Graphic novels: A timely rediscovery of Hawke
Sunday 27 July 2008
Related articles
Amid the summer's cinematic cage-rage championship of Wanted, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, we're probably due a reminder of the silent virtues, as well as the virtuous silence, of the comics medium.
The "Jeff Hawke" sci-fi cartoons, published in the Daily Express between the 1950s and the 1970s, are now largely forgotten in Britain. Titan's handsome series of reprints, begun with Overlord and continued with The Ambassadors (both £16.99) shows how revolutionary these three-panel daily strips were. Writers Sydney Jordan and William Patterson were years ahead of their time in making the bug-eyed monsters of sci-fi cliché the protagonists of the stories, with their own ethical conundrums and customs. It's a timely rediscovery, and the capacious Hawke archives should underwrite this goldmine of intelligent sci-fi for some time to come.
"Nowadays I don't get out of bed for less than a murder. I don't get out of bed much." In the rain-shadowed, noirish London-analogue that Fernandez Britten inhabits, who can blame him? Hannah Berry's first graphic novel, Britten and Brülightly (Cape £12.99) is a hand-drawn, hand-painted and even hand-lettered tale of depression and revenge that draws heavily on genre staples like Chandler and Hammett, but mixes them with a strong dose of wayward surrealism.
Like mushrooms about the base of the new Batman film, come a crop of volumes featuring Gotham's chiropteran crimefighter. Of these, Alan Moore's The Killing Joke, from 1988 (Titan £11.99), is much the finest: an inspiration both for Tim Burton's original Batman movie and for Heath Ledger's final performance, it set the template for portraying the hero and his enemy the Joker as complementary entities, two warped sides of the same coin. Far more brash and brutal is Frank Miller's very silly All-Star Batman (Titan, £16.99), a take on the legend that isn't so much hard-boiled as dementedly overcooked. Who else but the writer of 300 could have Batman introduce himself to Robin by barking: "What, are you dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman."
Arts & Ents blogs
Owen Howells: From the UK to Australia and back again (and again!)
Owen Howells is a DJ/producer who grew up in Australia but was born in the UK. He came back to the U...
Brighton Fringe 2013 – Is everyone sitting uncomfortably?
Fancy seeing a play about serial killers? How about inviting a funeral director into your home for a...
The Fall ‘Darkness Visible’ – Series 1, episode 2
There are a good many moments in the second episode of this psychological thriller that deserve refl...
-
Liam Gallagher slams Daft Punk: 'I could have written Get Lucky in an hour'
-
Rocky Horror star Tim Curry 'suffers major stroke'
-
Archaeologists uncover nearly 5,000 cave paintings in Burgos, Mexico
-
Lord of the Sings: Sir Christopher Lee, 91, to release heavy metal album
-
After 61 films, including The Hangover Part III, Heather Graham admits she still likes to boogie
Get your summer started with British Military Fitness
BMF is the UK’s biggest and best loved outdoor fitness classes
Visit York
Find out what The Independent's resident travel expert has to say about one of the most beautiful small cities in the world
Making reading fun for kids
Nook is donating eReaders to volunteers at high-need schools and participating in exclusive events throughout the campaign.
Introducing the 'Get Reading' campaign
Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Enter the latest Independent competitions
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.
Business videos from commercial thought leaders
Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.
Johnny Marr talks relationships and reunions
In pictures: After the flood
Death becomes her: A very modern mortician
School of chop: Learning the art of butchery
The man who's eaten everywhere
A Berliner in 1963 – but did John F Kennedy once admire Adolf Hitler?


Comments