Civil War No. 1
Marvel Comics
Judging by the mainstream press coverage it's garnered—The New York Times, NPR, ABC News—the biggest comic-book event of the summer may be Marvel's seven-part Civil War series. So it's probably a good thing that No. 1 turns out to be such a good comic book.
It's easy to see the appeal. When a typical superhero vs. supervillain skirmish escalates into a tragic accident that kills hundreds of civilians, Congress rushes out the Superhuman Registration Act, which requires all American superheroes to become federal employees instead of masked vigilantes.
That Patriot Act-style topicality makes it something that people who don't normally give a damn about Spider-Man can get into, while the books also gives fans a chance to see their favorite heroes beating each other up. It's like candy that's actually good for you.
In the first issue, writer Mark Millar evokes elements of our current political climate without specifically invoking any, and we see characters begin to take sides.
Captain America doesn't like the prospect of having to hunt down his friends who disagree with the government and rebels; Iron Man, told off by a grieving mother at a funeral, and Mr. Fantastic, worried about brother-in-law Johnny Storm, who was put in a coma by an angry mob, tell President Bush they'll bring Cap in.
Expect much fighting to follow, but fighting over a fundamental basis of all superhero fantasy—the very idea of vigilante justice in a law-and-order society.
Noble Boy
Red Window/AdHouse
If you don't work in the animation industry, chances are you have no idea who the hell Maurice Noble is. But if you've ever watched cartoons, you've seen his work. In fact, it's been an integral part of some of your favorite cartoons.
Noble was a designer, layout artist and animator who worked on some of the best Disney films early in his career, and then with Chuck Jones on Looney Tunes and Dr. Seuss projects. Those bizarre desertscapes that Wile E. Coyote chased the Road Runner through? That was Noble. So was Duck Dodgers' postmodern space age. And the surreal pastoral arcadia in which Daffy and Bugs would argue over whether it was duck season or wabbit season.
Scott Morse, who studied under Noble, wants to make sure his mentor gets his due, which is the point of his new biography, Noble Boy. When it comes to comics, Morse is a relentless risk-taker whose output can be hit or miss, but when it hits, it hits hard.
Despite the strong imagery that punctuates Noble Boy, a cute, impish, old man Noble frolicking in Morse's Noble-inspired settings, the text is presented in pseudo-Seussian rhymes about the man's life and work. Really, really bad rhymes. Still, it's a, um, noble effort.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Angelic Days Vol. 1
ADV Manga
The daringly deep 1995-96 anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, which blended teen melodrama, human psychology, apocryphal Christian mysticism, Jewish mythology and giant robots (sorta), was long ago adapted into a manga series.
Now the characters are returning in an original manga series that takes them in a whole new direction: a happy one.
The names, personalities and designs are all the same as the original series, but Angelic Days is set in an alternate reality, where the world doesn't seem to be on the verge of being destroyed by angels, and our hero, Shinji Ikari, isn't paralyzed over whether to risk loving if it means opening himself to hurt. Writer/artist Fumino Hayashi's parallel adaptation is more like a high-school drama than a sci-fi passion play.
The story certainly isn't as good as the anime's, and Hayashi's art and designs aren't as strong as Yoshiyuki Sadamoto's (who did the original NGE manga series), but fans may just be happy to see their favorite characters alive and well again.