Polaris wants you to read comic books. Also a trailer for New 52 Red Hood and the Outlaws REDemption

Here is a funny little trailer I made with me as Polaris from X-men.

I also made a some what dramatic trailer for Red Hood and the Outcasts.

Enjoy :)

Battle Angel Alita - Volume 01: Rusty Angel

Battle Angel Alita - Volume 01: Rusty Angel

Kishiro, Yukito (Creator, Author, Illustrator), Burke, Fred and Bell, Sterling and Thorn, Matt (Translation)

Paperback, 248 pages, ISBN13: 9781569310038

Published July 1995 by VIZ Media (first published September 1991)

This techno-punk manga style graphic novel follows the story of Alita, a cyborg who in the form of a young girl, while she tries to find her place in the world and also discover her past and where she came from.  It begins with a cybernetics doctor finding the head of a cyborg in a junk heap, and rebuilds the body. This becomes Alita. She soon discovers she has killer martial arts instincts and a physical aptitude for violence despite being a gentle caring soul, this leads her on a quest of self-discovery to find out where and why she was created.

Creator Yukito Kishiro makes you think about humanity, morality and what really is the difference machine without the story dragging and without sacrificing the gritty oppressive nature of the world. The art is all black and white but monumentally intricate with epic amounts of detail in world building and character creation. Giant cyborg warriors, to the face of human suffering are all expertly captured in Japanese manga style.

This well-paced expedition into the dystopian far future it grim at times but Alita is a thoroughly inspiring character reminding us all that even in the most desperate of times there is still hope while also featuring the compelling heroes’ journey about being afraid of one’s own nature. 

I Feel Sick #1

I Feel Sick #1
Vasquez, Jhonen(Author, Creator, Illustrator) and Simons, Rosearik Rikki(Colourist)
Paperback, 32 pages, ASIN:B000KE3N6O
Published 2000 by Slave Labor Graphics 

I FEEL SICK  #1 is the first full-color comic book written and drawn by the comic artist Jhonen Vasquez who was responsible for the super popular Invader Zim and JTHM.

This really is just a book about a girl. A girl called Devi d. (who appears in the JTHM comic as a side character) who is an artist and a goth.  This two part story follows her battle to retain her sanity while afraid of social interaction due to a past full of awful experiences. Convinced a supernatural force is trying to interfere with her social life and her art devi withdraws from society and fights an internal stuggle to retain her grasp on what is real and what is in her head.

Vasquez has a great grasp on how real people talk and Devi could be any girl in her teens or early twenties, struggling to find herself and her place in the world.

The art is both simple and full of detail, with backgrounds and rooms filled to the brim with entertaining little details, while stark focus and dedicated panels are given to important reactions and items when needed.

Devi ‘s constant anxiety about her lack of inspiration and motivation, the realisations that she should be doing more in her life is so relatable it is scary. It’s a compelling story to see a normal real female character pull out some strength from hardship.

Tank Girl: Visions of Booga

Tank Girl: Visions of Booga
Martin, Alan  (Author, Creator) and Dayglo, Rufus (Illustrations)
Paperback, 104 pages  ISBN13: 9781600102806
Published November 18th 2008 by IDW Publishing

A Tank driving, beer swilling, cigarette smoking girl prone to random acts of violence and hair dyeing with a healthy dose of sex and flatulence thrown in. This may seem like an unlikely heroine but in this post-apocalyptic misadventure you will soon be cheering on Tank Girl and her marsupial boyfriend Booga in their struggle avoid the Australian Mafia and other various and crazy enemies.

This story is by no means at the start of the overarching Tank Girl timeline however it has a more even pace and coherent presentation than the standard Tank Girl comic but with enough of the gritty punky charm of the original.

Alan C. Martin is has always been the creator/writer of tank girl so this book is still full of violence and pop culture references ( the ‘Hipster book of Gold’) spattered with slang as much as blood and desert sand as the originals. 

Dayglo's art has a great desert tone palate which suits the outback and gives a source of grimness held by the world. He has a detail rich style (even details you might not want to see like snot and spit!) which while quite different to the original art style of tank girl manage to capture her sassiness and the psychedelic action that occurs on their adventures.

It is hard not to root for Tank Girl and Booga who seem to be having a good time even when their adventures are at their most chaotic and desperate.  

A Tank Girl movie was made in the 90's and didn't get a great reception but here is the trailer anyway.