Follow Me Down, Undertow Podcast & More, Out Now!
We would be remiss if we didn't briefly mention the output of a very busy week and change.
Follow Me Down, the fifth Reckless original graphic novel, reached retailers this past Wednesday, revealing what Ethan was up to during the events of The Ghost In You. In the afterward, Ed Brubaker tells readers that they're taking a break from the series for another project -- as yet unannounced, "a new hardback graphic novel" due in the spring and already in production -- but he promises that Ethan and Anna will return in a story set in the 1990s.
The previous week saw the arrival of a quite unique Image Firsts $1 comic: Neo Noir: The World of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Instead of reprinting a single first issue, the comic reprints the short "trailers" the team has produced to advertise their books, all with essays by David Harper providing an overview of the team's work. The 64-page comic book serves as an excellent introduction to the team, prompting me to give away copies to close friends.
(We note in passing that things have come full circle: the "trailers" were produced to mimic movie trailers and offer an alternative to traditional previews consisting of a comic book's first few pages, but the last preview in Neo Noir, for the first Reckless OGN actually is the book's first four pages. The introductory chapter in each Reckless book is almost like a cold open to a TV series, and this particular chapter serves to introduce the main character, his job and personality, and the overall series. It's kinda like a trailer after all.)
With new books in stores, Brubaker published his first email newsletter in more than two months. In addition to these new releases, the writer mentions Friday and Pulp, addresses the recent news regarding Batman: Caped Crusader, and highlights a new video-podcast interview. He closes with an enigmatic image from the mysterious new project.
That same Tuesday, Robert Watson released the latest episode of the Undertow Podcast. With our current production schedule, we tend to release an episode as Ed sends out his newsletter, both in anticipation of the next book hitting store shelves.
This time, we looked forward to Follow Me Down by taking an extended look back at the previous Reckless book, The Ghost In You.
We also took a time to talk about that other recent release from Brubaker and Phillips -- effectively, the latest "Deluxe Edition" oversized hardcover, Pulp: The Process Edition. I recommend it heartily for completists and especially those who are interested in the team's creative process, and our discussion might complement what Brubaker recommended in his newsletter, an extensive review at AIPT Comics.
Robert gave us a good overview of Richard Stark's Parker: The Martini Edition Last Call, the second and final oversized hardcover collection of Darwyn Cooke's phenomenal adaptations of the classic crime novels. As I said in the podcast, the Parker books comprise -- alongside DC: The New Frontier -- Darwyn's magnum opus.
The much-missed artist is honored in this edition, designed and overseen by Brubaker and Phillips, who contribute a new short story to the collection. As with Pulp, we would direct readers to AIPT for more info, this time a May 10th review of this concluding Martini Edition.
Robert and I concluded the podcast with a rare joint recommendation -- Heat 2, an unexpected sequel to the classic neo-noir epic, a novel co-written by writer and director Michael Mann and award-winning mystery writer Meg Gardiner.
(I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite some nits to pick, and I plan to outline my criticisms in the comments below -- briefly and maybe tomorrow, but with heavy spoilers for the original film and some high-level spoilers for the new novel. Readers have been warned.)
Finally, we simply must mention Image Comics' December solicitations (ignore the erroneous URL). The publisher has been releasing an anthology series in celebration of its 30th anniversary, and Image! #9 features a contribution from Brubaker and Phillips -- more specifically, a Criminal short story, perhaps a Criminal "emission" in the vein of previous short stories listed in our bibliography.
Previous cover art for the anthology has presented homages to other Image books, and issue #9 puts Criminal front and center with our good friend Teeg Lawless, wired and tired and ready for Christmas. The book is expected to be a late Christmas present, due out on December 28th.
We're already looking forward to it!
Follow Me Down, the fifth Reckless original graphic novel, reached retailers this past Wednesday, revealing what Ethan was up to during the events of The Ghost In You. In the afterward, Ed Brubaker tells readers that they're taking a break from the series for another project -- as yet unannounced, "a new hardback graphic novel" due in the spring and already in production -- but he promises that Ethan and Anna will return in a story set in the 1990s.
The previous week saw the arrival of a quite unique Image Firsts $1 comic: Neo Noir: The World of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Instead of reprinting a single first issue, the comic reprints the short "trailers" the team has produced to advertise their books, all with essays by David Harper providing an overview of the team's work. The 64-page comic book serves as an excellent introduction to the team, prompting me to give away copies to close friends.
(We note in passing that things have come full circle: the "trailers" were produced to mimic movie trailers and offer an alternative to traditional previews consisting of a comic book's first few pages, but the last preview in Neo Noir, for the first Reckless OGN actually is the book's first four pages. The introductory chapter in each Reckless book is almost like a cold open to a TV series, and this particular chapter serves to introduce the main character, his job and personality, and the overall series. It's kinda like a trailer after all.)
With new books in stores, Brubaker published his first email newsletter in more than two months. In addition to these new releases, the writer mentions Friday and Pulp, addresses the recent news regarding Batman: Caped Crusader, and highlights a new video-podcast interview. He closes with an enigmatic image from the mysterious new project.
That same Tuesday, Robert Watson released the latest episode of the Undertow Podcast. With our current production schedule, we tend to release an episode as Ed sends out his newsletter, both in anticipation of the next book hitting store shelves.
This time, we looked forward to Follow Me Down by taking an extended look back at the previous Reckless book, The Ghost In You.
We also took a time to talk about that other recent release from Brubaker and Phillips -- effectively, the latest "Deluxe Edition" oversized hardcover, Pulp: The Process Edition. I recommend it heartily for completists and especially those who are interested in the team's creative process, and our discussion might complement what Brubaker recommended in his newsletter, an extensive review at AIPT Comics.
Robert gave us a good overview of Richard Stark's Parker: The Martini Edition Last Call, the second and final oversized hardcover collection of Darwyn Cooke's phenomenal adaptations of the classic crime novels. As I said in the podcast, the Parker books comprise -- alongside DC: The New Frontier -- Darwyn's magnum opus.
The much-missed artist is honored in this edition, designed and overseen by Brubaker and Phillips, who contribute a new short story to the collection. As with Pulp, we would direct readers to AIPT for more info, this time a May 10th review of this concluding Martini Edition.
Robert and I concluded the podcast with a rare joint recommendation -- Heat 2, an unexpected sequel to the classic neo-noir epic, a novel co-written by writer and director Michael Mann and award-winning mystery writer Meg Gardiner.
(I thoroughly enjoyed the book despite some nits to pick, and I plan to outline my criticisms in the comments below -- briefly and maybe tomorrow, but with heavy spoilers for the original film and some high-level spoilers for the new novel. Readers have been warned.)
Finally, we simply must mention Image Comics' December solicitations (ignore the erroneous URL). The publisher has been releasing an anthology series in celebration of its 30th anniversary, and Image! #9 features a contribution from Brubaker and Phillips -- more specifically, a Criminal short story, perhaps a Criminal "emission" in the vein of previous short stories listed in our bibliography.
Previous cover art for the anthology has presented homages to other Image books, and issue #9 puts Criminal front and center with our good friend Teeg Lawless, wired and tired and ready for Christmas. The book is expected to be a late Christmas present, due out on December 28th.
We're already looking forward to it!
Labels: Batman Caped Crusader, Criminal, Darwyn Cooke, Friday, interviews, Pulp, Reckless, reviews, solicitations, Undertow Podcast
posted by Bubba at 8:45 PM
2 Comments:
So: about the thoroughly entertaining but unimaginatively titled Heat 2, I do have some thoughts. To do so, I must spoil the original film Heat, and I have some broad spoilers about the premise of this sequel novel.
After a brief summary of the original movie, the novel kicks things off with the immediate aftermath: Chris Shiherlis is still on the lam, and Lt. Vincent Hanna is still in pursuit.
The novel then oscillates between two time periods: a few dramatic crimes in 1988 and the continuing story up to 2000. These are where I have a few nitpicks.
- In 1988, MacCauley, Shiherlis, and Cherrito, along with Trejo, are commiting highline robberies as a tightly knit team, much as they do in the film's setting of 1995.
I would have guessed some serious prison time in the seven years prior to the film: MacCauley knew Breeden from prison, and Cherrito had recently talked to another former inmate Richard Torena.
"Remember Jimmy McElwain on the yard used to say, you wanna be making moves on the street, have no attachments, allow nothing to be in your life that you cannot walk out on in thirty seconds flat if you spot the heat around the corner."
I don't believe Jimmy is referenced in the novel, and his mantra doesn't make much of an appearance beyond the prologue's summary of the film.
...that said, this same scene from the movie may have planted the seed that fully blooms in the book:
"When are you gonna get another lady?" [emphasis mine]
"When I get around to it."
- The novel covers common ground for serious Michael Mann fans, starting with Chicago, the setting for much of Public Enemies (2009).
Black-market commerce in the dark web might remind readers of Blackhat, from 2015.
And much of the continuing story takes place in
Ciudad del Este on the Triple Frontier of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. With its piles of styrofoam and its casino adorned with a plastic roulette wheel, the anarchic city makes a brief but familiar cameo in the 2006 film Miami Vice.
Even the go-fast boats seen in Miami Vice are briefly referenced at the end of the book.
These familar elements raise a chicken-and-egg problem for me: they're presumably present due to Mann's prior research, but do they reflect Mann's personal and idiosyncratic interests, or are these simply significant elements in the world of modern-day crime at the national and international levels?
The conundrum didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book, but I still wish I didn't have the feeling of deja vu.
- Finally, it must be said that the concluding chapters involve a noticeable amount of coincidence, verging on the outright implausible.
The characters themselves seem dumbfounded, and it's good that they share the reader's disbelief, and I couldn't think of an obvious workaround, but it's still better if a story's later chapters avoid this kind of "plot hammering."
It's one thing if a story's premise depends on a suspension of disbelief, but once the plot is in motion, it's always best if each event proceeds to the next, logically and even inexorably.
---
On that last note, the novel excels in picking up the story from the end of the movie. The LAPD pursues Chris, and how Hanna gets on his trail is a sight to behold: literally every bit of evidence he uses is directly seen or strongly implied in the original movie. Not even a tiny bit of retconning is required.
And far beyond that one setting, the novel is a helluva read -- engrossing in what happens and very well told in how it happens, in setting a mood and in characterizing the major players in their memorable dialog and their often brutal actions.
My complaints are mere quibbles: I wish I could recommend the book without these quibbles, but I still strongly recommend Heat 2.
...oh, one more thing: Waingro!
Waingro was the sadistic criminal in the original Heat, and he had a malignant effect on the story, causing chaos and devastation in his wake. To put it more prosaically, he tortured Trejo and murdered his wife to get the info that put the LAPD on McCauley's big bank score, and, before that, he murdered a young streetwalker (evidently not his first victim), giving Hanna another grisly scene to investigate.
The idea behind Waingro was, it seems, to provide another element in addition to the highline robbers and the cops who are chasing him. In contrast with the cold professionalism of McCauley, Waingro was a volatile serial killer: we were given a true villain alongside the antihero.
Heat 2 seems to go the same route in introducing another psycho serial killer, but with significant differences.
My complaint is that, just as I forgot to write about Waingro, the novel seemed to forget about him, too. There was no real closure.
What I mean is, Waingro was dead, killed by McCauley, but his murder of the prostitute hadn't yet been solved.
I wonder, WAS it solved? Did forensics put the clues together?
There's a moment in the sequel novel where Hanna could have thought back to that old case -- either that it remained frustratingly unsolved even as no new victims ever materialized, or that it was solved with the killer already being dealt an unintended form of swift and brutal justice at the hands of Neil McCauley, giving the victim's mother a measure of solace without a long and torturous process within the legal system.
But Waingro never came up beyond the movie's summary in the prologue, and I found that frustrating.
Not every loose end was tied up.
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