The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 801: Spacepig Hamadeus and the Captive Planet, 2016

Where to begin? The main story begins with Hamadeus having lost his memory after his crash landing, but this proves fortuitous in that he's captured and sent to a gladiatorial arena in which he meets a couple of powerful allies. Where, as I've said previously, the interior work is taking its cues from old school movie serials, today's comic's cover is a callback to the old Gold Key painted covers from the 50s and 60s. In the production blog for the comic, Mr. Yaciuk notes that that was often the best part of the comic, and I have to agree. I don't have a lot of Gold Key stuff in my collection, but what I do have often promises one thing on the cover and delivers something not quite as fabulous inside.

Such is not the case with this issue of Spacepig though. Not only is there the main story (which leaves us on a cliffhanger again!), but a tribute to the old Marvel monster comics of the 50s, and a couple of backup stories set in the Spacepig universe, one of which is illustrated by James Zintel, whose Spacesquatch is one of the coolest, weirdest comics I've read.

But now the wait is on. The next Spacepig comic isn't scheduled to be out until next year, and with both Tremb'axx and the Intergalactic Crime League after Ham and his comrades, it's going to be a long one. I suppose it's a good thing I've got a lot of comics to keep me company in the intervening months.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 800: Spacepig Hamadeus and the Ambush at the Hourglass Sea, 2011

A short adventure for Hamadeus today, though also the first one written according to the site. This is more of a bridge from the previous adventure on Enceladus to what looks to be a major story on Mars. Unfortunately it seems that nothing in Ham's life is straightforward, and before he can touch down on Mars he is, as the title notes, ambushed and shot down. We'll have to see tomorrow how things work out for him.

I'm feeling a bit low from my surgery still, so I'm not going to write much today. I still have a graphic novel to write up that I missed yesterday, and a magazine for today. The cool thing about this little comic is the character profiles that make up the second half of the issue. There's some familiar faces and some that I haven't met yet, but what's really neat is to consider these profiles from the point of view that this is the first Spacepig Hamadeus comic that was produced. Some of the characters profiled don't show up until later issues, yet their "First Appearance" entry lists that issue. What this basically means is that Mr. Yaciuk seems to have had this all planned out in advance, which really does come through in the comics themselves. As I mentioned yesterday, or the day before, there's a real coherence to this fiction that you don't necessarily see in a lot of the time in serialized comics. Setting is a character all by itself, and Mr. Yaciuk has payed as much attention to that character as he has the more mobile ones.

Sadly, last issue until next year tomorrow. But I'm sure it'll be awesome.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 799: Spacepig Hamadeus versus The Spectre General, 2012

I couldn't help myself. I had to see what happened next. This issue is really neat, in that it gives us a bunch of back story on some of the characters from yesterday's comic, and introduces some characters that I'm sure are going to pop up soon. I think what today's comic really did for me was to solidify my love for the characters and universe. There's even an ad for a new issue coming out next year, which made me give a little internal "Squee!"

The background on Tremb'axx was nicely handled, though I'll admit I saw the twist in the story coming. This is not a criticism of the storytelling, though. It served to reinforce just how evil the character actually is. And showed that even the evil amongst us will do crazy things for love. The second story, about Dillo Dhatta boasted some really cool art, especially in the sections dealing with Dhatta's memories. The panel borders disappear and we have jumble of images and captions relating his tale of woe to the reader. This disappearance of formal guides on the page nicely mirrors the way memory works, with prominent events at the fore, overshadowing more background occurrences. Of the three artists represented in today's comic, Justin Schauf really stands out. Not that any of the art is bad, but his fits the tenor of the story really nicely.

And then we have the continuation of Hamadeus's adventure, a battle with the Spectre General. I quite love the way that these comics are building this vast universe full of awesome, yet slightly ridiculous, characters. A story that gives you action, intrigue, drama, but doesn't take itself too seriously, is a good story. Both art and writing recognize that the concept is not a serious one, but also that just this lack of seriousness doesn't necessarily mean you can't explore some serious ideas.

I'd had the thought that I'd split these comics up over a week or two, but who am I kidding? I'll continue tomorrow with Spacepig Hamadeus and the Ambush at the Hourglass Sea.

To be continued.