contest. The Jenga blocks tumble, and desk-dude stops the competition — the performers demonstrate how, in a short amount of time, the printer can produce more text than a person, though they never explain the relevance to the show. The performance continues in much the same vein: presenting “experiments” that never reach a conclusion or prove anything — problematic since experiments by nature are meant to prove or disprove a hypothesis.

An informal ensemble piece, Dedicated to the Revolutions features seven performers speaking about and attempting to demonstrate, through various experiments, the seven revolutions that have had the most impact on our world. The set is a wide expanse fenced in by dry-erase boards on all sides with a giant projection screen in the middle (used to project images of the events as they unfold through a hand-held camera).

At the top of the show, the ensemble lists the seven revolutions they mean to explore: the Gutenberg Revolution, the Copernican Revolution, the Newtonian Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Darwinian Revolution, the Nuclear Revolution, and the Information Revolution.

The show continues haphazardly; unclear jumps from one scene to the next make it difficult to follow along. Each experiment seemed to exist in its own world, failing to connect to the main thesis of the piece (about which I’m still unclear).

In the first experiment, two performers arrange an old-school child’s communication system using cans and wire. They introduce more and more people (and cans and wires) to the system, which eventually becomes complicated and clumsy. Point understood — revolutions, in the name of progress, have often complicated matters more. However, transitions lacked a certain flow. The very next experiment showed how light technology has progressed over time, demonstrating what light would look like illuminating the streets of Paris at night in the 1900s, a Toronto street, Dundas Square, and a fully illuminated theatre. What did this have to do with the communication experiment? Or any of the revolutions? It’s a mystery.

Also problematic: the two question periods. The audience was encouraged to ask the performers pre-arranged questions found under the seats. Examples: “Which conditions would create stillness?” and “Are time and space the same thing?” (The answer was “Yes.”) “What was the social impact of trains?” (Answer: “Madness.”) Another favorite of mine was, “What do you need to start an industrial revolution?” The answer was, “Babies (for their small, dexterous fingers) and capital.” Before the audience had time to contemplate this experiment, the performers were on to a giant mathematical equation meant to “spend some time alleviating your anxieties about the end of the world.”

While at times the experiments were clever and had an amusingly casual, goofy science-fair vibe, some of them were straight-up boring and poorly executed. They didn’t prove anything or have anything to do with one another. The cuteness they achieved with style in the beginning wore thin by the end. The show ended with a song: “Nothing ever wants to change, but it does and that’s what’s strange…” Was that the point? If so — achieved. But I left scratching my head.

By Miles Baker

Marvel and DC Comics have released their advance solicitations for June 2009.
Of the list I’ll be buying…

From DC

BATMAN AND ROBIN #1 because I like Morrison and Quietly together (as seen in All Star Superman and New X-Men). I was thrown that this book is actually in main continuity, and I am curious to see how it develops.

DETECTIVE COMICS #854 because Greg Rucka is a fantastic writer, especially when it comes to tough female characters, and JH Williams is an underrated genius.

MYSTERIUS: THE UNFATHOMABLE #6 because I’ve enjoyed the first couple issues of this quirky series.

NORTHLANDERS VOL. 2: THE CROSS + THE HAMMER TP because it has Vikings, and Vikings are awesome.

YOUNG LIARS #16 because it’s the craziest book on the market, and I can’t wait to see what crazy shit happens next.

THE UNWRITTEN #2 because Mike Cary is a solid writer and that cover is very pretty.

From Marvel
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #596-8 because it’s been consistently awesome for the last year.

DARK AVENGERS/UNCANNY X-MEN: UTOPIA because I like what Fraction is doing with Uncanny X-Men. It’s a tough call because I dislike what Bendis is doing with Dark Avengers and Marc Silvestri’s art.

MIGHTY AVENGERS #26 because it’s still on my pull list. Dan Slott is a funny writer, but so far I’m not taken with his Avengers title.

SECRET WARRIORS #5 because this series is really starting to cook, and I like Nick Fury.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #600 because Captain America is my boyfriend.

DAREDEVIL #119 because Daredevil is my other boyfriend.

RUNAWAYS #11 because Terry Moore will be no longer ruining this title with his shoddy characterization.

UNCANNY X-MEN #511 because of the Fraction.

X-MEN: LEGACY #225 because it’s written for people like me who know too much about the X-Men.

CABLE #15 and X-FORCE #16 because I’m a sucker for crossovers, and I’m interested in what happens to that mutant baby.

X-FACTOR #44 & #45 because X-Factor is kicking so much ass lately. This is one of the best series on the market right now. The last three issues have been so outstanding.

What about you? Any suggestions?

He knows!

Directed by Alex Proyas
Summit Entertainment, 2009

By Rachel West

There are a few things that I’d be better off not knowing. One of which is the outcome of the movie Knowing, the plot and climax of which is as thin as Nicolas Cage’s hairline.

Always up for a trashy sci-fi action movie, and an admitted fan of Cage’s over-the-top performances and recent string of bafflingly terrible action flicks, I thought Knowing would fall into the “so bad it’s good” category. Unfortunately, Knowing is the sort of movie that’s so bad it’s… still bad.

Despite the lacklustre title, the film has a promising, albeit ludicrous, premise: in commemoration of the opening of a new elementary school in 1959, the school children each drew a picture of what they thought the future would look like to be placed in a time capsule for 50 years. When the time capsule is opened in 2008, young Caleb is handed an envelope from the past. Instead of a picture of rocket ships and flying cars, Caleb’s time capsule drawing is a seemingly random page filled with numbers drawn by a disturbed child named Lucinda.

When Caleb’s astrophysicist dad John (Nicolas Cage) takes a look at the numbers, he discovers that each numbered sequence represents a major disaster from the past 50 years. With the dates matching everything from fatal fires, 9/11 and plane crashes, there are three disasters yet to occur as John races to stop the impending catastrophes.

Thrown into this mix is Diana (Rose Byrne), the daughter of Lucinda, and Diana’s daughter, Abby. Abby, like Caleb, hears scrambled voices, inaudible to adults. When Diana and John unite, they discover that their children are the key to the mystery.

Cage creepier than house?

With a plot like that, Knowing should be filled with action, explosions, and some white-knuckled moments of suspense. But this is not the case. The plot moves at glacial speed and takes forever to gain any momentum. Instead, the film is weighed down by moody shots of the foreboding woods, John looking pensive, and young Caleb (Chandler Canterbury) perfecting his Children of the Corn vacant stare.

Knowing is not able to sustain its too few moments of suspense, and the audience is able to telegraph what the mysterious numbers represent long before the characters on screen. The dialogue reads like a bland sci-fi paperback with gems like, “It’s going to get a lot worse before it gets any better,” delivered by Nic Cage in a forcedly purposeful way.

The film does provide a few chilling moments in the form of the cloaked strangers or “Whisperers” as they are referred to in the film, who, like all creepy strangers, enjoy hanging out in the woods, shrouded in fog, staring into people’s houses, but the entire film is weighed down by its over-earnestness. Everything is dire. There is no hope for any of us. Although the film is bad, there are some spectacular special effects sequences involving a plane crash and a subway disaster that will make you think twice about boarding the TTC. Director Alex Proyas is no slouch when it comes to big budget special effects and dark subject matter. He’s studied at the school of Michael Bay and has delivered results in I, Robot, Dark City, and The Crow. Knowing seems like a walk in the park for him.

And of course, like any bad sci-fi flick, aliens must be to blame. Aliens have become the scapegoat for all mysterious happenings on earth. When strange occurrences can’t be blamed on the government, the only logical conclusion is that some not-so-friendly little green men are responsible. By pointing the finger at aliens for all of earth’s problems, any preposterous plot points that have yet to be wrapped up can simply be directed back onto the otherworldly visitors.

These aren’t even futuristic or frightening aliens: they look like fair-haired and skinned Nordic gods, with vacant eyes and mouths full of….light. They don’t have any weapons, and when not hanging out in the fog, whispering to kids, they spend their free time flying around in artichoke-like spaceships. Not exactly scary stuff.

While Knowing isn’t a total waste of time- it does provide quite a few unintentional laughs and viewers will be amused by counting the number of plot holes- it’s certainly one of the crown jewels in Nicolas Cage’s recent string of bombs. There is just something about a guy who continuously outdoes himself in increasingly crazily horrible films. Who reads a script for a film called Bangkok Dangerous and thinks it’ll be good? Nicolas Cage. He’s untouchable despite the terrible choices he has made as of late, as Knowing’s top spot at the North American box office proves.

Knowing won’t leave you wanting more, and you’re certainly better off not knowing what new lows Cage has sunk to.

Owen’s Book

Daredevil #117
Written by Ed Brubaker
Art by Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano
Marvel Comics, 2009

Daredevil is probably one of the best superhero comics I haven’t read. Well, that’s not entirely true. I have read snippets of the Ed Brubaker run, but I have never read any of Frank Miller’s or Brian Michael Bendis’ runs. It’s not due to any dislike for the character, I’ve just never gotten around to it. Still, I’ve liked what I’ve read of Brubaker’s, so I was looking forward to my random book this week.

But before we get into the story, I’ve just got to say, “What the hell?” Why does the cover advertise this story as Return of the King — part 2, while inside the book is called The Return of the King — part 1? Huh? Did I get in on this story at a good time or not? The last time I saw such ridiculous inconsistency was in Judd Winick’s Titans #1 (part 2 of a story…yikes). Having said that, Marvel graciously provides a recap page, and I felt quite at home getting into the story. Not only that, but I found it to be a pretty good one.

As I gather is usually the case, it sucks to know Daredevil almost as much as it sucks to be Daredevil. Bad stuff is happening to him and everyone around him:  people are quitting their jobs, going catatonic, and getting attacked by poison-gas (?) ninjas all over the place. The parts of the story that didn’t involve Kingpin coming back to New York were only moderately interesting to a newcomer, but I still enjoyed the issue. I could tell that this was an early chapter, and things would ramp up soon. After all, not every issue can be a climax.

The big thing I loved about this comic was the art. Michael Lark and Stefano Gaudiano drew the crap out of this issue. This is especially true of the sequence in the snowfall at the end, which was so awesome I had to turn to my fiancé, who was reading a book about the Group of Seven, and say, “look at this art, this is awesome.” And you know what? I didn’t even feel like an idiot for doing so.

Miles’ Book

Madame Xanadu #9
Written by Matt Wagner
Pencilled by Amy Reeder Hadley
Inked by Richard Friend
Vertigo, 2009

The best part of Madame Xanadu is its title character: a smart and resourceful magical being. While she spends most of the issue sitting around and predicting the future, she carries herself confidently while being introspective.

The real standout scene for me is Xanadu’s sexual encounter with another magically inclined fellow. It’s nice to see a sex scene where an empowered female accepts her sexual relationship as “sweet, but it’s destined to be only fleeting.” What’s even better is that the man she shares it with doesn’t judge her harshly for it. They handle it like responsible adults. Afterwards, they respect each other and help each other out. It’s a character-defining scene, and that’s why it works so well. Or maybe if you’re a couple hundred years old, sex isn’t a big a deal.

The art ranges from competent to innovative. Hadley handles the magic scenes the best — there’s a great scene where Xanadu does a card reading, and all the panels have curved edges to match the cards, and another one where the spell is broken down into fluid steps as if to show you exactly how to do the spell. Meanwhile, scenes without magic are normal and composed with pretty standard layouts. It’s a smart choice — I just wish that the non-magical scenes had something more going on in them.

As far as random issues go, you pretty much can’t beat Madame Xanadu. Definitely worth checking out.

Isaac’s Book

The Darkness #76
Written by Phil Hester
Penciled by Michael Broussard
Top Cow Productions, 2009

I really don’t like decompression in comics, and it’s nice to see Ron Marz is in agreement with me. He writes a short letter against decompression that is printed on the last page of this issue — it’s got his face and everything. Such a letter probably shouldn’t have appeared in this particular comic, however.

After the intro page which sets up the status quo for new readers, the classic “hero is heavily disempowered and has to earn his full powers back performing various tasks,” there are four pages without text. That’s a lot of pages if you ask me.

Jackie Estacado (The Darkness) is pretty unhappy with doing the dirty work of some demon, that is, whenever it involves killing a ten-year-old. I don’t know why he’s surprised that this kind of thing happens in his current line of work. When Estacado is told that the boy had the soul of a murderous Canadian frontiersman reincarnated in him, it doesn’t really help his attitude.

Okay three more pages without text… Ah, I apologize; there is a “ding” sound effect from an elevator.

This issue really should have started with these pages; it would be a little disorienting to just jump into this part with the red-ribbon wearing woman enticing Estacado to follow him down the street. We could have had a cool little stand alone issue with a Usagi Yojimbo flavour. Instead, this will probably be dragged out to a three issue story arc that doesn’t deserve the space.

So much is trying to be communicated by facial expressions in this comic; it’s too bad they all look the same. Wistful? Angry? Surprised? Yes, all these thoughts and more can be expressed by the same stony face.

There’s a cool part about the history of the Darkness power — one that is passed down to new wielders through the years. Estacado acts like this is a surprise, but it’s a pretty standard feature of mysterious sources of dark magical power. The appearance of the villain for the next issue is also pretty cool; I would have liked to see some more with that guy.

Zata Omm Dance Projects presents Frames
Presented by DanceWorks
Choreographed by William Yong
Original sound score by Andre Rocca and video by Elysha Poirier
Runs March 19-21 @ Enwave Theatre

By Margarita Osipian

Five dancers silhouetted against a blank backdrop, a thin white line projected through their bodies, cutting the central dancer down the middle. The line slowly grows as it envelops all five dancers on stage. Heavy breathing fills the theatre and brings a vivid physicality to the dancer’s moving bodies.

William Yong’s Frames created an understanding of movement centred on the body, on the visceral quality of performance. Video projections by Elysha Poirier shifted the piece outside of the space of traditional dance performances, at one point, the dancers stood against the back wall of the stage and a sound wave ran over their bodies while the voices of the media projected through them.

Andre Rocca’s sound score added a beautiful element, bordering on eerie and haunting. When the music was taken away, the audience was left with silent, dancing bodies — a possible distraction, but also a good point to notice the music’s impact on the cohesion of the piece.

When the dancers undressed and performed nude, their minimalist movements became even more pronounced, but not forcibly provocative or risqué. Watching the dancer’s bodies without any costume or covering brought out the purity of movement.

The work oscillated between scenes of solitude with a single dancer on the stage and sections where all five dancers were intertwined. The beginning was laced with moments where the dancers were in chaos together — four dancers grabbing, pulling, and grasping the body of the fifth. One of the last pieces involved the dancers connected in a chain, their movements echoing and flowing through one another’s bodies.

As the proverbial fourth wall between the audience and the performers was broken, Yong tried to convey ideas about frames of reference, time and memory, and the impact of the media on perceptions. The dancers peered out through an imaginary peep-hole, pushing and pulling one another aside to get a better look. In the end, however, this piece was notable for its aesthetic beauty-the way the dancers bodies moved effortlessly through space, and the haunting quality that the interconnected multimedia design evoked — not these compelling, academic ideas.

Isaac’s Book

Amazing Spider-Man #588
Written by Marc Guggenheim
Pencilled by John Romita Jr.
Marvel Comics, 2009

It’s all Spider-Man, all the time this week — sorry, DC. So now it’s just a matter of deciding which Spider-Man adventure to chat about. The Amazing Spider-Man gets the vote for a number of reasons, but mostly for a “cheesy lesson” moment, which I’m always a fan of. But I’ll talk about that later.

We pick up with Spider-Man about to dive into a fight with a prison full of convicts who wanted to take a pound of flesh from Peter Parker’s roommate, Vin Gonzales. After some fisticuffs and webbing, there’s this great moment where Spider-Man asks if Vin has voted yet (there’s a mayoral race going on in the Spider-verse), and Vin just asks, “Are you kidding?” as he gets pulled up in the air, his face all mangled from getting beaten. Trust me, it’s really hilarious.

I’ve heard several complaints about how the “New Ways to Die” story arc left so many plot lines dangling. Though I really disagreed with that (comics are serial in format; if you want all the plot threads wrapped up neatly, then you should stick to reading self-contained trades like Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns), I can’t imagine that the same charge could be levelled here. This storyline has revealed the truth behind Menace and his motivations, as well as who was behind the Spider-tracer killings — secrets we readers have been wondering about since the beginning of the Brand New Day era of Amazing Spider-Man.

One thing that has happened with increasing frequency are call-backs to past adventures; in this case, Spidey mentions that he hasn’t been “hurt like this since Morlun.” I’m a big fan of the little asterisks that direct us to boxes telling how such and such a thing certainly DID happen, in issue number whatever, but it’s pretty telling that this reference to Morlun does not have such an asterisk. These kinds of throw-away lines show that the writers are trying to convince us that the past Spider-Man stories totally did happen, and we don’t have to be mad about the magic wand of One More Day. If you’re trying that hard to make everything okay with us readers, then maybe you should just apologize and move on, you know? Either admit you made a mistake, or don’t allude to any such thing.

Okay, the “cheesy lesson” moment. I’d actually run into this little lesson in a potent, quotable type of thing a couple months ago — it kind of hit me in the head and really helped me out, so to see it again, especially coming from Spider-Man, was really cool. Harry asks Peter if he thinks the Osborns are cursed. Peter answers yes, but “we all have our cross to bear. All of us. It may seem like it’s heavier for some than others, but it’s not. Everybody’s got something.”

It’s really gratifying to see old Peter Parker take this stance, because he’s a guy that can get really self-involved and self-pitying; it’s great to be reminded that he can rise above that, and be a hero for more than lifting heavy things.

Though I do like when heavy things are lifted.

By Owen Craig

Jersey Gods
Written by Glen Brunswick
Art by Dan McDaid
Image Comics, 2009

Sometimes a book comes along that you just want to give a boost to. It could be because you make an instant connection with the book, it could be because you see a lot of potential in it, or…a third…thing.

In this case it’s both the first and the second. Jersey Gods is my kind of comic. One of my favourite kinds of story to read/watch are the ones where the everyday interacts with the fantastical, so the second I heard of this comic — about a woman from New Jersey dating a god — I knew I had to get my hands on it.

I could only hope that the work itself would live up to the premise. Boy, does it ever. Glen Brunswick’s characters are wonderfully written to contrast each other in the most amusing possible way; Zoe (the female lead) is worrying about her job and her love life while Barock (the male lead/god) is taking part in epic battles. The romance is only just getting underway (we are but two issues in), but already I am completely engaged in this story. Somehow, a man wondering how long he should wait before he calls a girl is way funnier when that man is flying between planets.

Dan McDaid is the perfect artist for this story, a whimsical mix of Jack Kirby and Darwyn Cooke (who provided a cover for the second issue, go figure). The characters are filled with expression and the fight scenes are striking. As I mentioned before, only two issues of this series are out so far, so it would be easy for anyone to catch up. The first issue got a second printing, so even if your local comic book store sold out you still have a shot. Check it out, you won’t be sorry.

The BUZZ Festival
March 9-12 @ Theatre Passe Muraille

By Daina Valiulis

Kudos to Andy McKim, the artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille for introducing BUZZ into the season! A week-long festival of plays at various stages of development, BUZZ contained 19 productions that presented work either in its entirety or in fragments for audience feedback. With its fun and supportive environment, BUZZ yielded some interesting work, some terrible work, and lots of productions that fell somewhere in the middle.

Brimful of Asha stood out. Ravi Jain and his mother Asha Jain sat on stage (after passing out samosas to the audience) and told the true story of how Ravi was almost tricked into an arranged marriage by his parents. Both Ravi and Asha were hilarious with their conflicting perspectives, Asha being a very traditional Indian woman who could not understand her crazy actor son, and Ravi being an aspiring performer with a lot of respect for his culture, but essentially a young Canadian with modern ideas. He presented a compelling story with interesting characters; it will be interesting to see those develop.

Another favorite was Purple Don’t Cry. Still in the writing stages, the first scene of the play was presented, telling the true story of a gangster named Purple seeking redemption. It began with a Muslim prayer being sung followed by a rap performed by the playwright (Boonaa Mohamed – also one of the characters in the show) that set the tone and brought the audience into the world of this character. It was creative, poetic, and in-your-face, with a clear focus. Purple’s objectives and challenges were set up immediately – it’s too bad the piece lasted only fifteen minutes. A fully realized production will showcase Mohamed’s unique new writing and acting talent.

Several shows lacked clarity and focus. The worst of these was the teen soap opera Kilt Pins, written by Catherine Hernandez. Shown in its entirety, it centred on Dee and her relationship with Chris. The piece was never clear as a complete project. Hernandez wrote this play to try to show that teenagers are capable of loving each other and dealing with sex responsibly. However, in contradiction, the character Anna gets pregnant and is presented as a tragic example of irresponsibility and naïveté. This was a bland, banal version of George F. Walker’s Tough! - it didn’t say anything original or compelling about being a teenager that hasn’t already been said with more focus and clarity by other artists.

Birnam Wood was another piece that lacked clarity and focus. Presented in its experimental stages by Hume Baugh, Ron Kennell, Viv Moore, Matthew Romantini, and Lucy Rupert, it was a movement piece in which the trees of the forest interpret the story of Macbeth. There was no story-it felt like a first-year movement class: fun for the people in the class, boring and alienating for the audience.

The rest of the pieces fell somewhere in the middle. A lot of them, such as Siddhartha and Canada 1986, were conceptual, focusing on the search for freedom and Canadian identity. Calgary theatre troupe One Yellow Rabbit presented Vignettes from Five Hole, which made as many comparisons between sex and hockey as possible in forty minutes. Perhaps it was more enjoyable for hockey-lovers, but to me it seemed mostly cheap and gimmicky.

Whether you sink or swim initially, the greatest thing about BUZZ is the feedback. Given some revision, a not-so-great production could evolve into something wonderful. Bravo to the artists who participated in this year’s event, and keep creating!