SCC's Comics Talk

Ratings out of 5 stars.   The Magician’s Wife Story: Jerome Charyn Art: Francois Boucq Dover (2015) Some things you need time to appreciate. Like good wine and whiskey that aged well. Like Bob Dylan. The Magician’s Wife, one of the first magic realism graphic novels, is one of those works. I first read this in the 1980s and you don’t quite get it. But it left a deep impression. So when Dover re-released this book again last year, it was on my grab list. It is one of the most wonderful things I have read for a long time. A tale of love and betrayal, obsession and redemption. A magician wrongs his wife and both need to seek forgiveness for all that had gone before. Jerome Charyn’s story has stood the test of time while Francois Boucq’s art is simply stunning to behold. There is a certain purity to his...

Ratings out of 5 stars. Mainstream comics available at Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura).   Rampokan Story/Art: Peter van Dongen Gramedia I just heard about Peter van Dongen’s Rampokan from my friend, Tita Larasati many years ago. A story set in Indonesia in 1946 and spanned the islands of Java and Celebes, the background of the Dutch police action is only the setting. Other than the political intrigue, double-crossing and betrayal (and a huge cast of characters), it is a story of a sentimental young man trying to look for the Indonesia of his past and making fatal mistakes in the process of doing that. In a way, Johan Knevel represents the old Dutch who still thinks the Indies would welcome them back with open arms. He is trapped in the past and there will be hell to pay for those who cannot live in the present and see the future for...

Ratings out of 5 stars. The mainstream stuff is available at Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura).   ODY-C #9 Story: Matt Fraction Art: Christian Ward Image Comics So Matt Fraction wants to write his version of The Odyssey for his young daughter to read. I doubt that will happen anytime soon as this is some badass take on that old Homer yarn. Things are turned around as the gender of the heroes and villains are reversed and the whole odyssey thing takes place in space. I found the first few issues hard to follow if you do not have detailed knowledge of the original text, but Christian Ward's splashes more than make up for it. Fraction continues his panel layout innovations from Hawkeye. Some said it's nothing new if you have read Chris Ware and all. But if you steal from the best and bring it to a new mainstream/superhero/SF audience, that's...