I haven’t yet summoned the courage to tackle Beowulf in one of those authoritative translations yet, but I figured a graphic novel could do the trick. I tried Gareth Hinds’ graphic adaptation of Beowulf. The text is in a fresh translation, so it’s an easy read, but still has a noble, epic quality. I really wanted to like this one, but things didn’t work out. Some weird inconsistencies threw off the whole package for me.
It seemed like the art direction and illustrations took on a couple different styles over the course of the book. Some parts look hand-drawn and colored on computer, other parts look wholly of ink and watercolor. I think the paneling was a bit ad-lib, jagged, frantic–too excited for its own good. Especially in the early portions of the book, the poem is broken up into large chunks that are interspersed throughout the narrative. So, you end up with a couple of wordy pages and then a bunch of pages of pure illustration. I was a bit bothered that the action scenes were completely silent—I’m not looking for “POW” and “AARRRGGH” and “KER-THWAM”… I’m just not sure if the silence is because the original text glosses over the battles, or if it was the artist’s discretion. I have to admit that one very nice touch is the latter portion of the book, dealing with Beowulf’s final years. That final section is in a washed-out palette of grays, and the story has a sense of inevitability and confidence that I didn’t find in the rest of the book.

Kyle Baker’s Plastic Man: Rubber Bandits is absolutely hilarious. Pure entertainment, like watching a good Saturday morning cartoon (as in the Fox Kids era of Eek the Cat, the Tick, X-Men, Tiny Toons, Terrible Thunder Lizards, Batman: The Animated Series, etc.). This book, along with Baker’s other one, Plastic Man: On the Lam, has some of the best comedic writing I’ve seen. Plenty of sight gags—it seems like every panel has a little something extra. I love the snappy dialogue and self-aware parody: “Blast you, Trapper! My complex personal ethics force me to allow you to endanger the very fabric of reality to save a single human life!” Interestingly, although the silliness of the characters lend themselves to over-the-top illustration, most of the paneling maintains fairly traditional layouts with hard frames. It’s admirable restraint, allowing the colorful, sharp drawings and great characters to keep things exciting. This one and On the Lam are definitely worth a purchase. I just love it.

There are a couple little perks that made me like this book right off the bat. The Surrogates is set in Atlanta. It was written by a local named Robert Venditti, and it’s published in nearby Marietta over at Top Shelf Productions. Cool. AND it’s a really cool story. I haven’t seen a lot of sci-fi comics, but this one makes up for the absence.
The Surrogates is set about 50 years from now. Technology has advanced such that humans can stay home safe and sound, while remotely controlling their electronic replacements, their surrogates, to take care of work… and play. Some folks don’t like it. So there’s some terrorism, some politics, and a good bit of gumshoe detective work. Luckily, Venditti’s writing doesn’t dwell too much on the heavyhanded dystopian riff, and the best meditative moments come out naturally in the characters’ conversations and interactions. Mixed between the chapters are Watchmen-like interludes, “primary documents” that help to flesh out the story, including sales brochures, editorials, news articles, and television transcripts.

I love Brett Weldele’s artwork in this book. Besides the sensitive work the the lettering, speech bubbles, and very spare sound effects, the coloring is especially good. It reminded me a bit of Dean Motter’s book, Batman: Nine Lives, with its restrained palette. One great set of panels show a crime scene inside a major industry lab. The lights have been tampered with, so the lab is drawn in a wash of a dark blue and grey, except for flashlight glare as the investigation goes on. A couple dozen panels later, the lights have gotten fixed, and the wash turns to a warm yellow. It’s a simple, but very cool effect. I read it all the way through the first time I started it. I predict that will happen again and again.