2010 Reading #61: Life Sucks by Abel, Soria, and Pleece

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.

61. Life Sucks by Jessica Abel, Gabriel Soria, and Warren Pleece. I'm tempted to shorthand this as Clerks meets Fright Night or something, with a black humor edge reminiscent of Lair of the White Worm; but that feels unfair and reductive. It's a quirky graphic novel about a wage slave vampire working the night shift at a convenience store. It's funny but it's not a comedy, it's got some horrific stuff but it's not horror; in fact one of the things that I like best about it is its near-complete disregard of genre expectations. What works least well about it is its slacker protagonist, who is difficult to engage with or care about much. Partly that's the point, of course, to challenge him to change, but I found myself more interested in the minor characters and the world-building than in the main character, and I think that's a problem.

2010 Reading #62: New Maps of Hell by Warren Ellis and Jackson Guice

Books 1-10.
Books 11-20.
Books 21-30.
Books 31-40.
Books 41-50.
Books 51-60.
61. Life Sucks by Jessica Abel, Gabriel Soria, and Warren Pleece.

62. JLA: Classifed: New Maps of Hell by Warren Ellis and Jackson Guice. Seen at the library; I'll read anything by Ellis. That said . . .

I have this problem with Justice League stories. See, I loved the Giffen/DeMatteis/Maguire JLA/JLI, and I have a certain head-shaking affection for the Silver Age beginnings of the title. Nowadays, though, most of the Justice League stuff I read is all Rather Serious, and there's not much peril, and it's all about how these folks are the Best In the World and they Can't Be Beat because they're Smarter Than You and just the fact that you're even trying proves that you're from Somewhere Else. It's like reading a comic about the New York Yankees. And I don't mean to pick on Ellis, because I don't think he's one of the more egregious offenders, and I think that he's doing what he does very consciously; he's saying there's no point pretending that anyone but the most badass of badasses has a chance of even rocking these folks back on their heels--they've fought gods and the god-like and they know what they're doing. I get that, I agree with it, and yet I can't make myself care. It's essentially the same beef I have with 99% of Superman stories; he can't be beat unless the writer changes the rules, and even then it's going to be temporary. Anyway; rant over.

This story--published as six issues, but it flows as one continuous episode--has some nice character moments. I enjoyed the inclusion of Oracle, and Ellis writes the Martian Manhunter really well. (Kyle Rayner talked a bit like Warren Ellis, but then Warren Ellis always cracks me up, so.) I also like the way Ellis writes Clark and Lois. Guice's art is better than I remembered, although I get the feeling he's been taking a page from Alex Ross's book.

Still will read anything by Ellis.