The Great American Review Week - "Too Cool To Be Forgotten" by Alex Robinson (Top Shelf)

Too Cool To Be Forgotten is the latest original graphic novel from one of my all-time favorite creators, Alex Robinson (Box Office Poison, Tricked). The story is about a guy named Andrew Wicks who allows himself to go under hypnosis in order to quit his addictive nicotine habit. While in his hyopnotic state, Wicks "travels" back to 1985 and his junior year in high school so he can stop himself from taking his first drag on a cigarette butt. But as the former Rosanne Arnold can tell you, there are some things that hypnosis uncovers that you may not want to remember. Thank goodness this book does not go down that same abusive road.

Robinson does a great job of mixing the all-too-familiar feelings of social awkwardness and poignant pain that comes with being a teenager. Characters are more than just stereotypes and the dialogue steers clear of using the dated pop-culture references or teenage-speak cliches. the pace of the book was quick and even at a shade under 130 pages, it was a relatively quick read.

The art is Robinson's forte. For those who only read the superhero books, Robinson's style may be considered odd. All of the characters look different (in a good way) and there are some layouts that could only be in the comic book medium. The splash pages are non-existant and the flow of the art from panel to panel and page to page makes reading the book almost effortless. A big plus is the cover of this hardcover, which is a sweet design marriage of the very familiar cigarrette soft pack of Kools and the overly trite yearbook signing phrase 2 Cool 2 B Forgotten.

If you're new to comics, a veteran of multiple Earth crisises or somewhere inbetween, you should read this book. Too Cool To Be Forgotten is an ideal piece of comic fiction with its compelling story and easy-to-follow layout Capes and tights stories can take a hike when compared to this book.

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The Fanatical Review - Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries

Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries #1 (of 4)

Writer: Christopher Mills
Penciler: Joe Staton
Inker: Horacio Ottolini
Colorist: Melissa Kaercher
Cover Artist: Joe Staton (Regular); Brian Bolland (Variant; shown above)
Publisher: Ape Entertainment

Book Synopsis: On the mean streets of Port Nocturne, justice is blonde. Join writer Christopher Mills and Eisner award-winning artist Joe Staton as they crack open the case files of crime fiction's most unusual sleuth in an attempt to unmask the mystery woman known only as… Femme Noir!

Review: It's a difficult task to make new crime/pulp comic books without coming off as dated or a rip-off of previous classic works. It's also hard to pull new readers in with a first issue of a new mini-series about a female protagonist. But the Femme Noir new mini-series from Ape Entertainment appears to have made the difficult seem easy.

This book is a quick read; but it is, by no means, an old recycled story. The story just pulls you in from the get-go with its rain and whiskey-soaked images and hard-boiled narrative. Mills pulls an interesting twist for the noir genre by using the male PI as more of a plot device to help advance the narrative forward from one scene to the next as a means to introduce each of the possible female suspects and their motivations behind possibly being the avenging vigilante. The dialogue and language used is pitch-perfect which only enhances the mood of the book.

Comic vet Staton bring his A game to this book. There is an Eisner-esque influence/vibe through out the book but there's no David Mack-like cut-and-paste job here. Yes, the three female leads are somewhat similar in looks and form and I think that it is intended. They aren't just the same figure with different hair colors and clothes. The city and backgrounds are solid and it actually seems to revel in its dark shadows. And my favorite scene is on page 6. When the assassin and his moniker are revealed, the book just reeks of classic 70's comics to me in a very good way.

Overall, Femme Noir: The Dark City Diaries #1 takes a relatively underutilized genre in comics and makes it a viable one. The action is fast and the women look even faster. And while the story concludes without the big reveal of the title character, it does whet the appetite for the next issue, which is what any good introductory issue should do.

For those of you who are into the alternative cover thing, be on the look out for variants by Matt Haley on Issue #2, Phil Hester on Issue #3, and Mike Weiringo on Issue #4. This issue was solicited in April Previews Catalog and can be pre-ordered through your local comic book store by using Diamond Code #APR083545.

More information on the whole Femme Noir series and its webstrip incarnation can be found at its website, Femme-Noir.com.

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