When I was a kid I used to love reading comics. I used to look forward to spinning the comic book rack at the gas station, convenience store, and if I was lucky we’d blow some time away at the comic book store at the mall.
I used to read all sorts of comics too. I used to read everything from Archie, Richie Rich, and Casper to Spiderman, X-Men, and Iron Man. I just enjoyed reading the books and checking out the artwork.
At some point I stopped reading them, I’m not sure at what age that was though. As I watched my younger brothers grow up and read comics, I often wondered if they read them much later in age than I did… seems to be I stopped somewhere around grade 7, but I cannot be certain - my brothers, though, were still reading them much later than that though… and sometimes I feel as though I missed out.
Well, I bought a few comics this summer, before I moved to our new house, even - wow, when did I order those books now? Let me check.
Hooo - okay, this surprises me a little because I just finished reading the first one today. Apparently I received Joss Whedon’s Fray
It didn’t take me long to read the book, though - I only managed to find time to read the book now that I am out of work and have a bit of time on my hands. I read the entire thing in only a handful of sittings, to say it was a page turner would be putting it lightly. Fray could be a book that spurs on some more comic-reading goodness.
[ yes yes, spoilers are mild, if any … it’s okay to continue ]
For any readers that are not aware, Fray is a comic book that resides in the same universe as Buffy the Vampire Slayer. As with Buffy, Joss Whedon is the mind behind this work as well. The main character of this series is Melaka Fray, and she’s the Slayer.
Unlike the Slayers before her, Melaka does not understand the origin of her gift - her speed, strength, and uncanny rate of healing - but she does put it to the best use any 19 year old girl that is living on her own could, she’s become a damned good thief for hire.
Well, as I’ve been told by so many, Joss Whedon does it again with Fray. I was unsure how one could take the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not bring back a single character, keep the history and lore behind the Slayers as story backbone, introduce all new characters and top it all off by having the entire story told in some distant future setting, and expect to have the reader accept all of this and still give a damn… that take balls.
And skill.
Yet, somehow, the people behind these books managed to pull that off without a hitch. The Slayer heritage is taken up again with Fray, and she’s about to discover there’s a whole different world out there - and that she has a purpose greater than she could have ever imagined.
If you’ve not read Fray, and you are a fan of Buffy, of Joss Whedon, or just into comic books or good story telling - heck, even if you don’t think comics are for you - I would have to say that I agree with all of the people out there that had urged me to check it out. It truly is great.
I love that Joss manages to bring in a whole new futuristic lingo through this series. He’s known for playing with language in his works, and his mastery of this playful skill enriches the worlds he creates. And true to form, the main attraction with this book is much like anything else Joss pens - the dialog in this book is fantastic.
But it’s not just about text in bubbles - the artwork, both pencil and ink, are just as stellar in this book. I know little about Karl Moline (pencil) and Andy Owens (ink), but after reading this book if I see anything else on the shelf headlining their artwork interests me, their name on the book will make picking it up so much easier.
These two are rock solid - one thing that always bugged me as a comic book reader when I was a kid was when faces on characters would be messed up in a single panel (or more)… it just totally would take you out of the book and ruin the experience as you flipped through the pages. These guys really cranked out a beautifully gritty series with Fray, they should be proud of their work in this series - these two guys made Joss look even better through the mastery of their own art forms… making Fray an absolute pleasure to read.
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I kept reading comics until college. I got frustrated with them in the early 90s when the emphasis switched from writing to visuals in a lot of my favorite titles. The plot pacing and dialogue in the various X-men titles became utterly atrocious around that time, for example.
The plot pacing was what tweaked me out the most. A storyline that would have run it’s course in two or three issues in the late 80s suddenly became a one year story arc. It’s like they hired a bunch of out of work soap opera writers.
The straw that did in my camel was the first year of Spawn. Todd has no damn business writing. The only issues worth reading are the ones where he brought in guest writers.
Even around that time there were a few gems (the Maxx comes to mind), but I got tired of sorting through the chaff. These days I buy graphic novels rather than take a risk on stuff that’s on the stands.
Yeah - I did not quite read into the 90s myself. I think I stopped around grade 8… so it was the mid 80s I guess.
If you are more into the graphic novel scene these days, can you give me a top-5 list of what you recommend?
I tend to like being able to read things to completion, I think that fact is part of why I really enjoyed reading Fray… I was able to read the entire thing without having to wait for months to float by. I was able to immerse myself and enjoy the entire thing in just a couple sittings with the book.
Rather than give you a top five, let me just say that anything written by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, or Frank Miller tends to be worth reading. A lot of their comic stints have been collected as volumes. Watchmen, From Hell, Sandman (the whole series…though the last 8 are better than the first 2), Sin City, and Batman: the Dark Knight Returns are all classics. The worst I’ve read from any of them was merely above average.
I’m also a fan of those volumes that cheaply reprint 2 dozen or so issues of classic comics. For example, the first 8 volumes or so of The Essential X-men collect what I consider to be some of the best work that was done in that series. Chris Claremont is a spotty writer, sometimes he seems to just phone books in. But those years were some of his best.
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