Ben's Books

Peter Milligan, a veteran of Marvel Comics, brings us Greek Street. At a cursory glance, the stories that start to play out in these disturbingly beautiful pages (from artist Davide Gianfelice), seem incredibly alien, amazingly offensive, and can leave a bad taste in the proverbial mouth. But it is really nothing that we haven’t heard before.

Ever hear the term “History repeats itself”? Well, hear it really does. The old stories of Greek Mythology are playing again, and the stage is the less attractive neighborhoods of London. To top that off, we start with a retelling of Oedipus, renamed Eddie. And yes, he sleeps with his mother and kills her. All the while, the Syrians stalk Hyde Park, and a man named Menon, travels through Greece seeking answers to these resent events.

Milligan and Gianfelice do not pull punches, including every dirty detail of the ancient Myths, both in the words and art. The grit of this rag sometimes feels like a spit in the face, or a punch to the stomach. But it is definitely a masterpiece.

BEN

I learned a new term today, Metafictional Character. It refers to a fictional character created by a fictional character. The Escapists is one such character. He first appeared as the brain child of the fictional charaters Joe Kavalier and Sam Clay in Micheal Chabon's novel The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, as a homage mesh of Harry Houdini and the great detective pulp rags of the Golden Age of Comic Books (late 1930s to the late 1940s).

This rendition is follows a Jewish writer named Max Roth, who's father was an obsessed fan of Kavalier and Clay's Escapist, and used an inherited fortune to purchase the rights to the character. Max begins publishing further adventures of the Escapist, with the help of artist Case Weaver and letterer Denny Jones. Jones later stops a crime dress as the Escapist, in an attempt to promote their comic. And shenanigans ensue.

With contributions from writers and artists like Alex Ross, Brian K. Vaughan, Frank Miller, and Michael Chabon himself (just to name drop a little), The Escapist lives up to everything envisioned by Chabon, and more. Truly a master work.

--BEN