Where Monsters Dwell #1: "1: Let's Fly, Let's Fly Away"

[superboyprime]

"I just greatly admire that confidence of his writing. I just feel no matter if he’s writing about World War II or superheroes, he’s the kind of author that as you’re reading, you know that he knew no one was looking over his shoulder as he was doing this. He’s writing only for himself and for his collaborators. And just a real economy of language, and letting pictures do a lot of the heavy lifting. I think few people are better craftsmen, just pound for pound, I think there are few better writers than Garth Ennis in our business." - Brian K. Vaughan

Comments

[captainbellman]

We all knew what to expect.

[nyadnar17]

I honestly was hoping for fun Garth Ennis, not fart joke/everyones a tosser Garth Ennis.

[captainbellman]

On a Marvel book? In something involving superheroes, on an even tangential level? You might as well expect humour, taste, or worthwhile content from Seth McFarlane.

[doctor_spanky]

About Ennis' "economy of language:"

"Death to the purveyor of discount gelignite!" is a much funnier way of explaining "No-Balls Tong"," and a better use of a panel than outright saying it

It nothing else Ennis writes the best Wolverine ever:

[captainbellman]

...Is the out-loud monologuing a deliberate parody of Stan Lee, or...?

[doctor_spanky]

Yeah I think he's poking fun at super-expository Stan Lee / Chris Claremont dialogue. Also I'm pretty sure Ennis just doesn't think much of Wolverine as a character (his expy in "The Boys" is just ridiculous)

[captainbellman]

Also kinda an amalgamation with Hawkman...?

[doctor_spanky]

Ohhh yeah good call I missed that! He's like every "tough-guy" superhero mashed together into this unintelligible roided-out loon

[crinos]

With hammers for hands.

[halloweenjack]

It's pretty much how he wrote Lobo back in the Hitman/Lobo one-shot, where it was appropriate because that is in fact how Lobo talks, more or less. It's completely the opposite of how Wolverine usually behaves, but when, as BKV says, Ennis is "writing only for himself", why should he give a shit?

[shadur]

Ennis' Standard Protagonist #3: The unlikeable utter douchebag we're supposed to laugh with for his comedic sociopathy, and laugh at the naivete of people believing he'll do the decent thing.

"Hur hur hur lookit the stupid native woman thinking he won't run off after he got her pregnant"

[locuatico]

better than ESP #2: The unlikable utter douchebag we're supposed to be sympathetic towards because crappy backstory.

[informationgeek]

"I just greatly admire that confidence of his writing. I just feel no matter if he’s writing about World War II or superheroes, he’s the kind of author that as you’re reading, you know that he knew no one was looking over his shoulder as he was doing this. He’s writing only for himself and for his collaborators. And just a real economy of language, and letting pictures do a lot of the heavy lifting. I think few people are better craftsmen, just pound for pound, I think there are few better writers than Garth Ennis in our business."

Oh... I don't even know where exactly to start with this... cause I'm too busy laughing at it and wondering if Vaughn actually has ever read The Boys or any of Ennis' contributions to the CBLDF.

[doctor_spanky]

Okay have you actually read The Boys? How many people on S_D have? Or any of Ennis' better work?

[informationgeek]

I have actually not read Preacher, so I'll concede to that since I hear good things about it.

[doctor_spanky]

That came out a little more aggressive than I meant. Not to be all "shots fired!", but I feel like people's engagement with Ennis stops at "that isn't for me, it must be rubbish." I thought The Boys was disgusting unjustifiable schlock until I read some issues and was kinda floored by his convictions. Ennis still makes me squeamish and he's hardly beyond reproach but I really think The Boys is more meaningful than 90% of Marvel and DC's current output

Preacher is purdy gud

[informationgeek]

The Boys has elements that are good. Doing the posts for the Believe arc awhile back and reading parts of it, I can see he can be good with what he writes (like the ending seen with Hughie and Starlight). The problem is that he tends to go way too overboard in areas (see the first CBLDF story he did, which is just vile), as seen in a lot of these posts of the series, where it's honestly hard to take the comic seriously at all.

[captainbellman]

It's not unlike political cartoons or Brechtian theatre - shock tactics and absurd nastiness to drive the point across - but it's different when the characters used are beloved properties that people hold close to their heart. If not for the intelligent content, "The Boys" would just be the super heroic equivalent of "Scary Movie".

[doctor_spanky]

I think using beloved/nostalgic characters makes his point really viscerally. Seeing the sheer carnage and superhero mortality and dire consequences changed how I read mainstream bloodless (or at least consequencesless) super fights. I mean I realize it's just a staple of the genre, but now it feels a lil like I have to will the critical part of my brain to sleep to enjoy those stories

(Kind of funny to imagine Brecht writing a superhero comic! I don't think they'd amuse him)

[beardedjellybean]

His Hellblazer, Hitman, Unknown Soldier, Definitely Preacher despite a few bits, most of Battlefields and most recently Red Rover Charlie works are actually pretty good. And he pretty much saved the Punisher at Marvel after the horrible died and reborn as heavens enforcer storyline.

He can do a good story when he isn't going to far in the vileness area, but the Boys and also Crossed are probably his best known works and pretty much everyone knows about the messed up stuff that happens in them and it just turns them off. I do actually like both of those comics but I would have to agree with some of the flak that is said about Ennis on here with regards to writing.

[silverhammerman]

I think the only thing of Ennis' that I've really seriously read was the first 60 or so issues of his Punisher stuff. Good comics, obviously, but even with them I have my problems.

I've heard Ennis described as having two modes: the first is when he's being sincere (Preacher, most of his war comics) and the second is when he's taking the piss (The Pro, the above comic). There's overlap between the two of course, but personally I find his politics and sense of humor offputting enough that I'm actively put off by the latter and disinclined to give the former a chance.

[doctor_spanky]

Yeah the one thing I'll say is I don't think he picks projects with a lot of range. I'd love to read an Ennis story that in no way depends on violence

[filthysize]

It's very much true, though. I can't think of a lot of other writers who trust their artists as much as Ennis does to deliver the power in a wordless moment. He would often ask the artist to just draw panels of subtle facial expressions to convey something that he could have put in words, and never explain them. This moment from Punisher is one of the most memorable examples, where all of Frank's narration/dialogue disappears and we're supposed to interpret this image ourselves and imagine what he said to her sister when describing this moment:



There are plenty of this kind of stuff in Ennis' books, and it's one of the things that always floors me when I read his work. He also likes to have his characters make sarcastic and ironic remarks or quote something, and it's never overstated in the dialogue, the way most comic book writers would add an extra line or have another character react to the remark--or in Bendis' case use a lot of parentheses and punctuation marks--lest the reader misunderstand the exchange. Ennis just simply relies on the artist to somehow make the character saying it arch their eyebrows slightly or look down to suggest the tone in which we should read the speech bubble, and move on with the conversation. It's why his dialogue feels more cinematic than most.

[filthysize]

Hell, there's even an example right there in the scans posted. The second to last panel... a lot of writers would be tempted to put a "SPLRCH" sound effect there, but Ennis trusted Russ Braun to be able to adequately draw a scrunchy face that makes you hear the sound of the off-panel gore already.

[beyondthefringe]

I'm not entirely sure what to make of this comic yet.
The protagonist is quite clearly an asshole of the not-so-charming roguish variety. His female costar, not seen in these scans, is set up as much more competent, upright, and decent than he is, and will probably be the foil to his rake... or something. So I'm curious to see what happens, even if it's hard to empathize with Kaufmann as he's presented thus far.

It's weird that of all Marvel's characters, Ennis fixated on such an obscure, little-used one such as the Phantom Eagle, but this is the second time he's written the character AFAIK.

[reveen]

So did Garth Ennis just wake up one day and say "You know what? I haven't belittled overweight women in a while. Better write that into my next comic."

[crimsonmoonmist]

Well, this protagonist got unbelievably unlikeable quick!
It's almost cartoonishly over-the-top in how extremely unlikeable he is.
Running away from a pregnant woman who want nothing but to spend the rest of her life with you in spite of her being royalty? I mean, come on!

[lieut_kettch]

Discount gelignite? Ouch! Then again, it makes you wonder why he was holding explosives that close to his crotch to begin with.