BOOK/COMIC BOOK REVIEW: WORLD WAR ROBOT VOL's 1 & 2

IDW publishing, for anyone yet to hear of the number 3 comic book publisher, has been around for ten years. I've been such a huge fan of their products for their entire run. They've introduced me to several of my (now) favorite creators. Most people have heard of 30 Days of Night (which introduced me to Steve Niles) thanks to the film they made of it which brought IDW a lot of (well deserved) mainstream attention.

Of all of the creators whose work is distributed through IDW, none has been more entertaining or influential to me than the very very talented Ashley Wood. For anyone who has known me, especially in my days running the shop, I've been talking about Wood's work since I first discovered Hellspawn (a Spawn spinoff from Image in the late 90's). I was also collecting his comic with Joe Casey "Automatic Kafka" at about this time. His style is diverse and his range simultaneously inspiring and downright dizzying. He's gone on to illustrate several projects at IDW including the Metal Gear Solid adaptations (so far "Solid" and "Sons of Liberty"), countless covers and eventually his own titles. Among those titles is one of the most unique works in modern comics, though calling it a comic is somewhat misleading.

World War Robot is the tale of a great war going on between the religious zealot populated planet Earth and the atheist inhabited planet Mars. In between those two planets sits Earth's Moon, upon which a brilliant inventor and scientist, Darwin Rothchild, creates military tech which he sells indiscriminately to both sides. This tech happens to be several different classes, shapes and sizes of robot. These robots are given a variety of names to help their human troop allies see them in a more anthropomorphic light. Brambles, Berties, Harolds, Large Martins, Squares (and more) all help the war effort in any way in which they're programed.

The brilliance of World War Robot comes not only in its stunning, oil painted visuals by Wood, but the words that accompany his images written by his wife, T.P. Louise. Louise writes all manner of correspondence to and from soldiers, citizens, scientists, mechanics, mercenaries and even a pseudo hooker. Each one of these entries is presented in prose form amongst pages of imagery from the WWR universe. Each entry is written as a slice of life glimpse of the war from a wide variety of perspectives. Within those entries, snippets of the overall big picture are delivered to the reader. Each entry is a stand alone piece unto itself, but certain characters are referenced throughout including Rothchild, NOM (one of the baddest sons of bitches ever to do... whatever it is he's always up to) and obviously, the robots.

Its not all battle and in fact, the battle imagery is very much balanced with moments of piece. Definitely a perfect example of how much waiting around there is in any war. Some of the robots are given specific names by their handlers and one or two even have possible personalities (from their handler's perspective). One of my favorite entries in either volume comes in volume 2 where it is implied that a Bramble unit might enjoy the sunset (or at least his handler seems to think so). I won't bring up my thoughts on where the series is going and just what exactly Rothchild might be planning in selling so much hardware to two opposing enemies because doing so might ruin a very fun and original experience.

Finding World War Robot is its own problem. Volume 1 is technically out of print but can be found through various online retailers and occasionally a used copy will show up on Amazon (though not for very long usually). Volume 2 however has just come out this summer and is available both through Amazon, the IDW Publishing site and through your local comic vendor.

They will also no doubt be getting a huge reprint to coincide with the release of the Jerry Bruckheimer produced World War Robot film (only just recently announced).

There are apparently alternate covers as well, though I've only seen (and own) the covers labled "B"

Volume 1:


Volume 1B:


Volume 2:


Volume 2B:


I cannot stress enough how much you should read this or any of Ashley Wood's work. You will not find anything else like it, I promise you that. He has lots of art books in addition to his comics that contain countless paintings, sketches and doodles. You can even purchase originals though his rep (whose site I will put in here as soon as I can find it again).

Other Ashley Wood work you should get your mitts on (all from IDW):
Complete Zombies vs Robots vs Amazons
Popbot (vol 1-7 are in a complete edition, vol 8 is the only vol past the Complete Ed)
Tank Girl: The Gifting (with some other very talented people)
Metal Gear Solid
Metal Gear Solid: Sons of Liberty

Related Links:
Ashley Wood's blog
Three A toys blog (Wood's toy company who will blow your mind)
Three A Toys Forum (to discuss how your mind is blown and talk/meet other fans and a lot of very talented artists)
Ashley Wood's gallery site

Comic Recomendations Week of 7/24/09

let's see, this weeks stack:

DC:

Gotham City Sirens/Streets of Gotham: I'm sorry, I've loved Paul Dini in the past, the cartoons were great, but his work on Gotham City Sirens and Streets of Gotham is so BORING. We've got Dick Grayson playing Batman. There's a little psychopath as Robin. No one, even Gordon, quiet believes Batman is back, not even Two-Face as we saw in the latest issue of Batman. So what does Dini give us in Streets of Gotham? We have Firefly escaping Batman hanging onto him via grapple and this is the exchange we get:

Firefly: How does it feel to watch everyone you've tried to protect burn to death?

Batman (Dick Grayson): You're the only one going down in flames, Lynns!

Really? If this was gonna be Adam West territory could we get a warning on the cover? Streets of Gotham could have been a title that simultaneously told short stories (mini's and one shots) depicting street level life in the, as of late, chaotic Batless Gotham city and Dick Grayson's struggle to become the big man. We could have had Grayson intervien in very real (and nicely developed) situations tapping into the public's own fears in a chaotic economy that would have created instant interest, understanding and drama. Instead we get the same typical surface crap we've all read so many times that the above example may as well have been white noise.

Over on Sirens of Gotham, the nicely drawn issue #1 ended promisingly, Ivy and Harley torturing the identity of Batman out of Catwoman... but as issue 2 resolves that in a matter of pages... oh it ends up Talia taught Catwoman how to suppress that knowledge a long time ago so its all good. Thank you flashback that was simply told in flash back because the scene carried absolutely no drama otherwise. And Catwoman isn't even mad they turned on her like that after they torture her! She continues to let them stay at her new pad! And why? Female commradery... woooooooooo. Really? This is one of those 'I can tell this is a man trying to write chicks' books. I literally only care about one DC book right now and its the Morrison Batman and Robin. Everything else reeks of filler/rehashing/a totally lost company trying desperately to be relevent. And I used to be one of DC's strongest defenders... I hope they turn it around soon. There wasting a lot of good characters.

Onto the relevant company who understands how to make current political economic fears into comic storylines for added realism and stress

MARVEL:

Nothing big big this week, the new Wolverine was really good. Anyone following the DKR storyline needs to grab this. Daniel Way is doing some great stuff with this book (much like his Deadpool book that I cannot reccomend enough). I can't explain it without killing the plot but suffice to say, it has Way's signature hard with a sense of humor dialogue and pretty great art too.

X-Men Utopia running through Uncanny and Dark Avengers right now is really interesting too. The whole 'villain running the show surrounded by other meglomaniacs who don't like following' is starting to come around to bite Osborne in the ass. His most recent scheme is exploitation of mutant riots for political maneuvering and the creation of yet another puppet super team (ala Dark X-men run by a very black leather clad White Queen) begins to stretch his scheming a little thin. My only beef so far is why Cyclops is taking Emma's change of heart so lightly. Its either a scheme he's in on, or this writer hasn't realized that Scott Summer's found his balls in the last few years (I thank Grant Morrisson for his FANTASTIC New X-men run a few years back).

Marvel in the past felt like the more rehash company to me contantly riding on their one laurel of having super heroes with real problems (which sometimes can make them a bit whiney for my taste) but lately they've been really doing well with adding corrupt business folk, politicians, shading puppet government activities and the ease with which evil people exploit PR to their books. Its a great commentary on current events in America and makes for a far more dramatic read than Firefly's cackling evil threats (can he just twirl a mustache already?).

Over at Wildstorm:
The GEARS OF WAR comic has been a bit hit or miss (thought I've still enjoyed it) but the story arc starting in issue 9 (with a slammin' cover by Jim Lee) is pretty damn awesome. And for any fan of the Gears world, it adds something we're just not used to seeing: women on the battle field. For the non Gears folk, the human race is at dangerously low levels and women are "protected" for breeding purposes, this new book shows how easily and horribly that can be exploited. It has a great artist who (i think?) is a Heavy Metal alum. If not he'd fit in that book nicely.

DARK HORSE:
ANYONE who loves The Goon or the show Metalocalypse needs to read the Deathlok vs Goon one shot this week! It is without a doubt the funniest thing I've read this year. And bloody. Its the perfect blend of the two properties. Powell draws all Goon related characters/backgrounds while the people who draw the cartoon draw those characters. There's even a bit where Goon is carrying weapons from cartoon characters that are drawn in that style, but held by the Goon we're all used to. Its hard to explain. Just read it. You will not be let down! And anyone not initiated in The Goon should grab it. Just go ask your local shop, they'll know about it. Its one of the most original comics I've ever read. And I've read a few.

IMAGE:
Also Rapture is really really good. Written by the guy that does Powers, its along the lines of the Powers 'superpeople from the perspective of regular people' but very much not (which will makes sense once you read it). Its very character driven and has an awesome mythic angle. Anyone into his other work or even the Hellboy/BPRD crowd should totally check this out!

That's all for this week but there are always more comics to read and even I can't keep up with them all! If I should be reading something let me know!