The Brian K. Vaughaning

This one time, I admitted that I had not read very much of Brian K. Vaughan’s comics. The result was a Twitter deluge of my friends – some of whom were in the midst of dealing with current issues of Saga – expressing their Brian K. Vaughan love and all the feels that he invokes in them. Since then, I’ve been slowly working my way through his books and have pretty much come to the same conclusion about how incredible a writer he is.

If you break down the stories, they are almost simple. All stories that have been told before. Teens dealing with the betrayal of parents. Rebels who just wanted to belong. Caged souls seeking freedom. Love conquers all. But Vaughan takes these simple seeds and plants them in such diverse gardens. Environments, timelines, events and especially the characters are all woven together so magically. I really love the way that reading one of his stories in no way prepares you for reading any of the others. They are all so amazing. Credit also goes to the artists’ skills in capturing Vaughan’s unique (and sometimes veeery disturbing) visions.

Runaways, Vol. 1: Pride and Joy (art by Adrian Alphona)

I’ve never been drawn to the comics about teenaged superheroes, even when I was a teen, but as the first series in my BKV adventure, I find myself wishing I’d stumbled on this one sooner. First of all, I love the entire concept of a group of teens who discover their parents are eeevil and decide to stop them. The kids themselves are more than just typical teens with typical mutant powers. In fact, some don’t even have powers at all, while one shares a psychic bond with a velociraptor. How cool is that? Actually, they are fairly typical teens, but Vaughn does a great job of fleshing each one out and helping them to work through the ultimate betrayal of discovering their parents are not what they seem.

“Yeah my parents were practically unconscious.

Satanic rituals must really wear a person down.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: No Future for You (art by Georges Jeanty)

I read this a while ago and couldn’t remember it well enough to know why I had given it a mere two stars on Goodreads. I know that I definitely fell out of love with season eight towards the end and even Joss had to apologize for where things went, but this was only volume two, so it shouldn’t have rated so low. I’ve reread it since and suspect that my two-starring was either accidental or perhaps because, by the end of the book, I was really mad at Buffy, Giles and Faith for being Buffy, Giles and Faith. Which means that Vaughan did his job well to make me feel such anger and frustration towards these characters. He did such a good job of digging into their broken hearts and souls, while maintaining the whimsy and cynicism we’ve come to expect of Whedon’s characters. This story was about inner demons and paying for the past and relationships and jumping to the wrong conclusions and loneliness and need and betrayal because you have no other choice. My only disappointment in this book is that we never get to see the further adventures of Faith and Giles…

“But those of us who refused to pay the piper during our adolescence have a responsibility to shoulder the most most unpleasant costs of adulthood.”

Pride of Baghdad (art by Niko Henrichon)

I remember reading an article in National Geographic about Baghdad just before America took its “War on Terror” to its doorstep. It spoke of the people and their everyday lives and how they understood the world’s views of Saddam Hussein’s reign, but for them, it was different. Their lives were not horrible. They were not entirely oppressed by the evil dictator. And they did not ask for the world to step in to liberate them.

This is what came to mind as I read this anthropomorphic story of a pride of lions who escaped the Baghdad Zoo during a military attack. Based on a true story, it follows Zill, Noor, Safa and little Ali as they come to terms with their world turned upside down. Is leaving their cage to fight for survival in a crumbling city truly freedom? Is freedom worth the cost?

“Is that a horizon?”

Saga (art by Fiona Staples)

In simple terms, Saga is a science fiction meets fantasy love story about two young soldiers on opposing sides who meet and fall in love and will risk everything to to keep their new little family safe.

In more accurate terms, the reviews from friends to convince me – or anyone – to read this book, go something like this: “Yes there is a lot of kinky, crazy sex (OMG don’t read this at work!) but it’s all contextual, I swear! And OMG this book is so amazing! My feeeeels! When does the next one come out? jakljdflkajfljafiu!!!”

How could I resist such glowing and intriguing reviews? And now that I have read volume one, I can safely say, “Yes there is a lot of kinky, crazy sex (OMG don’t read this at work!) but it’s all contextual, I swear! And OMG this book is so amazing! My feeeeels! When does the next one come out? jakljdflkajfljafiu!!!”

“It’s not like I grow up to become some great war hero or any sort of all-important savior…but thanks to these two, at least I get to grow old.”

The Private Eye (art by Marcos Martin)

The Private Eye’ is a pay-whatever-the-hell-you-want online comic that will make you question your online activities (like making online purchases) and just how much privacy exists in the ether. It is a futuristic throwback to classic detective stories where everyone has a secret identity after everyone’s information is exposed for all to see. I had some involvement in the #Nymwars that followed the release of Google+, so the concept really hits home for me. Toss in an intriguing mystery and off we go.

“I’m not a pervert. I just use this nym when I want to be left alone.”

Ex Machina (art by Tony Harris)

Mitchel Hundred is America’s first superhero, created by a freak accident that gives him control over machinery. With the help of his two friends, he dons the identity The Great Machine and takes of the responsibility of saving New York from evil. Only, unlike in the comic books, this — erm — comic book quickly points out that super heroes tend to cause more trouble than they think they do, especially for the authorities. Eventually, following 9/11, Hundred takes off his mask to run for mayor of New York, a position where he actually can do some good. A lot of the plot focuses on the daily political problems, including a major one at an art museum that impressed me for not pulling politically correct punches on the subject matter. Add to that a snow storm that cripples the city and the return of The Great Machine’s nemesis who is targeting snow plow drivers. I really loved how much information and detail was brought in through only five issues without being overwhelming or verbose.

“When people ask who saved you, tell them it was The Great Machine. Tell them everything’s going to be all right!”

Y:The Last Man (art by Pia Guerra)

I love the way sexism and misogyny are front and centre from the start, but all presented within the context of the situations where we meet the major female players in this story and the single male who survives the gender apocalypse. All male mammals but Yorick and his monkey suddenly and mysteriously die, leaving the world in sudden chaos. The statistics presented at the end of issue one are staggering. Forty-eight percent of the population is dead, but the number of males in various positions of power are near 100%. I really liked how the remaining women weren’t all stellar examples of humanity, meant to prove that women really can do things better than men. The Amazonian movement is frightening and the Republican reaction certainly reminds me of current events.

“Men. Can’t live with ’em…”