Our October MKE Comicbook Meetup was a fun one, exploring a topic we hadn’t tried before – “Detectives and Sleuths”. Instead of dealing with super-powered individuals, we focused (mostly) on super-observant individuals! 🙂 As ever, Anodyne Coffee hosted us, and Don put together a great trivia contest with prizes from our supportive friends at Lost World of Wonders!
Before we got to sharing comicbooks, Amber, a very talented illustrator, shared with us her in-progress creation – a cut-paper illo of Spider-Man’s classic group of villains, the Sinister Six. Her attention to detail and unique vision were pretty amazing!
I brought three comics – an indie graphic novel, called THE KING, written and drawn by Shorewood resident, Rich Koslowski (whose portrait I once made!), MADROX , from Marvel Comics, and STARMAN, from DC Comics. THE KING was a self-contained story about an investigative reporter trying to figure out if a Las Vegas Elvis-tribute performer was, in fact, actually, Elvis. MADROX was a limited series about a mutant private investigator that can split himself into multiples! In STARMAN, the title character is not a detective, but in the supporting cast, there is the O’Dare clan – a whole family of detecives and law enforcement officers.
Luke brought RATCATCHER, written by Andy Diggle, about a detective chasing after a mysterious mob assassin.
Shawn brought one of his favorite books, DARTH VADER, proclaiming, “I can always find a way to talk about Vader, on any topic!”. The issue he brought to share focused on an investigator with the Empire, who was looking into some internal investigations intrigue.
Shawn also brought INCOGNITO, by modern noir-masters, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
His final share was the genre-mashup, CRIMINAL MACABRE, combining monster stories and film noir. He said it’s about “ a detective who never made it as a cop, because he couldn’t handle it, he’s too full of damaged goods.”
Don brought the graphic novel, DARK ENTRIES, a John Constantine-starring story about when a haunted house and a reality TV show run into each other. Don also brought a classic DETECTIVE COMICS Annual, wherein the Batman goes South, and encounters the KKK.
Tarik brought in the wordless THE SYSTEM, a graphic novel that is a mystery, and made even more so by not having any word-balloons. It’s up to the reader to figure out what’s going on!
John shared INVISIBLE REPUBLIC which he described as “it’s like if the Browncoats won, but everything sucks”, and BATMAN: BROKEN CITY, by the creative team behind 100 BULLETS – Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso – so you know it’s a bit darker than most Batman stories!
Molly shared the DEAD-BOY DETECTIVES, a neat series that is exactly what its title says, and is a spin-off from SANDMAN. She also had CRY HAVOC, which she said isn’t exactly a superhero story, but does have superpowers, as the main characters develops superpowers, and tries to figure out what’s going on. Molly remarked, “It’s basically your average “lesbian-werewolf-goes-to-war” story.” She also thought the coloring was noteworthy, as the book works with THREE different colorists!
Emilio had two books for us – the classic-inspired modern rendition of the Avengers – STEED AND MRS. PEEL, and the truly classic NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D., with its Jim Steranko artwork.
Jony brought in the 1980s “eco-mystery” book, KNIGHTS OF PENDRAGON, from Marvel UK. Though the book had its ups and downs, Jony said “It’s just so good at being creepy for those first six issues!”
Also, as this was our Halloween meetup, Don accepted donations for the International Bat Conservation Fund, and we raised $35 to donate! 🙂
