Tag Archives: h.g. wells

IDW Publishing Charts a New Course to The Island of Dr. Moreau

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IDW Publishing founder and Diablo House writer/co-creator Ted Adams and Locke & Key artist/co-creator Gabriel Rodríguez will present an all-new interpretation of H.G. Wells’ classic science fiction novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau. Debuting in July, the two-part comic book tale of terror and evolution will be colored by Nelson Dániel and lettered by Robbie Robbins.

Remaining faithful to Wells’ plot, dialogue, and Victorian era setting, Adams and Rodríguez replaced Edward Prendick – the original witness protagonist – with a new creation, Ellen Prendick. Her inclusion allowed the creative team to explore a new version of one of the world’s favorite stories through the eyes of a more active character with a different and refreshing point of view on the cursed island’s horrific events.

The Island of Dr. Moreau

The Best Modern Comic Stories of John Carter’s Mars

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Though often treated as a hokey anachronism of earlier literature, John Carter is a character that has helped to define modern science fiction.  In terms of inspiration he was little different from many of the earlier science stories, in that his inspiration was that of Mars, a place which many thought was inhabited up until the early 20th century, thanks in part to Percival Lowell semi-scientific theories about the the supposed Martian canals.  Many of the earlier science fiction stories dealt with Mars, and prominent among them were the War of the Worlds and the Martian Chronicles.  The War of the Worlds played on a different kind of fear, one very evident as it was was only 16 years away from the start of the First World War at the time of its publishing.  This inspiration from Mars provided a different plot inspiration as Martians were almost universally seen as uncaring invaders, interested in our world for its resources and not caring much about the inhabitants.  The Martian Chronicles were something very different though.  Although they were not the first kind of story of this type, it was one of the first of them, and it managed to do something which had never been done before, as it combined a medieval kind of inspiration (the fantasy genre didn’t really exist at the time) with science fiction, and thus helped to give birth to the space opera.

marsIn the modern setting though, John Carter feels a bit dated.  We now know that there is no life on Mars, or in the unlikely event that it does exist, that it would be microbes clinging to life in an inhospitable environment.  Equally we know that the literary suppositions about John Carter have little bearing on what his Earth muscles would do in such a place.  Although the weaker gravity would make him super strong in a sense, it would be more like the “super-strength” of a human on the moon as opposed to that of a true superhero, and instead of a graceful killing machine, he would look more like a stumbling giant.

Despite the shortfalls of the original setting and how they relate to the modern reader, the stories themselves have a rich enough setting that there is no reason that they should be so easily written off.  After all there are many combination of fantasy and science fiction, with Star Wars acting as the most impressive example in modern popular culture, with light sabers taking the place of regular swords.  There are even other relatively popular setting such as He-Man which use the same inspiration, so it is not as though John Carter should be treated as much of the anachronism as he gets to be seen as.

That being said though, the stories of John Carter, at least in modern comics have struggled to get a strong footing, where other similar properties have succeeded or even thrived.  The characters have primarily been used by Dynamite in recent years, although as they are all in the public domain, the characters can be published by anyone, as Marvel/Disney did after the John Carter film in 2012.  What defines the characters are the commonality of the scenarios, as they tend to fall into one of two basic story types.  In the first the characters have to defend Helium from an invader, in the second they explore some previously unexplored and unmentioned corner of the planet and they come upon something often bizarre and often deadly.

marsThe first kind of these stories is much more in line with the original works of Edgar Rice Burroughs, as most of his Martian Chronicles detailed the fight for power of the various cities on Mars.  Every subsequent main story has focused on the same as it forms a part of the character’s origin story.  A man haunted by the events of the Civil War on Earth, who comes to terms with war after winning one on Mars.  However, as origin stories can tend to get somewhat repetitive it is hard to highlight one modern story focused around this concept, as most simply are versions of the original of Burroughs.  Instead if one were to look for something a little different in terms of the usual from the “defending Helium” plots, it would be worth checking out the most recent attempt to make John Carter catch in popular culture, in the first story arc of the current John Carter Warlord of Mars.  There are several different small changes to the story here, mostly in that John Carter and Dejah are already in control, and as one of John Carter’s old nemeses from Earth returns to exact revenge.  It is maybe not excellent but it was a fresh take on what is cliche for the characters by this point.

whiteapesThe second kind of story is one which is not foreign to the original source material, but not one which is specifically related.  The discovery of the bizarre and the deadly was always an issue for those in the Martian Chronicles, as john Carter meets the Tharks of Mars before anyone else, but the discovery has generally fed into the invasion theme, as allies are formed to make victory possible.  The exploration of Mars just for the exploration is a relatively new concept, and one which is tied to what is a relatively heavy prevalence of John Carter stories in recent years, especially from the period when both Dejah and John had their own series, and in which material for the stories had to be expanded.  Although these stories end up being a fluffier as the stakes are not as high, sometimes they are pretty engaging.  Probably the best from this inspiration would be Dejah Thoris and the White Apes of Mars.  Dejah’s series was set a few hundred years before the arrival of John Carter, and she got to stand on her own as a hero.  In this miniseries, she is exploring the ruins of a city, only to discover that it is not fully abandoned, rather that it is being inhabited by the White Apes of Mars, a murderous group of bloodthirsty killers.  It combines the claustrophobic setting of Die Hard with the death by death approach of Alien into a pretty fun series.

As a setting and concept, some might argue that Mars is no longer engaging, especially when the comic companies have such rich cosmic settings, and when other franchises such as Star Trek and Star Wars have populated the cosmos with other stories.  However, a little imagination goes a long way to keep the stories of the John Carter and Dejah Thoris alive, and makes them more less of an anachronism and more of typical space heroes.

We Talk Legenderry Vampirella with David Avallone

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David Avallone is a comic rookie, although with an impressive writing career in other mediums. Despite his lack of experience he hit the ground running with Legenderry Vampirella, a steampunk take on the bad girl character. We got a chance to talk science, feminism and goggles.

Graphic Policy: Legenderry is a world of characters from Dynamite put into a steampunk setting.  Why do you think that steampunk has become so popular as a sub-genre of science fiction?

lv01David Avallone: Of course, any individual fan might have a different answer to this question, but I can think of a couple of things. The future is notoriously hard to visualize well. Steampunk allows the creator and the audience to have comfortable, attractive visual and thematic “hooks” to hang the story on. Also, it’s probably not a coincidence that science fiction, in the modern sense, originates in the late Victorian era.  Jules Verne and H.G. Wells were creating steampunk before there was steampunk. The Nautilus and Cavor’s moon capsule and the Martian War Tripods and the Time Machine are all a beautiful cross between the Industrial Revolution and the then-undreamed future. That’s irresistible. I would say that trend even extends to Star Wars, which owes as much to the 1870s and the 1930s – design-wise – as any imaginary future.

GP: What were the challenges of incorporating Vampirella into a steampunk setting? And were there aspects of the character that were vital to keep?

DA: I can’t claim to be the one who faced the initial challenge: our steampunk Vampirella is the creation of original Legenderry writer Bill Willingham and artist Sergio Fernandez Davila. I think they kept her essense while dropping maybe her most iconic aspect: the 1969 monokini costume. That’s my favorite thing about Legenderry Vampirella: she proves she’s more than just the costume.  The most basic aspect of Vampirella that I’ve tried to maintain is her incredible strength. Not physical strength, but strength of character. She is no one’s victim, no one’s damsel-in-distress. In this series she gets some help from men (and a lot of women) but she is always in charge of every situation, and always the smartest, toughest one in the room.

As an aside… Bill Willingham prefers his own neologism “SteamPulp” for the world of Legenderry, because the elements are really more Pulp than Punk.

lv02GP: The genre is still somewhat based on science, even if it does sometimes incorporate in some magical qualities.  How do find the balance between a supernatural character and this scientific focus?

DA: This is a tough one to answer without spoilers, but let’s just say Vampirella has had a few origin stories over the years and I have leaned heavily in the direction of science fiction and away from the supernatural.

GP: Vampirella is a strong female character, but generally one that is based in modern times.  Is it harder to base a strong character in a time when women were less empowered than they are now?

DA: I’ve thought about this a lot, actually. Unlike some writers of iconic female heroes, I’m happy to identify myself – and Vampirella — as Feminists.

“Legenderry” is, of course, an imaginary world… but to a large extent their cultural mores mirror ours from the turn of the 20th Century. As a writer, I think it’s more interesting, and not necessarily harder, to tell a story of a strong, empowered woman in a time of greater oppression. Honestly, even in the stories set in modern times, an aspect that makes Vampirella “scary” – on a cultural level – is that she can’t be oppressed, she won’t be controlled, she won’t shut up and she won’t stand down. And that’s why I absolutely love her, and love writing her.

GP: It seems like one of the challenges with Vampirella is that she is a hero that has no problems killing her foes, and thus she does not have an arch-nemesis or even a common group of villains. Was that a problem when interpreting this story?

lv03DA:  I can’t claim this is a very original observation, but she’s almost like writing Superman. There’s no one like her, and she’s virtually invulnerable. In fact, I’ve been trying to work this one Kryptonite-related joke into every issue and I still haven’t been able to find a spot for it yet. Because of the science fiction setting, I have been able to effectively threaten her life in a lot of situations… or at least present her with challenges she’s not sure she can survive.

In the past I think Dracula has been presented as her Arch-Villain, but I’m leaving him completely out of this.  Bill set up a “Council of Evil”, to which I’ve added a handful of my favorite (public domain) villains from literature.  Collectively they have a lot of resources and skills and are a real danger to her: an army of ants can take out a scorpion.

GP: Vampirella is a character already from different eras.  Her popularity began as a pulp heroine with a cult following in the 1960s when such characters were still considered taboo and so escaped mainstream success.  Equally the character has struggled at times to gain a following in the modern day. Is there a time and place where you think the character best fits?

DA: She started out very much like a character from a Hammer horror movie and she’s come a long way since then. I think she’s been dismissed by some fans and readers, over the years, because of the costume, and because of the perception there isn’t a lot more to her than exposed flesh.  (And let’s face it, she has also gained a lot of readers because of the costume, and the exposed flesh.) I also think the frequent re-writing of her origin story hasn’t helped. But she’s still around, and her longevity speaks well of the ability of the character to apply to all sorts of genre settings. For myself, I don’t see a limit to the kinds of stories you could tell with her.

GP: What can we look forward to in this series?

DA: A kickass heroine in a fascinating setting, with a fun supporting cast. Robots and airships and swordplay and disintegrator pistols and autogyros and a whole lot of “spot the 19th century literary character”.  A little more seriously, I hope people find a compelling adventure about a very powerful woman trying to make her way in a hostile world.

GP: Is there any other character that you think would benefit from the same treatment?

lv04DA: Short answer: steampunk Nick Fury. He was the first comic book character I loved as a kid.

Longer: When I was asked to do this book, I had a nice phone call with Bill Willingham, and I told him some of the characters I wanted to bring into his world of Legenderry, and he gave his enthusiastic approval.  So the real answers to this question are already in the book.

I wouldn’t mind doing a steampunk epic where the superteam is Kafka’s Joseph K, Lovecraft’s Randolph Carter and William Burroughs’ Inspector Lee of the Nova police.

I’ve had an idea for decades about a mash-up of Homer’s Odyssey with the Black Sox Scandal in a steampunk milieu, but that’s another story…

GP: Characters in this setting have specific visual qualities (for instance goggles) incorporated into their design.  Vampirella still looks very vampire like, but were there any design aspects that restricted what you thought that you could do with the story?

DA: I will admit that as a writer I’ve been struggling to come up with a reason for someone to actually USE those goggles, but human dress often has pointless design elements.  I don’t actually use my tie to wipe my mouth with at the table, for example.

I find in some ways being in the steampunk setting is freeing rather than restricting.  In the present day, anyone can call anyone on a cell phone, find out any information instantly. The characters having such conveniences can get in the way of drama.  Sort of like on Star Trek… the communicators had to be blocked or stolen, and the transporter had to malfunction… like, all the time… or Kirk could simply pop out of any trouble he might find himself in. The writers had to solve that every week.  Without those “modern” conveniences it’s easier to back characters into interesting corners. And that’s what action-adventure is all about: backing characters into interesting corners, and then getting them out again.

 

 

NBM: January 2011 Solicitations

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Official Press Release

NBM

Here’s what we’ve got planned for January. Unfortunately, as far as ordering these through your comic bookstore goes, it gets tricky: Diamond distributors decided NOT to carry these banded specially priced sets!

SO, that means you can only get them through us and some comic stores who order directly from us (ask them)! Here goes:

BIGGER NOTHINGS:
THE LITTLE NOTHINGS SET Vols. 1-3
Lewis TRONDHEIM
Now in a specially priced banded set of the 3 volumes, Trondheim’s popular little slice of life vignettes are collected together. “It’s very gently funny but splendidly assured and evocative of place — if a friend had drawn you a page of it as a letter, you’d treasure it forever” said The New York Times Book Review of this strip.
3 volumes banded together, 6×9, 384 pp., full color trade pbs with flaps, $39.99 (normally $45), ISBN 978-1-56163-599-3

see previews

ORDINARY VICTORIES SET
Manu LARCENET
One of the most acclaimed graphic novels of the decade is now available in a specially priced banded set of the 2 volumes. This is the story of Marc, a photographer who’s tired, of a very patient chick he meets, of banal horrors and of his pain-in-the-neck cat.
It’s the story of his art thrown against heavy anxiety attacks; of a really cute woman in his small town who seems to take to him against all odds; of the old neighbor, a peaceful likable fellah until you get to know his disturbing role in the war…
Called one of five best graphic novels by TIME magazine on its release, it was also a Booklist top 10 graphic novel of the year: “Superb marriage of literary realism and comics.” “Like any great work of art, it is possible to hold the pages up and through them, see the world” said Comic Book Resources.
2 volume set banded together, 61/2 x 9, 248 pp, full color trade pbs, $29.99 (normally $32),
ISBN 978-1-56163-600-6

see previews

And from Eurotica, this one comics stores will be able to order through Diamond:

OMAHA The Cat Dancer, set of vols. 1-7
Reed WALLER, Kate WORLEY
Now’s your chance to own the entire run of this best-selling classic of comics erotica at a very special price. Omaha is remarkable in that it blends intelligent and captivating story with well-rounded funny animal characters as well as totally guilt-free joyously rendered sex!
Bundled set of 7 volumes, 8 1/2×11, B&W, trade pbs., 816 pp., $75 (normally over $90!) ISBN 978-1-56163-601-3

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Meanwhile, back at Papercutz (all of these available through Diamond):

THE SMURFS #4 “The Smurfette”
Peyo – writer and artist/ Yvan Delporte – writer
For the first time in the Papercutz SMURFS graphic novels, the one and only Smurfette makes her dramatic debut! Here’s the original comics story that introduced her to the world. Where she comes from and how she first appeared may surprise her many fans! What sinister role did the wicked Gargamel play in her arrival? And how did Papa Smurf get involved in a way that would change Smurfette forever? This is the story Smurf fans have been waiting for!
6x 9, 64pp., full color paperback: $5.99, ISBN: 978-1-59707-236-6
Also in collector’s hardcover: $10.99, ISBN 978-1-56163-237-3

GERONIMO STILTON  #7 “Dinosaurs in Action”
By Geronimo Stilton
The Pirate Cats have had their plans foiled by Geronimo Stilton time and time again, due to the help from Geronimo’s friend Professor Volt. The Pirate Cats decide to better their odds by getting rid of Professor Volt, kidnapping him and leaving him in the Cretaceous Period – a time when the earth was occupied by dinosaurs! Geronimo and his friends must travel back in time 140 million years to save Professor Volt from literally becoming a part of history!
6½ x 9, 56pp., full color hardcover: $9.99
ISBN: 978-1-59707-239-7

CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED  #12 “The Island of Dr. Moreau”
By H.G. Wells
Adapted by Steven Grant and Eric Vincent
One of H.G. Wells’s most visionary tales, “The Island of Dr. Moreau” relates the disturbing tale of Pendrick, a shipwrecked naturalist who unwittingly discovers a horrific scientific and social experiment that is creating a mutant race of hideous creatures, half-human and half-beast. Terrifying and spellbinding, Wells’ masterpiece warns of the catastrophe that could result when man recklessly tampers with nature. Eric Vincent’s artwork vividly summons up the nightmarish life in Dr. Moreau’s tortured world.
6½  x 9, 56pp,. full-color hardcover: $9.99
ISBN 978-1-59707-235-9