The Troll King: A Review

The Troll King, by Kolbeinn Karlsson, is one of Top Shelf's recently released "Swedish Invasion" books that I picked up at C2E2. Before getting into the substance of the book, I do want to mention/disclose that both Karlsson and Mats Jonsson, whose book Hey Princess I will be reviewing on this site soon, were two of the nicest, friendliest artists I met at the show. Its kind of amusing that Karlsson's back jacket picture makes him look kind of scary and intense, but in person, he is a big, soft-spoken teddy bear.

But enough about that -- none of it would matter if the books were no good. And while I enjoyed all three of the books, they each offered something a little different to recommend them to the audience. While both 120 Days of Simon and Hey Princess are grounded firmly in the real world, The Troll King offers a sumptuous flight of fantasy into a slightly off-kilter forest world, swimming in strangely compelling oddness. I don't know if it was the geographic connection or something more, but as I read The Troll King I could almost hear Swedish band The Knife's Silent Shout album playing in the background, beckoning me further into the deep woods and introducing me to the strange characters to be found there.

The scenes portrayed in The Troll King take place mostly in a surreal dreamworld far away from society, featuring all manner of creatures -- the hair-covered male couple whose story makes up the bulk of the book, their strangely conceived children, the carrot-man who strangely transforms into a massive tree and later reproduces, the dwarf floating down the river, the green men who also make the forest their home, and other, stranger delights. And if the dreamlike quality of the work does not end with the depictions of the forest and its creatures, but extend to the progression of events, which follows the type of pleasant yet somehow foreboding logic of the deepest and most affecting of dreams.

Yet despite the surreal nature of the book, rendered beautifully by Karlsson, there is a real emotional response conjured by the stories found within. Particularly compelling are the hairy men, self-described as "ewoks," who hide their appearance to go out into the world and buy groceries at IGA. Their affection for each other is genuinely touching, as is their struggles with raising their two children, including the painful process of dealing with adolescent rebellion and their offspring's eventual rejection of their forest home.

Karlsson accomplishes most of these effects without any words at all, letting the art speak for itself and tell the story in a way that allows the reader to import his or her own significance to the symbolic images laid out on the page. While I've only read The Troll King for the first time today, it seems likely to be a book that will reward multiple re-readings, opening up new interpretations and connections between the psychedelically-tinged images contained within.

Coming Attractions

I don't have time for a full-on post today, but I did want to jot down a few books I plan on reviewing very soon here, time permitting. I'm making this list as much for myself (to remind myself what I want to write about and put pressure on myself to actually do it) as for any hypothetical reader - and I sometimes feel that all my readers are hypothetical - who may be interested.

So here we go...

Things I'll be reviewing -

1. The 120 Days of Simon by Simon Gardenfors
2. Hey Princess by Mats Jonsson
3. Filthy Rich by Brian Azzarello and Victor Santos (I read this for a monthly graphic novel discussion group I go to, and this was actually the first reading "assignment" we've had that I really didn't care for - at all).
4. Area 10 by Christos Gage and Chris Samnee

Other pieces I want to do -

1. Why Destroyer is an amazing artist, and could possibly be the Alan Moore of indie music.
2. Well, maybe I'll just leave it at that for the moment.....

Bollocks

So DC/Vertigo allows Milligan to do a Hellblazer two-parter which explicitly identifies England's Conservative Party as literal undead, soulless monsters, and Marvel apologizes for using a sign that was actually used at a Tea Party rally in a scene involving angry, anti-government protesters.

I've only one thing to say to that, Marvel:

Bollocks.

Bow to the Master

I'm usually more of a writer guy than an artist guy, but sometimes you just have to sit back and give credit to a true master of comic book artistry. In this case, I'm talking about Bill Sienkiewicz. Bill's work has been blowing my mind since I was a kid - it always captivated me when I ran across it, even before I was old enough to even pay attention to who the creators on a book were, because it was so utterly different than the other comic book art out there. I remember poring over his DD graphic novel with Frank Miller, Love and War, again and again, trying to figure out how he did that.

Today I finally got around to reading last week's Spirit #1, the relaunch by DC under its new First Wave imprint. The main story was good, with great art by Moritat, but the Sienkiewicz black and white back-up just blew me away, and was undoubtedly worth the price of admission even without the lead story. His art looks even better in black and white than in color - its atmospheric, moody, and more expressive and evocative than almost anything out there today. Here's a sample - take a look, and bow to the master:

More Streaming Goodness

New Pornographers' new album, Together, streaming at NPR. What's up with all the high-brow publications like NPR and NYT advance streaming the hottest new indie rock/pop music?

Oh well, I'm not complaining.

I'm just listening to the first track now, so maybe I'll have some more reaction later, but so far, so good.

EDIT: OK, I'm finished, and I was impressed. Much better than the comparatively weak Challengers. I always love the three or so Bejar (more on my Bejar love another day) songs on any New Pornos record, and this one was no exception, but I thought the non-Bejar tracks this time were much stronger than usual. After one listen, I would say this is a return to form for the superstar group that just kept going.

The National's New Album

I liked Boxer, I liked Alligator, but the new one, High Violet, has really bowled me over.

Its streaming at the New York Times website right now.

They took the quiet intensity of Boxer and took it up a notch. Well-crafted music, thoughtful and thought-provoking lyrics, and not a weak song out of the bunch. There's a lot going on in the music and the arrangements, but it never gets too busy to obscure the strength of the melodies. In short, the National leaves enough room to let the songs breathe and grow on you with each listen.

Favorite line at the moment: "I was afraid I'd eat your brains."

Brooding, engaging music plus zombies?!? This really is an early contender for album of the year.

C2E2 Quick Thoughts

I had a great time at C2E2 this weekend, despite only attending on Saturday and Sunday. I've seen mostly positive, though somewhat mixed, reactions online, but from a fan perspective, it was a very enjoyable show. There was plenty of room at McCormick Place (really, too much room, which is something I think they'll try to fix next year), making for an easy to navigate and un-crowded experience.

Some of the highlights of my time there include:

- Getting my Complete Action Philosophers book signed by Fred Van Lente and Ryan Dunlavey, both of whom were incredibly cool guys. I also got a quick Modok sketch from Ryan and chatted with him and his lovely family for a few minutes.



- A quick chat with Jim Mahfood, one of my all-time favorite artists, about the wonder of Hunter S. Thompson and all things Gonzo (he had on a Gonzo symbol shirt, I had a Gonzo tattoo to show off).

- New Dr. Who on the big screen with an appreciative audience who laughed, clapped, and cheered in all the right places.

- The look on my daughter's face when she was handed a free Iron Man action figure and got a picture with Spider-man at the Marvel booth. Great job by Marvel on their kids' day stuff.

- Getting my copy of Area 10 signed by Christos Gage and Chris Samnee, with a quickie sketch by Samnee. Both of those guys were really down-to-earth and great to talk to. A review of Area 10 should be forthcoming here in the next couple of weeks.

- A "Local" sketch by Ryan Kelly - beautiful work, Ryan.


- Some surprise purchases and signing, including buying a copy of "You Have Killed Me," from Jamie S. Rich and all three of the "Swedish Invasion" comics from Top Shelf. I was able to get 2 of the 3 signed and chat for a few minutes with the artists, Mats Johnson and Kolbein Karlsson. It was very interesting to get these guys take on Chicago and C2E2 - I hope they had a great time in our city. I also had my credit card for the purchase run by Matt Kindt, which was a very weird experience - ("Love your work, 3 Story was awesome, now process this transaction....")

- Drooling over Doug Mahnke original art for Final Crisis #7.

There was plenty more going on, but those were the things that really stood out for me. I did somehow miss a couple of creators that I wanted to see, such as Cameron Stewart, and Bill Willingham (despite seeing him in or around the DC booth about 7 times during the two days I was there), but for the most part I got to check out everything I was there for. As for the rest, the answer is easy for a seasoned Cubs fan - "Wait 'Til Next Year"!

We need more stuff like this

Looks like an indie version of Wednesday Comics, full of oversized newsprint awesomeness!

I'm back... again

So for a large variety of reasons, I haven't done this for a while. The long and short of it is I get busy at work, then when I get less busy I get lazy, then when I get less lazy I think of other things to do, then I pretty much forget that this blog exists and it all becomes a self-perpetuating cycle that stops me from doing something I really want to do. Either that, or it was all an evil plan concocted by Darkseid.

But now, for the one or two readers (read, people who accidentally clicked on this site while searching for something else) I may have left, I'm back with a renewed commitment to updating this site regularly. I know, I know, you've all heard this before, but this time it COUNTS!

To that end, though, I'll be making a few changes in the goals and format of this space. These changes are designed to allow me to keep doing this without abandoning it (for the third time), while also hopefully gaining some new readers and building a more stable presence.

The first major change is that I'm going to expand the coverage of this site to all pop culture, not just comics. The primary focus will still be comics, followed closely by music, with occasional posts on books without pictures, films, and television. In short, if I read it, listen to it, or watch it, its fair game. This expanded focus will allow me to say what I want to say on a wider variety of topics, and give me something to write about at times when I really don't have anything comics-related worth saying.

The second change is that I'm going to abandon all pretense of reviewing, writing about, or in any way covering newly released comics each week. Its just impossible for me to do that in a timely manner. By the time I make my way to the comics shop, pick up that week's books, read them all, and write something cogent about them, they're all pretty much old news anyway. And one tough week where I don't make it to the store until Saturday and don't have time to read everything until the next Wednesday pretty much blows the whole thing out of the water. Plus, I'd rather be writing about the stuff that I am really into at the moment rather than trying to figure out what the hell I want to say about this month's totally unremarkable issue of Batman, for example.

Finally, I am going to try to post something every weekday, and sometimes on weekends. Even if I'm swamped, even if that something is just a link to something interesting I found, or some song lyrics that have been running through my head, or a quick paragraph about a book, writer, artist, or band you should be paying more attention to. I'll try to make it more substantial than that, most of the time, but it may not always happen.

So here's a start. If you like comics, even just a little, tiny, insignificant bit... hell, even if you don't like comics but don't hate them, either... you should be paying attention to Paul Pope. His work is amazing, and like nothing else out there available today. Read this interview to learn more and see some samples of his work.

Oh yeah, and if anyone out there knows where to score a copy of Pope's art book, Pulphope, without breaking the bank, drop me a line.