The Brave and The Bold is beyond beautiful

I am not a big DC fan these days and have never read their mainstream books (Batman, Superman, JLA, etc.) consistently, tending to dip in and out for specific stories and/or creators. I still keep an eye on what is happening in DC Land so I was aware of the buzz created around Liam Sharp's Wonder Woman in 2016 and experimented with the first issue. The art impressed me but the story did not and I left it there.

Then I heard that Liam was working with Wonder Woman again this time with Batman in tow in the revamped Batman team-up comic The Brave and The Bold. I experimented again, was even more impressed by the art and liked the story too so I stayed with the book.

This panel helps to show why.

The detail is frightening and the subject is fantastic. The story is steeped in Celtic mythology and that is reflected in the design of the pages. The book is beyond beautiful.

The only shame is that it is a six part limited issue series.

Genesis Inc. at Hampstead Theatre was much more than a comedy

I do not need much temptation to go to Hampstead Theatre and the prospect of seeing Harry Enfield in a comedy would probably have been enough by itself but the addition of Arthur Darvill (Rory from Dr Who) and the sharp subject matter settled any doubt.

I duly paid £25 for seat Q9 which magically turned into K9 when I collected it.

Genesis Inc. once again showed how hard it is to describe a play in one short paragraph. The Hampstead Theatre oversold the comedy side of it and undersold the drama.

It was funny, and at times very funny, but there was also a lot of pain too, as you would expect in a play about childlessness. It was the mix of comedy, drama and an interesting subject matter that made Genesis Inc. so compelling.

It was funny that the exploitative clinic run by Harry Enfield ludicrously insisted in running expensive standard tests that had been run before and it was painful that the couple had to dig deeper into meagre pockets when they knew they were being fleeced but had no other options.

Helping both the comedy and the drama was the excellent ensemble cast, many of whom played multiple roles, that is why I chose the cast announcement poster to introduce this post.

I went to see Genesis Inc. to be entertained and I was in ways that I had not expected which is always a good thing.

Blown away by Gideon Falls

Andrea Sorrentino work has appeared in this blog a few times over the years, usually because I have liked the samples shown in DC Comics Digital Sneak Peeks, most of which I singularly failed to tag with his name at the time. Anyway, the point is I have liked his work for a while.

I have also liked the little of Jeff Lemire's work that I have read, notably A.D.: After Death and X-Men.

The two had worked together a few times before, to great acclaim, but not on anything that I had read. Even so, that reputation was enough to get me interested in Gideon Falls.

It is my favourite current comic.

The art is as decisive as I expected with sharp lines and dramatic page layouts. The story is just as good. It is about an evil barn, a priest who lives nearby and a psychiatric patient who collects small parts of it from waste dumps across the city. If that sound weird then it is in all the ways that you want weird to be.

The two main characters' stories are told in parallel and so far, after four issues, have yet to come together. Happily Gideon Falls is billed as an ongoing series so there is plenty of time for this expected thing and many unexpected things to happen. I'm hooked and will be along for the ride all the way.