Captain Gravity And The Power Of The Vril!!
Sounds like something out of a 1940’s or 50’s television or radio serial doesn’t it?
You can almost imagine the guy shouting “Same Vril time! Same Vril Channel!” at the end of every episode.
And you really almost can, until you sit down and read this wonderful mini-series from the ever fertile mind of one of my favourite comic creators of all time – the reclusive Joshua Dysart. Eisner-award nominated writer, NY Times best seller and border-line cult figure to those familiar with his work, Dysart has made a reputation for great stories and ideas often fantastic in their lack of outer complexity, yet containing a darker themed core within. His comics tend to be explorations of the human condition and more often in regard to our violence and fascination with it and with human horror. His works such as Violent Messiahs (which I plan to write about soon, I promise!) are almost seminal works in their own unique ways.
Never over-the-top or disgusting or disturbing, Dysarts work simply leaves you wanting more and yet happy to be finished at the same time. But still able to be read over and over. To me that puts him in a league all his own in terms of being a story-teller.
This particular series however, reads a little bit different from his usual work and is a tad less dark – partly that’s because this series is a beautiful little love-letter to the golden age of comics and characters like The Rocketeer, Buck Rogers, Phantom and even a touch of stuff like Indiana Jones in the way it’s all told. (Woohoo!!) And given that he has worked not just on offbeat stuff like Swamp Thing or on more mainstream superheroes, but his previous experience in pulp icons like Conan and Hellboy show that he is no stranger to the style and sensibility.
(TO READ THE REST, CLICK HERE TO GO SEE MY ORIGINAL COLUMN AT COMICADDICTS.COM)
One Happy Monk's Reviews 