The Martian Confederacy: Rednecks on a Red Planet

This book features talking bears on Mars, a sexy android and a praying mantis bartender. Not sold yet? Fortunately, there is much more to attract you to The Martian Confederacy, written by Jason McNamara and inked by Paige Braddock – published by Girl Twirl Comics.

I’ll admit, outerspace settings are one of those things I get squeamish about. Yet somehow, like musicals, I find myself attracted to them on a regular basis, despite my disinclination. At some point you have to relent and realize, if some of your favorite stories are told in space…you probably DO like space stories.

So, here it goes: Yes – I do like space stories. Damn you Firefly, Battlestar Galactia, Alien, Total Recall and Star Wars!! I don’t intend to, but it’s something that happens. I guess I can now add The Martian Confederacy to that list of things that unwittingly attract me to the cosmos.

Right – the plot is built on a Total Recall foundation, mixed with Star Wars and a dash of Firefly for good measure. Again, what’s not to love? The idea is that Mars has been colonized (can we get on that already?) and a corporation is controlling and cashing in on devices that create breathable air for the population of the entire planet. Poor folks get it the worst – and our heroes certainly fit that bill. They do live in a space trailer park after all.

A scientist has developed a moss that will bring oxygen to the planet and he is killed off within the first few pages. So it’s up to our heroes – Lou (the android), Boone (scrappy thief) and Spinner (the talking bear) to carry out his mission, while continually butting heads with a nasty space sheriff, the Alcalde, who rules the planet (he literally creates laws off the cuff), and has a two-faced mutant mistress.

I can certainly get on board with space cowboys, and I’m also comfortable with any space setting that doesn’t require the characters to hobble around in bulky suits. McNamara does a great job of fleshing out the world by establishing future lingo and setting up the rules of Martian colonization and laws. Especially got some good laughs out of the currency named after William Shatner (that’ll be five Shatners, please).

The Evil Corporation as the villain is a supremely believable scenario, and the friendly mocking/commentary on social class structure also bring depth to the story. I especially loved a statement made by Boone towards the end of the book, in which he’s able to utilize his experience in a low societal position to best the Alcalde.

Stumptown Comics Fest 2010: Day Two

– Hang over this morning caused us to get a slower start to the day. We arrived around 11:30am, and immediately hit up Matthew Southworth‘s booth to get two copies of Stumptown #1 signed. He DID remember us from last night (he asked what time we finally left). Uh-oh. I need to seriously curtail the drinking next year. We hung out for about an hour or so while he inked and colored a couple prints. Here’s a short video of the one he made of Dex.

– Next up was a Q&A Panel with Craig Thompson. It was very informal – he had a friend hosting and asking him questions. The audience members could also chime in at any point with questions of their own. I was consistently surprised and pleased with the depth, intelligence and respect that went into each question (as with the Saturday panel). Not that I don’t think Comic Book fans can be intellectuals, it’s just that I’ve never experienced such a large group of folks taking the art of comic books so seriously.

A short video in which he talks about his current project Habibi, and what led to the creation and publication of his travel journal Carnet De Voyage.

– After that – Craig Thompson was signing books. We picked up a ticket earlier, and were among the first five or so people in line to chat with him and HE DID A SKETCH. Ah! Wonderful, lovely sketch. Having the signing immediately following the Q&A was awesome, because it didn’t feel awkward at all to engage in conversation with him. Something that frustrates me about cons or interacting with celebrities/famous folks is how artificial the space can feel. This wasn’t my experience at this fest – ever. Everyone was very approachable, friendly and willing to talk about their work, themselves, and other randomness.

Craig Thompson was incredibly gracious about the picture. 🙂

The sketch - so beautiful!

Pills and Police State in Continuity

Interesting premise and acceptable cover art were the main draws for this book, which was released back in 2006 by a San Francisco publisher I’m not familiar with: AIT/Planet Lar. It’s penned by Jason Mcnamara and drawn by Tony Talbert.

Upon opening to the first page – wasn’t quite sure if I could continue forward. The art on page one was incredibly busy, to the point where the lines almost didn’t make sense. It takes your eyes a second to adjust to what’s happening on the page because there are several hundred incredibly dense lines it has to formulate into recognizable shapes.

I’ll admit right now – I like my lines clean, sharp and minimal. So what’s in this book is de facto not going to appeal to my specific tastes. Which doesn’t mean that it’s BAD per se…just completely contrary to the style of comic book art I prefer.

However  – the story was able to whisk me nicely away from the visual chaos on the page, and I was transported into the world of the main character Alicia, who is first introduced as a pregnant pill-addict on the run in a futuristic environment. She meets up with a sympathetic psychiatrist to whom she tells her sad story.

Don't Do Drugs, Kids.

Turns out that Alicia is like many suburban teenagers, unhappy and filled with inner turmoil and outer conflict, so she escapes into her dreams to take away the pain of her ordinary existence. But the two begin to merge and then things that happen in her dreams start to change the reality in which she and everyone else lives. Sometimes with decidedly negative consequences.

Her best solution is to stop sleeping and dreaming. It’s a great concept and I want to like this book more than I do.

My immediate thought after discovering her upset over altering reality during sleepy-time…why doesn’t she attempt to control her dreams? Many people can learn the craft of lucid dreaming and manipulate events if things start to go sour.

Obviously, this idea was never explored because that’s how the author wanted it, but I would have thought this could have at least been considered. The concept was more about escapism through dreams, drugs and eventually death versus how we might assert control over these things. I suppose however, the idea is that a pregnant, homeless, runaway teen girl doesn’t feel she CAN control anything. Which makes for intriguing social commentary, but also lends itself to a rather depressing story filled with needless violence. The idea of a pill-filled police state led me to assume it was going to be more about addiction.

Of course I was digging on the female main character, and her vigilante style heroics in her altered world were quite thrilling. This might be a book you could pass along to a teenage girl struggling with some of the same issues Alicia faces and have a good conversation about the social commentary on the pages. But I wouldn’t say Alicia is exactly a heroine in a conventional comic book sense – and I’m not sure if teens will be able to see much of themselves in her once her reality becomes so hopelessly distorted.

Regardless – there is a lot of depth, interesting moral ponderings, and futuristic metaphors to chew on here…but as I mentioned before, the art keeps this from being a truly compelling book, and merely makes it passable brain food.

But if you are into the future, nihilism and the pitfalls of escapism, this might be the graphic novel for you.

Interview with Jason McNamara about the intention behind Continuity here.

*Apparently this book was offered by the publisher FREE online in it’s entirety before the scheduled release date and stirred up a lot of drama. You can read a discussion thread about it here.