Week ending December 11, 2015
Adams, Scott (text & illus.). Optimism Sounds Exhausting. Andrews McMeel. 2015. 168p. ISBN 9781449463007. $19.99. COMICS
Adams (Go Add Value Someplace Else) continues his reign of irreverent humor on office and corporate culture in this collection of more than 350 Dilbert comic strips originally published in 2014 and 2015. Dilbert is an overworked, underpaid engineer who is as iconic in comics as Snoopy and Garfield. He is surrounded by classic office archetypes: the freeloader, the stressed-out coworker, the incompetent middle manager, the overpaid CEO espousing meaningless leadership platitudes, and Catbert, the Evil Director of Human Resources. With a healthy dose of absurdity and wit, Adams critiques everything from start-ups to online dating, from cybersecurity to company dress codes, and from mansplaining to unnecessary product features. The unofficial star of this collection is freeloader Wally, whose silhouette graces the cover. He is promoted inexplicably to vice president after accomplishing nothing as the CEO’s pupil. Later, he becomes the company’s chief economist for his ability to explain finance using gibberish.
Verdict Although Adams mostly hits his mark, there is a series of strips about buying slaves online that some will find distasteful. Adams’s humor will appeal primarily to adult readers who recognize the many corporate cultural references and office situations.—Chris Wilkes, Tazewell Cty. P.L., VA
Faerber, Jay (text) & Scott Godlewski & Ron Riley (illus.). Copperhead. Vol. 2. Image. 2015. 128p. ISBN 9781632154712. pap. $14.99. Rated: T+. SF/WESTERN
After a long hard day of rounding up nonhuman convicts, Sheriff Bronson just wants to spend a quiet evening drinking at the Copper Top Saloon. Perhaps she can find a nice, plucky, professional well-dressed hominid with whom to chat up and flirt. Honestly, is that too much to ask? In the town of Copperhead, the answer is “yes.” The hope for a romantic evening unravels quickly into gunplay, dead bodies, and a deputy sheriff abduction. Let the chase scene begin! Through alien landscapes and rapid-fire multiple species banter, the sheriff and her posse arrive at the outlaw’s hideout to collect their missing deputy. Has he turned coat? Is he still alive? How are they going to get into the “Bastion”?
Verdict Distinguished graphic novel journeymen Faerber and Riley (Near Death) and Godlewski (Dracula) have produced another thrilling adventure in this continuing saga. The text is spartan but effective, the artwork is fun to look at, and the coloring is spot-on. YA and sf fans will enjoy.—Russell Miller, Prescott P.L., AZ
Finger, Bill (text) & Bob Kane (illus.). Batman: The Golden Age Omnibus. Vol. 1. DC. 2015. 822p. ISBN 9781401260095. $75. SUPERHEROES
Fans of Golden Age comic books who want an uninterrupted run of Batman’s first appearances in Detective Comics, his titular series, and more in print without resorting to piracy or paying exorbitant prices for original issues or out-of-print collections need look no further. Compilations of the Dark Knight’s original adventures have been published before, but this Omnibus benefits from the convenience of having so many of them together in one handy-but-large volume, which allows readers to trace easily the hero’s early development (e.g., he didn’t always eschew guns) and witness the first appearances of Robin, the Joker, Catwoman, and others. It is a handsome presentation of these seminal stories as early Batman readers initially encountered them. Veteran writer/editor Denny O’Neil contributes the illuminating foreword.
Verdict Archival value alone recommends this omnibus highly to all Batfans; libraries may consider volumes of the earlier Batman Chronicles collections or hold out for any possibly upcoming Golden Age trade paperbacks as safer investments for circulating this material.—J. Osicki, Saint John Free P.L., NB
Fraction, Matt (text) & Howard Chaykin (illus.). Satellite Sam: The Deluxe Edition. Image. 2015. 399p. ISBN 9781632154781. $44.99. Rated: M. MYSTERY/CRIME
Revered creators Fraction (Iron Fist; Hawkeye; Sex Criminals) and Chaykin (American Flagg!) have teamed up for a titillating series. Covering the early days of 1950s television, the storytellers craft a brutal noir tale that surprises on many levels. A hit sf show, Satellite Sam, employs Michael White as lighting director, and his father, Carlyle, as the heroic, fearless star. Michael, forced to take his father’s part on camera last-minute when Carlyle fails to show for work, soon discovers his dad is dead. A grimy, seedy mystery ensues, with hard-drinking Michael eventually suspecting that his father was murdered. Carlyle was found in a flophouse surrounded by photos of scantily clad floozies and other assorted sexual trinkets. His dubious past comes to light in bits and pieces as the issues play out.
Verdict Chaykin’s heavily textured and stylized art will delight fans, but the black-and-white panels make for difficulties in differentiating faces and personalities in a large cast. Fraction’s plot is complex, touching on such themes as fetishism, alcoholism, politics, 1950s culture, lust, and racism, but it gets bogged down in excess details about live TV, hitting one’s mark, types of cameras and film, and seemingly gratuitous sexual escapades. For adult collections only; explicit sexual situations, violence, and other adult material.—Jeffrey W. Hunter, Royal Oak, MI
Shadmi, Koren (text & illus.). The Abaddon. Z2 Comics. 2015. 246p. ISBN 9781940878058. $24.99. F
In this unique, unsettling work, a young veteran takes a room in a creepy apartment building with a motley, volatile bunch of new roommates. He soon realizes that much of the natural order is suspended, that there’s nothing to subsist on but the building’s bizarre secretions and “Ecto-Beer,” and that he isn’t able to leave…or is he? Writer/illustrator Shadmi (Mike’s Place) keeps the mood surreal by limiting and muting the color palette, drawing the slightly elongated artwork in pencil, then making subtle digital alterations and maintaining a claustrophobic atmosphere. Shadmi acknowledges the influence of Jean-Paul Sartre’s classic No Exit and living in Brooklyn on the story, in which he argues that hell is not only other people, it’s also the lack of any change, variety, or hope of escape.
Verdict While it isn’t for everyone, The Abaddon will speak to fans of offbeat sequential art and of Luis Buñuel, Samuel Beckett, and Franz Kafka; an optional but worthwhile purchase. Profanity and sexual, violent, and disturbing images; suitable for older teens and up. [Reviewed in PDF version.]—J. Osicki, Saint John Free P.L., NB
