Tag Archives: Sean Murphy

Dec 30 2013

Best of 2013: Best Artist

2013 best artist

The comics industry might have trained us incorrectly. We’re meant to gobble up as much story as possible, as quickly as possible. That way we buy more comics, and Batman and Spider-Man can continue to punch dudes into perpetuity. But the books we read are far from disposable — they contain some truly astounding artwork from some of the most talented storytellers out there. They’re our directors, our actors, our choreographers, our set and costume designers. These are our top 13 artists of 2013. Continue reading →

Nov 26 2013

The Wake 5

wake 5

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing The Wake 5, originally released November 20th, 2013.

Shelby: I love being surprised by a story. There’s the smug satisfaction of thinking you’ve figured it all out, followed by the shock of things playing out completely differently. If the storytelling is good, you don’t even care that you were wrong; it’s like the ground just opened up beneath you and you find yourself dropped into a totally different story. These last five issues of The Wake have given us a sci fi, underwater horror tale as Lee Archer fights horrifying mer-monsters at the bottom of the ocean. We’ve gotten glimpses at a much bigger picture, but the bulk of the story has taken place on the ghost rig. At the end of the book, Scott Snyder tells us that was all setup, that now the real story starts, and shit is gonna get crazy. That’s a paraphrase, mind you: Scott Snyder is far more eloquent in his delivery.

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Sep 26 2013

The Wake 4

wake 4

Today, Shelby and Patrick are discussing The Wake 4, originally released September 25th, 2013.

Shelby:  Like any good nerd, I love me some board games. I like the strategy games a lot, but I’m not great at them. I played the Game of Thrones board game at my LCS recently, and I lost miserably. But, like anytime I find myself at the losing end of a game, I refused to give up until the bitter end. Whether it’s high-level strategy or something as simple as Plants vs. Zombies, I will play it out until it’s over. There’s some small hope that I might miraculously win, sure, but mostly it’s because I refuse to go down without a fight. I will make it as difficult and painful as possible for those around me until I have truly lost. I don’t know if this makes me admirably defiant in the face of certain doom, or just no fun to play games with, but it is how I roll. Lee Archer and the (very few) surviving crew members of the ghost rig find themselves in a similar “give up or go down fighting” sort of situation, but for them the stakes are a lot higher than comic shop bragging rights.
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Aug 2 2013

The Wake 3

wake 3

Today, Shelby and Spencer are discussing The Wake 3, originally released July 31st, 2013.

Shelby:  For me, Scott Snyder’s The Wake has been an exercise in scope. Considering our story seemingly encompasses all the oceans, large portions of space, and a span of time stretching over billions of years, it’s pretty safe to say that scope could be classified as “broad.” Just when it seems to be too much to take in, artist Sean Murphy steps in to remind us of the intimate character moments Snyder has sneaked in to this story. For every flashback 3.8 billion years in the past, there’s a quiet moment of a man hallucinating his coworker just tore his arm off and is eating it. Gotta love those intimate moments.
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Jun 28 2013

The Wake 2

wake 2

Today, Patrick and Drew are discussing The Wake 2, originally released June 26th, 2013.

Patrick: Michael Crichton made a career out of crafting exposition that was interesting in and of itself. Starting with Congo in 1980, all of his books hinged on impossibly high-concept ideas that were so close to being fact that reading his books felt like learning something. You know that moment in Jurassic Park when Jeff Goldblum’s character edges forward in his seat as he listens to Mr. DNA’s explanation of the cloning process? That’s what 90% of the experience of reading Crichton’s books is like. The science, the history, the psychology — it all manages to contain just enough truth to spark a reader’s imagination. Reading the book becomes an act of discovery, both in terms of the fictional world and your real world. The effect is propulsive, and makes even a simple dinosaur adventure seem revelatory. Scott Snyder employs the same trick as he anchors his monster in myth and evolutionary science. Not a whole lot happens on the page, the story instead plays out in your own head. Continue reading →

May 31 2013

The Wake 1

wake 1

Today, Shelby and Drew are discussing The Wake 1, originally released May 29th, 2013.

Shelby: There are certain things you come to expect from stories. As an example, with a rom-com you know there’s going to be the initial meeting between protagonists, things will go well, then things will go poorly, then everything will fall apart (usually with a sad montage), and then everything is resolved in the end, often with some sort of grand declaration of love. Throw in a spunky, comic-relief sidekick bestie for each protagonist, and you’ve got the next big girls-night-out hit. Now, The Wake is certainly no romantic comedy, but I definitely had some expectations about the kind of story I would get. Underwater sci-fi horror means: a rag-tag team, a mysterious monster lurking about for a few issues, a gory reveal, and eventually a big final fight. Leave it to Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy to somehow give me exactly what I expected and still deliver something very fresh and new.
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