Breaking the Radio Silence
August 3, 2015 comics, creators, movies, reviews Comments Off on Breaking the Radio Silence03 August 2015
Let’s look at comics and comics-related things!
Let’s get a few random items out of the way first.
- 25 Greatest Animated Comic Book Covers
- Badass Women to Read if Kelly Sue DeConnick Is Your Hero
- Has anyone else tried reading comics with those old red-blue 3D glasses? No? You should give it a shot.
- DC Comics Bombshells Creates World Where Women Were Heroes of World War II
- Nostalgia Overload: ‘Star Wars’ Movies Get Little Golden Books Adaptations
- Ant-Man. If, for some reason, you still haven’t seen it, you’re missing out on Marvel Studios’ take on a comedy heist movie.
Okay with those out of the way, let’s talk comic books…
For me, one of the bright spots in comics is the writing and art of Thom Zahler. He first came to my attention for Love and Capes, which billed itself as “The heroically super situation comedy.” And that’s exactly what it was. But, while serving up romance in a world where costumed heroes exist is nothing new, Love and Capes made the romance the focus of the book, rather than superheroics. This doesn’t mean that readers never saw heroic feats; but the real story followed the growth of the relationship between Abby Tennyson, owner of a small bookstore, and Mark Spencer, accountant by day/superhero by… well… night and day, really. The dialog was crisp and the situations in which Mark, Abby, and their friends found themselves felt believable. And, the comedic timing – after all, it did call itself a ‘situation comedy’ – worked in a way that didn’t feel forced. Check out the website, linked above, or pick up issues or trade paperbacks from IDW Publishing.
Mr. Zahler’s latest offering is the four-issue mini-series, Long Distance:
Long Distance #1 by Thom Zahler
The description for this series:
From the creator of Love and Capes, Thom Zahler! While stranded in an airport, Carter and Lee meet and hit it off immediately. Problem is, he lives in Columbus and she lives in Chicago. Can they manage to have a relationship separated by three hundred miles, a time zone, and the entire state of Indiana?
As someone who has been in a couple of long-distance relationships, the dialog and the situations feel realistic. Zahler manages to find the proper balance of the giddiness that accompanies a new romance along with the added tensions of distance, work, commentary from friends, and time. Because of the care that he puts into all of that, Carter and Lee go from being “just characters in a comic book” to a couple of people to whom you can relate.
Issue #3 of Long Distance hits stands this Wednesday. I highly recommend picking it up – along with Issues #1 and 2 – as part of your comics haul.