Image Courtesy of Kelly Roman

Roman’s “The Art of War” is set in a near future where the Chinese dominate the American economy, as well as that of most of the rest of the world. This title is built on political and economic intrigue. However, even if you are not the economic/political intrigue type, there should be plenty of action and gore to keep you interested. The title is illustrated by Michael DeWeese in black and white with red highlights, to give the classic violent black and white comic look to great effect. True to its namesake, this graphic novel is laced with Sun Tzu’s sayings throughout (For those of you who skipped that day in school, Sun Tzu was a warlord in medieval China. He was widely regarded as a tactical genius and compiled his knowledge in a book of sayings titled “The Art of War.” There, now you are caught up.) The protagonist of “The Art of War,” also named Kelly Roman, is seeking to avenge his brother, who was killed in mysterious circumstances while working for a Chinese corporation.

It is not the setting itself is not that makes “The Art of War” unique, but the fictional events that lead up to the creation of that distopia. In the novel, China takes over the United States through economics, not military invasion. This has the result of devastating the country side and killing civilians through starvation and lack of medical care rather than bullets and bombs. Only major economic centers (such as New York) are spared the devastation due to their usefulness to the invading Chinese corporations. Through malicious investing through corporate proxies, the Chinese government is able to seize control of American food supplies, health care, military forces, and other key assets.

Additionally, as a result of the Chinese economic invasion of the United States, corporations remain the only functioning institutions in society. They conduct their own semi-religious services, bury their employees in private grave yards, and dole out marital discipline on employees and violent attacks on competitors without fear of legal repercussion.

Great science fiction presents either a utopian or distopian vision of the future; this is as equally true in comics as it is in film or prose. In tying a medieval Chinese warlord with a corporate CEO, the author is making a clear statement regarding the ruthless nature of corporations. In addition to criticizing corporations for being heartless entities being concerned with nothing else but profit, (Which has been done by other authors.) Roman makes a powerful statement about the future of war. In the author’s vision, the future of war will be at least partially economic. While there are political disagreements over the issue, the possibilities of Chinese economic or militarydomination sometime this century are certainly being discussed. In closing, what makes “The Art of War” most intriguing is the plausibility of its scenario.

“Pathfinder: Dark Waters” is an adaptation of the Pathfinder role-playing game (which is a form of Dungeons and Dragons). Typically, Dynamite does an excellent job adapting story lines from other media forms into really enjoyable comics. However, with “Pathfinder: Dark Waters” they fell short.

The title is not without merit. The art is quite good, and the pages are action packed. The second half of each issue provides everything needed to play the story from the first half as a D&D adventure; this includes dungeon maps and character sheets for each character featured in the story. While this format is an innovative way to present a role-playing setting, such an approach  does not lend itself to good writing.

For those of you unfamiliar with Dungeons and Dragons, the players typically follow a preset plot and interact with various characters in that plot. This typically does not lend itself to incredibly well polished story telling, but that is made up for in the game-play experience. “Pathfinder: Dark Waters” is written like the transcripts from a D&D game and leaves very little for non-role playing readers. The dialog consists of a cascading stream of exposition focusing on introducing characters or explaining the character’s actions. Such writing would not be a problem if the comics were exclusively marketed to D&D players or were given out free with merchandise. However, if Dynamite expects readers to continue to buy this comic, they must improve the quality of writing.

Bedlam #1 introduces Madder Red as a deeply disturbed former villain seeking to atone for his crimes. Bedlam is published by Image Comics, and the first issue is available for free digital download (link found below).

The “anti-hero seeking redemption” motif is hardly new to comics. However, Bedlam explores many of the darker elements of human nature in a way to deeply engage the reader. Madder Red’s story line explores the mental health issues that droves him to commit his crimes, the criminal justice system that attempts to contain him, and society’s attempts to protect itself from him.

Given recent events, I would not suggest this publication for everyone. Bedlam #1 opens with the massacre of a class of young children on a field trip. This opening taps not only the terror of the recent school shootings in Connecticut, but also the massacres that etched themselves deeply into the psyches of those of us who came of age in the late 90s. This theme is not to be trifled with. Broaching such a deeply disturbing subject requires great artistic and story telling skill. However, if done well, engaging such issues via comics can go far in advancing the social dialog surrounding them.

It should be noted that Bedlam #1 was published well before the recent tragedy in Connecticut. It is a very sad fact that such events are a terrible possibility in our society. Bedlam does not turn away from the very real horrors of violent crime. Instead, the artists engage the issues to help us better understand the criminals and ourselves.

Like many other comic enthusiasts, I resisted comic e-readers. There was just something about the visceral experience of physically leafing through the book and possessing that book as a sort of trophy after consumption. However, non-collectible comics create unwanted clutter, and e-comics are cheaper and can be accessed from anywhere (if you get the right app/program.)

I made the plunge into digital comics with the Dark Horse Mobile App. Digital comic apps offer a great way to enjoy your comics on the go and keep those non-collectible comics from piling up on your coffee table. If you are interested, this app is available for iPhone/iPad and Android (other Dark Horse digital comics can also be accessed from www.darkhorse.com with your favorite browser.) The interaction between your (free) Dark Horse Online account and (free) Dark Horse Mobile App allows you to create a comic cloud that can be accessed on multiple devices and platforms. This cloud setting also saves room on your device

The features of the app are pretty standard for e-readers (including bookshelf, collection, and store sections.) The best parts of the app are the accessibility to Dark Horse’s catalog, the reasonably large free section, and the easy to use scrolling. The app features a wide range of paid publications for starting at .99. These titles include favorites such as Hellboy, Aliens vs Predator, Conan the Barbarian, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Wars. There are also over 40 free comics. These include a nice sampling of the Dark Horse catalog including a number of sampler books, and the entire run of Falling Skies. This selection alone makes the app well worth the free download. Additionally, the app auto scrolls from one dialog section to the next on the digital comic page. This differentiates the Dark Horse App from other comic apps that force you to search the page for the next dialog block at the detriment of your reading experience.

The app is not without its drawbacks, but they are minor. The app may be best suited for devices with larger screens, as small text and finer details can be tough to see on smaller screens. With that said, the availability of a portion of one’s comic collection on a smaller screen could make public transit and doctors’ offices more bearable. Furthermore, once you are done reading the free comics, you are often prompted to buy the next comic in that particular series. This could tempt you into buying additional comics if you are not careful. However, this sales tactic is no more insidious than any other free app.

Here’s a review of Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan’s Hope from Bob Westal:

Yeah, so it’s got a lousy title and it’s not earth-shattering cinema, but Morgan Spurlock’s entirely watchable and entertaining little Comic-Con movie accomplishes the task it sets for itself. In 88 minutes, we get a very decent gloss on the Comic-Con experience and just what it can mean for some people, minus the aching feet, sleep deprivation and $8.00 hot dogs.

Looks like he enjoyed it . . .