Two Gargoyles Graphics bring the Thunder!

As a Canadian, I acutely feel the lack of superheroes in Canada's repertoire...and so I wanted to tell a story about a hero of Canadian heritage set in a marginally-fictionized version of Canada... - Michael McAdam, January 2011.

And so he did.  This guy:

I had planned to read issues one through three of Thunder over the past weekend.  I didn't make it. The third issue was completed by Friday afternoon.

So what do you need to know about our Vancouver-based, Norse-Canadian protagonist?  Here are the basics (lifted from solicitations):

Half mortal, half Norse God, Devon Wells returns home to Canada after a youth spent in Asgard and steps onto the path to becoming a hero.

Right.  But there is an awful lot more going on here.

Some of it is familiar.  But then you realize that the familiar elements have a twist to them that keeps them fresh.

For example, Thunder has telepathic conversations with someone who attempts to direct his actions.  Thunder refers to the other party only as "old man" (derisively).

At first read, I was reminded of recent versions of Doctor Fate (different pantheon, I know) in which the helmet-wearer has to deal with Nabu "whispering in his ear".  But the degree of animosity and anger in Thunder's conversations sets them apart.

Another example: Get a load of this dude:

Art from issue #2 by Dean Meek

Every hero needs an evil version of himself (or herself) as a primary nemesis, no?  It's easy to jump to the  conclusion that W'or is cast from that mold when he appears in the story, but his role ends up being quite different than you'd expect.

Neither example should suggest a dark tone to the book.  There is a lot of humorous banter between Thunder and his various opponents, as well as with a self-appointed sidekick that he meets through unusual circumstances in the first issue.

This was a fun read.  It was good to have finally "met" Thunder.  I appreciate Michael McAdam's legwork in making these issues available to me and look forward to the continuation of the series. There was a lot of information served up but it's clear that there's plenty yet to be revealed.

CODA is in the books!

It feels a little pointless to discuss a book that was released several weeks ago now, but since the material will find its way into a trade paperback at the end of the year, let's think of it as a preview and forge ahead with some observations.

8-Ball was not among my favourite characters when I first discovered the HotN, but he has quickly become one.  Including his appearances in the web series, he has the most clearly-defined relationships with the various other members.  There's obvious mutual respect between he and The Canadian, the amusing back and forth teasing with Nordik, and he may be the only character even capable of teaming up with Black Terror on occasion.  The Canadian is the team's leader but 8-Ball brings the whole thing together.  He's developed into a very flexible character.

While he sometimes shares the load, Yann Brouillette writes every story in the book (even letters some of them) and shows a lot of versatility in doing so.  You never really know what you're going to get next.  You might read a dark, moody, violent story about 8-Ball stopping a corrupt city official's abuse of power, then flip the page to humour involving the New FLQ.  The story might be 20 pages long, or it might be all of two pages in total.  The unpredictable story structure helps keep these books interesting.

Moving from stories to art...You know who's good?  Geof Isherwood is good.

For one thing, I'm impressed by someone who is able to draw a wide variety of facial expressions.  Isherwood has that skill down.

He also occasionally includes certain details that not every artist will.  Here's what I think is a good example: Look at the picture of Nordik below (easiest thing you'll do all day...)

Now have a look at her posture on the page scan below, particularly the first panel, from the first story in the book.

Isherwood draws a story further into the book which features Madame Doom.  Doom doesn't have that prominent back arch that Nordik has above. "Nordik drawn" looks like "Nordik live".  Madame Doom does not.  Isherwood avoids cookie cutter art.  As a fan, I love that.

There was another instance where the attention to detail was appreciated.  In the Madame Doom story mentioned above, close ups of Doom show the scarring past the edges of her mask.  Not every artist would bother including it, but that scarring is a significant factor in her character so it shouldn't be ignored.  Isherwood's ability with facial expressions was often on display in that story as well.

Isherwood doesn't have a monopoly on eye-catching art detail, mind you.  The maple leaf pattern on the sole of Black Terror's boot was a nice touch by Olivier Raymond. ;-)

Now then...I guess it can't be considered a spoiler anymore if the HotN posted it on their own Facebook page but flashbacks aside, that should be the last that we see of Nordik after this book (and perhaps episode 20 of the web series) right?

Well...I'm not convinced.  There is too much of a genetic manipulation element to these stories for me to buy into the notion that Nordik is gone.

Is THIS Nordik done?  Heroes of the North claim that when their heroes die, they stay dead, and I believe them.  But there are ways around that self-imposed rule and I look forward to seeing which one is applied in this case.  ;-)

Great read again, HotN!  Bring on the trade paperback!

ICYMI Art: Alpha Flight by Paul Pelletier

Still stalling while I catch up on my reading.  :-)

The image below was tweeted by the Alphaflight.net's Twitter account and originates from this tumblr page.

Dry Spell Over!

Things have been quiet on the blog lately.  The two and a half week between posts is probably the longest one since I started this little project early last year.

Don't anyone read anything into that.  There is still plenty of activity involving Canadian characters, creators and publishers.  The delay was mostly caused by a business trip.  I've obtained some material I want to talk about but I need to catch up a bit from having been away.

Here's a bit of a run-down of things I need to get to:

Red Leaf Comics Presents #2: Three stories that take place during World War 2, featuring The Golden Age Leaf, Jill Canada and a new character named Man-Fish.

As has been the case frequently lately, a visit to the Red Leaf website revealed an interesting surprise.  Sky Watcher #4 is listed among the books "still available for purchase" on the store page.  The first three issues included a story about a character named Gryfalcon that took place in North Bay.  It was suposed to conclude in issue #4.

I never did complete that story and it now appears as though I'll finally be able to.  There is no "add to cart" button, mind you, so I'm not entirely certain.

In any event, it's apparently still on the drawing board.  Ideally, I'd love to get a print compilation of the installments in Sky Watcher, and yes, that is a hint on my part. ;-)

Thunder #'s1-3 by Two Gargoyles:  I have yet to receive these books but I'm told they are on the way.  I've had all kinds of difficulty getting my hands on them but Michael McAdam at Two Gargoyles and I have worked out payment and shipping so I should finally get to read them soon.

Last but hardly least, Heroes of the North: Coda.  This 80-page bad boy has been out for a couple of months or so, but I've struggled to get it from the not-so-local comic store.

The solicitation for it has been posted for a while so I won't rehash that.  I will express no small measure of excitement for a Heroes of the North trade paperback that is scheduled for the fall. I originally believed that it was a compilation of the three omnibus books released to date.  While that is true, there's 200 pages of new material tacked on as well!

But before all that, I need to dive into Coda! Back soon!