Casanova

Casanova is pretty damned awesome. This morning, whilst the server at work was down, leaving me with nothing to do except twiddle my thumbs, i chose to read digitalized comic books instead. I've been reading some comic blogs lately, and lurking on ILC... Casanova gets a lot of love out there. I'm already sympathetic to Matt Fraction's work as the bastard actually has me reading a damned Punisher comic. I've always loathed Marvel's Punisher, but the new incarnation of War Journal piqued my interest... the series knows that the character is silly in his brutishness, and uses it to good effect, without getting anywhere near the kind of pathetic machismo that Ennis bathes in. With Fraction involved with The Immortal Iron Fist as well, i'm now all-too-earnestly following any work of his i can get my hands on.

The first reference point for me is Elektra: Assassin, which was my first memorable introduction to S.H.I.E.L.D. (I still have not gotten around to Steranko's Fury stuff.) Even though Frank Miller makes me feel icky nowdays, there's still a certain fondness for this series, as it had a cult-like following in my high school. Unlike the canon Marvel universe, S.H.I.E.L.D. had a decadent and weird feeling to it, as a super spy agency should have, lab assistants grown in vats, rogue cybernetic chopshops, and saturated with completely amoral characters. Yep. Casanova makes some obvious S.H.I.E.L.D. homages, and they feel more like the Elektra: Assassin than the ones in the jumpsuits mucking about with Captain America and the Avengers. Bah... it openly tips its hat when asking what the opposite of an Oedipus complex is, then dismissing the Elektra complex, as despite the homages, it's a very different comic.

One influence I sensed without actually ever having read the books was Michael Moorcock's Jerry Cornelius. The bastard who turned me onto Elric way back when never did loan me his Jerry Cornelius books, as he preferred to recite them to me, (because he was a masturbatory hoarder who hated to share much with anyone, as his exclusive access to certain books, music, movies, ect. meant that he was in some sense cooler, despite his abysmal hygiene and failure to move beyond rote recital of the material.) I'm afraid to read that stuff now, as i tried to re-read Elric a few years ago, and that didn't turned out too well. Aw, fuck it... if i can still stomach Lovecraft, i can finally experience Jerry Cornelius firsthand.

Gabriel Ba's art is mindblowing though. As much as i can rave about the impeccable influences, the breezy humor, and lean pace, it's Ba's art that makes it work. As much as i love the Invisibles, sometimes the art doesn't quite click with the tone of the plot, which is an unfair criticism in that it was a long-running comic. Ba is style. Comic books are good fun, but i have this odd tendency to follow the work of a writer over that of an artist. Looking at his lines was kind of a thrill unto itself. This has to change, as i will be tracking down his work with his brother Fabio Moon in the coming weeks.

And i confess... i haven't bought a single issue of Casanova yet. I'm one of those downloading scum, except i actually buy the collected books if the book means more to me than an instant discard. I'm getting all twitchy thinking about reading this again without squinting.