• Archives
  • Contact
  • Drawings
  • Meteor Mags
  • Music Albums
  • Paintings
  • PBN
  • Sea Monkeys
  • Secret Origin

Mars Will Send No More

~ Comic books, art, poetry, and other obsessions

Mars Will Send No More

Tag Archives: Vertigo Comics

We3: Home Is Run No More

18 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

animals, bandit, Cat, DC Comics, Frank Quitely, Grant Morrison, pirates, science fiction, tinker, vertigo, Vertigo Comics, We3

Every now and then, I read a tragic story that breaks my heart, but no comic-book adventure has ever broken me so relentlessly as We3. A friend who isn’t really into comic books got into Grant Morrison thanks to the live-action show Happy—based on the four-issue series of the same name published by Image—so I’ve been digging into the Morrison archives. Along the way, I realized I’d never read what many people consider to be one of Morrison’s best works, if not the best. We3 is an action-packed story brought to life by Morrison’s long-time artistic collaborator Frank Quitely, and though I’ve enjoyed Quitely’s artwork for years, he outdid his own genius on We3. Before we delve into the book, let me just say that this story features one of my all-time favorite things: a cat who absolutely kicks ass.

The cat’s given name is Tinker, but she is only referred to in the story as “2”. Tinker is part of a team of three normal animals who have been surgically altered and had their brains messed with so they can become killing machines encased in high-tech armor to perform military missions and assassinations instead of having human soldiers do the job. Joining Tinker in this horrifying experiment are the dog Bandit—referred to as “1”, and the only one of the three to re-discover his real name in the story—and a rabbit named Pirate (“3”) because of a black spot over one eye.

Each of these animals was someone’s beloved pet before the story began. Instead of telling the reader this fact through flashbacks or exposition, the creative team shows it much more powerfully with “lost pet” flyers on the covers of each issue. When you realize what has been done to these hapless animals, the covers hit like a punch to the gut.

When the higher-ups decide that these lost and kidnapped animals need to be killed—decommissioned, per orders—the three of them escape their containment facility and run away. Their combat modifications and training make them dangerous to society, so the military pursues them. One of the many tragic aspects of this story is that the trio doesn’t mean to be dangerous murder machines. These animals were forced against their will to become horrors in the service of the same humans who want to put them down.

Nowhere is this more strongly portrayed than through Bandit’s canine emotional crises. Bandit truly wants to be a good dog. He wants to protect his beloved animal allies in We3 and also help humans, but he is forced into situations where his combat programming takes over and he kills humans. In the aftermath of the killings, his simple, mournful repetition of “Bad dog” hits home more powerfully than pages of dialogue or narrative captions could ever do.

Tinker does not share the dog’s remorse. She thinks the whole thing stinks. When Bandit tries to save a human body to convince himself he is a good dog, Tinker bluntly tells him the man is dead. As the two animals fade into the horizon while arguing, the panels reveal the human is annihilated from the waist down. In a combination of graphic images and minimal, broken dialogue, Morrison and Quitely set up the tension between the cat’s no-nonsense and apparently correct assessment of the situation with the dog’s potentially delusional idealism.

Each animal’s cybernetically enhanced speech pattern says volumes about them. On the first read, I had trouble understanding their speech, but it all became clear to me upon the second reading. Bandit the dog is haunted by regret over what he has been made to do, and he struggles to lead his “pack” in a volatile and untenable situation. Pirate the rabbit is the most simple-minded of the trio, only speaking in one-word sentences, but that doesn’t stop him from delivering a heart-wrenching reminder to his comrades that they are friends and are all in this together. Sadly, Pirate’s speech degrades into mere electronic noise after he suffers an injury.

Cat-lover that I am, I especially enjoyed Tinker’s dialogue. Her feline disdain for just about everything is expressed through the word “Stink”, rendered as “ST!NK” or, when she is really angry, “!SSST!!!NKK!” Compared to the peaceful rabbit and optimistic dog, Tinker appears to be the least bothered by all the killing. She seems at times to revel in it. Tinker is also the group’s cynic who doesn’t believe the trio will ever find a home, because “home” no longer exists for any of them—a point of contention that leads to an argument with Bandit.

And what is home? What does “home” mean to Bandit after all the awful things the team has endured? To the dog, home is a simple concept. “Home is run no more.” Home is a place where these involuntary machines of war can find peace and rest, and that is Bandit’s hope for We3. But as the story progresses, it’s impossible to escape the feeling that Tinker is right, that home and peace will be forever denied these unfortunate animals because of what’s been done to them—and what of their lives and identities have been stolen from them.

Quitely employs many innovative and dramatic approaches to action. A video by Strip Panel Naked does a good job of analyzing the groundbreaking visuals in this story, so check that out. Regarding the page where Tinker hacks and slashes her way through a series of panels filled with her enemies, I am reminded of what Scott McCloud taught in his book Understanding Comics, where he asserts that part of the magic of comics is what happens—but is not shown—between the panels, allowing the reader to fill in the blanks. Quitely gives us two-dimensional panels rendered in 3-D with Tinker in action, demonstrating how the cat is a fast-moving agent of destruction. While Tinker’s opponents exist entirely within the panels, she flashes like lightning through the spaces between them.

Go, Tinker! As Bandit says in a dramatic moment, “Gud 2! 1 Protect!”

Quitely also does amazing things with panels-within-panels to show a sequence of fast-paced actions in a slow-motion strobe effect, and he often employs elements of the scene’s environment to create panel-like divisions, such as rendering trees in all black to create dividing lines, or using the metal structure of a bridge to divide a series of movements across that bridge.

For a few pages, Quitely captures the narrative in an insane number of more than one hundred tiny panels to show footage from multiple security cameras in the containment facility—only to present a spectacular release from all that claustrophobic tension by finishing with a two-page double splash where our heroes burst into the night.

We3 has been collected in paperback, hardcover, and a second hardcover “deluxe” edition with ten new pages of story. But I recommend you read We3 either in digital format or in the original stapled comic-book format so you can see all the amazing two-page spreads without any part of them disappearing into the gutter of a bound book. Like I said in my recent review of the Bendis/Maleev run on Daredevil, it is a rare and beautiful thing to see a comic book story where script, art, and overall design are perfectly married for maximum narrative and emotional effect. We3 is one of those perfect unions.

Collector’s Guide: It’s hard to find the original three-issue printing, but you can easily find a reasonably priced collected paperback on Amazon. Current prices on the deluxe hardcover are ridiculous. Instead, I suggest getting the $10 digital edition so you can fully appreciate the two-page spreads.

john constantine 1994

02 Monday May 2016

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in occult

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

hellblazer, John Constantine, sandman, Sean Phillips, trading card, Vertigo Comics

john constantine card 1994_0001

While re-reading the entire Sandman series from Vertigo this weekend, I found this John Constantine trading card from 1994. It had been safely encased in the original sealed plastic envelope for more than two decades now, like some kind of hell-blazing time capsule. So, what the heck. Why not rip that puppy out and put it on the Internet?

john constantine card 1994_0002

DMZ

13 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in war

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

DC Comics, DMZ, Matty Roth, Vertigo Comics

DMZ artwork

Someone left a copy of DMZ #2 on the top secret fifty cent rack a few years ago. They inadvertently introduced us to a series we would now include in our Top Ten Favorite Comic Book Series. DMZ tells the story of young journalist Matty Roth’s increasingly tragic involvement in the next civil war on U.S. soil. Most of the story takes place in a war-torn New York city, a nominally demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the secessionist forces and the U.S. government’s forces – military, mercenary, and otherwise.

The 75-issue series breaks up into short stories lasting five issues with several shorter character studies interspersed between the main arcs. You can buy it as DMZ single issues, which other than a few early issues is not much more expensive than if you had purchased them new, or a series of trade paperbacks. Vertigo is, at the time of this post, three books into a deluxe hardcover edition which collects about 12 issues per volume. I had the single issues, which you can see in this post’s somewhat random photos.

DMZ artwork (2)

DMZ artwork (3)

DMZ artwork (4)

DMZ artwork (5)

DMZ artwork (6)

Swamp Think!

11 Sunday May 2014

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

DC Comics, Rick Veitch, Swamp Thing, Swamp Think, Vertigo Comics

swamp thing 75-001

Swamp Thing #75, part of Rick Veitch’s run on the title, remains a favorite of ours due to the lavishly large panels full of Swampy’s psychedelic ponderings on life, the universe, and everything. Swamp Thing sits down and grows a bigger brain to consider a thorny problem; namely, how to find a host for the spirit of the next elemental force of The Green. Long-time fans will know this elemental force eventually takes the form of his daughter, a character Brain K. Vaughn would develop in his time on the series.

We recently sold our Swamp Thing collection on eBay but had to scan this bad boy before it went off to its new home. Enjoy!

Collector’s Guide: From Swamp Thing #75; DC Comics, 1988. Written by Rick Veitch, with art by Veitch and Alfredo Alcala.







I Cannot Deny What I Know to be True!

14 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in science fiction

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Caitlin Kiernan, Dreaming, dreams, fish, John Totleben, Vertigo Comics

Fans of the classic Swamp Thing and Miracleman tales know the artwork of John Totleben. Here is a more recent Totleben classic that might have slipped under your radar. In this issue of the Sandman-related series Dreaming, author Caitlin Kiernan tells a compelling story about one woman who challenges her society’s notions of truth.

The woman is a fish named Lady Tethys, after the single great ocean that surrounded Earth’s land mass when it was all gathered into the super-continet Pangaea. An object from the realm of dreaming falls into her sub-oceanic environment. But the leaders of her city refuse to even admit its existence, as it is forbidden to speak of there being anything “above” the ocean. Totleben’s masterful artwork nails the bittersweet emotional tone of Kiernan’s tale.

Collector’s Guide: From Dreaming #33; DC Comics/Vertigo, 1999.









Jim Lee: Lono from 100 Bullets!

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in crime

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

100 Bullets, Jim Lee, Lono, Vertigo Comics

Collector’s Guide:
– From 100 Bullets #26
– Reprinted in 100 Bullets TPB #4
– Reprinted in 100 Bullets Deluxe Hardcover #2

Losers – First Issue!

11 Tuesday Sep 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in crime, first issue, war

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Andy Diggle, first issue, Jock, Losers, Vertigo Comics, war, war comics

The modern incarnation of The Losers is my favorite action series. If you saw the movie and think you know this comic book, then think again. If you like crime comics, this will be at the top of your list, too. I’m also a big fan of Ed Brubaker’s & Sean Phillips’ Criminal, too, if that gives you any idea of my taste in crime comics!

When the Losers, once an elite U.S. Special Forces Unit, stumbled onto the C.I.A.’s dirty little secret, their refusal to play along got them murdered — or so the C.I.A. thought. Now the Losers are back and out for payback against the organization that betrayed them.

2020 Update: Once upon a time, I sold my collection of all the original single issues, but I missed it so much that I got the complete TPB series in 2019 to read while traveling. I started reading it on the plane, didn’t finish, but stayed up until almost dawn in my hotel room reading the rest of it. If I were doing a top-ten list of books I couldn’t put down and lost sleep over, Losers would be near the top.

Anyway, let’s enjoy the first two scenes introducing our cast of Losers!

Collector’s Guide: From Losers #1; DC/Vertigo, 2003. Story by Andy Diggle; art by Jock. Reprinted in Losers TPB #1, 2004 and a double-sized Losers TPB in 2010.

Looking for the Jack Kirby version? Click Jack Kirby Losers to dig Our Fighting Forces #152!






Faker – first issue!

10 Monday Sep 2012

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, indie

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Faker, first issue, Jock, Mike Carey, Vertigo Comics

In the numbing cold of a Minnesota winter, Jessie Kidby and her freshman friends kick off their second semester with a wild party. But in the aftermath of the big blow-out, things start to go horribly wrong for all of them.

Nasty, supressed memories trouble Jessie, while her best friend Nick Philo has become an un-person. Nobody outside their tight-knit little clique can remember seeing Nick before. His records have been erased from the college’s computers. At first, it doesn’t seem like a big deal — but it becomes increasingly obvious that one of them is not what he appears to be.

Chock full of ruthless characters with hidden agendas, Faker takes place during freshman year in college; the ultimate time of reinvention, where, if you’re up for it, you can lie, cheat, and fake your way through almost anything. Let’s enjoy the freaky party scene where everyone gets trashed on cocktails in the chemistry lab — and its unpleasant aftermath!

Collector’s Guide: From Faker #1; DC/Vertigo, 2007. Reprinted in Faker TPB, 2008 (collects all 6 issues.)

Story by Mike Carey, whose scripting we enjoyed so much on Lucifer and Ultimate Fantastic Four, to name a few. Artwork by Jock, who did the art we absolutely loved on Andy Diggle’s Losers.





Kevin O’Neill Does Mars, #2

27 Wednesday Apr 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, science fiction

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Kevin O'Neill, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vertigo Comics

Spend the afternoon on Mars with us. We’ve been Kevin O’Neill fans for years, but nothing really prepared us for the visual ecstasy of the second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series. If you missed it, check out Kevin O’Neill Does Mars Part 1!

Collector’s Guide:
– From League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2, #1.
– Cover from the “bumper compendium” reprint.
– Also available in a high-quality TPB format!

If you can’t read the dialogue, that’s because it is reproduced here in its original Martian!



Kevin O’Neill Does Mars, #1

27 Wednesday Apr 2011

Posted by Mars Will Send No More in first issue, science fiction

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Kevin O'Neill, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vertigo Comics

If you can’t read the dialogue, that’s because it is reproduced here in its original Martian!

Spend the afternoon on Mars with us. We’ve been Kevin O’Neill fans for years but nothing really prepared us for the visual ecstasy of the second League of Extraordinary Gentlemen series. If you’d like to see more, visit Kevin O’Neill Does Mars #2.

Collector’s Guide:
– From League of Extraordinary Gentlemen 2, #1.
– Reprinted in a “bumper compendium.”
– Also available in a high-quality TPB format!



Mars Will Search No More!

Mars Will Stat No More!

  • 6,102,246 minds warped since 2011
Follow Mars Will Send No More on WordPress.com

Mars Will Advertise No More!

My Comic Shop banner

Mars Will Categorize No More!

  • art studio (95)
  • crime (41)
  • dinosaur (221)
  • educational (140)
  • first issue (110)
  • golden age (133)
  • humor (23)
  • indie (182)
  • jungle (58)
  • MeteorMags (11)
  • music (40)
  • occult (77)
  • poetry (56)
  • postcards (34)
  • quarterly report (28)
  • science fiction (404)
  • superhero (435)
  • war (45)
  • western (10)
  • writing (19)

Mars Will Tag No More!

2000AD abstract acrylic advertising Alan Moore Alex Nino alien Al Williamson Amazing Spider-man animal inside you animals art Avengers Batman big box of comics Bill Mantlo birth black and white Black Panther books brains Brave and the Bold Captain America Carmine Infantino Cat Charles Yates Chris Claremont Classics Illustrated collage collection comic book collage comic books crime Dark Horse Comics DC Comics dinosaur dinosaur books dinosaur comics Dinosaurs an Illustrated Guide Dr. Doom drawing Dreadstar dreams EC Comics EC Comics reprints Fantagraphics Fantastic Four first issue Flesh Flesh the Dino Files Galactus George Perez Gilberton Gil Kane Godzilla golden age guitar Harvey Comics Image Comics indie box Indie Comics Inhumans Jack Kirby Jack Kirby art Jim Lee Jim Starlin Joe Simon John Buscema John Byrne jungle Ka-zar Kevin O'Neill Last Gasp library of female pirates Life on Other Worlds lizard Man-Thing Mark Millar Marvel Comics Marvelman memoir meteor mags Micronauts MiracleMan monsters music occult OMAC origin painting pastel Pat Mills pen and ink pirates Planet Comics planets poems poetry postcards prehistoric mammals Prehistoric World Prize Race for the Moon racism Ray Bradbury Robert Kanigher robot Roy Thomas Satans Tears Savage Land science fiction self publishing Silver Surfer sketchbook sundays Smilodon Spider-man Stan Lee Steve Bissette Steve Ditko Steve Rude Strange Sports Strange Sports Stories Strange Tales Strange World of Your Dreams Superman Swamp Thing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Teen Titans Thor time travel Triceratops Turok Turok Son of Stone tyrannosaurus rex underground comix Vertigo Comics VT Hamlin war war comics Warren Ellis Warrior Weird Fantasy Weird War Tales WildC.A.T.S Wolverine writing X-men X-men covers Young Earth Zabu

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Mars Will Send No More
    • Join 935 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Mars Will Send No More
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...