Hanna is Not a Boy's Name by Tessa Stone

Freshman year I was introduced to Hanna is Not aBoy’s Name; the quirky characters, supernatural setting, and unique use of shaped panels and typography made it incredibly appealing, and it quickly garnered a fandom among my friends during our first year.  Tessa Stone’s art was surprisingly quick to evolve during her time working on Hanna, and you can see her getting a better feel for her characters as we get into chapter two (for instance, the facial structure of each character becomes less boxy and more individually refined, and her line work becomes less chunky).  Reading HiNaBN is like looking at the gorgeous lovechild between graphic design and illustration, and makes it all the more compelling with the way it’s been intertwined with the story.

Which leads to another thing I love about HiNaBN: the characters.  Each character feels fully fleshed out - even those with barely any page time have a feeling of some sort of history behind them, and despite the large cast, no one character feels overshadowed by the other (nor does the character roster feel stuffed).

Unfortunately it’s been almost two years since the comic last updated, but I still have hopes that one day Tessa will come back and pick up the series again (or at least answer the unresolved questions put forth in the comic and through her extraillustrations of the characters).  Maybe.  Not likely, especially since it sounds like she’s picked up some work at Oni Press, but a fan can hope.

We get to one of the characters I'm most interested and it stopped.  Well, guess that's how things role sometimes.

                                           

Johnny Wander by Ananth Panagariya and Yuko Ota

            JohnnyWander, a not-quite slice of life comic combined with the occasional short story arc, is among the many webcomics on my weekly reading list, and among my favorites to boot.  I came across it through Applegeeks, another webcomic Ananth Panagariya collaborated on (and which sadly seems to be on permanent hiatus as of 2010) – in both cases, Ananth has typically acted as the writer, with Yuko Ota doing all of the artwork. 

            Although I’ve been following Johnny Wander since it’s conception, it’s been among the most consistent (visually and in terms of updating schedule) and accessible webcomics I’ve seen in a long while, which is definitely nice when dealing with newer readers (or on the occasion where it’s been tough to check for the bi-weekly updates).  There’s no real particular plot to follow (unless you happen across the occasional several-page short story), and the nature of the comic as a whole is more like a diary than anything else.  “Wander” is very apropos for the comic, given the content, as the reader essentially wanders in and out of the lives of Yuko, Ananth, and their friends.

I also adore Yuko’s work, which another reason why I love the comic: she has that great ability to simplify things just enough and not lose any detail, and although it doesn’t show due to the monochromatic nature of the comic, has a great sense of color which makes her work all the more enjoyable (not to mention her sense of design).  I swear one of these days I’m going to get my hands on a Maw patch or a CMYcat shirt.

Yuko and I share similar sentiments about the impending end of college.

Rice Boy by Evan Dahm

            Rice Boy was my introduction to the idea of webcomics being episodic: that they could weave intricate little stories into a larger whole, instead of just being day-by-day or week-to-week gags like one would find in the Sunday paper.  Probably one of the most surreal graphic works I’ve ever encountered (aside from works like Bone, who’s influence is easily evidenced), Rice Boy has also proven to be one of the most interesting as Evan continues exploring the world of Overside in his other works.  However, among the collection of stories from Overside thus far, Rice Boy is still my favorite, from the memorable characters to the careful pacing from panel to panel.

            Rice Boy is not for the impatient reader wanting to speed through a story, and that’s among the many things that makes it so good: you learn what you need to learn as necessary, and a good chunk of the rest of the comic consists of fantastic world and character building, which is especially interesting when it comes to long-lived characters like T-O-E and Golgo/Angel Eye.  The character development of the titular Rice Boy and T-O-E in particular have a number of curious, intentional parallels that line up in a fascinating way towards the end of the story for a nice twist.

            Due to the length of time it took to make Rice Boy, watching the evolutionary process of Evan’s ink work and paneling is also interesting (especially when laid down next to Order of Tales, the prequel-of-sorts Evan worked on following Rice Boy’s completion).  Although it’s slightly heavy-handed at times towards the beginning, the level of growth seen between the first page and the last is pleasantly surprising, and has actually made Evan one of my favorite ink artists because of it.  Rice Boy is a comic that needs more attention and appreciation (for the story, its art, and the depth of the world(s) it takes place in), and I hope one day it receives the recognition it deserves.  The library recently added the softcover edition to the collection, so I’m hoping curious students and patrons will pick it up and come to love Rice Boy as much as I have.

People should take Huff's advice and follow him over to read Rice Boy.

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez

            I’ll be blunt, Jhonen Vasquez’s work terrified me as a child, and one of the primary reasons why I first read Johnny the Homicidal Maniac when I was younger was because one of my favorite online authors had written some interesting stories based on the comic (and yes, I’m going to regress back to my 13-year-old self for a moment and link to one of said stories).  Over the years I’ve taken it back out and read it a few times here and there: my opinions about it kept changing, up until the last few times I’ve revisited it.  These days it’s not among my favorite comics, but its definitely one I pull out and relish when in a sour mood (misery loves company, after all).  I think the foreword by Rob Schrab (in the Director’s Cut) best summarizes why JtHM is loved so much, and it's cathartic nature has actually made it fairly pleasant to revisit.

For my generation, JtHM seems almost like…not a rite of passage, but certainly a part of becoming a teenager (and if not JtHM, then at least another one of Vasquez’s works): it seems to be that real first “dark and edgy” comic (or even piece of literature) you’re introduced to growing up, made all the more enticing through its parental shock factor in name alone.  Looking at it now, it seems like the next evolution of the underground Comix of the 1960s/70s: after the huge “dark anti-hero” stint most mainstream comics went through during the 80s, it doesn’t seem as severe, but the content itself is certainly inappropriate as far as the CCA standards (and even most parent standards) go.  Still, I find it hard to determine what age group it would be apropos to introduce JtHM to due to its wider audience range (hell, I first read it when I was 13 and wasn’t sure what to think of it then) – in the end, it seems more dependent on what your personal tastes are when it comes to levels of gore.

Any way, JtHM is a simultaneously noxious and cathartic read, loading up the reader with the filth and putrefaction that plagues Johnny and the world around him, all the while allowing the reader to expend it all and then some through Johnny’s insane rampaging throughout the comic.  I guess Johnny’s position as a “flusher” is apropos, both in a meta sense and in-universe.  Speaking of which, the appearance of a character similar to Johnny, Jimmy, was a great way for Vasquez to either poke fun at himself or the typical reader of JtHM (especially those who didn’t quite understand the reasoning behind Johnny’s character, and were more in it for the gore).  It initially made me uncomfortable, but in retrospect it was an interesting way to draw comparisons and fully frame Johnny’s moral code and boundaries, despite his typical insanity.

For people first being introduced to Jhonen Vasquez’s work, JtHM is the great divider between those who will either love or hate his work and the type of humor presented throughout.  Much like Transmetropolitan, it was initially a tough read, but it turns out to be one of the few comics I’ll come back to every so often.

Life's not that simple, Nny.  Trust me.

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen by Alan Moore

            I was pretty skeptical picking up the first volume of League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, mostly due to my dislike for the movie and initial uneasiness of reading through more of Alan Moore’s work after Watchmen.  However, I found the concept of throwing multiple fictional characters into one world interesting, and so had a look.

            To really, truly enjoy work like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the reader should really be well versed in a variety of literature and figureheads, from classics like Dracula to more questionable books like those featuring the character of Fu Manchu.  You’ll have characters like the Invisible Man (who is wonderfully depraved in this particular depiction), Mina Harker from Dracula, Professor Moriarty from Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde running around, but then minor characters from works by Edgar Allen Poe or even Victorian erotica will pop up; unless the reader is familiar with each subject, then the references could go over their head (as they did mine, unfortunately).  Despite not getting all of the references, however, I still really enjoyed it as a crossover (Although the little, ahem, scene between Harker and Quartermain threw me off a bit.  Blech), but given most of the negative depictions of the characters I found it hard to enjoy as a whole.  Like the concept.  Don't like the execution (especially the design of some of the characters...Hyde, as featured below, frequently looks like a burned gorilla).

            Although this was a DC publication, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons between Marvel’s The Avengers and Marvel 1602 (despite the difference of two, almost three centuries); the idea behind it is basically assembling a superhuman team during a non-modern period.  While not specifically done in Marvel 1602, I can’t help but wonder if the graphic novel was at least partially inspired by League of Extraordinary Gentlemen – and if that is the case, what would have it been like if actual DC characters had been used instead of the featured literary characters.

Hyde, much like the different incarnations of the Hulk, shows how he is simultaneously the most entertaining and most terrifying character featured in League.  As Griffin finds out here.