|
|
 |
 |
|
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Casanova #1
"You talk like a comic book, man"
"And I live like one, Mr. Quinn"
-from Casanova #1
In the text page of the first issue of his and Gabriel Ba's new series Matt Fraction name checks both Fell and Godland. The influences of both books are apparent here and welcome. Casanova may follow Fell's format of 16 pages for $1.99 (except this issue, which is 32 pages) but Fraction and Ba's artistic concerns follow Fraction's "Basement Tapes" buddy. If Godland is a book made by Jack Kirby fans regurgitating past works into a new hyper-Kirby book than this is Fraction taking Casino Royale, Danger: Diabolik and the "Our Man Flint" films and creating a louder, crazier and (most importantly) more fun take on the spy genre.
This book will do well in the "Fell Format" as Fraction knows how to pack a lot of information into a short story and make it all work. In the space it takes the average modern Marvel comic to present the prologue to a six-issue storyline Fraction and Ba give us a floating Monte Carlo, alternate timelines and the craziest staring contest in the world. But to Casanova Quinn this is all in a day's work, as he explains to us right at the start. This is Quinn's world and reading the book felt like increments of it were being revealed to us, with plenty more to be seen.
Ba's art crystallizes the '60s/Pop Art feel of the book. Elaborate set pieces have rounded and exaggerated looks to them. There's plenty of "Kirby crackle" and nutty special effects floating around when the story calls for it. This must have been what Alan Resnais and Federico Fellini were seeing when they were praising Marvel's '60s output. Our hero’s look answers the eternal questions "what if Mick Jagger was James Bond?" He's the perfect figure for this environment to surround.
A character that shows up half-way through this book seems to be a tribute to Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol run. Casanova exemplifies Morrison's "super-compressed" ideas with aplomb. All while touching a lot of fun culture touchstones.
Permanent Link: 2:44 PM |
0 comments
Comments:
-- Home
|
|
